Russia slams failure of US ‘unipolar’ policies
* Moscow’s FM says Iraq war ‘painful blow’ to global anti-terrorism efforts
* Proposes summit on collective European security
UNITED NATIONS: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday said US “unipolar” policies had failed in Iraq and Afghanistan and helped provoke the recent... 
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Syria hunts for Damascus bombers
* Official Syrian newspaper says attack planned abroad
DAMASCUS: Counter-terrorist officers in Syria on Sunday hunted for those behind a car bomb attack that killed 17 people in Damascus, one of the deadliest attacks in the country in more than a decade.
Saturday’s bombing near...
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Australian woman unable to open eyes
MELBOURNE: An Australian woman is blind three days out of every six because her eyes involuntarily shut and she can’t open them - a mysterious medical condition that has puzzled doctors, a report said Sunday.
Natalie Adler, who experts believe may be the only person in the world with this condition,...
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Italy wants China and India in G8
ROME: Italy will champion the expansion of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations to include countries such as China, India and Brazil when it assumes the G8 presidency next year, its economy minister said.
“We can no longer wait ... to transform the G8 into the G14, to let China enter,...
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Japan minister quits in blow to new PM
TOKYO: Japan’s transport minister quit on Sunday after just four days in the job over a series of contentious remarks, a blow to brand new Prime Minister Taro Aso as he considers calling a snap election.
Transport Minister Nariaki Nakayama, the first to resign from Aso’s cabinet, had come under...
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North Korea boosts self-defence against ‘hostile’ United States
* Deputy FM slams joint military exercises staged by US and South Korea
UNITED NATIONS: North Korea wants to press ahead with denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but is strengthening its “self-defensive capability” in the face of hostile US policy, a North Korean official said on...
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— establishes diplomatic ties with Kenya
SEOUL: North Korea has established ambassador-level diplomatic relations with Kenya, the official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday. Vice foreign minister Pak Kil-Yon and Kenyan foreign minister Moses M Wetangula signed a joint communique in New York on September 26 to establish the diplomatic...
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Egypt editor jailed over Mubarak health rumours
CAIRO: An appeals court on Sunday ordered outspoken Egyptian editor Ibrahim Eissa to be jailed for two months for writing rumours about President Hosni Mubarak’s health, a judicial source said.
“The appeals court ordered him jailed for two months,” the source said, asking not to be named. Eissa...
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China’s astronauts return as heroes
* Will be quarantined for around a fortnight
BEIJING: China’s three astronauts landed safely back on earth on Sunday after a 68-hour voyage and a “monumental” space walk that showcased the country’s technological mastery and was hailed as a major victory by its leaders.
Their “sacred...
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Insecurity biggest threat to Iraq’s power plans
* High demand dent plans to end power shortages
* Baghdad plans to triple effective power generation capacity
* Plants idle because of lack of fuel
DUBAI: Insecurity, a lack of fuel and runaway demand are the biggest challenges to Iraq’s plan to end chronic power shortages by...
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R E G I O N: India police detain 12 over Delhi blast
* Woman who spoke to suspects before blast being questioned
* UN chief condemns string of bombings in India
NEW DELHI: Indian police have detained about a dozen people in connection with a deadly bomb blast in a crowded New Delhi market, officials said on Sunday, the second attack...
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Israel gets US radar to fend off Iran missile attack
* The X-band system is capable of tracking a baseball-sized object from 4,700 km away
JERUSALEM: Israel has received an advanced US-made radar, staffed by American personnel, as part of preparations to fend off any future ballistic missile attack by Iran, officials involved in the deployment...
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BNP led alliance puts conditions for poll participation
DHAKA: A political alliance led by Bangladesh’s former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia set tough preconditions on Sunday to take part in parliamentary elections in December, a party official said.
The country’s army-backed interim authority has set the vote for December 18, and vowed to make...
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World powers push Myanmar on political reforms
UNITED NATIONS: World powers on Saturday called on Myanmar’s military rulers to make “tangible” progress on political reforms ahead of a planned visit by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the country.
The first ministerial meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and...
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Nepal crippled by strike against federal plans
KATHMANDU: Shops were closed and vehicles stayed off the roads across Nepal on Sunday during a strike called against a plan to turn the Himalayan nation into a federal state, officials and witnesses said.
Major political parties and the Maoist-led coalition government have agreed to split Nepal...
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UN to restart Sri Lanka food aid
COLOMBO: The United Nations said on Sunday it would send food to those displaced by fighting in Sri Lanka’s rebel-held north, two weeks after aid workers were ordered out of the region.
Mohamed Saleheen, head of the UN’s World Food Programme in Sri Lanka, said 60 trucks would enter the Tamil...
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UNSC resolution asks Iran to stop enrichment
* No new sanctions imposed
* Iran calls move ‘unconstructive’
UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Saturday that again orders Iran to halt nuclear enrichment work but imposes none of the new sanctions Washington and its allies want.
The...
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Afghanistan denies holding talks with Taliban
KABUL: Afghanistan’s foreign minister on Sunday denied reports that the government was in contact with Taliban insurgents to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Britain’s Observer newspaper on Sunday said the “unprecedented talks” involved a senior ex-Taliban member travelling between Kabul, Pakistan,...
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British troops to get ‘hi-tech vehicles’
LONDON: The Ministry of Defence is to buy 600 new hi-tech vehicles to help protect British troops from bomb attacks in Afghanistan, the News of the World reported on Sunday. The newspaper said the MoD had secured 500 million pounds from the Treasury to buy the new vehicles following pressure from the...
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| Monday, September 29, 2008
