TIMES 24 NEWS

North Korea's leader Kim to visit Russia

2015-01-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said his presence had been confirmed, and Russia was preparing for his visit.

However, Mr Peskov did not mention Kim Jong-un by name, sparking speculation that another official may attend.

Kim Jong-un has not made any overseas visits since taking power in North Korea in late 2011.

South Korea's Unification Ministry told Yonhap that the reference to the leader could be ambiguous, as Kim Yong-nam is the nominal head of state.

Earlier this month, reports emerged suggesting Russia could be the site of Mr Kim's first official visit.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on 21 January that Russia had invited Mr Kim to the 9 May celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2.

He said that the "first signal was positive" from the North Korean government.

Mr Peskov told Interfax news agency on Wednesday: "The participation of the North Korean leader has been confirmed, we are preparing for his arrival."

However, Yonhap reported earlier that the Kremlin had not finalised the list of guests, and there has been no statement from North Korea.

Kim Yong-nam, whose official title is president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, has more traditionally represented North Korea at overseas events.

Visits by Kim Jong-un's father Kim Jong-il, the former leader who died in December 2011, were never announced ahead of his departure.

Kim Jong-il visited Russia in August 2011, but he paid more regular visits to China. Under his leadership, China was seen as the North's closest ally.

If Kim Jong-un did choose to visit Moscow ahead of Beijing, the decision could be seen as a sign of growing distance between China and the North.

In recent years, China has come under pressure from Japan, South Korea and the US to exert more pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear programme.

Beijing has, on some occasions, expressed exasperation with its northern neighbour via official media channels.

It also backed UN resolutions strengthening sanctions on Pyongyang after its recent missile and nuclear tests in 2013.

India Warn's China

2013-08-21T13:21:00.003-07:00

In a strong message to China, the Indian Air Force today landed its C-130J Super Hercules transport plane at the world's highest and recently-activated Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) airstrip in Ladakh near the Line of Actual Control, the scene of a stand-off with Chinese troops in April.

The achievement will enable the armed forces to use the heavy-lift aircraft to induct troops, supplies, improve communication network and also serve as a morale booster for maintenance of troops positioned there.

"A C-130J Super Hercules landed at DBO, the highest airstrip in the world at 0654 hours today. The Commanding Officer, Group Captain Tejbir Singh and the crew of the 'Veiled Vipers' along with senior officer touched down on the DBO airstrip located at 16614 feet (5065 meters) in the Aksai Chin area," the Air Force said in a statement.

The airfield was reactivated by the IAF in 2008 with the landing of an Antonov-32 aircraft there from Chandigarh after it was last used in the 1965 war with Pakistan.

"Once again this strategic base in the Northern Himalayas gained importance when it was resurrected and reactivated by the IAF along with the Indian Army and made operational when a twin engine AN-32 aircraft from Chandigarh landed there after a gap of 43 years (in 2008)," the IAF said.

In April this year, about 50 Chinese soldiers had crossed the Line of Actual Control or the de-facto border and set up a remote camp at Daulat Beg Oldie in the Depsang Valley, 19 kilometres into Indian territory. On May 6, both sides agreed to pull forces back to positions held before the confrontation, ending the 21 day stand-off.

The Depsang Valley region is highly strategic and abuts the Karakoram Highway joining Pakistan to China, which Beijing hopes to develop into a high-traffic trade route linking it to the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

India beat Sri Lanka with bonus but Sehwag miss century ...

2010-08-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

5 runs to win with Virendra Sehwag unbeaten on 99, Sri Lankan captain (and wicket keeper) Kumar Sangakkara gave another hint of what a ruthless leader he is as he left a bye for four and then his bowler = Suraj Randiv, bowled the biggest no ball he's ever sent down in his career (obviously intertionally). Sehwag jumped out of the crease to hit a six and raised his bat thinking he had reached his 13 ODI century but soon realised it was a no ball and match had finished before he played his stroke. Sehwag called Sri Lankan move to deny him a century as fair, saying no team wants a batsman to score a century against them and Lankans were no different..

An unethical end it was to a low scoring match 3 of this Micromax cup triseries 2010 but a win for India nevertheless, which now keeps them in hunt for a spot in final after losing first game to New Zealand by 200 runs. How it unfolded? lets start with the toss which Indian captain lost for the 10th time straight.

Praveen Kumar castled Upul Tharanga first up, recording third occassion when he took a wicket off first ball of the match, and then maintained his accuracy for 5 more overs straight. From other end, left armer Ashish Nehra (who was declared fit from his gluteus muscle problems) bounced Sangakkara into a false pull shot to reduce home team to 2 wkts for 14 before Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf made it 3 wkts for 23 by giving a tough leg before decision against Mahela Jayawardene. Ball may have missed stumps as it had hit the right handed batsman above knee roll but since we still don't have umpire decision review system in one day matches, Jayawardene walked off, leaving his team in big trouble.

Thilan Samaraweera, known for his solidarity, concentrated on singles down the leg side once too often to be caught at short mid-wicket off Ishant Sharma, recuding his team to 44 for 4 wkts. Tillakaratne Dilshan had watched 4 of his mates depart so he carved his natural attacking instincts for his 45 off 62 balls but he lost patience as Indian captain MS Dhoni kept fielders inside the 30 yard circle and perished trying to slog sweep left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha against the spin.

Sri Lanka 82 for 5 wkts from 21.4 overs when we had a 20 minutes rain break.

Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedera were claimed by Ravindra Jadeja after weather cleared up, leaving home team tottering at 103 for 7 wickets at the 31.3 over mark but tailenders Nuwan Kulasekara and Suraj Randiv added crucial 39 to give some respectibility to their score. Randiv then managed 16 with Lasith Malinga and was last man out after 22 run stand with Dilhara Fernando, giving himself something to bowl at.

Indian chase lost opener Dinesh Karthik cheaply, for 10 and then two young batters = Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, were out for duck. Indian 50 came from 16.1 overs for the loss of 3 wickets, the exact of what Sri Lankans had done few hours earlier and it was anybody's match at this juncture.

Virendra Sehwag, without a half century in his last 11 oneday innings, took his time to get set but flourished during his half ton stand with Suresh Raina which came off just 50 balls, redirecting Indians towards victory banks. MS Dhoni was unbeaten with Sehwag as Indians sealed up the game inside 35 overs, reserving bonus points.

India celebrates 63 years of Independence

2010-08-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told Indians celebrating 60 years of independence from Britain that "the best is yet to come".

Mr Singh was speaking after raising the Indian flag at Delhi's Red Fort, where the British flag was lowered in 1947.

He praised the work of those who fought for India's freedom but said the country would only be truly independent once it had eliminated poverty.

Pakistan marked its own 60th anniversary a day earlier.

The partition in 1947 saw 10 million people cross borders in one of history's largest mass migrations.

