Pakistani Taliban attack two mosques in Lahore, target Muslim sect

ISLAMABAD: At least 75 people were killed and 108 injured, 25 of them seriously, when two groups of fidayeen attackers belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked two mosques of the minority Muslim Ahmadiyya community in the Model Town and Garhi Shahu areas of Lahore.

Thousands of worshippers, including women and children, were at Friday prayers when the raids at the mosques began.

The Ahmadiyya community, also called the Qadiani community, was declared non-Muslim in Pakistan in 1974. Since then, the sect has experienced years of state-sanctioned discrimination and occasional attacks by extremist Sunnis. Its four million-odd members have seen their religious rights curtailed by law.

Usually described as the heart of Punjab, Lahore, the province’s capital, has witnessed a series of fidayeen (suicide) attacks in recent months, almost all of which were carried out by the TTP.

It is for the first time in recent years, however, that any Ahmadiyya place of worship has been attacked, that too on such a large scale and in coordinated fashion. The Hakeemullah Mehsud-led TTP has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Numerous explosions were heard at the mosques and gunfire continued for hours, with images of at least two gunmen firing at the police from the roof of one of the mosques.

Police said gunmen opened fire shortly after Friday prayers and threw grenades at the mosques, which are in residential neighbourhoods, one upscale (Model Town) and the other a heavily congested part of the walled city.

At least a dozen heavily armed fidayeen attackers carrying hand grenades and automatic weapons, with some wearing suicide bombers' jackets, stormed the mosques in two groups of seven and five. They hurled grenades and fired at worshippers.

The majority of those killed were at the Garhi Shahu mosque. Two senior superintendents of the Lahore police were seriously injured during gun battles with the attackers.

At the Garhi Shahu mosque, the attackers took many worshippers hostage and assumed control of the building. The police took almost three hours to kill the attackers and take control of the mosque.

Some police officers said two attackers at the Garhi Shahu mosque blew themselves up to avoid capture. One attacker at the Model Town mosque was arrested. He was seriously injured and taken to the Jinnah hospital.

Pratibha-Hu meet today seen as crucial step to improving atmosphere

Presidential visits are usually heavy on ceremony and light on policy. But Pratibha Patil's trip to China, first by an Indian head of state in 10 years, has assumed particular significance here against the backdrop of a year of rising tensions between the two neighbours, according to scholars and India analysts here.

“This visit, for China, goes beyond the ceremony and symbolism,” Lan Jianxue, India scholar at the China Institute for International Studies, an influential think-tank close to China's Foreign Ministry, told TheHindu in an interview. “It will help bring confidence to the bilateral relationship, and is all the more important because in the past year China-India relations found many unexpected difficulties. This is an opportunity to bring relations to the right track.”

Thursday's meeting between Ms. Patil and Chinese President Hu Jintao at Beijing's iconic Great Hall of the People is being seen as a crucial step to improving the atmosphere between the two countries which soured last year over border tensions, but has begun to slowly improve following the cooperation at the Copenhagen climate summit.

Chinese scholars do not expect any substantive progress on the many policy issues that continue to challenge the relationship, ranging from India's objections to Chinese projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to Chinese concerns over their telecom companies in India, given that presidential visits usually do not address specific issues.

Moreover, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's visit to Beijing last month, where many such differences were discussed, only brought modest progress, officials said.

But even in the absence of specifics, the visit could play an important role in improving the atmosphere between the two countries, said Ma Jiali, South Asia scholar at the China Institutes for Contemporary International Relations.

“During the last presidential visit to China, when President K.R. Narayanan was here in 2000, he declared China was not a threat to India and India was not a threat to China,” he said. “It was, back then, a very important statement in the context of relations. In this visit too, the first by an Indian president after 10 years, we hope the two sides will reaffirm that conception and send a strong message. For China and India, this is an important opportunity.”

He expected some specific issues to find mention in Thursday's talks, including the sensitive question of United Nations' reform and China's position on India's bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council, which has remained unchanged since 2005. Last month, Mr. Krishna called on China to “review its previously-held positions.”

The official China Daily newspaper on Wednesday said in a lead editorial that the visit could help address the “lack of trust and mutual understanding” between the countries, which it described as “the major reason” behind the “irritants” in the relationship.

Mangalore Crash: Black Box Found

MANGALORE: Investigators at the crash site of the Air India Express plane that overshot the runway in southern Mangalore killing 158 people said on Tuesday they had recovered the "black box" or digital flight data recorder.

A relieved search team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and local police displayed the FDR, which was black due to fire and smoke.

"It's intact," a DGCA official said as he held the battered recorder aloft.

The box is a vital missing link to the last couple of minutes of Air India Express' descent into Bajpe airport in Mangalore.

They did not give the exact location of where the device was found. It will provide clues for possible causes of the worst air disaster in over a decade and will be taken to Delhi for analysis.

The team late on Sunday recovered the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and a part of the black box containing the digital flight data acquisition unit (DFDAU).

In aviation parlance, black box is a loose term used for two pieces of equipment - the digital cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder - that gives crucial inputs to investigators on causes of air accidents.

One device digitally records all conversations inside the cockpit and those with the air traffic controllers. The other has the history of the aircraft's flight details, such as acceleration, engine thrust, airspeed, altitude, rudder position, which are also vital for crash probes.

The CVR of the crashed plane has been affected by fire but it is expected to yield the desired information, according to a DGCA statement.

