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US target in Somalia plotted Kenya attacks
Shutdown drags on as US scrambles to avert debt crisis
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Bhutto murder case
‘God particle’ finders clinch physics Nobel
Vehicles with Indian number plates banned in south Nepal
Gen Kayani gets addl charge as JCSC chairman
UN chief says team in Syria faces many threats
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US target in Somalia plotted Kenya attacks
Nairobi, October 8 They have not established that Ikrima, a Kenyan of Somali origin who spent several years in Norway, was involved in last month's attack on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed 67 persons, for which al Shabaab has claimed responsibility. However, he plotted to attack Kenya's parliament, assassinate top Kenyan politicians and hit UN offices in Nairobi, according to a Kenyan intelligence report leaked to the media and also obtained by Reuters. These plans failed, but so too did the US Navy SEALS mission into Barawe, a militant stronghold on Somalia's southern coast. The special forces team pulled out after a gun battle without capturing Ikrima, said the Pentagon "He is a planner who is relentless in coming up with operations in Kenya," said Matt Bryden, a former coordinator of the United Nations Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group. "He is one of the thinkers, planners, operational practitioners." One defector from al-Shabaab, who now works with Somali intelligence, described Ikrima as a well-connected man in his 30s able to mastermind operations across the border into Kenya. In 2004, he travelled to Norway where he applied for asylum but left in 2008 before there was a decision on his application. — Reuters IKRIMA-THE TERROR MASTERMIND
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Shutdown drags on as US scrambles to avert debt crisis
Washington, October 8 President Barack Obama has so far refused to negotiate with Republicans who are insisting that any government funding bill must somehow delay, defund or otherwise disrupt his showpiece healthcare programme dubbed 'Obamacare'. Obama said he will not bow to Republicans' demands that he enter negotiations with them even risking a continued shutdown or the first-ever debt default in US history. Republicans remain undeterred, saying they would neither raise the $ 16.7 trillion debt ceiling nor reopen the government without first winning concessions. Democrats are hoping to get Republicans to agree to a long-term $ 1 trillion debt-limit increase to ensure that the government does not reach a point this month where it may be unable to pay its bills, risking its first default. Democrats say they may also accept a short-term bill, perhaps lasting only weeks, if necessary to avoid going over the brink. The Democratic push on the debt limit came as the shutdown entered its eighth day with no solution in sight. The White House has already warned that the looming prospect of a debt default by the world's largest economy was a "terrible" scenario that would harm America's democracy and global stature. — PTI Obama thinks my way or The Highway: JindaL WHITE HOUSE OPS HIT * Of the 1,701 advisers, assistants, number-crunchers, butlers, chefs and landscapers at the White House normally, fewer than 450 are working.
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Musharraf not to be discharged
Islamabad, October 8 The Social Justice Party sought immunity for Musharraf under Constitutional provisions, contending that he could not be included in the investigation or declared an accused as he was the President at the time of Bhutto's assassination. Judge Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman of the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi dismissed the petition after hearing arguments by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar, Pakistan Peoples Party lawyer Latif Khosa and Social Justice Party head Akhtar Shah. Opposing the petition, the FIA prosecutor contended that Shah should produce evidence to prove the innocence of the former dictator. Khosa said Musharraf was a nominated accused in the high-profile case and the prosecution has all necessary evidence against him. Former premier Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber shortly after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi in December 2007. — PTI
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‘God particle’ finders clinch physics Nobel