But freedom for both countries came at a price as hundreds of thousands of people died in the violence that followed.

India looks to future

A military band fired guns and played the national anthem as the Indian flag was raised at the historic Red Fort in the centre of the capital.

Hundreds of balloons in the colours of the Indian flag were released into the air.

Amid tight security, Mr Singh said: "I assure you that for each one of you, and for our country, the best is yet to come."

But he also said too few Indians enjoyed the benefits of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

"Sixty years ago we started a new journey. We were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's thoughts and views. In the true sense we will have freedom and independence only when we get rid of poverty."

He urged the nation to work hard to "eradicate malnutrition within five years".

Mr Singh pledged to press ahead with industrialisation and improving infrastructure but there was no mention of the other nation created at the time of the bloody partition - Pakistan.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder, in Delhi, says there is clear concern among India's leaders that the benefits of its booming economy have not reached a vast majority of its one-billion strong population.

But despite this, the mood in India is upbeat, with many believing that the country has finally emerged out of its colonial shadow to take its position on the global stage, our correspondent adds.

Major security drive

Earlier, thousands of people attended a huge concert at Wagah, where the only road border between India and Pakistan is found.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead, at Wagah, says there was a sense from people there that they would like to see the community spirit that was alive when this was one country to be born again.As celebrations got under way across India, a huge security operation swung into action to thwart possible militant attacks.

Aircraft and tens of thousands of security forces have been deployed to fend off what the government says are threats by al-Qaeda and insurgents in several states.In Delhi, around 70,000 policemen and paramilitary troops were posted at government buildings, diplomatic enclaves and main intersections.

Four explosions rocked the north-eastern state of Assam hours before the celebrations began.

No-one was killed or injured in the blasts. The police blamed the explosions on the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) rebels, who have called for a boycott of the celebrations.

Separatist groups in Indian-administered Kashmir said that the celebrations were a "Black Day".

A strike sponsored by the groups closed shops and businesses there.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad spoke at a ceremony from behind a bullet-proof screen, urging militants to turn to "peace and prosperity".

In some rural areas in eastern India, Maoist militants raised black flags to protest against the celebrations.

The festivities were also muted in many areas of northern India where millions have been affected by some of the worst flooding in 30 years.

To herald the celebrations in both countries, Pakistan allowed 134 Indian prisoners to return home on Monday, with India reciprocating by handing over 72 Pakistani prisoners on Tuesday.

Fake currency notes racket busted in Bangalore

2010-07-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

BANGALORE: An international fake currency racket was busted with the arrest of two people carrying Rs.15 lakh in counterfeit notes - printed in Pakistan, police said on Friday.

"Anrool Shiekh alias Salim, 27, a native of West Bengal and Dubai Babu, 50 from Tamil Nadu have been booked under section 489A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for trading high-denomination fake currency notes," police commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters.

During preliminary interrogation, the duo confessed that the fake notes in Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 denomination were printed in Pakistan. The notes were brought to India through Bangladesh for circulation in various parts of the country.

"I am writing to the state government to handover this case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as it has international and inter-state ramifications with a deleterious impact on the Indian economy," Bidari said.

The modus operandi of the accused was to exchange fake notes worth Rs.100,000 for Rs.40,000.

"Circulating high denomination fake notes has become a cottage industry for anti-national elements with the involvement of their counterparts in Pakistan and Bangladesh through border districts," Bidari added.

Investigations into the fake currency racket revealed that the perpetrators have set up a chain of contacts on border districts like Malda in West Bengal. Their suppliers in Bangladesh ship the notes to India and distribute them through unsuspecting people.

"The fake currency notes appear to be as good as legal notes with the missing water mark as the only exception. Even an expert will find it difficult to differentiate them from legal notes," Bidari said.

TV channel office attacked

2010-07-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

In a brazen attack on press freedom, a large number of people owing allegiance to the sangh parivar vandalised the office of the TV Today Network at Videocon Towers at Jhandewalan here on Friday.

The attack came a day after the group's news channel, Headlines Today, telecast tapes of secret meetings attended by some Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders and where discussions were allegedly held on carrying out “terrorist attacks against meetings of Muslims.''

Protesting against the telecast of the tapes, an over 2000-strong mob, which included several women, barged into the lobby of Videocon Towers around 5 p.m. and resorted to vandalism.

Carrying placards — which read “RSS/Sangh ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan (India will not tolerate insult to RSS and Sangh)” — and armed with sticks, the protesters hurled flower plots, stones and bricks at the entrance gate of the lobby. They smashed glass doors and windows and damaged furniture.

Delhi police personnel and security guards were punched and pushed around.

The high-voltage drama continued for over 15 minutes before police reinforcements reached the spot and brought the situation under control.

Pakistan troops target Indian posts

2010-07-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops on Thursday night targeted six Indian posts with mortar and small-arms fire in the Poonch and R.S. Pora sectors along the border.

There were no reports of any casualty. The Pakistani troops fired on five Indian posts along the Line of Control in the Krishna Ghati sub-sector of Poonch from 2130 hours, drawing retaliation from the Indian personnel, a senior officer said.

Take action on Trinamool-Maoists 'links': CPI-M to govt

2010-07-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The CPI-M on Friday asked the UPA government to show "political will" and take action on reported links between Trinamool Congress and Maoists in West Bengal.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior party leader Brinda Karat referred to a report in a daily on Friday claiming links between a Trinamool MP and Maoists, including supplying of arms and ammunition to the extremists.

"A day after your initiative in calling a meeting of chief ministers of Maoist-affected states comes fresh evidence of the direct contacts and support to the Maoists by leaders of a party which is part of the ruling alliance and also represented in the Central Cabinet," she said.

Enclosing a copy of the report, she said it gave details of the links between an MP of the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists in the Nandigram area of West Bengal, including the supply of arms and ammunition to the Maoists.

Maintaining that the CPI-M had written to him earlier "with evidence of these links", Karat said "in view of the fresh disclosures, I hope the Central government will show the political will to take appropriate action in the national interest."

The report had quoted records of interrogation of an accused in the Jnaneshwari train accident case.

5 security men killed in blast by Naxals, close shave for SP

2010-07-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

LATEHAR (Jharkhand): Five policemen were killed and as many injured when Maoists triggered a landmine blast in Jharkhand's Latehar on Friday, even as the police chief of the district had a providential escape as the vehicle behind his car blew to bits.

Latehar police chief Kuldip Diwedi had a narrow escape when the landmine blew up a patrol van following his car, killing five security personnel and wounding five others at Kutmu More.

"I was the target of the Maoists, but the landmine went off moments after my car passed the path at Kutmu More," Diwedi told reporters soon after reaching the headquarters.