Though the DFDAU, a parallel unit of the digital flight data recorder that records flight parameter for shorter duration has also been recovered, search for the latter is continuing, the statement said.

"Analysis of CVR and flight data will be conducted in the next fortnight. Similarly, analysis of records pertaining to the crash will take a couple of weeks," a probe official said.

Flight IX 812 burst into flames after falling over a cliff early Saturday and most of the 158 victims, including 19 children and four infants, were burnt to death. The Boeing overshot the runway while landing at Bajpe airport, about 20 km from here.

All six crew members of the flight also perished in the disaster. Eight passengers survived and are being treated for their injuries in various hospitals in the city.

Police said 22 bodies are yet to be identified and DNA tests will be conducted. Forensic experts from Hyderabad have taken samples necessary for the DNA test from family members. Results of the tests will be known in about a week.

Pakistan Follows Facebook Ban With YouTube Ban

In its wise knowledge of all things Web, the Pakistani government is continuting to go that extra mile to protect its citizens from “blasphemous” content.

That means Pakistanis won’t have to worry about the latest viral videos on YouTube because officials at the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority have indefinitely blocked the video sharing website on the grounds that depictions of the prophet Muhammad, considered offensive in Islamic culture, would turn up on the site. This comes just a day after the PTA banned social networking website Facebook for basically the same reason.

In 2007, Pakistan issued a ban for what it considered “un-islamic” videos at the time, but lifted it in early 2008. Now the agency, taking a fresh look at the site, has decided that the content is just too blasphemous for Pakistani eyes. But PTA officials say they did try to find loopholes.

“Before shutting down (YouTube), we did try just to block particular URLs or links, and access to 450 links on the Internet were stopped, but the blasphemous content kept appearing so we ordered a total shut down,” spokesman Khurram Ali Mehran told Reuters news service.

Pakistan may reserve the right to block whatever website they see fit to block, they may want to aproach it with a bit more technical care. According to Techdirt, the last time they did it, the Internet service provider PCCW, which services several Asian nations pulled the plug on YouTube in Pakistan and blocked it in those other countries as well.  

That move started a chain reaction that essentially knocked Pakistan off the Internet completely.

ATM inventor dies at 84

Shepherd-Barron once said he came up with the idea of the cash dispensers after being locked out of his bank. He also said his invention was inspired by chocolate vending machines.

"It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the U.K.," he said in an interview with the BBC in 2007. "I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash."

The first automated teller machine, or ATM, was installed at a branch of Barclays in a north London suburb on June 27, 1967. (An earlier mechanical device was installed at a New York bank in 1939, but it was soon dismantled when customers showed no interest.)

Instead of plastic bank cards, Shepherd-Barron's machine used special checks that were chemically coded. Customers placed the checks in a drawer, and after a personal identification number (PIN) was entered, a second drawer would spring open with a 10-pound note.

Shepherd-Barron originally planned to make PINs six digits long, but cut the number to four after his wife, Caroline, complained that six was too many.

"Over the kitchen table, she said she could only remember four figures, so because of her, four figures became the world standard," he told the BBC.

There are now more than 1.7 million ATMs across the globe, according to the ATM Industry Assn.

Shepherd-Barron was born June 23, 1925, and raised in India, where his father worked building ports, the Glasgow Herald reported. He pursued a business career in Scotland and in 1950 became managing director of De La Rue Instruments, a manufacturer of banknotes.

In 2004, he was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for his services to banking. At the time, another Scottish banking engineer, Jim Goodfellow, objected, claiming that in 1966 he had filed a patent application for an ATM using a PIN.

Shepherd-Barron responded: "I've never really thought about being the inventor of the ATM, but I built the first one, put it in and made it work, so I would say that is invention."

He is survived by his wife, three sons and six grandchildren.

Thailand's Escalating Violence

Over the past two days, Thai security forces seem to be moving in for a final crackdown on red-shirted protesters occupying the central business district. Earlier in the week a sniper critically wounded rogue general Khattiya Sawasdiphol, allied with the red shirts, and security forces now reportedly are firing live ammunition at protesters to force them to leave. As of late Friday afternoon, four people had been reported killed and eighty-one wounded. This crackdown comes on the heels of a bloody clash on April 10 that left at least twenty dead and hundreds wounded.

Thailand's government certainly has the right to maintain law and order. And continued unrest in Thailand could have ramifications for the United States. Thailand is a formal treaty ally, a partner in counterterrorism, and previously a dependable leader of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But the nature of the crackdown and the underlying political tensions show that the crisis is far from resolved, even if security forces succeed in ending the protests.

For one, the violent tactics of the security forces reveal real weakness. The army has been unable to prevent leaks in its planning, probably because some of its officers are sympathetic to the red shirts. In the April 10 clashes, the military's movements seemed to be known in advance by armed men among the protesters. Unable to trust its forces for a commando raid or a thorough nonviolent removal of demonstrators, the military has turned to brute force, which is actually easier to apply than sophisticated crowd control.

The red shirt protesters, pushing for the devolution of economic and political power to average Thais, also have made mistakes. Though they originally presented their demonstrations as a nonviolent populist protest, by allowing armed men to infiltrate the demonstrations and attack the security forces and civilians, the red shirts ceded some of the moral high ground and made it easier for the government to claim they were “terrorists.”

