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US blizzard: 2 dead, lakhs without power
Japan suggests hotline to Beijing over island spat
Zardari, Bilawal move into new house
Poll survey indicates narrow lead for ruling Pak party
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Sikh woman charged in Brar attack case
Assad reshuffles Cabinet; jets pound Damascus
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US blizzard: 2 dead, lakhs without power
New York, February 9 The blizzard dubbed as 'Nemo' brought life to a standstill with wind and heavy snow snapping power lines and forcing more than half-a-million customers to sit in homes without electricity, including 3,89,000 in Massachusetts, 1,77,000 in Rhode Island and 35,000 in Connecticut, the authorities said. The furious storm dumped more than a foot and a half of snow on New York state and Connecticut, forcing the authorities to cancel several schools across the region and asking people to stay off the streets. Air travels in or out of New York halted yesterday with airlines cancelling 3,775 flights till today and all flights in and out of Boston's Logan International Airport getting cancelled, according to flight tracker FlightAware.com. A 74-year-old man was killed when a young woman lost control over her car in the snow on a highway in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, while another man was killed after he lost control of his car and hit a tree in Auburn, New Hampshire, media reports said. Minor injuries were reported in a 19-car pile-up on Interstate 295 in Falmouth, Maine, caused by poor visibility and slippery road conditions. New York, one of the world's busiest air travel hubs, was cut off from the skies as snow and wind led airlines to suspend all operations at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F Kennedy International airports. "This one doesn't come along every day. This is going to be a dangerous winter storm," meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Massachusetts Alan Dunham said yesterday in a CBS News report.
PTI
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Japan suggests hotline to Beijing over island spat Tokyo, February 9 The proposal came after Tokyo accused a Chinese frigate of locking its weapons-tracking radar on a Japanese destroyer a claim Beijing has denied. The incident, which Japan said happened last week, marked the first time the two nations' navies have locked horns in a territorial dispute that provoked fears of armed conflict breaking out between the two. The neighbours have seen ties sour over the uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Tokyo and Diaoyu by Beijing, which claims them. "What's important is to create a hotline, so that we would be able to communicate swiftly when this kind of incident happens," Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters. He said Tokyo told Beijing that it wants to resume talks on creating a "seaborne communication mechanism" between military officials of both countries.
AFP Avoiding clash The proposal came after Tokyo accused a Chinese frigate of locking its weapons-tracking radar on a Japanese destroyer a claim Beijing has denied The incident marked the first time the two nations' navies have locked horns in a territorial dispute that provoked fears of armed conflict breaking out between the two
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Zardari, Bilawal move into new house
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have moved into the newly constructed 'Bilawal House' in Lahore that will be the base for their political activities in Punjab province ahead of the general election. Zardari drove straight from the airport to the Bilawal House, his new residence in Bahria town, after flying into Lahore yesterday. Anticipating court's ire over his political activities, Zardari decided against going to the Governor's House and flew to the Bilawal House amid stringent security. The fortress-like house spawning over dozens of acres has been "gifted" by property tycoon Malik Riaz of Bahria town, according to media reports. The President got cautious about using any 'official residence' after the government this week had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court that the President House would not be used for political activities.
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Poll survey indicates narrow lead for ruling Pak party Islamabad, February 9 Twenty nine per cent of the people surveyed said they would vote for the PPP, 25 per cent for the main opposition PML-N and 20 per cent for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf. Respondents were asked who they had voted for most frequently in the past and voting histories indicated the PML-N's vote bank had remained stable, while the PPP's appeared to have significantly declined. The Political Barometer survey, conducted by Herald magazine and Sustainable Development Policy Institute, an Islamabad-based think tank, covered 1,283 respondents in 54 districts across Pakistan. In line with expectations, 55 per cent of respondents who identified themselves as Sindhis said they would vote for the PPP in the general election expected to be held by May. PTI
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Sikh woman charged in Brar attack case London, February 9 "Harjit Kaur appeared in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday charged with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm on Lieutenant-General KS Brar," a Metropolitan police spokesperson said. Kaur, from Hayes in west London, is the fourth accused to be charged in the case along with Barjinder Singh Sangha (33), Mandeep Singh Sandhu (34) and Dilbagh Singh (36). All four charged in the case are scheduled to stand trial from April 2.
PTI
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Assad reshuffles Cabinet; jets pound Damascus
Damascus, February 9 Syria is in the depths of an unprecedented economic recession because of the violence gripping the country for nearly two years, and the latest government reshuffle focused on finance and social affairs portfolios. The World Bank says the country's gross domestic product has shrunk 20 per cent, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) puts unemployment at 37 per cent and possibly hitting 50 per cent by the end of 2013. Assad changed seven ministers, the official SANA news agency reported. It said he split the ministry of labour and social affairs into two, and brought in a woman, Kinda Shmat, to head the latter. Hassan Hijazi becomes labour minister. Ismail Ismail becomes finance minister and Sleiman Abbas takes the oil and mineral resources portfolio. The housing and urban development, agriculture and public works ministers also changed. In the latest fighting, air raids today hit northern and eastern areas outlying the capital, amid fighting between loyalist troops and insurgents, a watchdog said. Warplanes also hit the town of Sabineh south of Damascus, and fierce clashes broke out between rebels and troops in the embattled town of Daraya, where the army shelled insurgent positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
AFP
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north-eastern US for a second day today, killing at least two persons and severing power and transport links for millions of people as the monster blizzard dumped more than a foot and a half of snow on New York and Connecticut.
London, February 9
