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Israel recalls envoy after Sweden recognises Palestine

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 31 Oktober 2014 | 17.34

JERUSALEM: Israel recalled its ambassador to Sweden for "consultations" on Thursday, hours after Stockholm officially recognised the state of Palestine, the foreign ministry spokesman said.

"This indeed reflects our irritation and annoyance at this unhelpful decision, which does not contribute to a return to (peace) negotiations," Emmanuel Nachshon said.

He said the recall of ambassador Isaac Bachman was for an unspecified length of time.

Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstroem announced her country's recognition of Palestine on Thursday, making it the first major European country to do so.

"Today the government takes the decision to recognise the state of Palestine," she wrote in the mass-circulation Dagens Nyheter daily, less than a month after Sweden's new government announced the plans to make the controversial move.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas immediately hailed the decision as "brave and historic" and called for others to follow suit but it was denounced by Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman.

"The decision of the Swedish government to recognise a Palestinian state is a deplorable decision which only strengthens extremist elements and Palestinian rejectionism," he said in a statement.

"The Swedish government must understand that relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than the self-assembly furniture of IKEA and that they have to act with responsibility and sensitivity."

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Anti-Muslim bullying on rise after Canada attacks, group says

OTTAWA: Reports of anti-Muslim harassment have risen in Canada after attacks last week in which two soldiers were killed by people authorities say were inspired by militant group Islamic State.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims said it had seen a tenfold increase in reports of harassment, including racial slurs on public buses, notes left on car windshields and bullying at schools.

"There are some very positive signs that we've noticed in the form of calls of support and examples of people resisting bigotry," said Amy Awad, the group's human rights coordinator. "But there has been a large increase in complaints, too."

She said a normal volume of anti-Muslim incident reports nationwide was about five a week. "That has gone up about tenfold, with a real surge in the past few days," she said.

Worries about homegrown extremism have risen in Canada after a gunman shot a soldier and charged into the Parliament building in Ottawa on Oct 22. Two days earlier, a man rammed two soldiers with his car near Montreal, killing one.

The attacks came as Canada sent warplanes to take part in air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

In Cold Lake, Alberta, home to an air base that has deployed some of those warplanes, residents last week banded together to clean and repair a mosque that had been vandalized after the Ottawa attack. After scrubbing away the spray-painted words "Go Home," the volunteers taped up a sign saying: "You are home."

This week, an actor was punched in the face by a resident of Hamilton, Ontario, the hometown of the soldier killed in Ottawa, after he loudly harangued a Muslim at a bus stop during a social experiment designed to test Canadian tolerance.

A YouTube video of the experiment has gone viral, with 1.3 million views.

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Hillary Clinton praises PM Narendra Modi's focus on sanitation

WASHINGTON: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his focus on sanitation and cleanliness and called for more women participation for the world economy to recover quickly.

"I recently met with my husband with the new prime minister of India, Prime Minister Modi. He is very focused on basics like sanitation. Girls, as they get older, cannot go to school if there is no sanitation. Women can't get very far from home because there is no toilet," Hillary said on Thursday.

She referred to a recent study about people working in markets in Indonesia where 90 per cent of them are women.

"There are no toilets available for women in the numbers that they represent. Think about it. It's such a simple thing. There's certainly no child care. So, is there a safe place you can leave your child while you're bustling around trying to sell in the marketplace?" she said.

Hilary said if more women could get to participate fully and get paid equal pay for equal work, the US economy as well as the economies across the world will recover at a faster rate.

"The GDP projections that have been calculated, if we could get women's labour force participation to equal men's, are really staggering. You know, in developed countries, it can be 8, 9, 10 per cent of an increase in GDP over the next 15 to 20 years. In less developed countries, it could be 30 to 40 per cent," she said.

Preparing young people for jobs available through education and training was going to be one of the most significant questions for public policy and for private sector decision-makers, Hillary said.

"We need more entrepreneurship. We need to encourage more young people to start businesses. We need more seed capital. We need more crowd funding. We need more access. We need more mentoring and teaching about business plans and how you deal with the economy and the stresses that you will face," she said.

Hillary and her husband Bill Clinton, former US President, met Modi in New York last month when the Indian Prime Minister visited the US to attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.

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Drones spotted over seven French nuclear sites, EDF says

PARIS: France's state-run power firm EDF on Wednesday said unidentified drones had flown over seven nuclear plants this month, leading it to file a complaint with the police.

The unmanned aircraft did not harm "the safety or the operation" of the power plants, Electricite de France said, adding that the first drone was spotted on October 5 above a plant in deconstruction in eastern Creys-Malville.

More drone activity followed at other nuclear power sites across the country between October 13 and October 20, usually at night or early in the morning, EDF said, adding that it had notified the police each time.

Greenpeace, whose activists have in the past staged protests at nuclear plants in France, denied any involvement in the mysterious pilotless flight activity.

But the environmental group expressed concern at the apparent evidence of "a large-scale operation", noting that drone activity was detected at four sites on the same day in October 19 — at Bugey in the east, Gravelines and Chooz in the north and Nogent-sur-Seine in north-central France.

Neither EDF nor the security forces had given any explanation about the overflights, the group said, urging the authorities to investigate.

"We are very worried about the occurrence and the repetition of these suspicious overflights," said Yannick Rousselet, head of Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign, in a statement.

Greenpeace has repeatedly tried to highlight alleged security weaknesses at French nuclear sites. In May 2012, a Greenpeace activist flew a paraglider over the Le Bugey plant and landed on the site. The group used a drone to film the stunt.

The French nuclear safety authority (ASN) did not comment on the claims, saying only: "We don't discuss matters outside our field of expertise."

In France, aircraft are not allowed to fly within a five-kilometre (three-mile) radius and 1,000-metre altitude over a nuclear plant.

France, the world's most nuclear-dependent country, operates 58 reactors and has been a leading international cheerleader for atomic energy.

But in a deal with the Greens before the 2012 parliamentary and presidential elections, President Francois Hollande's Socialist party promised to cut reliance on nuclear energy from more than 75 percent to 50 percent by shutting 24 reactors by 2025.

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Man suspected of killling US cop captured after massive manhunt

TANNERSVILLE, Pennsylvania: The survivalist suspected of killing a Pennsylvania state trooper and seriously wounding a second officer in a sniper attack in September was taken into custody after a seven-week manhunt, police said on Thursday.

Eric Matthew Frein, 31, eluded capture by hundreds of law enforcement officers who had been searching for him since the Sept 12 ambush of the troopers outside a state police barracks in Blooming Grove. The attack killed Corporal Bryon Dickson, 38, and wounded Trooper Alex Douglass, 31.

Frein's capture may finally shed light on some of the questions that have baffled authorities and the public since the shooting, including a motive for the ambush and how Frein was able to stay one step ahead of the intense search for so long.

The search has involved hundreds of officers from state, local and federal agencies, using helicopters, armored vehicles and sophisticated tracking technology.

Officers from the US Marshals service captured Frein in an abandoned aircraft hangar at the shuttered Birchwood Resort in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, according to the supervisor at the Monroe County 911 Emergency Dispatch Center. Authorities were intending to take him to Blooming Grove, site of the ambush, the supervisor said.

Frein surrendered without incident, according to local media, citing unnamed sources.

Tannersville, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Philadelphia, is the area of the Poconos where police have concentrated their search.

Since the start of the manhunt, authorities have insisted that Frein, an expert marksman who lived with his parents in Canadensis, was hiding nearby, taking refuge in the dense state forests and game lands that blanket the region.

There were several reported sightings of him during the manhunt, but police said they were unable to get close enough to apprehend him.

A search of a computer hard drive used by the suspect, Eric Frein, revealed he had studied survivalist skills and tips on how to evade law enforcement. Police have also said that the suspect, who dressed like a Serbian soldier in a war reenactment group and had a penchant for foreign languages, held a longstanding grudge against law enforcement.

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70 Bajrang Dal supporters arrested during Assam bandh

GUWAHATI: Normal life was on Friday partially hit in Assam during a 12-hour state-wide bandh called by Bajrang Dal.

Around 70 Bajrang Dal supporters were arrested from all over the state for allegedly trying to damage property during the bandh, police officers said.

Guwahati Senior Superintendent of Police Anand Prakash Tiwari told that 18 Bajrang Dal supporters were arrested from the city for trying to forcefully implement the bandh, which has been called to protest the alleged links between AIUDF and jihadis in Bangladesh.

He said bandh supporters tried to obstruct traffic at many places by burning tyres but police cleared them immediately and picked up the activists.

The BJP state unit has also extended its support to the bandh.

At Rangia in Kamrup district, 40 Bajrang Dal activists were arrested when they tried to stop railway workers from joining duty in the morning.

A senior police official said the Bajrang Dal supporters also attempted to block the Indo-Bhutan road at Sitara by allegedly burning tyres but they were arrested and the route was cleared.

