RATNAGIRI, India: The Maharashtra government has called on Muslim religious scholars to convince Muslim fishermen to stop protesting against the Jaitapur nuclear plant. The fishermen are protesting the plant with the help of nongovernmental organizations, the Shiv Sena and the Republican Party of India (RPI).
LONDON: Police in Scotland arrested a 30-year-old man Tuesday on suspicion of aiding a suicide bomber who targeted Christmas shoppers in Stockholm in December.
PARIS: A Paris judge delayed a trial in which former French President Jacques Chirac is accused of corruption, suspending the proceedings until at least June because of a complaint by defense lawyers.
NEW DELHI: India’s ruling Congress party struck a deal on Tuesday with a key ally in a row over seat-sharing in a state election, ending days of jitters over the stability of a government already hit by a series of crises.
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Royal Saudi Army Lt. Gen. Saleh Al-Mahia, who arrived in Rawalpindi on Tuesday will hold talks with Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaque Pervez Kayani on Wednesday, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations Maj. Gen. Atthar Abbas told Arab News.
MOSCOW: US Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in Moscow, the centerpiece stop on a three-nation swing through Europe. Biden two years ago introduced the phrase "push the reset button" to characterize the Obama administration's efforts to improve relations with Russia.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Dutch opposition lawmakers are demanding Prime Minister Mark Rutte explain why Queen Beatrix is flying to Oman for a private dinner with the country’s ruler just days after a state visit was postponed.
ZAGREB: Up to 10,000 anti-government protesters staged a peaceful march through the streets of Zagreb on Sunday, demanding the government resign because of the country’s economic woes.
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan shrugged off calls for his resignation and said on Monday he intends to fulfil his duty until the next lower house election, which must be held by late 2013.
NEW DELHI: India’s unpredictable and non-transparent business climate could derail the growth of trade ties between Britain and Asia’s third largest economy, British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned his Indian counterpart.
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sent arrest warrant for former President Pervez Musharraf to Britain. The FIA was ordered by a Rawalpindi court to produce Musharraf within three days during its last hearing of former Premier Benazir Bhutto’s assassination case.
SANTIAGO: A magnitude 6.2 earthquake jolted northern Chile on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no reports of any significant damage and the linchpin copper mining sector was not affected.
NEW DELHI: A key member of India’s Congress-led coalition put off its plan to resign ministerial posts until Tuesday, offering respite to a government fighting to win back public trust after a raft of corruption scandals.
The new US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, left, listens to Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani during a meeting in Islamabad on Monday. (AP)
LOS ANGELES: British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has perfected his anti-obesity recipe over the years: blend a passion for nutrition with reality TV, garnish with a catchy moniker, et voila! — “Food Revolution.”
HAVANA: A Cuban court will rule in a few days on whether US aid contractor Alan Gross is guilty of crimes against the state after prosecutors presented evidence he was involved in a “subversive project” to “defeat the revolution,” the Cuban government said on Saturday.
KABUL, Afghanistan: An Afghan official says a roadside bomb has killed 12 civilians in east Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.
TOKYO: Japan’s foreign minister suddenly quit Sunday for having accepted a political donation from a foreigner — a violation of Japanese law — dealing another blow to the embattled administration of Prime Minister Naoto Kansas
NEW DELHI: India’s Congress party moved to shore up its ruling coalition on Sunday after a key partner said its ministers will formally quit the Cabinet on Monday, the latest setback for a government beset by corruption scandals.
NEW YORK: A coalition of over 100 interfaith, nonprofit and governmental organizations has planned to rally in New York City against a planned congressional hearing on Muslims’ role in homegrown terrorism.
SACRAMENTO, CA: The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) on Sunday offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals who gunned down two elderly Sikh men on Friday in Elk Grove, Calif.
TALLINN, Estonia: Estonians voted Sunday in their first election as eurozone members, with opinion polls predicting another term for a center-right government that has piloted one of Europe’s most depressed economies back to growth.
WASHINGTON: It has become clear that the unprecedented popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and other countries of the region were enabled by communication and citizen mobilization via social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube — as well as mobile technology.
FLORENCE, Italy: Svetlana Cojochru feels insulted. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a nanny to Italian kids and caregiver to the elderly, but in order to stay she’s had to prove her language skills by writing a postcard to an imaginary friend and answering a fictional job ad.
TALLINN, Estonia: Estonians voted Sunday in their first election as eurozone members, with opinion polls predicting another term for a center-right government that has piloted one of Europe’s most depressed economies back to growth.
RATNAGIRI: The Ratnagiri district administration on Sunday banned the entry of former Supreme Court Justice B.J. Kholse-Patil, Justice P.B. Sawant and social activist Vaishali Patil from entering the district.
ISLAMABAD: US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman arrived here Sunday to meet Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, President Asif Ali Zardari and other top leaders.
KARACHI: A gunman in Pakistan opened fire on a car carrying Qatar’s consul and two other Gulf diplomats in an apparent robbery attempt, but no injuries were reported, Qatar’s state-run news agency said Sunday.
