Obama, Romney power into final weekend
CLEVELAND, Ohio, Nov 3 (AFP) – President Barack Obama and Republican foe Mitt Romney today powered into a final weekend of campaigning before handing their fates to voters after a bitter, gruelling White House race. The rivals will chase one another through the battleground states that will decide Tuesday’s election, with Obama seeking to solidify [...]
Oh, humanity, where art thou?
Reading half way through the preface, I told myself: “This book is for me”. Yes, it is about me. It is for those who have felt that their dignity has been robbed or violated. It is for those who cry for justice and freedom. It is also for those who remain indifferent to injustices even [...]
India’s Congress to stage massive rally
NEW DELHI, Nov 3, (AFP) -Sonia Gandhi, chief of India’s ruling Congress party, and Premier Manmohan Singh were set to speak at a massive rally today to whip up support for the scandal-tainted government ahead of 2014 elections. Italian-born Gandhi, India’s political grand matriarch who led Congress to back-to-back wins in 2004 and 2009, is [...]
Pak ‘blasphemy school’ headteacher remanded
LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 3 (AFP) -A Pakistani court yesterday refused bail to the headteacher of a school caught in a blasphemy row over a piece of homework allegedly containing derogatory references to the prophet Mohammed. Asim Farooqi, 77, was remanded in custody for 14 days on charges of blasphemy — which can attract the death [...]
Politician dragged into British sex abuse scandal
LONDON, Nov 3 (AFP) -Internet speculation was circulating Saturday after a BBC news programme embroiled in the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal aired a report in which two men claimed they had been abused by a top politician. The report on Newsnight did not name the man but said he was a leading Conservative politician [...]
Syria rebels target key airbase before talks
DAMASCUS, Nov 3, (AFP) -Syrian rebels said today they had launched a major assault on a northern airbase used to deploy regime air power, on the eve of a crucial meeting to decide the future of the opposition. The attack on the Taftanaz base, from where helicopter gunships raid opposition positions and rebel-held areas, comes [...]
Survivors of Myanmar’s sectarian violence relive ordeals
SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) – Muslim survivors of six days of sectarian violence in western Myanmar spoke on Sunday of fleeing bullets and burning homes to escape on fishing boats after an attack by once-peaceable Rakhine neighbours. The United Nations said 22,587 people had now been displaced after unrest between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Rakhines claimed [...]
Flooded New York plans to tame the sea
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) – When Jeroen Aerts, a Dutchman tasked with crafting a plan to defend New York City from flooding, first looked at its coastline seven years ago, he was taken aback by how vulnerable it was. New York state and city officials have started talking about the need for a comprehensive [...]
The world’s happiest man?
A French genetic scientist may seem like an unusual person to hold the title — but Matthieu Ricard is the world’s happiest man, according to researchers. The 66-year-old turned his back on Parisian intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. He is now a close confidante of the Dalai Lama [...]
Koshik the talking elephant only speaks Korean
So far he has yet to master the phrases ‘Please may I have another bun?’ and ‘Eek, a mouse!’ But Koshik the elephant has made a start, by learning how to speak five words in a human-like voice. The 22-year-old male, housed in a South Korean zoo, places the end of his trunk in his [...]
We killed Yasser Arafat’s deputy, says Israel
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has for the first time admitted assassinating the PLO’s former number two, Abu Jihad, in a raid on the movement’s Tunis headquarters in 1988, a newspaper reported yesterday. The report, published in Israel’s top-selling Yediot Aharonot, said the operation was planned by the Mossad spy agency and carried out by the [...]
Philippine street kid a global inspiration
CAVITE, Philippines, Nov 1 (AFP) -Cris Valdez began life unwanted by his parents and was soon scavenging in a Philippine rubbish dump, an unlikely start for a boy now hailed as an inspiration for children around the world. Valdez, 13, won this year’s International Children’s Peace Prize for his work as head of a charity [...]
Sacked for growing beards, Egyptian police demand jobs back
CAIRO (Reuters) – Dozens of Egyptian policemen suspended from work in February for growing Islamic beards protested outside the Interior Ministry and called on President Mohamed Mursi to secure their reinstatement. The policemen had sought to challenge an unwritten rule that stopped members of the security forces from growing beards during the rule of President [...]