Most important, the causes of the demonstrations have not been resolved. The crisis has not made it any easier for average Thais to discuss the royal institution. In fact, the Thai government shamefully tarred the demonstrators as anti-monarchists--and has increased the use of lese majeste laws to stifle debate. The crackdown will not resolve the schisms in the army. The government and the demonstrators have not reached any resolution on the future of Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist former prime minister, deposed in a 2006 coup, who remains an inspiration for many red shirts.

Most critically, there has been a fundamental change in Thai politics, in which the poor and those alienated from institutions like the army, civil service, and palace finally have demanded their rights. If the middle class and elites do not recognize that Thai politics has changed, and that they must change along with it, more demonstrations will break out, perhaps in the run-up to the next election--set for the fall, but still uncertain. Further bloodletting of red shirt demonstrators is not likely to calm the situation.

ICC World Twenty20 final Winner is England, won by 7 wickets

England have now succeeded — as Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, avowed when he took the job — in winning the Ashes and a global one-day tournament.

The eighteenth time of asking it might have been in ICC one-day tournaments, but no one could argue that England did not deserve their triumph yesterday in Bridgetown. They were outstanding, as they have been throughout.

It was Australia who looked the nervous outfit as England’s bowlers bowled quickly and straight and the fielders, athletic and alert, boxed them into a corner from which only a par score was possible at best. At the heart of Australia’s troubles was the captain, Michael Clarke, who, on this form, does not warrant his place in the team, and yesterday fiddled at the top of the order, his running between the wickets betraying his unease.

Throughout the latter stages of the tournament, Australia have flopped at the top of the order and each time they have managed to wriggle their way out of trouble. But England’s attack has more variety and fewer weak links than other countries, Graeme Swann again confirming his excellence in all forms of the game. Once England negotiated Australia’s new-ball attack, the result was a formality.

England’s batsmen coped with the bounce better than their counterparts and did not go into their shell as teams often do on the biggest occasions. They had played aggressively throughout, and it was aggressive that they were determined to be.

What will this success mean for English cricket? Although there were few signs of a nation gripped as it will be, no doubt, in the summer when the football World Cup comes around, there were enough unlikely types asking me about the tournament to suspect that this fortnight will confirm Twenty20’s standing as the most popular form of the game.

Despite that, yesterday was not one of those “Where were you when” occasions for a number of reasons. Principally, because there is widespread recognition that it is not the pinnacle of the game — not at international level, at any rate. Take a straw poll of English professional cricketers and ask them which domestic one-day tournament they would like to win and the unanimous choice would be Twenty20. But at international level, cricketers still regard the fifty-over World Cup as the pinnacle of the one-day game.

Nor can success in a Twenty20 tournament be equated with success, for example, over a five-match Test series against Australia. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, suggested ridiculously that victory over Australia yesterday would better the Ashes victory in 2009. Ask the players involved in both series — Paul Collingwood and Swann, for example — which challenged them more as players and as human beings.

There is one other reason, though, why, regardless of what happened yesterday, the achievements of Collingwood’s team would not have gone down in English folklore: people do not generally regard this England team as an “English” team. What is English is a profoundly difficult question and, as a liberally minded chap, I am happy that England’s “foreign legion” have the opportunity and freedom to make their careers here. In that sense, the team do reflect something of the country.

But the public are not fools. They know that Collingwood’s team are not representative of the health of the English game in general, and that without Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen, who learnt their cricket elsewhere, England’s batting would have a far more anaemic look. In that sense, they will not be loved as the heroes of ’66 were.

What there will be, though, is deep and heartfelt gratitude that the country which invented the game and which plays more professional one-day cricket than anyone else, is no longer an embarrassment at it. Since 1992, when England’s performances in global one-day tournaments have been, with the exception of the Champions Trophy in 2004, uniformly appalling, any anger has been directed not at the failure to win, but at the failure to be remotely competitive.

No longer do we look on an England one-day team and despair at a relative lack of power, fitness and athleticism. In some areas, notably the bowling of slower-ball bouncers at the end of an innings, and the unorthodoxy of Morgan in the middle order, England are leading the way. As Kumar Sangakarra said during the Super Eights stage, England have more depth, variety and power than before.

For that reason, Collingwood’s team have our gratitude and we can look forward to the fifty-over World Cup in Asia next year with expectation rather than trepidation.

Teen girl finishes round-the-world sail in Sydney

SYDNEY — A 16-year-old Australian who braved boat knockdowns and seven months of solitude on a sail around the world set foot on dry land outside the Sydney Opera House on Saturday and quickly set an earthier goal - getting her driver's license.

Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, nonstop and unassisted when she cruised into Sydney Harbour in her pink, 34-foot yacht to a rock-star welcome. She successfully maneuvered her boat through raging storms, 40-foot waves and seven knockdowns during the 23,000 nautical mile journey that critics thought she wouldn't survive.

"Amazingly, I just enjoyed it much, much more than I ever thought I would and handled the challenges better than I thought," Watson said. "You don't actually have a choice - you're in the middle of a storm, you're being knocked down - you can't fall apart."

After standing on land for the first time in 210 days, the teen said she's eager to learn how to drive a car, to eat fresh fruit and salad after months of packaged meals, get a full night's sleep instead of catnaps and shake off her sea legs with a long walk on the beach.

"You will pass your driving test with flying colors," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd assured Watson, who laughed along with a crowd of thousands, many wearing pink or waving pink flags in honor of her yacht, Ella's Pink Lady.