Stockholm, October 8 Higgs, 84, and Englert, 80, were honoured for theorising a particle, discovered last year after an agonising quest, that explains why the universe has any substance at all. "This particle originates from an invisible field that fills up all space. Even when the universe seems empty this field is there," the jury said in a statement. "Without it, we would not exist, because it is from contact with the field that particles acquire mass." Shortly after the announcement, the University of Edinburgh posted a statement from Higgs saying he was "overwhelmed" by the honour. "I would also like to congratulate all those who have contributed to the discovery of this new particle and to thank my family, friends and colleagues for their support," Higgs said. "I hope this recognition of fundamental science will help raise awareness of the value of blue-sky research." Englert told AFP in a brief comment: "I'm very happy to have received the prize." Known as a boson, the discovery was popularly dubbed the "God particle" on the grounds that it is everywhere yet baffingly elusive to find. Without it, say theorists, we and all the other joined-up atoms in the universe would not exist. The presumed particle was discovered last year by Europe's mega-scale physics lab at CERN, near Geneva, after a decades-long search. "As an achievement, it ranks alongside the confirmation that the Earth is round or man's first steps on the Moon," Canadian particle physicist Pauline Gagnon told AFP. Higgs and Englert, at the Free University of Brussels, were honoured for "the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles," the jury said in its formal citation. The duo received the world's most prestigious award for excellence in physics nearly a half century after they and others set down the theoretical groundwork. The history of the discovery dates back to 1964, when six physicists, working independently in three groups, published a flurry of papers. In line with tradition, the laureates will receive their prize at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of prize founder Alfred Nobel's death in 1896. The pair will share the prize sum of eight million Swedish kronor ($1.25 million), reduced because of the economic crisis last year from the 10 million kronor awarded since 2001. — AFP historic research *
The presumed particle was discovered last year by Europe's mega-scale physics lab at CERN, near Geneva, after a decades-long search *
The history of the discovery dates back to 1964, when six physicists, working independently in three groups, published a flurry of papers |
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Vehicles with Indian number plates banned in south Nepal
Kathmandu, October 8 The District Election Office in Nawalparasi has directed parties not to use vehicles with Indian registration and asked them to get temporary permission from authorities if they have to use these vehicles for the polls to the Constituent Assembly next month. The directive comes in the wake of massive use of vehicles from across the border, which carry Indian number plates, The Himalayan Times reported today. Vehicles with Indian numbers can be used only with temporary permission. — PTI
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Gen Kayani gets addl charge as JCSC chairman
Islamabad, October 8 Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid said appointments to the posts of Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee will be made in accordance with the constitutional framework. Responding to queries, Rashid said currently chief of the army staff is holding the acting charge of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and this position will be filled within 30 days as per the constitutional requirement. — PTI |
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UN chief says team in Syria faces many threats
United Nations, October 8
The mission "will seek to conduct an operation the likes of which, quite simply, have never been tried before," Ban said yesterday, in a report to the UN Security Council obtained by AFP. A joint United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission is to carry out the destruction of President Bashar al-Assad's chemical arms in line with a UN Security Council resolution passed on September 27. Russia and the United States acted to disarm Syria after a chemical weapons attack near Damascus in August in which hundreds died. A small OPCW team is already in Syria to start the destruction of weapons production facilities. Ban recommended it be increased to about 100 experts who will stay for a maximum of one year. The mission will have its headquarters in Damascus with a support base in Cyprus. — AFP Second team
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Maldivian top court orders fresh Presidential polls before Oct 20 N Korea warns US on joint naval drills US-Afghan deal falters as Karzai talks tough Re-vote in Maldives on Oct 19 after SC orders fresh ballot 10 killed in Bangladesh garment factory fire
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Ikrima, the militant targeted by US special forces in a failed weekend raid, is a Somali-based thinker, planner and operator who has relentlessly plotted attacks on neighbouring Kenya, intelligence services and analysts believe. Kenyan and Western security agencies have identified Ikrima as the link man for commanders of the al-Shabaab Islamist group in Somalia with Al-Qaida and Kenya's home-bred militants.
Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium won the Nobel Prize for physics today for conceiving of the so-called "God particle" which confers mass.
Higgs, 84, and Englert, 80, were honoured for theorising a particle, discovered last year after an agonising quest, that explains why the universe has any substance at all. "This particle originates from an invisible field that fills up all space. Even when the universe seems empty this field is there," the jury said in a statement.
Women shouldn’t wear veil in court:
Malala