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Thousands take to streets in Syria
Nine killed in Quetta blast
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Russia ‘hands over’ N-sub to India
BBC showman in racism row
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Thousands take to streets in Syria
Beirut, December 30 Demonstrators determined to show the strength of their movement to Arab League monitors deployed in hotspots across the country threw rocks at security forces in the Damascus suburb of Douma where troops tear-gassed the chanting crowds. Five persons were shot dead in the city of Hama and five in the city of Deraa in the south. “Five were martyred today and at least 20 wounded when the Syrian security forces opened fire,” the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, referring to Hama. It said security forces fired at tens of thousands of protesters in the northern province of Idlib, wounding 25. At least two dozen were injured in the Damascus suburb of Douma, activists said. One report said army defectors in Douma were engaged in armed clashes with troops. There were no further details. Some 250,000 gathered after Friday’s Muslim prayer in the northern province of Idlib at 74 different locations, according to the Observatory, an opposition network relaying activist reports. “This Friday is different from any other Friday. It is a transformative step. People are eager to reach the monitors and tell them about their suffering,” said activist Abu Hisham in Hama. In Homs, the city at the centre of nine months of revolt, Al Jazeera television showed a huge crowd of dancing protesters who appeared to be in the thousands. “Revolution, revolution Syria, revolution of glory and freedom Syria,” they shouted. In the Damascus suburb of Barzeh, where large crowds had also gathered, protesters held up signs saying “The Monitors are witnesses who don’t see anything,” and shouted, “Bashar we don’t want you, Syrians raise your hands.” Activists in the city of Idlib said the army had put its heavy weapons out of sight. “Security forces have moved some of their tanks out of the neighbourhood streets and have put them behind buildings further out,” said Manhal, a member of the local coordination committee. “They have also moved the tanks out of main streets. Some of them they moved into dugouts.” Meanwhile, the anti-government Free Syrian Army has ordered its fighters to stop offensive operations pending a meeting with Arab League delegates monitoring Assad’s compliance with the peace plan, the rebels’ commander said. — Reuters
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Nine killed in Quetta blast
Islamabad, December 30 The blast ripped through the residence of Shafeeq Mengal, the son of former Balochistan chief minister Mir Muhammad Naseer
Mengal. The explosion in a residential area near Arbab Karam Khan Road was heard from several kilometres away. Nine persons were killed instantly and over 30 others, including a boy, were injured, police officials said. The wounded were taken to several nearby hospitals. Officials at one hospital described the condition of two persons as serious. Shafeeq Mengal and his family escaped unhurt though some of his bodyguards were injured, Deputy Inspector General of Police (operations) Nazir Kurd told reporters. Shafeeq was the target of the attack and preliminary investigations showed the bomb was planted in a car, Kurd said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The blast caused severe damage to several cars, buildings and shops and blew out the windows of nearby structures. It also triggered a blaze that was later extinguished by fire fighters. Footage on television showed ambulances taking the injured, their clothes spattered with blood, to hospital. — PTI
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Russian N-submarine fire put out
Moscow, December 30 The Yekaterinburg Delta-class nuclear submarine had caught fire yesterday during repairs at a shipyard in Murmansk. “The fire has been contained,” Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying by RiaNovosti news agency. Officials said there was no radiation risk as the nuclear submarine’s two reactors had been shut down. President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the Prosecutor General’s Office to thoroughly investigate the incident and punish those responsible. Besides, he instructed Deputy Prime Ministers Igor Sechin and Dmitry Rogozin to take all necessary measures for the restoration of the damaged submarine. Nine people suffered from smoke inhalation while battling the fire. Seven of them were servicemen and two others were emergency ministry personnel, Russian media reported, adding they had been hospitalised.. Russia’s Northern Fleet spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga earlier said wooden scaffolding around the submarine caught fire, which spread to the vessel’s outer hull. Delta-class submarines have an outer skin of anechoic rubber, designed to absorb sound from sonars to make the boat harder to detect, but it could burn in a dry environment.
— PTI
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Russia ‘hands over’ N-sub to India
Moscow, December 30 “The signing ceremony happened yesterday at the Bolshoi Kamen ship building facility in the (Far East) Primorye region where the Nerpa is now based,” ITAR-TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian Navy official as saying. The deal for the submarine, which is being transferred on a 10-year lease, was worth $ 920 million. The report said an Indian crew would sail the Akula II class craft to its home base at the end of January. "All of the naval tests and performance checks have been completed," the Russian navy official said. The submarine, capable of remaining underwater for months, will be rechristened as 'INS Chakra' and it would be for the first time in more than two decades that the Indian navy would have a nuclear attack submarine. When Russia makes the delivery, it will make India only the sixth operator of nuclear submarines in the world. The submarine deal had figured during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Russia earlier this month. — PTI
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BBC showman in racism row
London, December 30 At one point, the controversial presenter ridiculed the unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation among the poor by driving around the slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet. A spokesman for the BBC said there have been 23 complaints about content “offensive to India” in the programme, which was broadcast on Wednesday evening. She added: “If viewers or religious groups want to complain, they can complain to the BBC. We won’t be responding through the media.” Clarkson was earlier involved in another controversy earlier this month. Clarkson was forced to apologise after saying striking public sector workers should be shot in front of their families during an appearance on The One Show on BBC1. After his latest act, many viewers, however, took straight to social networks and Internet message boards to voice their objections about the show, in which the Top Gear team set out to boost British trade links with the subcontinent. In one scene on the programme, Jeremy Clarkson was seen stripping off his trousers in front of two Indian dignitaries to show them how to use a trouser press, the report said. Adding insult to injury, the latest programme was shown just two days after the murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Salford on Boxing Day, the daily said.
— PTI
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Bidve Killing London, December 30 A 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys have been released on bail, the police announced, and added that the investigating team was putting in place plans to send officers to India to offer support to the Bidve family. A £50,000 reward has been offered by the police to find the killer. Five persons were earlier arrested by police on suspicion of murdering Bidve, who was shot in the head in Manchester at close range in an "unprovoked" attack on December 26 on Boxing Day. The British police investigating the murder apologised that his family learnt of the incident through Facebook rather than from the police. Responding to remarks of Subhash Bidve, the Pune-based father of the victim, assistant chief constable Dawn Copley said a family liaison officer was deployed soon after the incident but admitted that news of the information was first released on Facebook. "A Family Liaison Officer was quickly put in place after Anuj's murder who made exhaustive inquiries to try and inform the family and deliver the awful news personally. Unfortunately, as the officer was attempting to contact the family through the right channels, a post was put on Facebook," Copley said. The police, she said, was working closely with the coroner to ensure the family can bring Anuj's body home as soon as possible. — PTI
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Ukraine’s former PM moved to
prison colony
Kiev, December 30 Tymoshenko, the nation’s top opposition leader, was sentenced to seven years in jail in October in a trial the West has condemned as politically motivated. She has been reportedly been in poor health, bedridden and denied medical care while locked up in a Kiev prison cell.
— AP
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Melbourne, December 30 Yesterday, at the stroke of midnight (15:30 IST), Samoa has fast-forwarded to December 31, missing out December 30. Samoa has announced this decision in May in a bid to improve ties with major trade partners Australia and New Zealand.
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Bidve Killing