The police resorted to mild lathicharge on protesters when they tried to block traffic and forcefully close some shops at Tezpur in Sonitpur district, a police officer said.

"Over 10 activists have been picked up," he said.

Although many business establishments were closed, government offices remained open in the capital city.

Fewer vehicles were on the roads.

Patrolling has been enhanced and additional security personnel posted in vulnerable areas.

Meanwhile, AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal has denied the media report on the alleged link and termed it as "false, baseless and politically motivated."

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France ready to deliver controversial warships, Russian minister says

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 30 Oktober 2014 | 17.35

MOSCOW/PARIS: Russia says it has received an invitation to take delivery of the first of two French warships, an arms deal that was cast into doubt by tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine that led the United States and Europe to impose sanctions on Moscow.

The invitation was sent for Russia to take delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers from France on Nov 14, RIA news agency quoted deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin as saying on Wednesday. RIA also quoted Rogozin as saying the second vessel would be put afloat the same day.

However, French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday Paris would wait until next month to decide whether to deliver the first of the two vessels.

"Everything is going as planned in terms of the technical fulfillment of the contract, and we stick to that," Rogozin was quoted as saying. "As for political decisions, we assume that France should protect its reputation as a reliable partner, including in the military and technical area."

French President Francois Hollande for months resisted pressure from Washington and other allies concerned about Russia's role in Ukraine to scrap the 1.2 billion euro ($1.58 billion) contract.

With as many as 1,000 defence jobs at stake in France, there is immediate concern at home. But more worrying for Paris is what impact the cancellation of the contract would have on future defence export deals and on a defence industry that employs 40,000 people.

Even so, Hollande chose in September to push back the original end-October delivery date. He also said that he would only hand over the first carrier if there was a lasting ceasefire and a political settlement in Ukraine.

Nonetheless, Rogozin used his official Twitter account on Wednesday to tweet a letter dated Oct. 8 from the Mistral's manufacturer, DCNS, inviting Russian officials to a delivery ceremony on Nov. 14 at the Saint Nazaire shipyard where the first carrier, the Vladivostok, is awaiting transfer.

DCNS said it could neither confirm or deny the information. The French state owns a 65 percent stake in DCNS, making it unlikely any letter would have been sent against the wishes of the French government.

Officials at the French presidency, defence and foreign ministries contacted by Reuters said that at this stage no decision had been made on the delivery dates.

"No decision has been taken with regard the Mistral delivery. The decision will be taken during November by the president," a Defence Ministry official said.

Moscow, which expects delivery of a second carrier by the end of 2015, has said it will seek damages if the deliveries are cancelled or suspended.

Russia's Mistral purchases would give it access to advanced technology, alarming some of France's Nato allies who consider Paris could be strengthening Moscow militarily.

Western officials on Monday hailed Sunday's Ukraine election. Pro-Western parties are set to dominate parliament, handing President Petro Poroshenko a mandate to end a separatist conflict and to steer the country further away from Russia's orbit towards mainstream Europe.

But after months of conflict he still faces huge problems. Russia opposes his plans to join the European Union, a ceasefire is barely holding between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the east, and the economy is in dire straits.

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French soldier killed during clash with Islamist militants in Mali

PARIS: France said on Wednesday a French soldier was killed during a fierce clash between its forces and Islamist militants in northern Mali earlier in the day.

The offices of President Francois Hollande and defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian both confirmed the death on Wednesday of Thomas Dupuy, a sergeant from a commando parachutist unit in the air force.

His death raised to 10 the number of French soldiers killed since France intervened militarily in Mali in January 2013 to help drive out Islamist militants who had seized control of the former French colony's north.

Le Drian's office said in a statement that French forces had battled a militant group of some 30 fighters in the Tigharghar valley, part of the mountainous Adrar des Ifoghas area.

"Particularly violent combat took place. Our soldier was mortally hurt and two of his comrades were wounded." Operations will continue in the coming hours, the statement said.

Addressing a parliamentary hearing earlier in the day, Le Drian said the militants might be linked to al-Qaida's North African wing, AQIM.

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WhatsApp founders own nearly $9 billion in Facebook stock

SAN FRANCISCO: WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton received 116 million shares of Facebook stock currently worth nearly $9 billion when they sold their mobile messaging service to the social networking leader earlier this month.

The breakdown of the big winners in Facebook Inc.'s $22 billion acquisition emerged Wednesday in a regulatory filing.

Koum, a Ukraine immigrant who was once living on welfare, reaped the biggest jackpot with 76.4 million Facebook shares now worth $5.8 billion. That makes him Facebook's fourth largest stockholder behind company CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two mutual funds, Fidelity Management and Vanguard.

Acton, who worked with Koum when they were both Yahoo Inc. engineers, owns 39.7 million Facebook shares worth $3 billion.

More than 45 other WhatsApp current and former employees also received Facebook stock.

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Galway Kinnell, Pulitzer Prize-winning US poet, dies

MONTPELIER, Vermont: Galway Kinnell, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who opened up American verse in the 1960s and beyond through his forceful, spiritual takes on the outsiders and underside of contemporary life, has died at age 87.

Kinnell's wife, Bobbie Bristol, said he died on Tuesday afternoon at their home in Sheffield, Vermont. He had leukemia.

Among the most celebrated poets of his time, he won the Pulitzer and National Book Award for the 1982 release "Selected Poems" and later received a MacArthur Genius Fellowship. In 1989, he was named Vermont's poet laureate, and the Academy of American Poets gave him the 2010 Wallace Stevens Award for lifetime achievement. His other books included "Body Rags," "Mortal Acts, Mortal Words," "The Past" and his final book of poetry, "Strong Is Your Hold," released in 2006.

Kinnell's style blended the physical and the philosophical, not shying from the most tactile and jarring details of humans and nature exploring their greater dimensions. He once told the Los Angeles Times that his intention was to "dwell on the ugly as fully, as far, and as long" as he "could stomach it." In one of his most famous poems, "The Bear," he imagines a hunter who consumes animal blood and excrement and comes to identify with his prey, wondering "what, anyway, was that sticky infusion, that rank flavor of blood, that poetry, by which I lived?"

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, and graduate of Princeton University, Kinnell was influenced in childhood by Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allen Poe among others, but was also shaped by his experiences as an adult. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, traveled everywhere from Paris to Iran, opposed the Vietnam War and served as a field worker for the civil rights organization CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). Like his friend and contemporary W.S. Merwin, he began weaving in the events of the time into his poetry.

In "Vapor Trail Reflected in the Frog Pond," from the 1968 collection "Body Rags," he invokes the chanting style of Walt Whitman to condemn American violence:

And I hear,

coming over the hills, America singing,

her varied carols I hear:

crack of deputies' rifles practicing their aim on stray dogs at night,

sput of cattleprod,

TV going on about the smells of the human body,

curses of the soldier as he poisons, burns, grinds, and stabs

the rice of the world,

with open mouth, crying strong, hysterical curses.

University of Vermont poet and English Professor Major Jackson, who read one of Kinnell's poems during an August ceremony at the Vermont Statehouse honoring Kinnell, called him one of "the great quintessential poets of his generation."

"In my mind he comes behind that other great New England poet Robert Frost in his ability to write about, not only the landscape of New England, but also its people," said Jackson. "Without any great effort it was almost as if the people and the land were one and he acknowledged what I like to call a romantic consciousness."

Kinnell taught at numerous schools, including Reed College and New York University, and for several years was a visiting poet at Sarah Lawrence College. From 2001-2007, he served as chancellor of the poets academy.

Bristol said her husband will be buried on the hill behind their home.

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Parents who force their kids to wear burqa should be jailed: Australian senator

Anyone who forces a child to wear a burqa in public could be jailed for up to a year and fined $68,000 (£37,000) under a draft law in Australia.

Jacqui Lambie, a Palmer United Party senator, proposed the "Full Face Coverings Prohibition in Public Places Bill" as the latest step in her controversial campaign to ban the Islamic veil.

It would create three offences - one for wearing a burqa or an unauthorised facial covering in public and two others for forcing adults or children to.

Lambie said her private members' bill was "modelled on the French political experience" and would be "simple to implement".

Any person deemed by police officer to be breaking law will be issued with an on-the-spot fine of $3,400 (£1,900).

Those convicted of "compelling" an adult to wear a burqa in a public place would face a maximum penalty of a $34,000 (£19,000) fine and six months in prison, rising to $68,000 (£27,000) and 12 months imprisonment for children.

The draft bill's defines the offence as using "any means whatsoever, including by threat, inducements or any promise".

"The process will be very simple and similar to the way traffic infringements are handled," Lambie said.

"Religious excuses will not be accepted as reasonable exemptions or lawful defence ... because the wearing of full-facial coverings is not mandated in any holy book."