ABIDJAN: A senior adviser to Ivory Coast's internationally recognized president says more than 10 houses belonging to senior ministers, mayors and other members of his party have been ransacked, and some burned, by security forces allied with Laurent Gbagbo.
MANILA: Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Sunday appointed an experienced fighter pilot as the country’s new military chief, hoping restore credibility to an institution facing corruption allegations.
DUBLIN: The two opposition parties that triumphed in Ireland’s election, Fine Gael and Labour, announced Sunday they have forged a draft agreement to form the country’s next coalition government following five days of negotiations.
MOGADISHU: The African Union’s peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) captured a key position from al Shabaab rebels in the capital, losing several troops in the fighting, its force commander said on Saturday.
KABUL, Afghanistan: NATO says a bombing in southern Afghanistan has killed one of its service members.
TIJUANA, Mexico: The Mexican army has ordered three junior officers and 10 soldiers to stand trial on drug trafficking and organized crime charges after they were allegedly caught with more than a ton of methamphetamines and 66 pounds (30 kilograms) of cocaine. The soldiers were arrested last week with drugs at a military checkpoint south of Tijuana, across the border from San Diego.
ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi on Saturday gave police two more weeks to arrest exiled former President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in the murder case of ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto.
MOGADISHU: The African Union’s peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) captured a key position from Al-Shabab rebels in the capital, losing several troops in the fighting, its force commander said on Saturday.
ROME: Silvio Berlusconi, who faces trial for allegedly paying for sex with an underage Moroccan teenager, will defend himself in court, as long as the Italian premier doesn’t have to show up more than once a week, his lawyer said Saturday.
MAKHACHKALA, Russia: A police officer stopped at a traffic light in Dagestan’s capital is gunned down from an adjacent car. A driver blows himself up at a checkpoint.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has been hit by a huge scam in the purchase of medical equipment. The scandal involving top officials of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) comes a week before the state budget session is due.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Searchers declared Saturday that no one had died in the rubble of Christchurch’s well-known cathedral — a rare piece of good news in the final days of a grim recovery operation following an earthquake that devastated New Zealand’s second-largest city and killed at least 165 people.
BELGRADE, Serbia: As Libya churned with popular rebellion, Serbia’s ex-president flew to Tripoli to arrange an interview with Muammar Qaddafi for a Serbian TV channel — giving the Libyan leader a platform to bluster about his grip on power.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Over 5,000 people are protesting against the arrest of a retired Bosnian Army general whom Serbia is accusing of war crimes.
BEIJING: A Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper on Saturday attacked anti-government protest movements in the Middle East and dismissed the possibility of something similar happening in China.
SEOUL: South Korea says it will deploy more fighter jets, helicopters, artillery and advanced spy aircraft to better prepare for potential attacks by North Korea.
LAHORE: A Pakistani court is likely to indict a CIA contractor next week for murdering two men, lawyers said on Tuesday, despite US insistence he has diplomatic immunity, acted in self-defense and should be released.
TOKYO: Japan is looking to join the United States, China and Russia with a stealth fighter that senior Japanese air force officials say can be ready for a prototype test flight in just three years, significantly upping the ante in the intensifying battle for air superiority in the Pacific.
WASHINGTON: Rep. Peter King, R-New York, defended this Thursday's scheduled hearings on homegrown radical Islam against protests that his Homeland Security Committee is unfairly targeting a single religious group.
WASHINGTON: It has become clear that the unprecedented popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and other countries of the region were enabled by communication and citizen mobilization via social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube — as well as mobile technology.
KABUL: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates described the mistaken killing of nine Afghan boys by NATO aircraft as a "setback" on Monday as the issue overshadowed a visit to Afghanistan to assess security progress.
PARIS: A Paris court opened a long-awaited corruption trial Monday with former President Jacques Chirac as the star defendant, but quickly suspended the opening session over a technical legal issue that may go to France's highest court for a decision.
KABUL: Hundreds of people chanting “Death to America” protested in Kabul on Sunday against a spate of civilian casualties caused by international forces, a sign of the simmering anti-Western emotion among many ordinary Afghans.
PARIS: After years of claiming presidential immunity to avoid legal proceedings, Jacques Chirac is finally facing a court.
NEW DELHI: India’s Defense Ministry said it successfully shot down a missile Sunday in a test of a homegrown missile interception system.
MOSCOW: Russian news reports say an Antonov-148 airliner has crashed during a test flight, killing six people including two pilots from Myanmar.
The reports citing officials in the Emergencies Ministry and the Investigative Committee say the crash took place Saturday morning in the Belgorod region about 600 kilometers (350 miles) south of Moscow.
KABUL: A Taleban minister once said that a woman is like “a flower, a rose” that must be kept at home for one's own enjoyment. “You water it and keep it at home for yourself, to look at it and smell,” said Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, who served as foreign minister when the Taleban ruled Afghanistan. “It is not supposed to be taken out of the house to be smelled.”
MOGADISHU: Somalia’s defense minister said Tuesday that intelligence reports indicate that an American from Alabama who joined a dangerous militant group may have been killed during an anti-insurgent offensive.