It was a lighthearted moment in an emotional day for Watson, who admitted she was overwhelmed by the attention after so much solitude. Minutes earlier, she wept with relief after stepping off the yacht and into the arms of her tearful parents, whose decision to let their daughter attempt the feat was dubbed an act of insanity by some.

"People don't think you're capable of these things - they don't realize what young people, what 16-year-olds and girls are capable of," she told the crowd. "It's amazing, when you take away those expectations, what you can do."

Watson, from Buderim, north of Brisbane in Queensland state, sailed out of Sydney on Oct. 18 despite protests by critics that she was too young and inexperienced for the treacherous journey. Her parents maintained that she was well-prepared and noted she has been sailing since age 8.

"She said she'd sail around the world, and she has," a tearful Julie Watson said from a nearby boat as she watched her grinning daughter cruise past the finish line. "She's home."

Watson sailed northeast through the South Pacific and across the equator, south to Cape Horn at the tip of South America, across the Atlantic Ocean to South Africa, through the Indian Ocean and around southern Australia.

Her feat will not be considered an official world record, because the World Speed Sailing Record Council discontinued its "youngest" category.

Australian Jesse Martin holds the record for the youngest person to sail around the world solo, nonstop and unassisted, after he completed the journey at 18 in 1999.

Martin boarded Watson's boat to take over during her cruise toward the Opera House, so she could relax and wave to fans. Watson was given a goodie bag that included chocolate cookies popular in Australia and a can of whipped cream, which she injected into her mouth before laughing and turning away from the cameras.

She was also joined on board by Britain's Mike Perham, who completed a solo circumnavigation at 17 in 2009, though technical problems forced him to stop for assistance.

Some sailing enthusiasts argue Watson didn't travel far enough north of the equator for her journey to count as a true round-the-world sail as defined by the record council's rules. Watson's managers have dismissed those claims and argued she doesn't need to adhere to the council's rules anyway, since they won't be recognizing her voyage.

Watson traveled through some of the world's most treacherous waters, and the teen battled monstrous storms. She said those times gave her moments of doubt, but generally she kept her spirits up.

On her blog, she described stunning sunrises over glassy seas, the excitement of spotting a blue whale and the dazzling, eerie sight of a shooting star racing across the night sky.

She also had fun, chatting about boys and fashion with "Silly," a brown seabird that landed on her yacht and kept her company.

She sang at the top of her lungs with no audience to critique her and indulged her sweet tooth with chocolate cupcakes she baked in her tiny kitchen. A video she shot shows her giggling while dumping a ceremonial bucket of saltwater over her head after crossing the equator.

And though Rudd dubbed her "Australia's newest hero," Watson disagreed.

"I don't consider myself a hero," she said. "I'm an ordinary girl who believed in her dream."

Former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat dead

JAIPUR: Thousands of people, including senior politicians, on Sunday bid a tearful adieu to former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as his funeral procession began from his home and passed through key areas of the Rajasthan capital.

Shekhawat's residence saw mourners coming to pay their last respects right from the morning. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari, senior party leader Arun Jaitley, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot were among those present at his residence from where the funeral procession began.

Shekhawat died at the Sawai Man Singh Hospital on Saturday, two days after he was admitted following complaints of uneasiness and breathing problems caused by a lung infection. He was 86 and is survived by his wife Suraj Kanwar and a daughter.

The three-time Rajasthan chief minister will be cremated near the Vidhyadhar Nagar stadium, some 15 km from his residence, where a memorial would also be constructed.

The veteran BJP leader's body was first brought to the state headquarters of the party where several people paid their last respects.

The city saw some emotional scenes as his body, being transported in a flower-bedecked carriage, passed through the main markets of the city.

Despite it being a Sunday, the roads were chock-a-block and traffic jams were reported on all major roads.

People stood along both sides of the roads with tears in their eyes and shouted slogans like "Bhairon Singh amar rahe, amar rahe" (Long live Bhairon Singh) and "Rajasthan Ka Ek Hi Singh... Bhairon Singh, Bhairon Singh" while offering flowers to their leader.

Shekhawat was one of the most popular politicians of the state. He joined politics in 1952 and was a member of the first Rajasthan legislative assembly.

"He used to love to meet people, talk to them and listen to their problems on a regular basis... It was his routine", said Arun Chaturvedi, president of BJP's Rajasthan unit.

Following the death of then vice president Krishan Kant, Shekhawat was elected to a five-year term. He was the country's 11th vice president from August 2002 to July 2007.

In 2007 he lost the presidential election to Pratibha Patil.

Atletico becomes first-ever Europa League winners

Diego Forlan led Atletico to a 2-1 extra time win over English rivals Fulham in the first ever Europa League final, held at Hamburg Arena in Germany. 

The Spaniards created the first big chance of the game in the 12th minute, after Dany Murphy’s careless back pass found Atletico’s Sergio Agüero.

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The Argentine wasted no time in delivering the ball to Forlan in the English box, but an effort by the Uruguayan striker, who was just 10 meters away from the target, ended up hitting the post.

Fulham completely gave the initiative away to their rivals, so Forlan only had to wait for another chance to make up for the wasted opportunity… and he got one 19 minutes later. Agüero failed to execute his shot as he wanted, but the ball bounced to the Uruguayan, who had little problems in beating Fulham’s veteran keeper Mark Schwarzer, 1-0.