"Unfortunately the van following my car carrying the personnel of the Jharkhand Jaguar Force was blown up, killing five on the spot and injuring five others," the SP said.

The third van in the convoy came to a screeching halt as the personnel jumped out to take positions to respond to indiscriminate gun fire by the Maoists.

The SP was returning after leading a long range patrolling in Maoist-affected areas.

The dead security men were identified as Ashok Kumar, Mohan Niraj, Duduwa Munda, Gopal Lakra and Prakash Yadav, the police said, adding that the van was badly mangled in the explosion.

The wounded security men - Samresh Singh, Guruev Prasad, Suleman Dhan, Chandra Mohan and Suresh Toppo - have been admitted to a hospital in Palamau's Medininagar.

Goa naval authorities flayed

2010-07-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Senior Congress leader and MP Shantaram Naik on Friday criticised the naval authorities in Goa for stalling the work on the Dabolim airport expansion project being undertaken by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The MP, who was on the high-power committee set up by the Prime Minister two years ago to study the controversy over two airports, told presspersons that the naval authorities had ordered the AAI to stop excavation work at the airport site.

Mr. Naik alleged that the naval authorities did not hand over 12 acres of land to the AAI. They were not cooperating with the AAI with regard to work on a taxi-track to be used for landing of aircraft.

6 ways to save the planet

2010-07-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

It’s a journey that began on World Earth Day (April 22) and concludes today, on World Environment Day. The ‘Take Care, Take Charge’ campaign, presented by The Times of India in association with Garnier, invited readers from six cities — Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Kolkata to share ideas on how to save the environment.

The response was overwhelming — more than 5,000 ideas poured in within just three weeks. In keeping with our promise to recycle 10kg of waste paper for every idea received, the ‘Take Care, Take Charge’ campaign purchased over 50,000kg of waste paper, which has been distributed to NGOs to recycle.

The 5,000-plus ideas were then sorted into six themes — water conservation and pollution, energy generation and conservation, recycling and waste management, transportation and vehicular pollution, heritage and conservation of culture, and biodiversity and greening.

Our knowledge partner CEE (Centre for Environment Education) and a panel of experts sifted through the ideas and shortlisted 10 per city. The 10 city finalists then presented their case to a panel consisting of top environmentalists and eminent representatives from various walks of life. Finally, one winner was chosen from each city.

Scientist and innovator Ramachandran Rajkumar was the winner from Chennai while Venky Vadde, an electronics engineer, won from Bangalore. Rajkumar has developed a roof insulation that helps in power conservation and reduction of carbon dioxide emission. Vadde’s idea is to create bicycle rental infrastructure around Bangalore city to remove the last-mile disconnect in public transport.

Delhi’s winner Atul Jain, a businessman from Chandni Chowk, has an idea similar to Vadde’s, though he has been working on it for three years. He plans to set up cycle stands at all major transport hubs as well as residential areas so that people can cycle short distances and be fuel-efficient. Encouragingly, Delhi Metro authorities have already agreed to provide Jain with land at a few Metro stations to carry out a pilot project.

Mumbai’s Rajendra Ladkat, a government contractor in operation and maintenance of air conditioning plants and electrical installation, won for his idea of a ‘Dropping Catcher’ — a locomotive toilet for long-distance trains that avoids discharging mounds of excreta near railway stations and instead disperses it on to the tracks once the train attains a speed of 40km per hour.

Pramit Kumar, a medical college student, won from Kolkata. His idea talks of creating ‘green hand print’ points by planting trees. Hyderabad’s winner, Swaminathan Rajavelu, an electrical engineer by profession, focused on ‘off the grid’ living which comprises switching to natural daylight instead of electric bulbs, using the most efficient ways of cooking, using vegetable food wastes as manure for rooftop gardens, etc.

Supreme Court sets up second forest bench

2010-07-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court today announced the creation of second special green bench to deal with matters relating to environment and forest.

“We are going to divide the forest bench into two parts,” Chief Justice S H Kapadia said, adding the new bench will be headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy that will sit on Monday and hear matters on implementation of directives passed by it.

The CJI said the bench headed by him will look after the matters in which norms are to be laid down. Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan are the other members.

Justice Kapadia said the matters relating to mining will be heard by the bench headed by him which will conduct the proceedings on Fridays.

The Chief Justice said matters would be taken up for hearing in a chronological order and no adjournment would be given and suggested the Ministry of Environment and Forest be ready with all the matters.

“We will start hearing the matter from next Friday onwards and take it up on every Friday till we finish,” he said.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati said the Ministry would be ready to assist the Bench which in the past 15 years had passed several landmark judgements, orders and directions for implementing laws on conservation of forest and environment.

The petitions challenging the installation of statues of Dalit leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, at a park in Noida which allegedly has adverse impact on Okhla bird sanctuary is on the top of the list for hearing.

The Noida park matter will be followed by the hearing of cases in which Municipal Corporation of Delhi has accused the Railways of violating environmental norms in outdoor advertisement.

After finishing these two matters, the bench will examine the allegation against the French cement giant Lafarge that it was violating the laws for carrying out mining in the forest of Meghalaya for its plant in Bangladesh.

Bangalore brothers killed in Texas plane crash

2010-07-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Kartik (22) and Pratik (19) Kalaichelvan, two brothers from Bangalore, were killed on Tuesday night when their single-engine plane nose dived into a hayfield in Hood County, Texas.

Local news media reported that the brothers along with their friend Casey Brinegar (26), to whom the aircraft was registered, were on a “a fun trip to Stephenville for a barbeque — a Texas treat for a college student from India visiting his brother in Arlington.”

The three youngsters were said to have been returning to Arlington airport when, at about 9:30 p.m., an eyewitness heard the engine spluttering and cutting out near the town of Tolar. Reports quoted Kyle Fortenberry saying, “I [saw] him circle overhead,… heard his engine stalling, watched him circle back around and nose-dive into the pasture.”

The right wing of the 1964 Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft smashed into the ground, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator said, and the aircraft tumbled. Dub Gillum of the Texas Department of Public Safety said, “The young pilot was looking for a place to land, I assume… He did a fabulous job not crashing into a house.” Mr. Gillum added that he believed the pilot might have landed it if he had had just a bit more daylight.

Mr. Brinegar and Kartik Kalaichelvan were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to Mr. Gillum, while Pratik Kalaichelvan was taken by helicopter to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Friends of the victims said the younger Mr. Kalaichelvan was days away from returning to India. They added that Mr. Brinegar was a superb pilot and instructor at the Skymates flight school in Arlington, although Tuesday’s flight was strictly for pleasure in Mr. Brinegar’s personal plane.

Those who knew Kartik Kalaichelvan said he had learned to fly from Mr. Brinegar, and was “accumulating flight time before returning to India to be a commercial pilot like his dad”. The Indian victims’ father, Alangiam P. Kalaichelvan, reportedly works as a pilot for King Fisher Airlines in Bangalore.

