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US sorry for attack on Pakistan soldiers
Latin writer wins literature Nobel
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Nepal fails to elect PM for 11th time
Suicide bombers attack Sufi shrine, 10 killed
Stars gather for Asian film festival
Migrant cap will damage UK science: Nobel laureates
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US sorry for attack on Pakistan soldiers
In a bid to defuse tensions over closing of a vital supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the US has apologised to Pakistan for a “terrible” cross-border helicopter attack that killed Pakistani soldiers near the Pak-Afghan border. “We extend our deepest apology to Pakistan and the families of the Frontier Scouts who were killed and injured. Pakistan’s brave security forces are our allies in a war that threatens both Pakistan and the US,” Ambassador Anne Patterson said in a statement here. Pakistan closed the main route for transporting supplies to US and allied forces in Afghanistan after NATO helicopters shelled a border outpost in Kurram tribal region on September 30. Pakistani military officials had said three soldiers were killed in the incident though Patterson’s statement put the death toll at two. The statement “extended an apology to Pakistan on behalf of the American people for the terrible accident on September 30 which resulted in the deaths of two Pakistani Frontier Scouts (personnel) and the injury of four others”. Patterson said a joint investigation of the incident by the US, NATO and Pakistani officials had established that “US helicopters had mistaken the Pakistani Frontier Scouts for insurgents they had been pursuing”. The US will coordinate with the Pakistan government to “prevent such tragic accidents from taking place in the future”. The death of the Pakistani soldiers had become a major source of tension between the Pakistani and US military and disrupted the supply of logistics and fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan via the Torkham border route, which was closed by Islamabad a week ago. NATO helicopters had carried out four air strikes on Pakistani territory within a week. A NATO spokesman initially justified the rare air strikes in Pakistani territory as being based on “the right of self-defence”. — PTI
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Latin writer wins literature Nobel
Stockholm, October 7 The Swedish Academy said it honoured the 74-year-old author "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt and defeat." Vargas Llosa has written more than 30 novels, plays and essays, including "Conversation in the Cathedral" and "The Green House." In 1995, he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honour. His international breakthrough came with the 1960s novel "The Time of The Hero," which builds on his experiences from the Peruvian military academy Leoncio Prado. The book was considered controversial in his homeland and a thousand copies were burnt publicly by officers from the academy. Vargas Llosa is the first South American winner of the prestigious 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) Nobel Prize in literature since it was awarded to Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1982. In the previous six years, the academy rewarded five Europeans and one Turk, sparking criticism that it was too euro-centric. Born in Arequipa, Peru, Vargas Llosa grew up with his grandparents in Bolivia after his parents divorced, the academy said. The family moved back to Peru in 1946 and he later went to military school before studying literature and law in Lima and Madrid. In 1959, he moved to Paris where he worked as a language teacher and as a journalist for Agence France-Presse and the national television service of France. He has lectured and taught at a number of universities in the US, South America and Europe. He is teaching this semester at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ. In 1990, he ran for the presidency but lost the election to Alberto Fujimori. In 1994 he was elected to the Spanish Academy, where he took his seat in 1996. — AP
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Cape Town, October 7 Tutu announced in July that he would step down from public life on his 79th birthday, which he will ring in Thursday with his wife Leah on the 180-metre (590-foot) cruise ship carrying them on a five-month voyage around the globe. "He's serious about quieting down," Tutu's spokesman Dan Vaughan told AFP. "He will now be refusing most of the interview requests he receives." Tutu served as archbishop for the Anglican Church in Cape Town, where he still lives when not travelling the world to speak out against injustice and encourage an end to conflicts. His retirement has been greeted with doubt in South Africa that Tutu will actually step away from public life, with no coverage of the event in national media. "He is going to be missed from public life most definitely. At the same time, one does understand there is a need for him to find some rest and respite after a life-long dedication and commitment to... change in South Africa," political analyst Chris Maroleng told AFP. Tutu says he will continue his work with The Elders, a group of leading statesmen that includes South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela, and with a group of fellow Nobel laureates that encourages peaceful ends to conflicts.
Obama honours Archbishop
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama says South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a "moral titan" who will be missed as he formally retires from public life on his 79th birthday Thursday.
Obama says the Nobel peace laureate has been a voice of principle, an unrelenting champion of justice and a dedicated peacemaker.