It seemed Quique Sanchez Flores’ men would go on to increase their lead, but the Londoners came up with a very fast equalizer, which contradicted the course of play.

Fulham’s first dangerous attack saw the ball in Atletico’s net. The appearance of Bobby Zamora caused panic in the Spanish box, which resulted in Simon Davies scoring from close range after Zoltan Gera’s cross in the 37th minute, tying at 1-1.

Atletico locked Roy Hodgson’s charges on their part of the field in the remaining minutes of the half, delivering five corners in a row, but the score remained unchanged.

And it didn’t change in the second half, forcing the teams to spend 30 more minutes of extra time.

The only memorable event of the second 45 minutes was the appearance of Clint Dempsey in Fulham. He replaced Zamora, who was playing despite an injury, in the 56th minute becoming the first ever American in a major European final.

The game lacked dangerous opportunities and looked destined to be decided in a penalty shootout, when Atletico’s attacking duo struck again, just four minutes from the whistle.

Aguero collected the ball at the goal line, turned around and found Forlan with a low cross in the middle of Fulham’s box. The Uruguayan delivered just the right touch, with a small deflection off the defender leaving Schwarzer no chance, ending it at 2-1.

It was his sixth goal in the competition.

Fulham couldn’t organize any serious pressure on their rivals in the remainig minutes, Atletico Madrid became the first-ever Europa League winners.

They last won a major European tournament in the 1973-74 season, putting their hands on the Cup Winners Cup.

Viswanathan Anand wins World Chess Championship

The pressure should have been on world champion Viswanathan Anand. But in fact, it was challenger Veselin Topalov who showed nerves in the decisive game of the World Chess Championship duel to hand over the world champion the most important victory he needed to protect his title on Tuesday.

Game 12 proved to be the Game of Death and so the contest was decided in favour of Anand, who won 6.5-5.5 with a 60-move win over the Bulgarian in Sofia. Anand's victory was worth one million euros (around Rs 6.8 crore).

Game 12 looked destined to end in a draw from the start but Topalov, eager to seal his first match victory in his career, took risks with white pieces and lost in 56 moves. This was Anand's second consecutive World Championship victory in match format after he demolished Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn two years ago.

There is a saying in chess that if black is hell bent on going for a draw (of course, in top-flight competition), there is nothing white can do about it. The Bulgarian found a determined black in Anand, who was solid as a rock in defence. A draw was looming ever since Anand made his second move going for the extra-solid Queen's Gambit Declined, which has hundreds of lines analysed deep into the endgames.

But there was a dramatic turnaround in around move 30 when Topalov stretched the position by going all out.

With black, Anand did not want to do anything special, except bore Topalov to death. The Bulgarian, known for his attacking chess and also for scoring points in the last rounds when it mattered the most, tried to break through the Lasker Defence put up by Anand, a line that has been played time and again for a century. Expectedly, the players reeled off the first moves quite fast and then on move 16, Anand followed a road less travelled by posting the knight in the sixth rank. It was time for Topalov to take a break and analyse the position. Whether it surprised him or not, it was clear that Topalov was not completely comfortable with his preparation anymore.

After move 18, it was almost an endgame: just the Queen, rooks and knight versus bishop with six pawns each. It looked a draw but Topalov had other ideas. He started chasing the white bishop and got himself into a mess. Around the first time control, Anand got a good counter-attack with his Queen and rook chasing away the white King to a corner and in the process, Topalov had to give his Queen for Anand's rook and bishop.

Anand had already achieved what he wanted and the rest was a matter of technique. The Queen was deadly and by move 56, Anand was about to win a piece. Topalov gave up and shook hands.

Bill Gates tours Bihar by boat

Microsoft may not have much brand recognition in Khagaria in Bihar, but villagers here knew the man approaching them by boat was a gazillionaire. 

Fresh off two boats, arrived Bill Gates to research the need and viability of a large-scale immunization programme in parts of rural Bihar just like this one.

"The idea that we can provide thousands of vaccines in these remote areas, and that they can save the lives of hundreds of children, is very exciting to us," said Gates.

In Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, it was Rahul Gandhi who served as Gates' official tour guide.  In Bihar, government officials and members of his Foundation accompanied Gates on his journey. Upon his return to Patna, he met with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who said, "He made the effort to visit such remote areas...it is a good thing."

Gates says that over the next few months, he will work with Kumar on deciding how much to spend on his health initiative for Bihar.  Gates' philanthropy will fund the exercise.  Kumar's team will have to provide the political commitment for implementing it.

Dutch boy sole known survivor in Libyan jet crash

Tripoli: An eight-year-old Dutch boy was the sole survivor when a Libyan plane arriving from South Africa exploded on landing at Tripoli airport on Wednesday, killing more than 100 people, officials said.

Afriqiyah Airways listed 93 passengers and 11 crew members on board its flight 8U771 from Johannesburg.

"I can confirm the crash but not the number of the dead," said Bongani Sithole, an official of the airline at Johannesburg airport. "We hear that it happened one metre (yard) away from the runway."

A Libyan security official earlier said that all those on board the Airbus A330 had died but an airport official said in fact a Dutch boy had survived and been rushed to hospital near Tripoli.

There was no immediate indication of the cause of the crash, which occurred as the Afriqiyah Airways plane was landing after a flight from Johannesburg at around 6 am (0400 GMT).

"It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," the security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The crew members were all Libyan nationals, the official added.