But Lambie, dubbed "Canberra's Sarah Palin" said there would be exemptions for the wearing of facial coverings in private places of worship and at home.

"In addition the prohibition of wearing face covering material or objects does not apply if such iteare authorised by law, are authorised to protect the anonymity of the person, are justified for health reasons or on professional grounds, or are part of authorised artistic or traditional festivities or events," she added.

Her plans were released after protesters attempted to enter the Australian parliament wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood, a motorcycle helmet and a niqab, in a protest against the burqa.

Full face is defined in the draft bill as meaning "the surface of the front of the head from the top of the forehead to the base of the chin and the space in between, but not including the ears".

Lambie, the senator for Tasmania, came under fire last month for sharing a picture on her Facebook created by the far-right group Britain First.

It used the image of Afghanistan's first female police officer to argue for a ban on the burqa for "security reasons", despite the fact that she fought for women's rights and was assassinated by the Taliban.

The photographer, Lana Slezic, said: "Everything she stood for, everything she fought for, for herself, her family, her daughters and future of her country, everything has been desecrated by how Jacqui Lambie and Britain First have used this photograph."

Lambie later dismissed the criticism as "a gross overreaction", claiming Lieutenant Colonel Malalai Kakar "would have been the first to agree with my call to ban the burqa".

She argues that the garment, which includes a veil covering the face with semi-transparent cloth or a slit for the eyes, should be banned "for basic security reasons and the need for assimilation" because it hides the wearer's identity.

"Once again, our enemies will laugh at us," she said. "France, Belgium and Turkey - an Islamic country - have sorted this problem out. So can Australia."

The French ban was upheld following a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights in July.

Lambie has been criticised for her vocal opposition to Islamic face coverings and frequent assertions that "extremists" in Australia are trying to implement Sharia law.

"It's about time we faced the fact that these maniacs and depraved humans will not stop committing their cold-blooded butchery and rapes until every woman in Australia wears a burqa and is subservient to men," she told the Australian Parliament in September.

She served as a soldier in the Australian Defence Force between 1989 and 2000 and became a campaigner for veterans after being injured, going on to start her political career.

A legal expert has already warned that her draft bill could violate section 116 of Australia's constitution, which protects religious freedoms.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has said there is no valid security reason to ban the burqa and, in a leaked 2011 report, warned the move could have negative security consequences.

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Zambia in mourning for president as US urges peaceful transition

LUSAKA: Zambia holds a second day of mourning Thursday for president Michael Sata, who died in a London hospital, as his deputy Guy Scott becomes, pending elections, Africa's first white leader since South Africa's apartheid era.

US President Barack Obama led the international condolences, while urging the southern African nation to conduct "a peaceful constitutional transition of power as the country moves forward during this time of sorrow".

Even though officials had long denied he was sick, Sata, 77, died Tuesday while undergoing treatment in London's private King Edward VII hospital for an unspecified illness, the Zambian government reported.

Sata, nicknamed "King Cobra" for his sharp rhetoric, died only days after Zambia celebrated half a century of independence.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "saddened" by the news of Sata's death and noted "Zambia's long record of smooth and orderly presidential transitions".

Officials had long denied Sata was sick, even prosecuting journalists who questioned his long "working vacations" to Israel and elsewhere.

Some Zambians responded to the news by asking why he died in an upscale foreign hospital and expressed anger over government secrecy, including claims he was going to London for a check-up.

"They were cheating," said Mundia Akapelwa, a young mother visiting Lusaka's Soweto market.

'You can't hide death' -

"They knew well that he was going to seek medical attention. You can hide sickness but you can't hide death. Now the whole world knows that the man has died in hospital."

In the hours following Sata's demise it was unclear who would lead the country, or his Patriotic Front party, which has been accused of creeping authoritarianism.

Sata had named Defence Minister Edgar Lungu as acting president before he left for Britain, despite doubts about the constitutionality of that move.

But it later emerged that Sata's deputy Scott, 70, will take the reins until elections are held within 90 days.

Scott — whose parents came from Scotland -- becomes the first white president of an African nation since FW de Klerk ruled apartheid South Africa more than 20 years ago until 1994.

But he is not eligible to stand in upcoming elections, thanks to a constitutional rule barring presidential candidates whose parents were born outside Zambia, a former British colony.

In an address to the nation Scott vowed to uphold the constitution and announced a period of mourning.

"We will miss our beloved president and comrade," he said.

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki welcomed Scott's appointment as interim president until elections are held.

Station cleaner to president -

Sata was elected in 2011 to preside over his landlocked, southern African nation of 15 million people.

It was a triumphant post for a man who rose from sweeping London railway stations, through to being a policeman and trade unionist.

Once in power, though, he proved to be an authoritarian populist who inveigled against political foes, the media and sometimes even allies, earning him his snakey sobriquet.

His admirers saw him more as a no-nonsense man of action.

Sata had not been seen in public since returning from the UN General Assembly last month, where he failed to make a scheduled speech.

Even before Sata's death, analysts had said a power struggle for Zambia's top job was already well under way within the Patriotic Front.

They now face a divisive primary battle, before a possible general election challenge from former president Rupiah Banda, who is facing graft charges, has hinted at a possible return to active politics.

"I am legally eligible to stand," he told AFP early this month, citing calls from his supporters to return to the political fray.

Tributes to Sata -

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Sata "played a commanding role in the public life of his country over three decades."

African leaders also paid rich tributes.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta hailed him as an "outstanding son of Africa".

In London, the British flag over the parliament building was lowered to half-mast, a convention to mark the death of a Commonwealth leader.

Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said he was struck by Sata's commitment to improving the lives of his countrymen.

South Africa's ruling ANC party said: "Zambia has lost not only a president who prioritised the poor, but also led the Zambian government at a time when the continent is working to reclaim its place in the global governance and economy."

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Around 100,000 Hungarians rally for democracy as internet tax hits nerve

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 29 Oktober 2014 | 17.34

Reuters | Oct 29, 2014, 10.30AM IST

 Ten of thousands of Hungarians march across the Elisabeth Bridge during a protest against new tax on internet data transfers in centre of Budapest. (Reuters photo)

BUDAPEST: About 100,000 Hungarians rallied on Tuesday night to protest at a planned tax on data traffic and the broader course of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government they saw as undermining democracy and relations with European Union peers.

It was by far the largest protest since his center-right government took power in 2010 and pursued moves to redefine many walks of life, drawing accusations of creeping authoritarianism, although it was re-elected by a landslide this year.

Orban's government has imposed special taxes on the banking, retail, energy and telecommunications sectors to keep the budget deficit in check, jeopardizing profits in some parts of the economy and unnerving international investors.

The internet data levy idea was first floated in the 2015 tax code submitted to the Central European country's parliament last week, triggering objections from internet service providers and users who felt it was anti-democratic.

The crowd, which was organized by a Facebook-based social network and appeared to draw mostly well-heeled professionals, marched through central Budapest demanding the repeal of the planned tax and the ouster of Orban.

Many protesters held up makeshift signs that read "ERROR!" and "How many times do you want to skin us?"

Zsolt Varady, an internet entrepreneur and founder of a now-defunct Hungarian social network iwiw.hu, told the crowd that the tax threatened to undermine internet freedoms.

"Between 2006 and 2006 iwiw motivated many people to get an internet subscription," Varady said. "People were willing to pay for the service because they knew, saw and felt that their lives were becoming better... The internet tax threatens the further growth of the Internet as well as freedom of information."

Tax reduced after first protest

The government had planned to tax internet data transfers at a rate of 150 forints per gigabyte. After analysts calculated this would total more than the sector's annual revenue and an initial protest drew thousands on Sunday, Fidesz submitted a bill that capped the tax at 700 forints per month for individuals and 5,000 forints for companies.

That did not placate Tuesday's protesters.

"I am a student, my parents are not well off, neither am I, so I work hard," said Ildiko Pirk, a 22-year-old studying nursing. "I doubt the internet companies won't build this tax into their prices. And I have a computer, a smartphone, as does my mother and my four siblings... That adds up."

She said the internet was vital for her to get the books she needs for her studies but also to read unbiased news that is not under the control of Hungary's ruling political elite.

She and other protesters said the government's other moves also bothered them, such as a perceived mismanagement of the economy and a recent dispute with the United States over alleged corruption of Hungarian public officials.

The Orban government denied any anti-democratic agenda, saying it aimed only to get all economic sectors to share the tax burden and was tapping into a trend of telecommunications shifting away from already-taxed telephony and text messages.

The European Commission also criticized the proposed tax.

"It's part of a pattern... of actions which have limited freedoms or sought to take rents without achieving a wider economic or social interest," said Ryan Heath, spokesman for outgoing Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes.

Heath said the tax was economically misguided because it was based on data traffic now growing rapidly around the world.