— Agencies
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Fonseka loses parliamentary seat
Colombo, October 7 Sri Lankan Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Kithulgoda today informed Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka that the parliamentary seat of 59-year-old Fonseka, who leads the opposition Democratic National Alliance (DNA), has fallen vacant. Authorities have requested the EC to nominate a person for the seat in Fonseka’s place. Fonseka is serving a 30-month jail term imposed by a court martial after the ruling was approved by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the commander in chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka. He was sent to jail on Thursday last for corruption in defence deals during his tenure as the army chief. The Sri Lankan Parliamentary system allows the candidate securing the second highest votes to succeed the elected member of the respective constituency in the event of the incumbent’s demise or disqualification. An ordinance in this regard also clearly states that if a member is jailed he loses his seat immediately, sources said. Fonseka had contested the April 8 general elections from the Colombo district constituency. — PTI
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Nepal fails to elect PM for 11th time
Kathmandu, October 7 More than three months after the 22-party coalition led by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal collapsed, 11 rounds of polls have so far failed to elect a new leader. The country has been without a government since June 30, when Nepal stood down under intense pressure from the Maoists. Poudyal secured 104 votes in favour, far below the magic figure of 301 in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, which functions as the country’s interim parliament. Of the 145 lawmakers who took part in the voting today, 40 remained neutral, while one voted against the Nepali Congress leader. The next round of voting will be held on October 10. The Parliament’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) has decided to hold the 12th and 13th round of prime ministerial election on October 10 and 26, respectively, myrepublica online, the website of the Republic newspaper, said today. No clear result was expected after the single largest party UCPN-Maoist, with 238 seats, and CPN-UML with 109 lawmakers, the third highest number of seats, decided to stay away from the election process. The Nepali Congress, which has 114 members, has ruled out the possibility of forming the next government under the Maoists’ leadership as the former rebels have not yet laid down arms, managed their combatants and dissolved the paramilitary organisation of their youth wing, Young Communist League. Poudyal is the only candidate in the fray following the withdrawal of Maoist chief Prachanda after a deal with the CPN-UML on September 17 in a bid to facilitate the formation of a national consensus government. As per the parliamentary law, the elections should continue till a candidate secures a simple majority in the House. The major parties had failed to agree on a consensus candidate for the post of the PM, leading to the process of electing a new leader through majority vote in the Assembly. — PTI
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Suicide bombers attack Sufi shrine, 10 killed
Karachi, October 7 The blasts occurred this evening in quick succession at the entrance of the packed shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi, considered to be patron saint of Karachi and is revered by millions of people. No group claimed responsibility for the blasts though the Taliban are opposed to shrines dedicated to Sufi saints. The shrine located in the upmarket area of Clifton in this Pakistan's financial capital was packed with thousands of devotees, who had gathered on Thursday, considered an auspicious day, to offer prayers and distribute langar (food). "Until now we have reports of 10 casualties and around 60 people have been wounded and shifted to hospitals in these suicide attacks," Home Minister of Sindh province Zulfiqar Ali Mirza told the media outside the shrine. — PTI
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Stars gather for Asian film festival
Busan (South Korea), October 7 Thousands descended on the Haeundae Yachting Centre, where an outdoor stage and pavilions will help ensure the public can keep up close and personal with the stars on the red carpet and throughout the festival. Hollywood heavyweights Oliver Stone and Willem Dafoe were scheduled to arrive in town, along with Bollywood's golden couple Aishwarya Rai and her husband Abhishek Bachchan, French actress Juliette Binoche and China's Tang Wei. But it was acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou who took the first bow, holding a press conference for his film "Under the Hawthorn Tree", which was scheduled to kick off the festival with an outdoor screening today evening. — AFP
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Migrant cap will damage UK science: Nobel laureates London, October 7 “(The cap) would damage our ability to recruit the brightest young talent, as well as distinguished scientists, into our universities and industries,” the eight Nobel Prize winners wrote in a letter to The Times newspaper. The scientists - including this week’s winners of the Physics prize, Russia-born Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who are based at the University of Manchester - said international collaboration underpinned 40 per cent of the UK’s scientific output. This would become more difficult with greater border restrictions in place. “The UK must not isolate itself from the increasingly globalised world of research - British science depends on it,” they wrote. Immigration Minister Damian Green said the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government had held a consultation on how the limit should work. “We will continue to attract and retain the brightest and the best people who can make a real difference to our economic growth, but unlimited migration places unacceptable pressure on public services,” he said. The letter said the cap, a key Conservative election pledge which the Liberal Democrats reluctantly agreed to in a coalition deal in May, should be adapted to recognise the needs of science and industry. “The government has seen it fit enough to introduce an exception to the rules for Premier League footballers,” the letter said. “It is a sad reflection of our priorities as a nation if we cannot afford the same recognition for elite scientists and engineers.” — Reuters
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Prince Harry’s dramatised abduction by Taliban causes uproar Nepal fails to elect PM for 11th time Maldivian President goes green New way to sift friends on Facebook 
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Stockholm, October 7