Texas media reported that investigators had not yet determined who was piloting the plane, although as per the norm, flight instructors are always in command of an aircraft when a student is aboard.

Local media also reported that authorities were trying to determine what caused the crash 45 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. An NTSB investigator said a preliminary report on the crash will be issued next week. The NTSB, along with the Federal Aviation Administration, will be investigating the cause of the crash.

Reports noted that Pratik Kalaichelvan, a dentistry student in Chennai, came to visit his brother who, along with Mr. Brinegar, was showing Pratik Texas from the sky. Parents of Kartik and Pratik were said to be en route to Dallas and are expected to reach on Friday morning. A team of volunteers was said to be making arrangements to get all the necessary documents and transfer the bodies to a local funeral home.

“We express our deepest condolences to the Kalaichelvan family on the loss of two young men,” said Prasad Thotakura, General Secretary of the Indian American Friendship Council.

We’re not perfect: Steve Jobs on iPhone trouble

2010-07-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Apple CEO Steve Jobs responded to growing complaints about the latest iPhone by declaring, “We’re not perfect.”

Apple Inc. has been beset with complaints from buyers of its iPhone 4 that holding the phone with a bare hand can muffle the wireless signal. The problem has been termed the “death grip.”

At a news conference Friday in Cupertino, California, Jobs declared, “This is life in the smart phone world. Phones aren’t perfect, and it’s a challenge for the whole industry.”

Mr. Jobs also says the problem isn’t widespread. He says just over five out of every thousand users have complained to Apple’s warranty service.

On Monday, Consumer Reports said it refused to recommend the phone and called on Apple to compensate buyers.

Afridi to retire from Test cricket

2010-07-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi announced on Friday that he would quit Test cricket after his side’s second Test match against Australia next week.

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi on Friday made a dramatic announcement that he would quit Test cricket after his side’s second Test match against Australia next week.

Afridi said after his side’s 150-run defeat at the hands of Australia in the first Test at Lord’s here that the second and final match starting at Headingley from July 21 would be his last.

“I did the wrong thing. I think my temperament is not good enough for Test cricket and I am struggling with a side injury. I think maybe the next Test will be my last,” Afridi told BBC Radio after the match.

“It is a board decision but I would think Salman Butt is the best man for the job now. I have a bit of an injury and I would rather focus on one-day and Twenty20 cricket,” said Afridi who was playing his first Test in four years.

His decision means a new captain will be in place when Pakistan takes on England in the four match Test series starting on July 29.

Teens create their world on social networking sites

2010-07-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

“I’d rather,” deadpans Philippa Grogan, 16, “give up, like, a kidney than my phone. How did you manage before? Carrier pigeons? Letters? Going round each others’ houses on BIKES?” Cameron Kirk, 14, reckons he spends “an hour, hour-and-a-half on school days” hanging out with his 450-odd Facebook friends; maybe twice that at weekends. “It’s actually very practical if you forget what that day’s homework is. Unfortunately, one of my best friends doesn’t have Facebook. But it’s OK; we talk on our PlayStations.” Emily Hooley, 16, recalls a Very Dark Moment: “We went to Wales for a week at half term to revise. There was no mobile, no TV, no broadband. We had to drive into town just to get a signal. It was really hard, knowing people were texting you, writing on your Wall, and you couldn’t respond. Loads of my friends said they’d just never do that.”

Teens, eh? Not how they were when I was young. Nor the way they talk to each other. Let’s frighten ourselves, first: for a decade, the Pew Internet & American Life Project has been the world’s largest and most authoritative provider of data on the internet’s impact on the lives of 21^st century citizens. Since 2007, it has been chronicling the use teenagers make of the net, in particular their mass adoption of social networking sites. It has been studying the way teens use mobile phones, including text messages, since 2006.

This is what the Project says about the way U.S. teens (and, by extension, teenagers in much of western Europe: the exact figures may sometimes differ by a percentage point or two, but the patterns are the same) communicate in an age of Facebook Chat, instant messaging and unlimited texts. Ready? First, 75% of all teenagers (and 58% of 12-year-olds) now have a mobile phone. Almost 90% of phone-owning teens send and receive texts, most of them daily. Half send 50 or more texts a day; one in three send 100. In fact, in barely four years, texting has established itself as comfortably “the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends”.

But phones do more than simply text, of course. More than 80% of phone-owning teens also use them to take pictures (and 64% to share those pictures with others). Sixty per cent listen to music on them, 46% play games, 32% swap videos and 23% access social networking sites. The mobile phone, in short, is now “the favoured communication hub for the majority of teens”.

As if texting, swapping, hanging and generally spending their waking hours welded to their phones wasn’t enough, 73% use social networking sites, mostly Facebook - 50% more than three years ago. Digital communication is not just prevalent in teenagers’ lives. It IS teenagers’ lives.

There’s a very straightforward reason, says Amanda Lenhart, a Pew senior research specialist. “Simply, these technologies meet teens’ developmental needs,” she says. “Mobile phones and social networking sites make the things teens have always done — defining their own identity, establishing themselves as independent of their parents, looking cool, impressing members of the opposite sex — a whole lot easier.” Boasting, gossiping, teasing, hanging out, confessing: all that classic teen stuff has always happened, Ms. Lenhart says. It’s just that it used to happen behind the bike sheds, or via tightly folded notes pressed urgently into sweating hands in the corridor between lessons. Social networking sites and mobile phones have simply facilitated the whole business.

For Professor Patti Valkenburg, of the University of Amsterdam’s internationally respected Centre for Research on Children, Adolescents and the Media, “contemporary communications tools” help resolve one of the fundamental conflicts that rages within every adolescent. Adolescence, she says, is characterised by “an enhanced need for self-presentation, or communicating your identity to others, and also self-disclosure -discussing intimate topics. Both are essential in developing teenagers’ identities, allowing them to validate their opinions and determine the appropriateness of their attitudes and behaviours.” But, as we all recall, adolescence is also a period of excruciating shyness and aching self-consciousness - which can make all that self-presentation and self-disclosure something of a perilous, not to say agonising, business. So the big plus of texting, instant messaging and social networking is that it allows the crucial identity-establishing behaviour, without the accompanying embarrassment. “These technologies give their users a sense of increased

controllability,” Ms. Valkenburg says. “That, in turn, allows them to feel secure about their communication, and thus freer in their interpersonal relations.” “Controllability”, she explains, is about three things: being able to say what you want without fear of the message not getting through because of that humungous spot on your chin or your tendency to blush; having the power to reflect on and change what you write before you send it (in contrast to face-to-face communication); and being able to stay in touch with untold hordes of friends at times, and in places, where your predecessors were essentially incommunicado.