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Britain’s ‘Naked Rambler’ loses legal battle to reveal all

STRASBOURG (France): A British man who has spent a total of seven years in jail for going naked in public lost his legal battle to wear no clothes on Tuesday as Europe's human rights court told him he must respect the feelings of others.

Stephen Gough, dubbed "The Naked Rambler" by British media for his bid to trek the length of the country wearing no more than a hat and bulky rucksack, has faced some 30 convictions for public order disturbances and other offences.

Gough argued that European laws on respect for private life and freedom of expression gave him the right to nudity whenever he chose it. But the Strasbourg-based European court of human rights (ECHR) ruled that they did not apply given his "deliberately repetitive antisocial conduct".

"He had plenty of other ways of expressing his opinions," it concluded.

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Australia bans travel from Ebola-hit countries

MONROVIA/FREETOWN: Australia became the first developed country on Tuesday to shut its borders to citizens of the countries worst-hit by the West African Ebola outbreak, a move those states said stigmatised healthy people and would make it harder to fight the disease.

Australia's ban on visas for citizens of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea followed decisions by the US military to quarantine soldiers returning from an Ebola response mission and some US states to isolate aid workers. The United Nations said such measures could discourage vital relief work, making it harder to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

"Anything that will dissuade foreign trained personnel from coming here to West Africa and joining us on the frontline to fight the fight would be very, very unfortunate," Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Ebola Emergency Response Mission (UNMEER), told Reuters in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf urged Australia to reconsider its travel ban.

"Anytime there's stigmatization, there's quarantine, there's exclusion of people, many of whom are just normal, then those of us who are fighting this epidemic, when we face that, we get very sad," she told a news conference.

Neighbouring Sierra Leone called the Australian move draconian.

"It is discriminatory in that ... it is not (going) after Ebola but rather it is ... against the 24 million citizens of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea," Information Minister Alpha Kanu told Reuters. "Certainly, it is not the right way to go."

The virus has killed almost 5,000 people since March, mostly in those three countries. Nine US cases have prompted states such as New York and New Jersey to ignore federal advice and quarantine all health workers returning from the region.

A Texas nurse who caught Ebola in the United States while treating an infected Liberian patient left hospital on Tuesday after being declared free of the disease.

"I'm so grateful to be well, a smiling Amber Vinson, 29, told reporters at Emory University Hospital before hugging the doctors and nurses who treated her for two weeks.

The arrival of the disease in the United States has prompted fierce debate there and in other developed countries about the best measures to prevent its spread.

The World Health Organization says overly restrictive quarantines and travel bans will put people off volunteering to go to Africa, where relief workers are needed to help improve a health system to deal with the disease.

"We desperately need international health workers ... They are really the key to this response," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.

World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim said the three worst hit countries needed 5,000 overseas health workers at any one time.

"Those health workers cannot work continuously: there needs to be a rotation. So we will need many thousands of health workers over the next months to a year in order to bring this epidemic under control," he said an African Union meeting in Ethiopia. "Right now, I am very much worried where we will find those health workers."

Mass panic

Even African countries with no Ebola cases have been angered by policies being implemented in richer countries.

"Western countries are creating mass panic which is unhelpful in containing a contagious disease like Ebola," said Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo.

"If they create mass panic ... this fear will eventually spread beyond ordinary people to health workers or people who transport the sick and then what will happen? Entire populations will be wiped out."

Eighty-two people who had contact with a toddler who died of Ebola in Mali last week are being monitored, the WHO said, but no new cases have been reported there.

Mali became the sixth West African country to report a case of the disease. Senegal and Nigeria both stopped the virus by tracking down people who had had contact with those who brought it into their country and monitoring them for symptoms.

American soldiers returning from West Africa are being isolated, even if they show no symptoms and are not believed to have been exposed to the virus.

Army said Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno ordered the 21-day monitoring period "to ensure soldiers, family members and their surrounding communities are confident that we are taking all steps necessary to protect their health".

Adopt and adapt

Dr Jeff Duchin, chairman of the public health committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said the isolation was not a necessary step. "From a public health perspective, we would not feel that isolation is appropriate," he said.

The decision goes well beyond established military protocols and came as President Barack Obama's administration sought to discourage quarantines being imposed by some US states.

Dr Thomas Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called for isolation of people at the highest risk for Ebola infection but said most returning medical workers would require monitoring without isolation.

"At CDC, we base our decisions on science and experience ... And as the science and experience changes, we adopt and adapt our guidelines and recommendations," Frieden said.

Australia has not recorded a case of Ebola despite a number of scares, and conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott has so far resisted repeated requests to send medical personnel to help battle the outbreak on the ground.

Adam Kamradt-Scott, of the University of Sydney's Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, said the travel ban would do nothing to protect the country from Ebola while potentially having a negative public health impact by creating a climate of panic.

Medical professionals say Ebola is difficult to catch. It is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person and not transmitted by asymptomatic people.

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Democrats claw back in some key US Senate races: Polls

WASHINGTON: In the sprint to next Tuesday's US midterm elections, new polls show some besieged Democrats holding their own, complicating the narrative that Republicans are on track to seize the Senate majority.

Alaska in particular bears good news for President Barack Obama's party: two recent surveys show incumbent Senator Mark Begich with a substantial lead, the first polls in a month to put him ahead of Republican challenger Dan Sullivan.

Alaska-based Republican-leaning firm Hellenthal and Associates released a poll Friday putting Begich ahead by 10 points.

Late Monday, Ivan Moore Research group released an October 24-26 poll on Facebook showing Begich with 48.3 percent and Sullivan 41.6 per cent.

Polling is unreliable in Alaska, a remote, sparsely populated state with a large percentage of independent voters.

But the results were significant enough for New York Times to shift Alaska from likely Republican into the "toss-up" column, joining Georgia, Iowa and Kansas.

In Iowa, a Loras College poll of 1,121 registered voters put Democrat Bruce Braley up by one point against conservative Joni Ernst, countering a recent trend showing Ernst ahead in their tight race. A YouGov poll put the pair even at 44 percent.

And in red-leaning Arkansas, under-pressure Democratic Senator Mark Pryor has narrowed the gap to two points against Republican Tom Cotton, 43-45 percent, according to an NBC News/Marist Poll.

However, even if Begich and Braley pull off victories, Democrats face tough math to keep control of the Senate.

They currently hold a 55-45 majority over Republicans, who would need to win a net six seats to win control of the chamber.

Three Democratic seats — in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia — will almost certainly flip Republican, and Obama's underwater favorability numbers with voters is acting as a severe drag on Democrats in battleground states.

Top election forecast models show Democratic incumbents trailing in Arkansas, Colorado and Louisiana, and barely holding on in North Carolina and New Hampshire.

Republicans could face trouble in traditionally red states Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky, where Democrats — and in the case of Kansas, an independent — are hoping to pick off one or two seats.

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Thousands mourn Canada soldier killed in Ottawa attack

OTTAWA: Thousands of mourners lined the streets of the Canadian city of Hamilton on Tuesday for the funeral procession of a soldier killed last week in an attack in the nation's capital.

Wailing bagpipes and a solitary drum beat broke a solemn silence as hundreds of soldiers, veterans and police officers marched alongside the flag-draped casket of Corporal Nathan Cirillo to a cathedral in his hometown.

His bereaved family, including his six-year-old son wearing his father's beret, also participated in the funeral procession, viewed on television by millions nationwide.

Cirillo was fatally shot last week while standing watch at the War Memorial in Ottawa. His attacker, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, then stormed into parliament and exchanged fire with police before being shot dead.

The attack was one of two targeting Canadian soldiers just days apart. Another soldier, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, was killed on October 20 in a hit and run east of Montreal. He will be laid to rest on Saturday.

Both attacks came as Canada deployed fighter jets to join US-led air strikes on the Islamic State group in Iraq. Police say both assailants were converts to Islam with alleged extremists views.

"Two of our own have made the ultimate sacrifice, and we celebrate their lives and mourn their deaths," said Governor General David Johnston.

In his eulogy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the war memorial is a reminder that "freedom is never free. It has been earned by the soldier and then donated to all of us."

"Most of us can never truly understand the significance to a soldier of the simple act of standing reverently on guard at that place," he said.

"Corporal Cirillo, who felt the calling of a soldier when he was just a 13-year-old cadet, he understood. He knew what he was protecting and what he was preserving. He died protecting and preserving it."

In Ottawa, visiting US secretary of state John Kerry laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier where Cirillo fell, in his honor.

Washington's top diplomat said he came to offer condolences and express America's "deep solidarity" with its northern neighbor and closest ally.

Kerry pledged to step up bilateral cooperation to fight militant groups and extremist ideologies, including targeting their sources of funding and countering their propaganda.

"Together on this side of the Atlantic, and where necessary overseas, we will defeat the advocates and practitioners of terror, expose their hypocrisy, and we will win the battle of ideas," he said.

Canada, a country proud of its reputation for openness and tolerance, has remained defiant in the wake of the attacks.

