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US to deploy tanks in Afghan war
Afghanistan handover issue hangs over NATO summit
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Namibia terror scare only security test: Germany
Rajapaksa sworn in for second term
Kanishka bomber apologies to victims’ families
‘Curry King’, Loomba conferred UK peerages
Venky’s buys Rovers, is first Indian firm to own EPL side Suspicious package was a dummy bomb: Germany
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US to deploy tanks in Afghan war
Washington, November 19 A company of 14 M1A1 Abrams tanks and about 115 Marines is set to deploy in Helmand province in Afghanistan's southwest, long a Taliban stronghold, an official with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. It will allow ground forces to target insurgents from a greater distance, and with more of a lethal punch, than is possible from any other US military vehicle. A US officer familiar with the decision said the tanks would be used initially in parts of northern Helmand province, where the Marines have been engaged in intense combat against resilient Taliban cells that typically are armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and homemade bombs. The overall number and area of operations could expand depending on needs, an un-named US official was quoted as saying. The official said the deployment of tanks would provide the Marines with an important new tool in missions to flush out pockets of insurgent fighters. "A tank round is far more accurate than firing artillery, and it can be launched much faster than having to wait for a fighter jet or a helicopter to shoot a missile or drop a satellite-guided bomb," it said. "Tanks give you immediate, protected firepower and mobility to address a threat that's beyond the range" of machine guns that are mounted on the mine-resistant trucks that most US troops use in Afghanistan, David Johnson, a senior researcher at the Rand Corp. who co-wrote a recent paper on the use of tanks in counterinsurgency operations, was quoted as saying. According to a source, the earlier request for tanks were shot down by the Army Gen. David D McKiernan, in part because of concern it could remind Afghans of the tank-heavy Soviet occupation in the 1980s. General David Petraeus, Commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, approved the request of tanks from the Marines last month. Petraeus believes counterinsurgency does not mean just handing out sacks of wheat seed," said a senior officer in Afghanistan. Counterinsurgency "doesn't mean you don't blow up stuff or kill people who need to be killed." — Agencies
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Afghanistan handover issue hangs over NATO summit
Lisbon: President Barack Obama and the leaders of NATO's 27 other member nations open a two-day summit aimed at finding ways to keep the Cold War alliance relevant in the 21st century with revamped roles including ballistic missile defence, anti-piracy patrols and counter-terrorism.
But the meeting is being overshadowed by the escalating war in Afghanistan, where the alliance is struggling to contain Taliban militants. Obama will face tough questions from US allies on his exit strategy in Afghanistan. Tomorrow, the leaders are expected to endorse a plan by Gen David Petraeus, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, to start handing over responsibility for security in some areas of Afghanistan to government forces in 2011. The plan is to end the alliance's combat role by 2014 if conditions on the ground allow, but to retain significant forces in the country after that to train and advise the Afghan army and police. —
AP
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Namibia terror scare only security test: Germany
Berlin, November 19 The Namibian police found the bag in routine security checks ahead of the Air Berlin tourist flight, sparking concerns in Germany, which is on heightened security alert. Analysts said the fact the suspect device turned out to be a fake used for testing was highly unusual. The discovery of the package, which the German police said contained batteries along with the detonator and clock, caused jitters in Germany a day after German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere issued a stark warning about possible militant attacks next week. On Friday de Maiziere told a news conference in Hamburg that the package found in Namibia was only a fake. “BKA (Federal Crime Office) officials have examined it and the result is that it is a so-called ‘real test suitcase’ from a US company,” he said. “This company produces alarm and detection systems and these test suitcases are made to test security measures. “No explosives were found in the suitcase and at no time was there any danger to passengers,” de Maiziere added. A BKA spokeswoman could not identify the company concerned. — Reuters
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Rajapaksa sworn in for second term
Sri Lanka's charismatic President Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Friday sworn in for an unprecedented second six-year term amid a boycott by opposition parties, as he vowed to turn the war-torn country into an economic "wonder" of Asia. Rajapaksa, who turned 65 yesterday, was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Ashoka D Silva during a colourful open air ceremony held at the sea front at the Presidential Secretariat, followed by a tri-service military parade by thousands of troops and a 21-gun salute. In his second term, a powerful Rajapaksa says, he wants to turn this island nation into a "wonder of Asia" and has announced a series of infrastructure projects, including a $1.5-billion port built by the Chinese in his hometown of Hambantota which he inaugurated on Thursday.