But what do teenagers make of this newfound freedom to communicate? Philippa reckons she sends “probably about 30” text messages every day, and receives as many. “They’re about meeting up - where are you, see you in 10, that kind of thing,” she says. Like most of her peers, Philippa wouldn’t dream of using her phone to actually phone anyone, except perhaps her parents — to placate them if she’s not where she should be, or ask them to come and pick her up if she is. Calls are expensive, and you can’t make them in class (you shouldn’t text in class either, but “lots of people do“).

Philippa also has 639 Facebook friends, and claims to know “the vast majority” (though some, she admits, are “quite far down the food chain“). “I don’t want to be big-headed or anything, but I am quite popular,” she says. “Only because I don’t have a social life outside my bedroom, though.” When I call her, 129 of her friends are online.

Facebook rush-hour is straight after school, and around nine or 10 in the evening. “You can have about 10 chats open at a time, then it gets a bit slow and you have to start deleting people,” Philippa says. The topics? “General banter, light-hearted abuse. Lots of talk about parties and about photos of parties.” Cred-wise, it’s important to have a good, active Facebook profile: lots of updates, lots of photos of you tagged.

Sometimes, though, it ends in tears. Everyone has witnessed cyber-bullying, but the worst thing that happened to Philippa was when someone posted “a really dreadful picture of me, with an awful double chin”, then refused to take it down. “She kept saying, ‘No way, it’s upped my profile views 400%,’” says Philippa. It’s quite easy, she thinks, for people to feel “belittled, isolated” on Facebook.

There are other downsides. Following huge recent publicity, teens are increasingly aware of the dangers of online predators. “Privacy’s a real issue,” says Emily. “I get ‘friend’ requests from people I don’t know and have never heard of; I ignore them. I have a private profile. I’m very careful about that.” A 2009 survey found up to 45% of U.S. companies are now checking job applicants’ activity on social networking sites, and 35% reported rejecting people because of what they found. Universities and colleges, similarly, are starting to look online. “You need to be careful,” says Cameron Kirk, astute and aware even at 14. “Stuff can very easily get misunderstood.” Emily agrees, but adds: “Personally, I love the idea that it’s up there for ever. It’ll be lovely to go back, later, and see all those emotions and relations.”

Pew’s Lenhart says research has revealed a class distinction in many teens’ attitudes to online privacy. “Teens from college-focused, upper—middle class families tend to be much more aware of their online profiles, what they say about them, future consequences for jobs and education,” she says. “With others, there’s a tendency to share as much as they can, because that’s their chance for fame, their possibility of a ticket out.” The question that concerns most parents, though, is whether such an unprecedented, near-immeasurable surge in non face-to-face communication is somehow changing our teenagers - diminishing their ability to conduct more traditional relationships, turning them into screen-enslaved, socially challenged adults. Yet teens, on the whole, seem pretty sensible about this. Callum O’Connor, 16, says there’s a big difference between chatting online and face to face. “Face to face is so much clearer,” he says. “Facebook and instant messaging are such detached forms of communication. It’s so easy to be misinterpreted, or to misinterpret what someone says. It’s terribly easy to say really horrible things. I’m permanently worrying - will this seem heartless, how many kisses should I add, can I say that?” He’s certain that what goes on online “isn’t completely real. Some people clearly think it is, but I feel the difference. It’s really not the same.” Emily agrees: “It’s weird. If I have a massive fight on Facebook, it’s always, like, the next day, did it actually matter? Was it important? I always go up to the person afterwards and talk to them face to face, to see their emotions and their expressions. Otherwise you never know. It’s complicated.” Emily is fairly confident that social networking and texting aren’t changing who she is. “I’m the same online and in person. All this is an extension to real life, not a replacement.” Olivia Stamp, 16 and equally self-aware, says she thinks social networking actually helps her to be more herself. “I think of myself as quite a shy person,” she says. “So it’s actually easier to be myself on Facebook because you can edit what you want to say, take your time; you don’t feel awkward. I definitely feel more confident online - more like the self I know I really am, beneath the shyness.”

These new communications technologies, Olivia says, are “an enhancement, an enrichment actually. They bring people even closer, in fact, without replacing anything. We’re not socially abnormal. Look at us!” And the experts seem to back that up. Ms. Valkenburg says: “Our research gives no reason at present for concern about the social consequences of online communication - but it’s early days. What if the constant self-confirmation teens experience online turns into excessive self-esteem, or narcissism? We don’t know yet.” Ms. Lenhart puts it another way. “Our research shows face-to-face time between teenagers hasn’t changed over the past five years. Technology has simply added another layer on top. Yes, you can find studies that suggest online networking can be bad for you. But there are just as many that show the opposite.” We should, she suggests, “Step back. The telephone, the car, the television — they all, in their time, changed the way teens relate to each other, and to other people, quite radically. And how did their parents respond? With the same kind of wailing and gnashing of teeth we’re doing now. These technologies change lives, absolutely. But it’s a generational thing

NATO airstrike kills Taliban commander, say police

2010-07-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

A NATO airstrike killed a Taliban commander responsible for a suicide attack on a U.S. aid programme in northern Afghanistan, police said, while a raid killed another insurgent who smuggled in foreign fighters through Iran, officials said on Friday.

International troops working with Afghan forces say they have killed or captured dozens of senior insurgent figures since April as they aggressively step up operations against the Taliban leadership. However, those successes haven’t slowed the pace of militant attacks, which continue daily, killing dozens of people each month.

In the northern province of Kunduz, a precision airstrike killed a local Taliban commander who uses the alias Qari Latif, the provincial police chief said.

Latif died along with 12 other insurgents while they met in a field under a tree on Thursday outside the provincial capital, police chief Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi said.

NATO confirmed an airstrike targeted a senior insurgent commander who was at a meeting to choose a new Taliban “shadow governor” in a Kunduz district, but the alliance said in a statement it was still investigating the outcome.

The international force said the insurgent chief had boasted of being behind a suicide car bomb on a USAID station in Kunduz city earlier this month that killed two civilians and wounded seven others.

“The Kunduz attack was a shameful act against an organization that was here only to provide assistance to the Afghan people,” said Lt. Col. Ian Tudlong, joint command chief of operations for the NATO—led force.

In western Farah province next to Iran, international and Afghan forces also raided a militant training camp on Thursday, killing another Taliban commander and several more insurgents, NATO said.

The slain insurgent leader, identified as Mullah Akhtar, was responsible for bringing foreign fighters into Afghanistan from Iran, a statement said. NATO officials would not say what nationality the foreign militants were.

The Afghan fight has drawn in radical Muslim jihadists from several countries, including Uzbekistan, Jordan, Egypt and the separatist Russian region of Chechnya. Those fighters are usually identified as entering through the eastern border with Pakistan, so the NATO information on militants entering through Iran in the west was unusual.

