|
|
|
|
|
Egypt protesters clash with police, one dead
Arabs prepare sanctions to punish Syria
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Violence mars US Black Friday shopping
Yemen Opposition names candidate to lead govt
Yemeni women and anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally demanding the trial of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa on Saturday. — AFP
Kiwi PM Key wins 2nd term
New Zealand PM John Key
|
|
Egypt protesters clash with police, one dead
Cairo, November 26 Two days of voting begin on Monday in the first stage of a complex, drawn-out election that will be completed in January. One protester, Ahmed Sayed, 21, died after being hit by a state security vehicle in the clashes. His death was the first since a truce between police and demonstrators on Thursday calmed violence that had killed 41 persons in Cairo and elsewhere. Alarmed by the violence, the United States and the European Union have urged a swift handover to civilian rule in a country where prolonged political turmoil has compounded economic woes. The latest clash occurred near the cabinet office on the second day of a sit-in to protest against the army's appointment of 78-year-old Kamal Ganzouri, a premier under ousted President Hosni Mubarak, to form a "national salvation government". An army source said the ruling military council held separate talks with presidential candidates Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa. "I met Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi over the current crisis and discussed ways to resolve it," Moussa told Reuters later, but gave no details. Protest groups have named ElBaradei as their choice to head a civilian body to supervise Egypt's transition to democracy instead of the army council that took over from Mubarak. Ganzouri, who told Reuters he had yet to start forming his cabinet, met with youth activists, but the April 6 movement, prominent in the anti-Mubarak revolt, disavowed those involved, saying they were "planted by the military council". Tahrir protesters have dismissed Ganzouri, premier from 1996 to 1999, as another face from the past whose appointment reflects the generals' resistance to change. — Reuters
|
|
Arabs prepare sanctions to punish Syria Cairo, November 26 The finance ministers were to thrash out a package, expected to include the suspension of flights and freezing of government assets which will then be put to foreign ministers tomorrow. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he would join tomorrow’s meeting to harmonise his government’s own measures with those of the Arab League, saying that Ankara’s former ally had missed its “last chance” by failing to heed the Arab ultimatum. But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, whose country has close economic ties with Syria and a large refugee community in its western neighbour, said it was “not possible” to impose sanctions on the Assad regime. The Arab League had set a Friday deadline for the regime to agree to the details of the observers’ mission, part of a reform deal that Damascus had previously said it accepted. Davutoglu, whose government has expressed outrage at the mounting bloodshed in its southern neighbour that saw at least 16 people killed just yesterday, said the Damascus regime’s refusal to allow in observers could only mean it had something to conceal. “Syria was expected to say yes to the observers... unless there is a reality it hides about the situation in Syrian cities,” Davutoglu said after the deadline’s expiry. “As it said no, it increased... the concerns on the humanitarian situation,” he said, in the wake of UN estimates that the crackdown has cost more than 3,500 lives since March. Ankara already has some measures in hand against Damascus, including a suspension of joint oil exploration and a threat to halt power exports. — AFP
|
|
Violence mars US Black Friday shopping New York, November 25 One of the most outrageous incidents of the day was in the Los Angeles area, where up to 20 people were injured after a woman at a Walmart used pepper spray to get an edge on other shoppers in a rush for Xbox game
consoles. Walmart seemed to have a worse day than many other retailers as shoppers screamed, shoved and elbowed each other to save a few bucks. Incidents across the country included a man shot by robbers in the parking lot outside the San
Leandro, California storeand shoppers pepper sprayed by security at a store in Kinston, North Carolina. A fight for bath towels, purportedly recorded at a Michigan store, has become a YouTube sensation. Cheap towels also caused mayhem at a Walmart in Oregon, Ohio. "They were fighting over bath towels on sale for $1.88, as ridiculous as that sounds," Police Sergeant Jason Druckenmiller said. "A woman tried to get her hands on some towels when she was pushed from behind, and that's when she came out swinging." Company spokesman Greg Rossiter said violence at a handful of stores marred an otherwise safe start to the holiday shopping season at thousands of Walmart stores. — Reuters
|
|
|
Yemen Opposition names candidate to lead govt Sanaa, November 26 Mohammed Basindawa, a former member of Saleh’s ruling party, was chosen late last night to head a national unity government, Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesman of the opposition Common Forum, told AFP. “His name will be presented today to Vice-President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi” who is now the Executive President according to the Gulf-brokered deal signed on Wednesday, he said. Saleh signed the exit agreement in Riyadh after months of dodging domestic and international pressure to step down after 33 years in office. According to the Gulf-and UN-sponsored roadmap, Saleh hands to Hadi “all powers necessary for proceeding with the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanism and for organising early elections within a 90-day period which begins immediately after the signing.” Saleh remains as an honorary President during this period, while the opposition puts forward a candidate to head a national unity government. — AFP
|
|
|
Kiwi PM Key wins 2nd term
Wellington, November 26 Key’s centre-right National Party fell just short of an outright majority but lifted its vote by more than three points to 48.1 per cent, its highest in 60 years, and will form government in coalition with minor parties. The election followed a turbulent 12 months for New Zealand, which was rocked by February’s Christchurch earthquake and buoyed by last month’s victory in the Rugby World Cup. Key, 50, won plaudits for his leadership through the quake, as well as a colliery explosion in which 29 miners died, and much of National’s campaign was based around his personal popularity. The main opposition Labour Party secured only 27 per cent of the vote, its worst result since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996. Labour leader Phil Goff said he accepted the electorate’s decision. — AFP
|
|
|
London, November 26 Statisticians found the share of overweight and obese people increases with age in all of the 19 member states that data was available for. After the UK, the countries with the highest levels of female obesity were Malta, with 21.1 per cent, and Latvia, where 20.9 per cent fulfilled that criteria. Meanwhile, after Malta and the UK, the countries with the highest instances of male obesity were Hungary --- where 21.4 per cent fall into that category --- and the Czech Republic, where 18.4 per cent are classed as such. The UK’s high levels of obesity are in stark contrast to those in countries such as Romania, where just 8 per cent of women were classed as obese along with 7.6 per cent of men. Obesity levels were also found to be low in Italy, Bulgaria and France. — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
demanding an end to army rule clashed with the police firing tear gas in central Cairo today in a flare-up that cast another shadow over a parliamentary election billed as the nation's first free vote in decades.
Yemen’s opposition parties have nominated the head of their coalition to lead the first government after veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to quit in 90 days, a spokesman said today.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key won a second term today, with voters in no mood for change after a tumultuous year marked by a devastating earthquake and glory in the Rugby World Cup.
Key’s centre-right National Party fell just short of an outright majority but lifted its vote by more than three points to 48.1 per cent, its highest in 60 years, and will form government in coalition with minor parties.
