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Lebanon on edge after car bomb kills security chief
Gujral, Jagjivan Ram among 61 foreigners honoured by B’desh
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Obama corners Republican rival with ‘Romnesia’ jibe
A copy of US President Barack Obama’s book ‘The Audacity of Hope’ is held by a supporter looking for an autograph during a campaign rally in Virginia. — Reuters
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Lebanon on edge after car bomb kills security chief
Beirut, October 20 Mikati told a news conference in the presidential palace that he had offered his resignation to President Michel Suleiman to make way for a government of national unity, but had been asked to remain in office for the time being. As he spoke, gunmen and demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres in Beirut and other cities to protest against the killing of Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan in a car bomb explosion in the centre of the capital on Friday afternoon. Lebanese politicians have accused Syrian President Bashar-al Assad of being behind the attack, deepening fears that Syria's sectarian-tinged civil war is spreading to its neighbour. The opposition March 14 bloc had called for the government, which includes ministers from the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which is close to Assad, to step down. "Today, I am saying more and more that there should be a national consensus government," Mikati said. "The cabinet will eventually resign, but at the moment we must take a national stance, and I call on the Lebanese to unite together." Hassan had led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005. He also helped to uncover a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of a pro-Assad former Lebanese minister, an incident that fuelled sectarian enmity in a country where the balance between religious groups is fragile. Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those that support Assad in Syria's civil war and those that back the Sunni-led rebels. Lebanon is still recovering from its own 1975-1990 civil war, and the assassination threatens to bring a new bout of instability and bloodshed. In the capital's Sunni Muslim areas, where most people are opposed to the Alawite Assad, cars mounted with loudspeakers cruised the streets issuing calls for the government to resign. Dozens of gunmen were in the streets and the mood was tense, witnesses said. — Reuters
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Gujral, Jagjivan Ram among 61 foreigners honoured by B’desh Dhaka, October 20 Several of the elderly foreign friends appeared in wheelchairs to receive the award from President Zillur Rahman and Premier Sheikh Hasina, while some others were represented by their relatives as they were honoured posthumously under a government plan to formally acknowledge their contributions. Former Prime Minister Gujral and ex-Nepalese Premier Girija Prasad Koirala were conferred with the "Bangladesh Liberation War Honour" while the rest were awarded "Friends of Liberation War" honour. The then Indian Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram and a number of veterans of Indian army who fought the 1971 war, including Col Ashok Tara (retd), were among those conferred with the "Friends of Liberation War" honour at a special, third of its kind ceremony in Bangladesh. Out of the 61 foreign friends awarded were 51 Indians. Some of these people extended their support to Bangladesh as aid-workers, politicians, journalists, artists and diplomats. Actress and Rajya Sabha MP Shabana Azmi received the award on behalf of her late father Kaifi Azmi, while Jagjivan Ram's grandson and Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar's son Anshul Abhijit received the crest on his behalf. "He (Ram) was instrumental in the creation of the joint command of Bangladesh and Indian forces for the final assault (on Pakistani troops) which led to the victory," the citation for the ex-Indian Defence Minister read. Colonel Tara, who received the award in person, is a well-known veteran who took part in and survived several deadly battles with Pakistani troops. The retired Indian Colonel, who was a Major at that time, however, is more known for his role in rescuing Hasina, her mother Begum Fajilatunnesa Mujib, sister Sheikh Rehana and brother Sheikh Rasel from captivity of Pakistani troops at a house at the fag end of the 1971 Liberation War "We have an initial list of over 500 such foreign friends who made immense contribution to the birth of Bangladesh. — PTI
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Obama corners Republican rival with ‘Romnesia’ jibe Washington, October 20 "He (Romney) is changing up so much and backtracking and sidestepping (that) we've got to name this condition that he is going through. I think it's called 'Romnesia'. That's what it's called. I think that's what he's going through," Obama said during his election speech in Fairfax, Virginia. Romney has come down with a case of 'Romnesia' because he is now forgetting what were his own positions on various women-related issues like equal wages, coverage for contraceptive care and their right to choose, Obama claimed. "You say you're for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you'd sign a bill (on it). You say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care," Omaba said. "If you say you'll protect a woman's right to choose, but you stand up at a primary debate and said that you'd be 'delighted' to sign a law outlawing that right to choose in all cases, man, you've definitely got Romnesia," he added. — PTI US President to be sworn in on January 21 The next US President to be elected through the November 6 polls will be sworn-in on January 21 and not on the constitutionally mandated date of January 20, as it falls on a Sunday. This will be only the seventh time in American history that the constitutionally mandated inauguration date has fallen on a Sunday. The last time it was during Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985.
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Dhaka Beijing Beirut
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Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday he had been asked by the President to stay in his post as fear and anger over the assassination of a senior intelligence chief opposed to the Syrian leadership gripped the country.
Accusing Mitt Romney and his team of frequently changing stand on a host of issues, President Barack Obama launched a humour-blended attack on his Republican rival, saying he was suffering from 'Romnesia', which could only be cured through
'Obamacare'.
London