The Farah raid was a result of tips from the community on the camp’s existence and location, NATO said. Support from the Afghan people is a key to the counterinsurgency strategy the international force is rolling out in Afghanistan, trying to turn around the nearly nine—year—old war.

Coalition forces, bolstered by 30,000 new American troops in recent months, have been increasingly going on the offensive with targeted strikes on the insurgents’ leadership, while at the same time training new Afghan security forces they hope will someday be able to keep the country stable and prevent the Taliban from seizing power again.

Since May 1, at least 12 Taliban commanders have been killed or captured in the southern province of Helmand, said Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the international force. Earlier this year, coalition forces made a major push to retake the Taliban—controlled Helmand district of Marjah, though holding and stabilizing the area has proved challenging.

Several more key insurgents have been taken out in neighbouring Kandahar province, an insurgent stronghold where American troops are also increasing patrols with Afghan soldiers. Among them was Maulawi Mahmood, the senior commander for the key Kandahar district of Maiwand, Dorrian said.

However, taking out senior Taliban hasn’t slowed the fierce pace of attacks, many of them from roadside bombs, or prevented a campaign of assassinations and kidnappings of Afghan civilians working with the government.

Five Afghan health workers were kidnapped on Wednesday just outside Maiwand, and at least two local officials were assassinated in the provincial capital. Insurgents also attacked the Kandahar city headquarters of an elite police unit this week, killing three American troops, one Afghan police officer and five Afghan civilians.

Last month was the deadliest of the war for international forces, with 103 coalition troops killed. So far in July, least 47 international troops have been killed, at least 35 of them American.

Second day of unrest in Maldives

2010-07-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

Demonstrators were on the streets of Male, the Maldives capital, on Friday protesting the previous day’s arrest of the leader of the main opposition party, officials said.

The Maldives National Defence Force took People’s Alliance party chief Abdullah Yameen Gayoom into custody on Thursday, claiming it was at his request and for his own protection.

The Supreme Court recently ruled that Mr. Yameen should be released from the house arrest imposed on him while cooperating with the police on an enquiry into bribery and treason charges.

The defence force refused to bring him to a court hearing as requested by the judge and took him into military custody instead, prompting his supporters to protest and clash with supporters of the ruling Maldives Democratic Party.

The president’s office released a statement on Friday saying that “the government will take legal action against those who have engaged in unrest in Male”, and accusing Yameen’s supporters of instigating the violence.

The tourism—dependent country has been in turmoil since the cabinet resigned on June 29 protesting blocking tactics by the parliamentary opposition, who have a slim majority in the Maldivian Majlis.

The cabinet was restored on July 8 after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa intervened.

Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed was elected in October 2008, ending 30 years of autocratic rule of the Indian Ocean island nation by Mohammed Abdul Gayoom.

Germany, China sign billions of dollars in deals

2010-07-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

Chinese and German companies signed deals worth billions of dollars to make trucks and power equipment on Friday as the prime ministers declared their countries’ economies had recovered from last year’s global recession.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel brought the heads of major German corporations with her on a four—day visit to China, underscoring the robust business ties between the two export powerhouses.

Ms. Merkel and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have met frequently in recent years and agreed to work together to guide a recovery from the global economic crisis.

“China and Germany have passed a testing period of crisis and turbulence,” Mr. Wen announced after he and Ms. Merkel reviewed an honour guard at a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

Among the contracts signed after their talks was a $3.5 billion deal between Siemens AG and the Shanghai Electric Power Generation Equipment Co. to develop steam and gas turbines, and a new 6.35 billion yuan ($936 million) venture between Daimler AG and Beiqi Foton Motor Co. to make heavy and light trucks, reported state—run Xinhua News Agency.

The good business news continues a turnaround for Ms. Merkel. German business leaders in the past complained they were meeting with obstacles in completing deals with Chinese companies.

Despite that, the two countries’ trade runs more than $100 billion a year. German companies have invested billions more in China, making multinationals like Siemens and BMW AG prominent brand names.

Mr. Wen expressed optimism on Friday that the European Union, China’s largest trade partner, will overcome its current difficulties.

“We will continue to watch Europe’s economic development,” Mr. Wen said at a brief news conference.

One new opportunity the two countries are exploring is clean—energy technologies, where Germany is a leader. Xinhua reported the two countries agreed to set up a 124 million euro ($159 million) fund to encourage companies to save energy and cut emissions that harm the environment.

Historic Wall Street reform passed

2010-07-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

After months of Congressional wrangling and a relentless siege of lobbying by Wall Street banks, the United States Senate finally passed an unprecedented and game-changing package of financial reforms on Thursday.

The reform bill passed by 60-39 margin, with three crucial Republican “aye” votes handing President Barack Obama his first major policy victory since the passage of the healthcare bill earlier this year.

Speaking after the passage of the bill Mr. Obama said, “Congress has now passed a Wall Street reform bill that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses across the country.”

The President touched upon what this meant for the common man, saying, it would bring greater security to people on Main Street including families looking to buy their first home or send their kids to college; to taxpayers who should not have to pay for somebody else’s irresponsibility; to small businesses, community banks and credit unions who played by the rules; and to shareholders and investors who wanted to see their companies grow and thrive.

Giving credit to his colleagues in the Democratic Party, Mr. Obama praised the “tireless efforts” of Senators Chris Dodd and Harry Reid and Representatives Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi. He said, “I am extraordinarily grateful for their determination in the face of a massive lobbying effort from the financial industry, and I’m also grateful for all of the members of Congress who stood on the side of reform — including three Republican senators who put politics and partisanship aside today to vote for this bill.”

Reform to foster innovation

However, Mr. Obama was quick to dispel any notion of a zero-sum game with negative consequences for banks and other financial institutions, noting that the financial industry was central to the U.S.’s ability to grow, to prosper, to compete and to innovate and that the reform would foster that innovation, not hamper it.

Yet, he said, it was designed “to make sure that everyone follows the same set of rules, so that firms compete on price and quality, not on tricks and traps”. It demanded accountability and responsibility from everybody, he added, arguing that “unless your business model depends on cutting corners or bilking your customers, you have nothing to fear from this reform”.

Touching on some of the key overhaul measures proposed by the bill, Mr. Obama noted that there would be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts and there would be new rules to end the perception that any firm is “too big to fail… so that we don’t have another Lehman Brothers or AIG.”

He further said that complex, backroom deals that had helped trigger the financial crisis in the first place would be brought into the light of day and shareholders and other executives can know that it would be

shareholders who had a greater say on the pay of CEOs.

Republicans criticised

After the passage of the bill, both the President and senior Democrats criticised the Republican Party for opposing the reform. President Obama said, “Already, the Republican leader in the House has called for repeal of this reform. I would suggest that America can’t afford to go backwards, and I think that’s how most Americans feel as well.”

