Beijing, November 26
China's first aircraft carrier today left for its maiden deep-sea trials in the strategic South China Sea, where it is expected to play a major role amid heightened tensions with its neighbours over disputed islands.

The 'Liaoning' left its home port of Qingdao for the South China Sea on a scientific and training mission, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China is a conducting several experiments on the 57,000-tonne carrier, including testing the new J-15 fighter plane's operations from its deck. This is the first time the carrier has embarked on a cross-sea training voyage since it was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy last year, Liaoning's Captain Zhang Zheng said. The voyage will test the carrier's equipment, he said.

The carrier's crew conducted a series of tests and training drills, including landing and take-off by various aircraft, including the J-15.

The carrier was escorted by two missile destroyers, Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigates, Yantai and Weifang.

The carrier, originally known as Varyag, was bought from Ukraine a decade ago and extensively refurbished before being commissioned last year.

Long voyages are necessary for experimentation and training and to test equipment and troops under continuous work and different hydrological and meteorological conditions.

The carrier's trials began days after China's unilateral move to establish an air defence zone over an area including islands in the East China Sea claimed by Japan. — PTI

Bangkok, November 26
A Thai court today approved an arrest warrant for a top anti-government leader as thousands of demonstrators besieged government buildings demanding beleaguered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's resignation.

"We sought an arrest warrant for Suthep (Thaugsuban) and the Criminal Court just approved it," said Colonel Sunthorn Kongklam of Bang Sue police station in the capital. "I ask him to surrender, otherwise the police can arrest him on sight."

Thousands of protesters continued their siege of government buildings which began yesterday as the Parliament discussed a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister.

Demonstrators surrounded the interior, agriculture, transport, and sports and tourism ministries, ordering officials inside to leave, a day after they broke into the finance and foreign ministries and cut off electric and water supply.

Suthep, a former deputy Prime Minister and senior leader from the opposition Democrat party, vowed to "seize all ministries" after storming the finance ministry yesterday.

The protests raised fears of fresh street violence since 2010 as thousands of demonstrators rallied against Prime Minister Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

The demonstrations, sparked by an amnesty bill that could have allowed the return of Thaksin from self-imposed exile, escalated troubles for Yingluck since she took office in 2011 with Thaksin support from the "Red Shirts", whose 2010 protests were crushed by the then Democrat-led government.

Opposition Democrat Party leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva attacked Prime Minister Yingluck denouncing her as the "centre of comprehensive corruption practices". — PTI

Washington, November 26
US President Barack Obama has cited an Indian-American woman entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley after she got a green card following over 12 years of agonising wait to push for a comprehensive immigration reform that would attract best talents from across the globe.

"We're training our own competition, rather than invite those incredibly talented young people, like Geetha, to stay here and start businesses and create jobs here," Obama said in his remarks on immigration in San Francisco yesterday.

Geetha Vallabhaneni, an entrepreneur who immigrated to the United States from India 15 years ago in pursuit of the American dream, was given the privilege to introduce Obama at the event.

According to a White House official, after waiting for 12 long years to obtain a green card, Geetha is now living her dream in Silicon Valley where she started Luminix, an enterprise software company, within 10 months of receiving her green card.

Referring to his recent meeting with top American CEOs, Obama said their top priority was that the US invites the brightest minds from around the world to study here and then does not let them stay.

"We end up sending them home to create new jobs and start new businesses someplace else," he said.

Pushing for his case for the comprehensive immigration reform, Obama said the law would modernise America's legal immigration system in order to eliminate the backlog of family visas and make it easier to attract highly skilled entrepreneurs from beyond its borders. — PTI

Kathmandu, November 26
Archaeologists have unearthed the earliest ever 'Buddhist shrine' at Buddha's birthplace in Nepal, which suggests the sage may have lived in the 6th century BC, two centuries earlier than thought.

Excavations within the sacred Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini in Nepal, a UNESCO World Heritage site long identified as the birthplace of the Buddha, uncovered the remains of a previously unknown sixth-century BC timber structure under a series of brick temples.

This is the first archaeological material linking the life of the Buddha — and thus the first flowering of Buddhism — to a specific century, according to the research co-led by Robin Coningham from Durham University, UK.

The timber structure contains an open space in the centre that is linked to the nativity story of the Buddha himself — his mother Queen Maya Devi gave birth to him while holding on to a tree branch within the Lumbini Garden.

The researchers suggest the open space in the centre of the most ancient, timber shrine may have accommodated a tree.

Until now, the earliest archaeological evidence of Buddhist structures at Lumbini dated no earlier than the third century BC, the time of the patronage of the Emperor Asoka, who promoted the spread of Buddhism, from present-day Afghanistan to Bangladesh. — PTI 

London, November 26
Scotland today unveiled a blueprint for its independence from the UK ahead of a historic referendum next year to end the 300-year union.

"Scotland's future is now in Scotland's hands," Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said at the launch of the 670-page "white paper" in Glasgow.

"It won't be decided by me, it won't be decided by our opponents, it won't be decided by the media. It will be decided by the people," Salmond said.

He said the paper addresses 650 questions that have been asked about issues such as the economy, how the welfare system would work and the implications for defence.

For the first time, the document sets out detailed plans for currency, taxation, childcare, welfare and other issues facing an independent Scotland. It also promises to "build a more democratic, more prosperous, fairer society".

Salmond, the head of the Scottish National Party, pledged to draft the economic policy to Scottish businesses and industry.

On September 18, 2014, Scots will be asked the yes/no question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" — PTI