It has been threatened in militant broadcasts over its role in the US-led campaign against Islamic State jihadists.

Some Canadians have travelled to the Middle East to join the group, and others are thought to have developed radical ideas at home, living among the country's Muslim minority.

Police say the two attackers in Ottawa and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec were tempted by the prospect of waging war in Syria, where IS is seeking to carve out a caliphate.

Ottawa shooter Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, was described as a petty criminal who was estranged from his family and struggled with a drug addiction.

"He was very pious... but he seemed very extreme," Abdel Kareem Abubakir, a volunteer at an Ottawa shelter that had taken in Zehaf-Bibeau, told the Globe and Mail newspaper.

The assailant in the Quebec attack, 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau, had been on a watch list of suspected extremists before he used his car as a weapon to run over two soldiers in a parking lot, killing one of them before being shot dead by police.

In July, he was barred at the last minute from leaving for Turkey, a popular entry point for would-be jihadists looking to fight in Iraq and Syria.

Police seized Couture-Rouleau's passport as he sought to board an airplane in Montreal, but did not have enough evidence to arrest him.

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Around 100,000 Hungarians rally for democracy as internet tax hits nerve

BUDAPEST: About 100,000 Hungarians rallied on Tuesday night to protest at a planned tax on data traffic and the broader course of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government they saw as undermining democracy and relations with European Union peers.

It was by far the largest protest since his center-right government took power in 2010 and pursued moves to redefine many walks of life, drawing accusations of creeping authoritarianism, although it was re-elected by a landslide this year.

Orban's government has imposed special taxes on the banking, retail, energy and telecommunications sectors to keep the budget deficit in check, jeopardizing profits in some parts of the economy and unnerving international investors.

The internet data levy idea was first floated in the 2015 tax code submitted to the Central European country's parliament last week, triggering objections from internet service providers and users who felt it was anti-democratic.

The crowd, which was organized by a Facebook-based social network and appeared to draw mostly well-heeled professionals, marched through central Budapest demanding the repeal of the planned tax and the ouster of Orban.

Many protesters held up makeshift signs that read "ERROR!" and "How many times do you want to skin us?"

Zsolt Varady, an internet entrepreneur and founder of a now-defunct Hungarian social network iwiw.hu, told the crowd that the tax threatened to undermine internet freedoms.

"Between 2006 and 2006 iwiw motivated many people to get an internet subscription," Varady said. "People were willing to pay for the service because they knew, saw and felt that their lives were becoming better... The internet tax threatens the further growth of the Internet as well as freedom of information."

Tax reduced after first protest

The government had planned to tax internet data transfers at a rate of 150 forints per gigabyte. After analysts calculated this would total more than the sector's annual revenue and an initial protest drew thousands on Sunday, Fidesz submitted a bill that capped the tax at 700 forints per month for individuals and 5,000 forints for companies.

That did not placate Tuesday's protesters.

"I am a student, my parents are not well off, neither am I, so I work hard," said Ildiko Pirk, a 22-year-old studying nursing. "I doubt the internet companies won't build this tax into their prices. And I have a computer, a smartphone, as does my mother and my four siblings... That adds up."

She said the internet was vital for her to get the books she needs for her studies but also to read unbiased news that is not under the control of Hungary's ruling political elite.

She and other protesters said the government's other moves also bothered them, such as a perceived mismanagement of the economy and a recent dispute with the United States over alleged corruption of Hungarian public officials.

The Orban government denied any anti-democratic agenda, saying it aimed only to get all economic sectors to share the tax burden and was tapping into a trend of telecommunications shifting away from already-taxed telephony and text messages.

The European Commission also criticized the proposed tax.

"It's part of a pattern... of actions which have limited freedoms or sought to take rents without achieving a wider economic or social interest," said Ryan Heath, spokesman for outgoing Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes.

Heath said the tax was economically misguided because it was based on data traffic now growing rapidly around the world.

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Australian teenager features in second Islamic State video

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 28 Oktober 2014 | 17.34

CANBERRA: An Australian teenage runaway, dubbed the Ginger Jihadist by the media, has been featured in a second Islamic State propaganda video.

Australian media reported the latest YouTube video of 17-year-old Abdullah Elmir dressed in Arabic garb and clutching an assault rifle on Monday as the Senate prepared to debate legislation that would simplify prosecuting Australian extremists who fight in the Middle East.

Abdullah vanished from his Sydney home in June, telling his family he was going fishing.

He appeared in his first Islamic State video last week warning that the movement won't stop fighting until the extremists' notorious black flag is flying above every nation.

In the latest video, the son of an Australian-born mother and Lebanese father is surrounded by dozens of black-clad jihadists on a bank of the Tigris River in Mosul in Iraq, News Corp. Australia newspapers reported.

The six-minute clip, entitled "An evening on the banks of the Tigris River in the Province of Nineveh in the Islamic State," shows the movement's followers gathering to eat, pray and then recite religious texts.

The video features several speakers who say they will "strike the necks of the infidel and Arab countries."

The Senate is scheduled to sit late today night debating a raft of legislation that would help law enforcement agencies combat home-grown extremists who join groups such as Islamic State. The government expects the legislation would be voted tomorrow.

The bills controversially create a new offense of traveling to an area of the world deemed by the foreign minister to be a hotbed of terrorism. An Australian who travels to such a place without an acceptable excuse would be guilty of a crime punishable by 10 years in prison.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Parliament yesterday that at least 70 Australians were fighting with terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. She had canceled 73 Australian passports to prevent jihadists from either flying to the Middle East or returning.

Australian fighter jets are launching airstrikes against Islamic State targets in northern Iraq as part of a US -led coalition and 200 Australian special forces troops will soon enter Iraq to advise and assist local security forces.

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US modifies Ebola guidelines after quarantine uproar

WASHINGTON: US health authorities on Monday issued new guidelines for health workers returning from Ebola-hit nations after a firestorm of criticism over state quarantine restrictions, including from the UN chief.

The enforced quarantine in New Jersey of a US nurse who had come home after treating patients in Sierra Leone sparked controversy — and accusations from the woman that her rights had been violated.

The nurse was discharged on Monday, one day after New York eased strict new quarantine rules under pressure from President Barack Obama's administration.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday urged active monitoring of those at risk following stints in the countries hardest hit by the epidemic — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

"Active direct monitoring" means high-risk people must be checked for fever daily for 21 days, and must restrict their travel and public activities for the duration of the virus's incubation period, the CDC said, in an update of previous guidelines.

Those at high risk include those who experienced needle sticks, handled bodily fluids of Ebola patients without protective gear or who handled the corpse of a victim, among others.

"That, we think, is good sound public health policy," CDC chief Tom Frieden told reporters.

"We are concerned about some policies that we have seen in various places that might have the effect of increasing stigma or creating false impressions. You don't catch Ebola from someone who is not sick."

The new guidelines — which the CDC does not have the power to enforce on a national level — stop short of a strict quarantine.

That is the standard New Jersey and New York states had adopted, following the first confirmed case of the disease in New York — a doctor who had treated patients in Guinea.

Those measures drew criticism from UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and in Washington.

"Returning health workers are exceptional people who are giving of themselves for humanity," Ban said.

"They should not be subjected to restrictions that are not based on science. Those who develop infections should be supported, not stigmatized."

"We depend on them to fight this battle," Ban said in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which is home to the African Union headquarters.

West Africa is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 5,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.

Several countries have imposed tough migration restrictions on visitors coming from affected nations.

The European Union's new Ebola czar, Christos Stylianides, said tens of thousands of health care workers are needed to combat the deadly virus, including both volunteers in affected countries and foreign experts.

The White House also weighed in Monday, saying health workers like the New Jersey nurse, Kaci Hickox, should be praised.

"Her service and commitment to this cause is something that should be honored and respected, and I don't think we do that by making her live in a tent for two or three days," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

On Friday, Hickox was isolated in a tent outside the main hospital building at Newark International Airport in New Jersey with no shower or flush toilet and made to wear paper scrubs.

"I feel like my basic human rights have been violated," Hickox said Sunday, insisting she had shown no symptoms and tested negative for the disease.

She was discharged on Monday and was to taken to her home state of Maine by private — not public — transport.

African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who toured Ebola-hit nations last week and met Ban on Monday, called for efforts to be boosted to tackle the virus.

"Our strength is solidarity, and we must therefore continue to work together," she told reporters. "We all need to do more."

More than 10,000 people have contracted the virus in west Africa, according to the latest WHO figures.

Another country in the region, Mali, is scrambling to prevent a wider outbreak after a two-year-old girl died from the virus following a 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) bus ride from Guinea.

She was Mali's first recorded case of the disease. In the town where the girl lives, Kayes, panic has set in, with some fleeing their homes Monday amid rumors of two new infections.