Similarly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “The ink hasn’t even dried yet on our bill that takes away big banks’ ability to gamble away our jobs, savings and houses, and Republicans already want to give it back.”

In a sharply-worded statement he added that this was the Republican job-killing agenda in full effect and that party wanted to go back to the system that cost 8 million Americans their jobs “because that is what [the Republicans’] friends on Wall Street want, and that’s who they’re looking out for”.

Others however welcomed the reform including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said, “The financial reform legislation approved by the Congress today represents a welcome and far-reaching step toward preventing a replay of the recent financial crisis.”

He explained that the reform strengthened the consolidated supervision of systemically important financial institutions, gave the government an important additional tool to safely wind down failing financial firms, created an interagency council to detect and deter emerging threats to the financial system, and enhanced the transparency of the Federal Reserve while preserving the political independence that is crucial to monetary policymaking.

According to a statement by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the President was hoping to sign the bill as soon as possible, possibly towards the latter half of next week.

Naidu, TDP leaders arrested in Nanded

2010-07-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

Amid high drama, Maharashtra police arrested Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and 75 other party leaders who had reached Nanded to visit the controversial Babli project on the Godavari river.

Tension prevailed at Andhra-Maharashtra border as the Maharashtra Police took Mr. Naidu and nine other TDP leaders into custody after assuring them that they would be taken to the project site.

Later, the police arrested 66 other TDP leaders at the border near Dharmabad in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, about 350 km from here.

Mr. Naidu and other arrested TDP leaders including MPs, Andhra legislators and former ministers were taken to the Dharmabad police station.

Some TDP activists, who continued to stage protest at the border, alleged that Maharashtra police betrayed Naidu and others by promising to take them to Babli dam.

Maharashtra mobilised hundreds of policemen and sealed the border to stop Naidu and his party legislators who reached there from Hyderabad in four buses.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Naidu lashed out at Maharashtra government for not allowing them to visit Babli and said this was being done to suppress the truth. “Do we need visas to visit a place in Maharashtra?” he asked.

The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister alleged that they had every right to survey Babli and 13 other projects being illegally constructed by Maharashtra across the Godavari.

As the tension continued to mount, senior police officials of Maharashtra’s Nanded district agreed to allow a 10-member delegation to visit Babli. Naidu and nine others were taken to the project site in a police vehicle. However, they were arrested after the vehicle travelled some distance.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah spoke to Mr. Naidu over phone Thursday night, advising him to call off his “bus yatra” that he said would heighten tensions between the two States.

Mr. Naidu, however, ignored Mr. Rosaiah’s appeal as well as the decision of the Maharashtra government not to allow him to enter the State.

Mr. Naidu had invited Mr. Rosaiah and leaders of all parties, including the ruling Congress, to join the yatra. But only leaders of the Lok Satta party joined him.

The TDP chief told reporters that it was a fact-finding mission aimed to start a national debate on Babli and 13 other illegal projects across Godavari.

Alleging that Maharashtra was going ahead with the works on Babli in violation of Supreme Court orders, he said the Andhra Pradesh government was doing nothing to stop the projects, which would prove disastrous for the State and turn Telangana region into a desert.

The opposition party has alleged that the Congress government was not serious about stopping the illegal projects in Maharashtra which would take away the state’s rightful share of Godavari waters.

Mr. Rosaiah plans to take an all-party delegation to Delhi on July 23 to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to urge him to ask Maharashtra to stop construction of illegal projects.

Arab TV airs video of Times Square bomber

2010-07-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

CAIRO: The man who pleaded guilty to carrying out the attempted Times Square car bombing appeared in a video recorded before the failed attack that shows him meeting with senior Pakistani Taliban leaders and vowing to strike the US.

In the video, aired in segments Wednesday by the Dubai-based television station Al-Arabiya, Faisal Shahzad said the attack on the New York City landmark would avenge the deaths of Muslims killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"All the Muslim Arabs that have been martyred _ I will take revenge on their behalf," he said. "I really wish that the hearts of the Muslims will be pleased with this attack, God willing."

One of the figures he praises as a martyr is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in 2006.

Shahzad, 30, is seen in the video sitting on the ground in a black turban and olive-colored vest, with an AK-47 next to him. He calls jihad, or holy war, a pillar of the Muslim faith, and says "Islam will spread on the whole world and democracy will be defeated."

"Eight years has passed by Afghanistan, and you will see that the Muslim war has just started," he said.

Al-Arabiya said the full tape shows Shahzad meeting with Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud.

IntelCenter, a US-based group that monitors extremist groups, said Mehsud and Shahzad shake hands in the video. IntelCenter also says the video bears the mark of the Pakistani Taliban's media arm, Umar Media.

Analysts said the Pakistani Taliban appears to be trying to use the video as a means of boosting the reputation of Mehsud and reminding the Pakistani Taliban's supporters that they can hit the US on American soil.

Evan Kohlmann, an analyst at globalterroralert.com, a private, US-based terrorism analysis group, said that such a video "can significantly prolong the visceral impact of even an unsuccessful operation."

Shahzad, who was born and raised in Pakistan before moving to the US to study and eventually taking US citizenship, was arrested days after the failed May 1 bombing in Times Square.

He pleaded guilty in June to carrying out the attack, and admitted to attempting to establish contact with the Taliban while on a 2009 trip to Pakistan. He also told the New York court that he considers himself "a Muslim soldier."

He said he sought and received five days' training in explosives before returning to the United States in February to carry out the bomb plot with funding from the militant group.

The indictment said he received $5,000 in cash on Feb. 25 from an unnamed co-conspirator in Pakistan and $7,000 more on April 10, sent at the co-conspirator's direction.

His image in the video is widely different from the previously circulated snapshots of Shahzad, and is typical of previous martyrdom videos released by other attackers.

Libyan ship with aid for Gaza reaches Egypt port

2010-07-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

EL-ARISH, EGYPT: A Libyan aid ship blocked by Israeli missile ships from steaming to Gaza reached an Egyptian port Wednesday, bringing an end to the latest challenge to Israel's naval embargo of the Palestinian territory.

The director of the Egyptian port of el-Arish, Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, said the Libyan boat radioed Wednesday evening asking permission to dock there. He said the ship, the Moldovan-flagged Amalthea, was 15 miles (24 kilometers) off the Egyptian coast.

The ship reached the waiting area Wednesday evening, but has yet to dock because the captain is seeking clearance from the shipment's organizers, Abdel Maqsoud said.

It appeared likely the cargo would be unloaded Thursday. Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told reporters that Cairo has agreed to let the Amalthea through, and that as soon as the boat docks, its cargo will be unloaded and handed over to the Red Crescent to deliver to Gaza.