An eyewitness said the crash site had been sealed off by security officials and ambulances and emergency vehicles were seen rushing between the airport and the capital, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) apart.

The wreckage could be seen in the distance but no plumes of smoke were evident. Weather conditions were good at Tripoli on Wednesday morning, with only light clouds in the sky.

Afriqiyah Airways said on its website that it operates an Airbus fleet.

It started operations with five leased planes and signed a contract with Airbus at an exhibition in Paris in 2007 for the purchase of 11 new planes, the website said.

It was founded in April 2001 and at first fully owned by the Libyan state. The company's capital was later divided into shares to be managed by the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio.

On April 21, the airline announced that flights were back to normal after disruptions due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that grounded flights in Europe last month.

Last June, a 12-year-old girl was the sole survivor of a Yemeni plane crash off the Comoros.

 

VICTIMS' NATIONALITIES

59 Dutch

Seven South African

Two Libyan passengers + 11 Libyan crew members

Two Austrian

Two British

One German

One Zimbabwean

One French

17 others

Source: Afriqiyah Airways

Cameron becomes British PM

David Cameron, Britain's new prime minister, accompanied by his wife, Samantha, speaks in front of 10 Downing Street in London

LONDON – David Cameron, the youthful leader who modernized the party of right-wing icon Margaret Thatcher, became prime minister Thursday after the resignation of Gordon Brown — capping a gripping election saga that returns the Tories to government after 13 years of Labour Party rule.

According to tradition, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Cameron at Buckingham Palace — the stately denouement to a behind-the-scenes dogfight between Cameron and Brown for the cooperation of Britain's third-place party, after an election that left no party with a majority. Within minutes, Cameron was installed at No. 10 Downing Street and an announcement followed that Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, would become deputy prime minister after days of hard bargaining with his former political rivals.

The 43-year-old Cameron becomes Britain's youngest prime minister in almost 200 years — the last was Lord Liverpool at 42 — and cemented a coalition deal with the third-place Liberal Democrats. Clegg and four other Liberal Democrats received Cabinet posts. A number of other Liberal Democrats would receive junior posts.

The agreement, reached over five sometimes tense days of negotiation, delivered Britain's first full coalition government since World War II.

Cameron and Clegg agreed to a pact after the Conservative Party won the most seats in Britain's May 6 national election, but fell short of winning a majority of seats in Parliament.

Cameron's Conservative Party said ex-leader William Hague will serve as Foreign Secretary, senior lawmaker George Osborne as Treasury chief, and lawmaker Liam Fox as defense secretary.

Other leading positions were being finalized, as were key policy decision ahead of the presentation of the coalition's first legislative program on May 25.

The coalition has already agreed on a five-year, fixed term Parliament — the first time Britain has had the date of its next election decided in advance. Both sides have made compromise, and Cameron has promised Clegg a referendum on his key issue: Reform of Britain's electoral system aimed at creating a more proportional system.

"We are going to form a new government — more importantly, we are going to form a new kind of government," Clegg said in a news conference after his party's lawmakers overwhelmingly approved his decision to enter a coalition with Cameron.

Arriving at London's Downing Street hand-in-hand with his wife Samantha, Cameron said he believed that Britain's "best days lie ahead."

Britain's new government could spell changing relationships with its foreign allies.

Both Cameron and Clegg have signaled they favor looser ties to Washington. Both men back the Afghanistan mission but Cameron hopes to withdraw British troops within five years. 

Clegg has said he's uneasy at a rising death toll.

Relations with European neighbors could also become problematic. Cameron's party is deeply skeptical over cooperation in Europe, and has withdrawn from an alliance with the parties of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy. Clegg, once a member of the European parliament, has long been pro-European.

"We have some deep and pressing problems — a huge deficit, deep social problems, a political system in need of reform," Cameron said, as he took office. "For those reasons, I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats."

Hundreds of onlookers, many of them booing, crowded the gates of Downing Street to watch on, as Cameron swept into his new home in a silver limousine less than 90 minutes after an emotional Brown had made a farewell address.

"Nick Clegg and I are both political leaders who want to put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest," Cameron said.

President Barack Obama telephoned to congratulate Cameron, and invited him to visit Washington this summer, according to the White House. Obama told Cameron that he looked forward to meeting at an international economic summit to be held in Canada next month.

The high political drama came as the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties hammered out details of a coalition deal after the country's inconclusive election.

Standing outside 10 Downing St. alongside his wife Sarah, Brown spoke in strained tones as he wished Cameron well.

"Only those who have held the office of prime minister can understand the full weight of its responsibilities and its great capacity for good."

After his brief statement, the 59-year-old Brown walked hand-in-hand with his wife and young sons John and Fraser down Downing Street, where a car waited to take him to the palace for a 15-minute meeting.

 Minutes later he arrived at Labour Party headquarters, where he was greeted warmly by cheering staffers.

Brown told party workers his deputy Harriet Harman would become interim Labour leader until a formal leadership takes place to select his permanent successor.

Despite opening their own formal talks with Clegg's party Tuesday, Labour — which lost 91 seats and finished behind Cameron's Conservative in the election_ saw the chances of a deal quickly vanish.

Senior Labour legislators said they feared such a pact — dubbed a "coalition of the defeated" by some — would lack legitimacy and anger the public, who'd wreak revenge on the party at a future election.

"I think we have got to respect the result of the general election and you cannot get away from the fact that Labour didn't win," Labour's Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the BBC.