"I'm going to wait a few more days before sending my kids back to school," said Oumar Fofana, a banker who worried about the large movement of people in and out of the region.

Ebola is spread though close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. No widely available medicine or vaccine exists.

US troops returning from west Africa were quarantined at a base in Italy as a preventative measure "out of an abundance of caution," a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

There are now 700 US troops in west Africa — including nearly 600 in Liberia and 100 in Senegal — with the force due to grow to at least 3,200 troops in coming weeks.

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Rajya Sabha poll process begins in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: The electoral process for the Rajya Sabha polls for 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh has been initiated, officials said on Tuesday.

As per the schedule, notification will be issued Nov 3, nominations can be submitted till Nov 10, and the last date of withdrawal is Nov 11. Voting will be held Nov 20 from 9am to 4pm Counting of votes will be held Nov 24.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Rama Kant Pandey told IANS that the election schedule has been sent to concerned departments with directives to complete the process within the deadlines.

The poll was necessitated following the completion of term of 10 incumbent Rajya Sabha members. Of these, the maximum of six are from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), two from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and one from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while one is an independent.

Among those whose tenure is drawing to an end include Ram Gopal Yadav of the SP and Amar Singh who was expelled from the party. Sources said he is now engaged in backroom parleys with the SP national leadership for another stint in the upper house.

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Adani taps Morgan Stanley to help sell Australia port stake

Reuters | Oct 28, 2014, 10.33AM IST

Adani spokesman confirmed the company has hired Morgan Stanley to help it on a potential partial sale of Abbot Point, a 50 million tonnes-a-year coal terminal on the east coast of Australia.

MELBOURNE: Adani has appointed Morgan Stanley to advise on the possible sale of a stake in its Abbot Point coal port in Australia, as it looks to raise funds to help finance a A$7 billion ($6.2 billion) mine, rail and port project.

Adani spokesman Andrew Porter confirmed the company has hired Morgan Stanley to help it on a potential partial sale of Abbot Point, a 50 million tonnes-a-year coal terminal on the east coast of Australia that it bought for $2 billion in 2011.

Funds raised from the stake sale would be used to help finance Adani's planned expansion of the port, Porter said.

Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley advised the Australian state of New South Wales on the sale of the Port of Newcastle, the world's largest coal export terminal, which fetched A$1.75 billion, double the amount that had been widely expected.

Adani's comments came after the Wall Street Journal reported that while Morgan Stanley was advising on the port sale, the bank was among four major US investment banks that had told a US-based green group, Rainforest Action Network, that they would not help fund the port's expansion.

The east coast port expansion to handle two rival coal projects planned by Adani and India's GVK with Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart has sparked an outcry from green groups and tourist operators opposed to coal projects and port dredging near the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.

The $17 billion worth of projects in the undeveloped Galilee Basin have been at the centre of a campaign by anti-coal activists pressing institutional investors and big banks to shun coal investments to help combat climate change.

"Stopping Abbot Point is a top priority for us, because this single project is the key to whether one of the largest stores of carbon on the planet, the Galilee Basin, stays in the ground where it belongs, or is sold on the global market and released into our atmosphere," said Amanda Starbuck, a director at San Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network.

Morgan Stanley said on Tuesday it was not necessarily opposed to the Abbot Point expansion, but it typically does not provide financing for any projects in Australia.

"In the case of the various Galilee Basin coal, rail and port developments, we have not looked at these projects in any detail nor have we assessed or opined on the environmental considerations surrounding them," Morgan Stanley's Australian spokesman Hugh Fraser said.

"We are simply not in the business of providing greenfield project financing in Australia and therefore, as we have stated, we will not lend to, or invest in, these projects."

Adani is expected to tap Australia's big four banks and others to help fund its Carmichael project in Queensland state, which most analysts say would be hard to justify at current coal prices, hovering at five-year lows.


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Hong Kong activists mark one month of 'Umbrella Movement'

HONG KONG: Hong Kong democracy activists on Tuesday marked one month of mass protests, calling on supporters to gather for an evening rally wearing the masks they have used to ward off police tear gas and pepper spray.

Organisers striving to inject new momentum into the movement told crowds to gather at the main protest camp opposite the city's government headquarters for commemorations starting with an 87-second silence at 0957 GMT.

At that time on September 28, riot police shot 87 volleys of tear gas at crowds of largely peaceful protesters who had taken over a highway near the city parliament.

That decision backfired, drawing tens of thousands of sympathisers onto the streets and kickstarting a movement that has become the most concerted challenge to Beijing since the bloody 1989 Tiananmen protests.

Demonstrators are calling on Beijing to rescind its insistence that candidates standing to be the city's leader in 2017 must be vetted by a loyalist committee — an arrangement demonstrators deride as "fake democracy".

But the Chinese government shows no sign of backing down and protest leaders are unsure of how to achieve their goals.

Occupy Central, one of the main protest groups, called on supporters to don the same protective masks and goggles they wore to defend themselves when the street rallies descended into chaotic confrontations.

The protests have been dubbed the "Umbrella Movement" following the creative ways demonstrators used to shelter themselves from the heat, torrential rain, pepper spray and police batons.

A Facebook group has called on supporters to open umbrellas en masse at 6 PM to "express our disappointment and outrage" over police heavy-handedness and the lack of political progress. Nearly 10,000 people have so far pledged to take part.

Hu Jia, a prominent Chinese dissident on the mainland currently under house arrest, said he would unfurl his own umbrella in solidarity with Hong Kong.

"I will participate in this event. In my home prison in Beijing," he told AFP.

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25 booked under charges of gang rape during communal violence in Muzaffarnagar

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Twenty-five persons accused of gang rape during Muzaffarnagar riots have been booked under one more section which includes charges of gang rape during communal or sectarian violence.

Investigation officer Mala Yadav has added section 376 (2) (g) (rape during communal or sectarian violence) of the IPC against 25 persons accused of six gang rape cases during last year's riots.

The section was added after the Special Investigation Team, probing the riot cases, sought permission from the court here on Monday.

The case was not added earlier by the police which had booked the accused only under section 376 (d) of the IPC, SIT officials said.

Seven gang-rape cases, one in Lank village and six in Phugana in the district, were registered by the police during riots.

One case of gang rape in Phugana was closed due to lack of evidence.

18 out of the 25 accused have been arrested while remaining seven were absconding.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Narender Kumar had summoned the accused who were arrested in this connection.

The court has already initiated attachment proceedings against absconding accused of Phugana village.

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Goa announces e-auction of 19 lakh metric tonne of iron ore

Written By Unknown on Senin, 27 Oktober 2014 | 17.34

PTI | Oct 26, 2014, 07.54PM IST
PANAJI: Goa Mines and Geology Department has put 19 lakh metric tonne of iron ore on the block through e-auctioning, to be held on November 6 and 7.

In its notification uploaded on its website on Sunday, the department has announced two phase e-auctioning on November 6 and 7, through which 10 lakh and 9 lakh metric tonne of iron ore would be auctioned respectively.

The department has announced a detailed schedule of the iron ore e-auctioning which would be monitored by a Supreme Court appointed committee.

While lifting its two-year long ban on export of iron ore from Goa, the Supreme Court had allowed e-auctioning of iron ore which was extracted during the 2007-2012 period.

The state has a total of 15 million metric tonne of iron ore lying at various jetties, stacking yards, mining leases and the Mormugao Port Trust.

During the Goa government's earlier four e-auctioning events, five million metric tonne of iron ore were already sold to various buyers.

The Supreme Court appointed committee which is closely monitoring the e-auctioning had said that it was satisfied with the action of the Goa government.

"We are quite satisfied with the process adopted by the Goa government to electronically auction the ore," the committee member U V Singh had told to PTI.

The committee which recently visited Goa had conceded that the e-auctioning process is moving at a slow pace due to inappropriate prices of iron ore in the international market.

"There are several factors responsible for the slow pace of e-auctioning. The state witnessed rainy seasons since April till date. Also iron ore prices in the international market are low," the committee member U V Singh had told PTI.

He had said that the Goa government is the owner of the iron ore and hence it must rationalise the sale in such a way that it gets a better price.

The slowdown in China's economy, along with a reduction in steel production in that country had proved detrimental to iron ore export, Singh added.

He stated that the percentage of Goa iron ore which is consumed domestically is very marginal.

"Very little iron ore is consumed in the domestic market. I know that there is only one buyer in Karnataka which takes the ore, but for that too, there are constraints in transporting the ore. Because of this, the buyer purchases the ore from Karnataka itself," he had said.


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Pro-West parties, nationalists win Ukraine vote

KIEV: Pro-western and nationalist parties swept Ukraine's parliamentary election Sunday, exit polls showed, in a boost for President Petro Poroshenko's anti-corruption reforms and attempts to end a war with pro-Russian rebels.

The results pointed to overwhelming consensus on Ukraine's bid to steer from Russia's orbit on a pro-Western path eventually targeting European Union membership.