In recent days, with the Amalthea's organizers insisting it would go to Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel saying it would not allow that to happen, the stage appeared set for a showdown on the high seas. Framing the faceoff was Israel's botched attempt to block a similar Gaza-bound aid ship in May, an incident that ended with the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists -- eight Turks and a Turkish-American on one of them -- in a violent confrontation on board.

Israeli missile ships had been shadowing the Amalthea since Wednesday morning to ensure that it would not reach Gaza. An Al-Jazeera reporter on board the aid boat said Israeli ships were arrayed in a "wall" meant to prevent the Amalthea from continuing toward the Palestinian territory.

Despite the Israeli insistence that it would not allow the ship through the blockade, Hamas officials in Gaza had been urging the Amalthea to press on. Speaking at a ceremony naming a street after those killed in the May 31 confrontation, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the territory's Hamas government, called the Libyan ship "our moving hope in the Mediterranean Sea."

"Beware not to fall into the trap and stop in a port other than Gaza," he said as the street was named ``The Martyrs of the Freedom Flotilla.''

Conflicting messages on Tuesday created confusion over whether the Amalthea intended to try to run the blockade or not.

A spokesman for the Libyan mission, Youssef Sawani, insisted the ship would try to reach the Palestinian territory, but said those aboard would not violently resist any efforts to stop them.

He later said in Tripoli that after mediation from the European Union, the organizers agreed to enter el-Arish port and send the goods by Thursday to Gaza.

"Our aim is not provocation or political propaganda," he told reporters in Tripoli.

The Gadhafi foundation, headed by the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, said the Amalthea left Greece on Saturday carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies. Israel invited the activists to sail to the Israeli port of Ashdod and unload the supplies there, after which Israel would screen the goods and send them into Gaza overland. The group refused.

The deaths of the nine activists in the May 31 raid focused international attention on Israel's blockade of Gaza, imposed after the Islamic militant and anti-Israel Hamas violently overran the Palestinian territory in June 2007. The international criticism forced Israel to ease its land blockade of the territory but it has maintained the naval embargo, insisting it is vital to keep weapons out of Hamas' hands.

Restrictions remain on materials like cement and steel that Israel says could be used for military purposes, and Gaza's 1.5 million people, confined to the small, impoverished territory, have been plagued by other problems, including a chronic cash shortage.

George Saba, who manages a branch of the Cairo Amman Bank in the territory, said Wednesday that because of cash shortages the bank could not pay this month's salary to government officials. Palestinian officials in the West Bank were trying to arrange a transfer of Israeli cash into Gaza to alleviate the shortage.

Also Wednesday, a Gaza health official said a 42-year-old Palestinian woman was killed and four other Gazans were wounded late Tuesday by an Israeli tank shell. The military said it opened fire after spotting people near the security fence and suspected they might be planting explosive devices.

A Gaza rights group, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, issued a statement Wednesday condemning unknown Palestinian assailants for throwing a grenade at the campus of Gaza's YMCA, run by local Christians. No one was injured in the attack, which the group said took place early Tuesday.

Members of extremist Islamic groups in Gaza have been suspected in past attacks on internet cafes and Christian institutions.

Typhoon leaves 37 dead, 26 missing in Philippines

2010-07-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

MANILA: Typhoon Conson blew out of the Philippines on Thursday after killing at least 37 people, plunging the main northern island into darkness and leaving the new president fuming over forecasters' failure to predict that the storm would slam into the capital.

Emergency crews restored electricity to Manila and nearby provinces on Luzon island as normalcy crept back. Flights resumed and schools reopened Thursday. Authorities continued the search for 26 missing fishermen and started to repair the damage caused by the year's first major typhoon.

Conson hit the northeastern coast Tuesday night, packing winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour) and gusts of 95 mph (150 kph). It blew out of the Philippines into the South China Sea on Thursday with sustained winds of about 55 mph (85 kph) per hour, government weather forecaster Gener Quiplong said.

Conson, which has now weakened into a tropical storm, is forecast to make another landfall along the Chinese-Vietnamese border this weekend.

The Philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year, gaining a reputation as the welcome mat for the most destructive cyclones from the Pacific. Last year, back-to-back typhoons inundated Manila and outlying provinces, killing nearly 1,000 people.

Newly elected Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, in a nationally televised emergency meeting, scolded the weather bureau for failing to predict that Conson would hit Manila, which left government agencies unprepared for the onslaught.

On Thursday, navy, coast guard and policemen recovered the bodies of 14 fishermen at Bataan province, west of Manila. Nine died when a wayward oil barge slammed into their boats, which were moored near Mariveles town, the coast guard said.

The high winds and waves pulled up the barge's anchor late Tuesday and sent the steel-hulled vessel hurtling toward about 10 fishing boats which were being secured by their owners and crews, regional coast guard chief Commodore Luis Tuason Jr. said.

``The fishing boats were hit like bowling pins,'' Tuason said.

Another barge loaded with cooking gas ran aground and smashed into 25 shanties in Manila's Tondo slum district but caused no deaths, he said.

The bodies of five other fishermen were found at sea off Bataan, where their boats sank, he said.

In Rosario town in Cavite province, south of Manila, an oil tanker ran aground at the height of the typhoon and apparently struck and damaged an underwater oil pipe, causing a small spill close to a wharf which was being contained, Tuason said.

In all, 37 deaths were reported over six provinces and in a city near Manila.

More than 10,000 houses were destroyed or damaged and 9,500 people were moved to 54 evacuation centers, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.

N Korea in poor health: Docs do amputations without anesthesia

2010-07-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

SEOUL: North Korea's health care system is in shambles with doctors sometimes performing amputations without anesthesia and working by candlelight in hospitals lacking essential medicine, heat and power, a rights watchdog said on Thursday.

North Korea's state health care system has been deteriorating for years as the country's economic difficulties worsen. Many of the country's 24 million people also reportedly face health problems related to chronic malnutrition, such as tuberculosis and anemia, Amnesty International said.

"The people of North Korea suffer significant deprivation in their enjoyment of the right to adequate health care, in large part due to failed or counterproductive government policies," Amnesty said in a research report on the state of North Korea's health care system.

The report was based on interviews with more than 40 North Koreans who have defected, mostly to South Korea, as well as organizations and health care professionals who work with North Koreans. However, Amnesty researchers did not have direct access to North Korea, one of the world's most closed countries.

"During operations, patients, if lucky, are given anesthesia but sometimes not enough to completely control the pain," the report said. "Without essential medicines, health facilities in North Korea clearly cannot provide services such as surgery without endangering the lives of their patients."

Doctors also often work without pay and have little or no medicine to dispense, and must reuse the scant medical supplies at their disposal, the report said. North Korea says it provides free medical care to all its citizens. But Amnesty said most interviewees said they had "paid" doctors cigarettes, alcohol or money to receive medical care.