Clegg's party said in a statement Brown's Labour Party "see opposition as a more attractive alternative to the challenges of creating a progressive, reforming government."

Brown's resignation ends five days of uncertainty after last week's general election left the country with no clear winner. It left Britain with its first so-called hung Parliament since 1974. Britain's Conservatives won the most seats but fell short of a majority, forcing them to bid against the Labour Party for the loyalty of the Lib Dems.

Conservative and Liberal Democrat teams met for several hours Tuesday. Rank-and-file members of the two parties held separate talks in London late into the night and both approved the coalition deal.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown said the coalition had agreed on a policy platform all members of his party would be proud of. But he said he regretted that Labour had failed to strike a deal with his party.

"The Labour Party had an opportunity to create a progressive coalition and they walked away from it," Ashdown said. "That was an act in my view of straight cowardice."

Brown's departure follows three successive election victories for his center-left Labour Party, all of which were won by his predecessor Tony Blair, who ousted the Conservatives in 1997.

Some Pak officials know where Osama Bin Laden is: Hillary Clinton

Washington, DC: After some tough talk on Pakistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says some people in its government are aware of the whereabouts of elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar.

The Obama Administration meanwhile for the first time accused Taliban of being behind the botched Times Square bombing plot.

"Some Pakistani officials were more informed about Al-Qaeda and Taliban than they let on", Clinton told CBS in an interview.

"I'm not saying that they're at the highest levels but I believe that somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda is, where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is and we expect more cooperation to help us bring to justice, capture or kill,
those who attacked us on 9/11,"she said.

Clinton had over the week-end warned Pakistan that it will face "very severe consequences" if any terror plot like the failed Times Square bombing was traced to that country.

"We've made it very clear that if, heaven-forbid, an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe
consequences," she had said.

Asked if US was not getting sufficient cooperation from Islamabad in anti-terror drive, the US' top diplomat acknowledged there was a "sea change" in cooperation by Pakistani authorities, but added "we want more".

When asked why Obama Administration was not piling up pressure on Islamabad to give up Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahiri, Clinton replied "I have to stand up for the efforts the Pakistani government is taking. They have done a very significant move toward going after the terrorists within their own country".

Her comments came even as other senior US officials including Attorney General Eric Holder said they have obtained new evidence that Pakistani Taliban was behind the attempt to trigger a car bomb blast in the heart of New York.

"We know they facilitated the bomb plot and they probably also financed it", the Attorney General told ABC News.

Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old naturalised American citizen of Pakistani origin was arrested last Monday for rigging a SUV vehicle to explode in the Times Square.

As the new revelations raised fresh questions about US relationship with Pakistan, Washington has responded by stepping up pressure on Pakistan to crack down on radical Islamic militants safe havens in tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

New York Times said US military commander in Afghanistan Gen Stanley A McChrystal met Pakistani military chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad yesterday and pressed for a new military offensive in North Waziristan, the main base of the Pakistan Taliban.

Mobile phones import ban not China-specific'

NEW DELHI: The decision to ban procurement of mobile phones is not aimed at China alone, Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said.“While we encourage trade we are also mindful of our security issues,” Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here on Monday. 

 Pointing out that such a ban was not country-specific, Sharma said, the Government had taken the decision as per the parameters laid down by the security agencies and the Union Home Ministry. India had banned import of mobile phones that lack unique International Mobile Equipment Identity  (IMEI) number. Import of mobile handsets without IMEI number or with all zeroes IMEI is prohibited. IMEI is a 15-digit code that appears on the operator’s network whenever a call is made. The IMEI number helps authorities track users.Concerned over the national security, the Department of Telecommunications had earlier asked operators to disconnect services to handset that does not have an IMEI number. GSM service providers have already said that they would deny connectivity to cellphones without IMEI number.It is estimated that there are over 380 million mobile phone users in India. An estimated eight lakh such phones come into the country every month from China. These are unbranded and cost a lot less than the branded variety. Mobiles phones without IMEI number are considered a grave security threat and concerns had been raised over their usage after terrorist attacks like the one in Mumbai in November last year.

Welsh Guards march in Moscow parade

WELSH soldiers yesterday made history as they joined French and US troops to march across Red Square to commemorate the end of World War II.

More than 70 soldiers from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards took their place at the historic ceremony, which involved 15,000 troops representing international coalition forces from around the globe.

This was the first parade of its kind in Russian history and marked a departure from recent years when the anniversary of the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany has been an occasion for veiled criticism of the West from Russian leaders.

Guardsman Joseph Hurrell, 21, from Cardiff, was among the Welsh Guards to take part in the parade.

“It felt great to be here meeting different nations and being a part of something that is really big,” he said.

“You don’t forget marching on Red Square just because of the scale of the parade and the reason why we are here.

“My grandfather was in the Navy and the Second World War. I definitely feel proud to be here representing my country and him.”

Major Dai Bevan, the company commander, who attended the official function immediately after the parade, said: “It was a real privilege.

“To follow the parade and have lunch with the Russian president and other world leaders was an enormous honour and the Welsh Guards are deeply grateful for the hospitality showed to us throughout our trip.”

The Victory Day Parade, held in temperatures approaching 27°C, saw the Russians put on a formidable show of their military strength with aircraft flying over the Kremlin as 161 tanks and trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled off Red Square.