How to insult people, Indian politician-style
NEW DELHI (Reuters) If you were a reporter covering the Shiv Sena in 2006, the place to be was a nondescript restaurant located midway between party offices and those of Bal Thackeray’s nephew Raj, who rebelled and formed a new party after a fall-out with his uncle. At this hole-in-the-wall eatery, party workers from both [...]
World’s longest married couple share their secrets
In an age where few marriages endure the test of time, 107-year-old Karam and his wife Katari Chand, 100, are proof that happy ever after does exist. The couple, who have eight children and twenty eight grandchildren together, have lived in wedded bliss for 87 years making them the world’s longest married couple. The pair [...]
Curiosity completes its first analysis of Martian soil
In the first chemical analysis of of minerals on another planet, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity found soil that bears a striking resemblance to weathered, volcanic sand in Hawaii, scientists have revealed. The rover uses an X-ray imager to reveal the atomic structures of crystals in the Martian soil, the first time the technology, known as [...]
The real Eyephone: New software can control gadgets just by looking at them
A Danish company hopes to clinch deals with major mobile phone and tablet makers after developing software that enables users to control their devices by moving their eyes. ‘You can use it for basic control, such as turning to the next page in an e-book, and playing games with your eyes,’ chief executive and co-founder [...]
Highway of the future
Roads that glow in the dark and could one day even charge electric cars are set to be introduced in the Netherlands from next year. ‘Smart Highways’ unveiled last week at Dutch Design Week will use the latest technologies in roads their designers claim will be ‘more sustainable, safe and intuitive’. The companies behind the [...]
Book facts
The Mirage of Dignity on the Highways of Human Progress by Lukman Harees. Pages 749 Published by Author House, USA
Obama or Romney, America’s relations with the Arab World will change
After last week’s Obama-Romney love-fest for Israel, the Arabs have been slowly deciding which of the two men would be best for the Middle East. It looks like Barack Obama is their man; but the problem – as always – is the sad, pathetic and outrageously obvious fact that it doesn’t make the slightest bit [...]
Kill and let die: The US James
NEW YORK – By a strange but fitting coincidence, US President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, held their final debate – which focused on foreign policy -just as the new James Bond film, Skyfall, had its world premiere in London. Although 007, who turned 50 this year, is a British-born global brand, [...]
Superstorm caused major damage to UN headquarters
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 1 (Reuters) – The United Nations headquarters suffered severe damage when Sandy, a massive storm that hit the U.S. East Coast this week, caused heavy flooding at the world body’s Manhattan complex along the East River, the U.N. security chief said on Thursday. Sandy made landfall in New York City on Monday [...]
US election to cost over $6 bn, most expensive ever: Study
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US political campaigns will spend $6 billion in federal races this year, making the 2012 general election the most expensive poll in American history, experts said Wednesday. The presidential election pitting President Barack Obama against Republican challenger Mitt Romney, alone accounts for $2.6 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which [...]
Voting in an election that matters
(Reuters)- Every four years, presidential nominees tell voters that this election is the most important of our lifetimes. Such proclamations are largely hyperbole. In 2012, however, it might be warranted. This election is consequential. During the next four years, the nation will have to face issues of debt, taxes and fiscal stability that will imprint [...]
US election: 10 oddities explained
You’ve heard their policies, but what about the other questions? Like what’s that jabbing gesture Obama makes with his thumb? And why is the “Mr President” title kept for life? We examine 10 of the lesser-spotted things about American presidential politics – and about this campaign. Why is Election Day always a Tuesday? Even though [...]
Is print media dying?
IPS U.N. Bureau Chief Thalif Deen interviews Dr. Shelton Gunaratne, professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University. NEW YORK, Nov 2 (IPS) – As the digital revolution continues to spin out of control, several newspapers in the United States have either stopped their presses and ended print runs, or gone online. After 149 years [...]
In tight US race, Asian Americans could be the kingmakers
FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (AFP) – From the stall where he sells newspapers and scarves in the colours of the former South Vietnam, Tony Nguyen has been watching the tight US presidential election play out before his eyes. Representatives for President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have been frequent visitors to the Vietnamese restaurants [...]