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Kanishka bomber apologies to victims’ families
Vancouver, November 19 “No words in any language can ever bring closure to those who have lost loved ones as a result of the Air India and Narita tragedies. Neither can words bring back those who perished in such tragic circumstances. I sincerely apologise to each and every one of the victims who have been left with such grief of burden to bear,” Reyat said in the statement. Reyat was convicted of perjury in September after a jury ruled that he had made untruthful statements during the 2003 Air India trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted of masterminding the bomb plot. Both Malik and Bagri were acquitted of all charges, but Crown prosecutor Len Doust has said that the outcome of the trial might have been different if Reyat had told what he knew about the Air India disaster. The 58-year-old, who will be sentenced on January 7, faces up to 14 years in prison. Flight 182 had crashed into the Atlantic on June 23, 1985, killing 329 people. — ANI
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‘Curry King’, Loomba conferred UK peerages
London, November 19 Sir Noon was appointed Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1994 and Knighted in 2002.A friend of former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, besides Prince Charles, Sir Noon was questioned under caution in connection with the cash-for-honours scandal after being nominated for a peerage by Blair. Founder of the Noon Products and Noon Foundation, he has given over £700,000 to Labour in 10 years and gave up his non-domicile tax status to be assistant treasurer of the Labour Party.Loomba on the other hand is the founder chairman of the Loomba Trust, a charity for the welfare of children of widows in India.“I am delighted. I am very proud of the fact that the Labour party has recommended my name for the Peerage and I will continue to work in the interests of the people of this country,” Noon said, reacting on his appointment. Noon (74), a multi-millionaire businessman, has been nominated by key Labour leaders who believe he was unfairly treated during the ‘cash for honours’ scandal. Noon gave labour £205,000 earlier this year for its general election campaign, taking to £738,000 the value of his total gifts to the party. — PTI
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Venky’s buys Rovers, is first Indian firm to own EPL side London, November 19 A newly established British subsidiary called Venky's London Limited paid $36.8 million for a 99.9 percent stake in the northwest England side and will make an unconditional offer for the remaining shares. “The board of Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic plc (BRF&A) today announces the sale by BRFC Investments Limited (a company indirectly wholly owned by the Jack Walker 1987 Settlement) of its 99.9 per cent shareholding in BRF&A to Venky's London Limited, a newly formed company owned by the Rao family of India for a sum (including contingent consideration payable) of £23 million or 17.17 pence per share,” a club statement said. “Venky’s London Limited will be making an equivalent unconditional offer to the minority shareholders, holding the remaining 0.1 per cent of the shares in BRF&A,” it added. Paul Egerton- Vernon, chairman of the Jack Walker Settlement Trustees, said: “We have been impressed with their enthusiasm for the club and their plans and ideas for future investment to develop it further as well as their wish and commitment to preserve the legacy of Jack Walker. We are particularly pleased that the club will continue in family ownership and that the existing management team at the Rovers led by John Williams will continue unchanged.” “Over the last 10 years, the global appeal of the Premier League has grown significantly and it is only natural that, as we have seen at other Clubs, international ownership and investment should increase.” Venky’s chairperson Anuradha Desai said her company would work hard to ensure that Blackburn Rovers remains one of the best run clubs in the EPL. Blackburn Rovers would not comment on whether the new owners would pay off the club's debt that stood at $33.6 million, according to its last full-year results. The club was relegated in 1999 and, aside from promotion in 2001 and a League Cup title in 2002, Blackburn has mostly occupied mid-table in the EPL since then. —
PTI
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Suspicious package was a dummy bomb: Germany Berlin, November 19 A laptop bag containing batteries attached by wire to a detonator and a ticking clock wrapped in plastic sheets was a “real test” suitcase manufactured by an American company, de Maiziere told a news conference in Hamburg. The company specialises in manufacturing alarm systems and other security equipment for a wide range of customers, including intelligence agencies around the world. The minister said he had no information on who could have delivered the package. A team of experts sent by Germany’s Federal Crime Office to examine the suspicious package are in the Namibian capital and they are expected to provide more information about who was behind it, he said. Media reports said American intelligence agencies, including the FBI, have been using similar devices since the terrorist attacks in 2001 to test baggage and cargo security checks at various airports. But, the US authorities have denied that they carried out the test and suggested that some African governments or Germany’s intelligence service may be behind, the reports said. — PTI
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The US is sending battle tanks to Afghanistan next month for the first time in the drawn-out war against Taliban-led insurgents, the US military and NATO-led forces said today.