The snap election came eight months after a street revolt overthrew Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych, sparking conflict with Russia and a crisis in relations between the Kremlin and Ukraine's Western allies.

The polls were called to clear out the last vestiges of Yanukovych's regime — and to some extent this was achieved.

For the first time since the Soviet collapse the Communist Party, which used to support Yanukovych, failed to clear the minimum level of votes for entering parliament.

However, in a vivid sign of ongoing divisions, the Opposition Bloc, made up of Yanukovych associates, got into the legislature with 7.6 per cent of the vote.

The Petro Poroshenko Bloc led with 23 per cent of the vote, meaning the president will have to seek a coalition partner. That will most likely be the People's Front group of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, which was runner up with 21 per cent.

Four other parties entered parliament under the proportional representation voting, all of them either nationalist or supporting Western-style reforms, the two exit polls from respected surveys showed.

Half of the parliament seats are allocated to parties through proportional representation. The other half go to individual candidates and because the counting of those races takes longer, it could still be some time before the final make-up of the legislature becomes clear.

After casting his own ballot Sunday, Poroshenko declared: "Today we have a new Ukraine."

"I hope it will be possible to form a strong, pro-European democratic coalition," he said.

But the war with pro-Russian rebels in the industrial east, in which 3,700 people have died, and Russia's earlier annexation of the southern Crimean region, cast a long shadow.

Voters in Crimea and in separatist-controlled areas of the eastern Lugansk and Donetsk provinces — about five million of Ukraine's 36.5 million-strong electorate — were unable to cast ballots.

Even 25,000 soldiers deployed in the war zone were shut out, Poroshenko said, blaming the outgoing parliament for failing to make provisions.

Twenty-seven seats in the 450-seat parliament will remain empty. Dressed in camouflage, Poroshenko helicoptered in for a surprise visit to Kramatorsk, a government-held town in the heart of the conflict zone.

The dramatic gesture was clearly meant to show that the beleaguered region has not been forgotten.

"Today on territory liberated by Ukrainian servicemen they will vote for the European future of our country," Poroshenko said in nationally televised remarks.

However, the disenfranchisement of the separatist areas and Crimea seemed likely to further cement the once peaceful, now bloody faultline between Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and Ukrainian-speaking west.

After casting a vote for the radical nationalist Svoboda party in the capital Kiev, Tatyana Kryshko, 75, reflected the generally grim mood.

"I know things will be hard financially. I think that we won't live to see a rich and strong Ukraine, but that our children and grandchildren will," she told AFP.

Despite widespread support for a more democratic, less corrupt political system, not everyone agrees how to resolve battles with the separatists in the east or how to deal with Russia's takeover of Crimea.

A Moscow-backed truce signed by Kiev and the separatists on September 5 has calmed the worst fighting, although there are daily violations around the largest rebel-held city Donetsk.

Insurgent leaders, who are not allowing polling stations to open in their areas, have announced their own leadership vote, which Kiev does not recognise, on November 2.

Poroshenko insisted this week that there can be "no military solution" to the conflict with pro-Russian rebels and renewed his pledge to seek a political compromise.

That message was likely to be welcomed by Ukrainians alarmed at the prospect of open-ended war against shadowy forces that most people here believe are backed by Russia, although Moscow denies this.

But Poroshenko's softer line could meet resistance in the new parliament, where deputies are set to include members of hardline nationalist groups and soldiers turned politicians.

In Kiev, Tamara Kovalko, 62, said she had voted for one of the country's best known nationalist firebrands, Yulia Tymoshenko, because "she's a strong leader — she can take care of the east."

The new parliament will have broad new powers that include the right to name the prime minister and most of his cabinet.

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Israel beefs up security in East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that security forces have been increased significantly in East Jerusalem to prevent further violence by Palestinian youths.

He told the weekly cabinet meeting that an additional 1,000 police and paramilitary border police, including special forces, have been deployed in Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, Xinhua reported.

"We will not allow the reality of Jerusalem to become one of throwing stones and firebombs, and disturbances," he said, blaming "extremist Islamic elements" for being behind the attempts to "incite Israel's capital."

"We will use all necessary force, with determination and responsibility, to ensure they do not succeed," he said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

Tension has been running high in East Jerusalem since Wednesday when a Palestinian motorist rammed his car into a light rail station, killing a Jewish baby and wounding eight others. The driver was shot by Israeli police and died of his wounds later in hospital.

On Friday, Israeli forces shot dead Orwah Hammad, a 14-year old Palestinian-American, during clashes near the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian National Authority is located.

The mounting tension has prompted schools in the coastal city of Tel Aviv to postpone class trips to Jerusalem.

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28 killed in continued offensive in Libya

TRIPOLI : At least 28 people were killed Sunday in offensive between Libyan army units backed by armed supporters of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar and Islamist militants in the Libyan city of Benghazi, military said.

"The army continues military operations against the Islamist militants. A number of army units today broke (Sunday) into houses of militants suspected of violence in the city in the past few months, " Xinhua quoted Libyan army spokesperson Ahmad Al-Mismari as saying.

"The army has gone through fierce battles in different parts of the city, especially in the western entrance where the camp of the Islamist militia 17 February Brigade is located," Al-Mismari added.

Eyewitnesses said that the army surrounded the city centre where army units have broken into houses of the wanted militants, and armed citizens also burned and destroyed houses of the militants.

The death of the 28 people makes the death toll rise to 170 people since the beginning of the army attack on Oct 15.

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Pak army chief to visit US next month for security talks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif will visit the US next month for crucial security talks with American defence officials, his first such trip since taking over as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) last year.

His week-long visit is likely to start from mid-November and preparations for trip are underway, defence sources said.

Gen Sharif has been invited by Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey. He is expected to meet defence secretary Chuck Hagel, Cenycom Commander General Lloyd Austin and also visit Centcom headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

Gen Sharif assumed the post of army chief in November and it took him almost a year to decide on a trip to the US, a move which speaks about the tensions between the defence establishments of the two countries over an array of issues.

However, the visit indicates that the two sides are ready to look forward and ready to work in post-2014 Afghanistan where a sizeable number of US and Nato troops will stay.

Pakistan had asked US not to completely abandon the war-torn Afghanistan which needs both security and economic support for its survival.

Sharif goes to the US armed with the success of military operation in North Waziristan which is predecessor Gen Ashfaq Kayani refused to launch despite American pressure.

The new Pakistan army chief is apparently more clear in his approach towards the militants and has said several times that the operation will continue till militants are wiped out.

That is why a smaller operation was also launched in Khyber which is crucial for the security of Afghanistan as a key supply route to the country passes through Khyber.

The issues of tension with India will also come up for discussions during the trip as sources said that the US is worried over the recent deadly clashes at borders.

The visit also shows that US is again ready to engage with Pakistan military which has emerged stronger in the current power struggle in the country.

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Satyam case: Court may set date for judgment on October 30

PTI | Oct 27, 2014, 12.27PM IST
HYDERABAD: A local court trying the case of multi-crore accounting fraud in erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Limited (SCSL) may announce a date for verdict on October 30.

CBI special public prosecutor K Surender said the court has ordered all the accused to appear before it on that date.

The ten accused in the case include prime accused Satyam Computers founder and former chairman B Ramalinga Raju, his brother and Satyam's former MD B Rama Raju, ex-CFO Vadlamani Srinivas, former PwC auditors Subramani Gopalakrishnan and T Srinivas, Raju's another brother B Suryanarayana Raju, former employees G Ramakrishna, D Venkatpathi Raju and Ch Srisailam, and Satyam's former internal chief auditor V S Prabhakar Gupta.

The trial in Satyam fraud case had concluded in June before the special court, which examined 216 witnesses and marked 3,038 documents during the course of the hearing.

Touted as the country's biggest accounting fraud, the scam came to light on January 7, 2009 after Raju allegedly confessed to manipulating his company's account books and inflating profits over many years to the tune of several crores of rupees.

Raju was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department of Andhra Pradesh Police two days later along with his brother.

In February that year, CBI took over the investigation and filed three charge sheets (on April 7, 2009, November 24, 2009 and January 7, 2010), which were later clubbed into one.

Raju and others were charged with offences like cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery and breach of trust, under relevant sections of IPC, for inflating invoices and incomes, account falsification, faking fixed deposits, besides allegedly falsifying returns through violation of various I-T laws.

During the trial, the CBI alleged that the scam caused a loss of Rs 14,000 crore to Satyam shareholders, while the defence countered the charges, saying the accused were not responsible for the fraud and all the documents filed by the central agency relating to the case were fabricated and not according to law.


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35 passengers injured as bus overturns in Jharkhand

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 26 Oktober 2014 | 17.35

CHAIBASA (Jharkhand): Thirty five passengers were injured when a bus they were travelling in overturned on Kiriburu-Jamda ghat in West Singhbhum district on Sunday.

The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle soon after it set out for its onward journey from Kiriburu to Ranchi and overturned near Sedal gate, injuring 35 passengers this morning, police said.

All the injured people have been admitted to a hospital.

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35 passengers injured as bus overturns

CHAIBASA (Jharkhand): Thirty five passengers were injured when a bus they were travelling in overturned on Kiriburu-Jamda ghat in West Singhbhum district on Sunday.

The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle soon after it set out for its onward journey from Kiriburu to Ranchi and overturned near Sedal gate, injuring 35 passengers this morning, police said.

All the injured people have been admitted to a hospital.

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Hong Kong protest leaders suspend planned vote: organisers

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy activists on Sunday suspended a planned vote on the next steps in their month-long protest - hours before it was due to begin - due to differing opinions on how the movement should proceed, organisers said.

A statement from the main groups involved in the protest said the suspension was agreed "because there were many different opinions about the format of the vote" as well as other matters. They were due to hold a press conference shortly.

The vote by mobile phone had been set to take place today and tomorrow evening to gauge opinions on how demonstrators should respond to conciliatory measures offered by the government in a bid to end their mass sit-ins, which have paralysed several major city junctions.

Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers spilled onto the streets in late September in anger at Beijing's refusal to grant free leadership elections to the former British colony. It insists that candidates for the 2017 vote must be vetted by a pro-China committee.

But the crowds have dwindled, with protest leaders struggling to keep up momentum and clashes breaking out with both opponents and the police.

Hong Kong's government made tentative concessions to the protesters during talks last Tuesday, saying they would file a report to Beijing about recent events and suggesting that both sides set up a committee to discuss further political reform beyond 2017.

Voting protesters were to set be asked two questions about how to respond to the government offers.

The pro-democracy movement is facing growing pressure to decide on its next move, with frustration growing among residents after a month of traffic mayhem caused by the protests.

"We feel we have been conducting the vote hastily," Benny Tai, a co-founder of the Occupy Central protest group, told reporters. "There is not enough deliberation."

"We decided to adjourn the vote at the square but it doesn't mean the movement has stopped," he said.

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Hong Kong protest leaders suspend planned vote: Organisers

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy activists on Sunday suspended a planned vote on the next steps in their month-long protest - hours before it was due to begin - due to differing opinions on how the movement should proceed, organisers said.

A statement from the main groups involved in the protest said the suspension was agreed "because there were many different opinions about the format of the vote" as well as other matters. They were due to hold a press conference shortly.

The vote by mobile phone had been set to take place today and tomorrow evening to gauge opinions on how demonstrators should respond to conciliatory measures offered by the government in a bid to end their mass sit-ins, which have paralysed several major city junctions.

Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers spilled onto the streets in late September in anger at Beijing's refusal to grant free leadership elections to the former British colony. It insists that candidates for the 2017 vote must be vetted by a pro-China committee.

But the crowds have dwindled, with protest leaders struggling to keep up momentum and clashes breaking out with both opponents and the police.

Hong Kong's government made tentative concessions to the protesters during talks last Tuesday, saying they would file a report to Beijing about recent events and suggesting that both sides set up a committee to discuss further political reform beyond 2017.

Voting protesters were to set be asked two questions about how to respond to the government offers.

The pro-democracy movement is facing growing pressure to decide on its next move, with frustration growing among residents after a month of traffic mayhem caused by the protests.

"We feel we have been conducting the vote hastily," Benny Tai, a co-founder of the Occupy Central protest group, told reporters. "There is not enough deliberation."

"We decided to adjourn the vote at the square but it doesn't mean the movement has stopped," he said.

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US marines, British combat forces end Afghan operations, prepare withdrawal

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan: The last US marines unit and final British combat troops in Afghanistan officially ended their operations on Sunday as they packed up to leave the country and transferred a massive military base to the Afghan military.

The American and British flags were lowered and folded up for the final time at the regional headquarters of the international military, 13 years after the toppling of the Taliban's radical Islamist regime launched America's longest war.

The timing of the troops' withdrawal from the base in the strategic province of Helmand was not released for security reasons.

Camp Leatherneck is the largest US base to be handed over to Afghan control as the coalition ends its combat mission at the end of the year, leaving most of the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency to Afghan army and police.

British forces transferred the adjacent Camp Bastion at the same time.

Once a teeming compound of some 40,000 personnel, the coalition's Regional Command (Southwest) combined base on Sunday resembled a dust-swept, well-fortified ghost town.

Concrete blast walls and razor wire were left guarding empty sand lots and barracks. Offices were bare, and bulletin boards stripped of photo tributes of fallen American troops.

"It's empty now — when I got here, it was still bustling, so there were a lot of services around and people around," said Marine Capt. Ryan Steenberge, whose taskforce was overseeing surveillance and security for the withdrawal and will be among the last troops out. "It's weird to see different pieces pull away."

The most recent official estimate of combined international troops at the base was 4,500 - and those last few will be gone soon, officials said.

After the withdrawal, the Afghan National Army's 215th Corps will be headquartered at the 6,500-acre base, leaving almost no foreign military presence in Helmand.

The province, which produces 80-90% of the opium that helps finance the Taliban's insurgency, has seen fierce fighting this year, with Taliban and allied forces seeking to seize the district of Sangin from Afghan army and police.

The battles have raised concerns about whether Afghan forces are truly able to hold off the Taliban without intelligence and air support from the United States and its allies.

Officials with the US-led coalition say the Afghan forces held their own this summer fighting season and did not lose any significant ground.

"I'm cautiously optimistic they will be able to sustain themselves," said Brig. Gen Daniel Yoo, the commander of Regional Command (Southwest), said of the Afghan forces.

He said the success of the Afghan security army and police depended on leadership, continued development of logistics and confidence.

"They've got to want it more than we do," he said of Afghan forces that have been losing hundreds of soldiers and policemen each month in battles, assassinations and suicide attacks by insurgents.

Helmand was a major focus of the 2010 troops surge to wrest control back from the Taliban insurgency. The surge saw international forces in Afghanistan swell to about 140,000. By Jan. 1, that number will be about 12,500 of mostly trainers and advisers.

The Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan is the last US marine unit in the country, and the British forces at Bastion will be the last U.K troops to go home.

"The guys right now are mostly looking forward to getting home," said marine Lt. John Pratson, 24, of Leonardtown, Maryland, as his team played touch football and lifted weights outdoors on the eve of the handover ceremony.

"It's been a long hot summer," he said.

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25 killed in Syrian airstrikes

DAMASCUS: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday said that 25 people were killed during Syrian air strikes in Homs province.

About 18 people, including 10 kids and three women, were killed overnight in the city of Talbiseh, the UK-based watchdog group said.

It said that the toll is likely to escalate due to the critical condition of the injured, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, six men and a child were also killed late Saturday night during the shelling in the suburbs of al-Waer.

It said the Syrian air force has carried out 533 air strikes on several cities in recent days.

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Slight intensity earthquake hits Nicobar Islands

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 25 Oktober 2014 | 17.35

NEW DELHI : A slight intensity earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale Friday night hit Nicobar Islands.

According to the Meteorological department, earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred at 22:54 hours at Nicobar Islands.

There was no report of any damage or casualty due to the tremor so far.

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Two US nurses are declared cured of Ebola

WASHINGTON : Two American nurses were declared cured of Ebola today, and one was healthy enough to leave hospital and make plans to meet President Barack Obama.

The good news for the nurses, who contracted Ebola while caring for a Liberian patient in Texas, came as the city of New York was dealing with its first case of the deadly virus.

Nina Pham smiled and appeared healthy, wearing a turquoise shirt and dark business suit at a news conference outside the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

"I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today," Pham told reporters, expressing her gratitude for those who prayed for her and cared for her while she was sick.

"I am on my way back to recovery even as I reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate."

Pham was the first US healthcare worker to be infected with Ebola while working inside the United States, catching the disease from Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan, who was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas on September 28.

Her colleague, nurse Amber Vinson, also came down with Ebola. She, too, is clear of the virus but has not yet been released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Tests no longer detect virus in her blood," the hospital said, adding that she was "making good progress," but would stay in the serious communicable diseases unit for continued supportive care until further notice.

Pham, 26, said her thoughts are with her friend, Vinson, and another American doctor, Craig Spencer, who was diagnosed with Ebola in New York today after returning from Guinea.

She also thanked doctor Kent Brantly, an American missionary who was sickened with Ebola in Liberia over the summer and who donated his plasma to help her recovery.

Pham is scheduled to meet Obama at the White House before returning to Texas. She asked for privacy as she attempts to return to a normal life.

"Although I no longer have Ebola I know it may be a while before I have my strength back," Pham said.

Pham did not receive any experimental Ebola drugs while at the specialized research hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, said Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (AFP) ISH 10242353 NNNN

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