Foreign leaders in attendance included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, China’s Hu Jintao, Israeli President Shimon Peres and acting Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski.

Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy had been expected to attend, but stayed home to respond to developments in Europe’s financial crisis.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said: “At this solemn parade, the soldiers of Russia, the states of the CIS and the anti-Hitler coalition march together.

“Only together can we counter present-day threats.

“Only as good neighbours can we resolve problems of global security in order that the ideals of justice and good triumph in all of the world and that the lives of future generations will be free and happy.”

The Russian government spent £26m – more than a billion Russian rubles – on staging the ceremony.

A breathtaking fireworks display in front of the Kremlin rounded off the event.

It dwarfed the Moscow Victory Parade of 2009, which saw more than 9,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and vehicles marching in the parade, the largest held in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

This was only the second time in the contemporary history of Russia when armoured fighting vehicles took part in the Red Square parade.

But amid the nationwide assertions of strength and pride were violent reminders of the unrest that plagues Russia’s Caucasus republics.

A bomb placed by the side of a road near a Russian military base killed two people in a car and a sapper was killed when he approached another bomb in the city of Kaspiisk – where a Victory Day parade bombing in 2002 killed 43 people.

A third explosive device was found and disabled at the entrance to a park in the city of Makhachkala.

Chelsea Wins English Premier League With 8-0 Victory Over Wigan

Chelsea wins first title in three years with landslide win at Stamford Bridge.

May 10, 2010 - Three years after the Blues were last crowned champions of England, Chelsea has secured its fourth English title after an 8-0 win over Wigan, holding off Manchester United to end the Red Devils' three year reign atop the Premier League.

Chelsea opened the scoring within six minutes with a goal from Nicolas Anelka and were soon handed victory when Gary Caldwell was sent off in the 31st minute for a pulling down a man in the Wigan area.  Frank Lampard converted the penalty kick to put Chelsea up two goals, playing 11-on-10 with an hour left.

Chelsea would add goal another goal from Anelka, one from Salomon Kalou, three from Didier Drogba, and one from Ashley Cole.

Drogba's three goals ensure he wins the league's Golden Boot as its top scorer, finishing the season with 29 goals.  His Golden Boot chase temporarily took center stage when Frank Lampard took the penalty kick for the second goal, the Ivorian visibly upset that he was not allowed to take the kick that could have distinguished him from Wayne Rooney atop the league's list of goal scorers.  

Drogba would eventually get his 27th on a second half header, adding a penalty kick a few minutes later before a far post tap-in completed his hat-trick.

Chelsea finishes the season having won eleven matches by three or more goals.  Their 86 points were one more than Manchester United, while their +63 goal difference was 13 better than United's, helped by the Blues' 103 goals scored.  It was the first time in 47 years a team had scored more than 100 goals in an English top-flight season.

Chelsea needed their three points, with United winning 4-0 over Stoke at Old Trafford.  Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, and Park Ji-Sung had goals for the runners-up, with Stoke's Danny Higginbotham adding an own goal.

By the same score, Arsenal secured third place, holding off Tottenham Hotspur with a 4-0 win at the Emirates over Fulham.  Arshavin, van Persie and Carlos Vela had goals, while Fulham's Chris Baird added an own goal.

Tsunami warning lifted after strong quake off Indonesia

A strong earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale struck off the Indonesian Aceh province on the northern end of Sumatra on Sunday, sparking panic among residents and cutting off power.

A tsunami warning was issued but was later lifted after no major waves materialised.

The quake was recorded at 12.59 pm (12.29 pm IST) with the epicentre 66 km south-west of Meulaboh in West Aceh district, according to the Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency.

Minor damage was reported, including a broken window and cracked wall at the Banda Aceh airport, but did not disrupt operations, said Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

A blackout was reported in North Aceh regency and Meulaboh — the closest town with the quake’s epicentre — where a telephone line was also cut off, local media reported.

The quake caused panic among residents in many areas on Aceh, with local media reporting that people in several districts of the province fled their homes.

Fauzi, head of the Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, said there was no threat of a major tsunami and the warning had been lifted.

Mr. Fauzi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, earlier said sea buoys indicated a 20-cm tsunami in the sea off Meulaboh.

Wandi, another official in Meulaboh, told Elshinta radio that he had not received any reports of damage or casualties.

“The situation is calm and we call on the people to remain calm,” he told the radio station.

The quake was also felt strongly in the neighbouring provinces of North Sumatra and Riau.

Local television showed residents in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, scrambling out of shopping malls in Medan.

It was the latest in a series of earthquakes to hit Aceh in recent months. In early April, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Simeulue Island off the western coast of Aceh, injuring more than a dozen people and damaging scores of homes.

A magnitude-9.2 quake struck in December 2004 off Aceh and caused a tsunami that spread death and destruction across the Indian Ocean.

More than 170,000 people died or went missing in Aceh alone.

Flash floods kill 66 in Afghan

Herat - Flash floods have killed at least 66 people and destroyed hundreds of houses in Afghanistan, the government said Saturday.

Hundreds of livestock have also been destroyed by the flooding, caused by torrential rain in northern and western Afghanistan, said the head of the National Disaster Management Authority for the region.

"Twenty-three people have died in Badghis, 21 in Ghor and another 22 in Herat province," said Abdul Hameed Mubariz Hameedi, referring to the three worst-hit provinces.

The Afghan government and the United Nations have sent relief teams to the affected areas, which are among the poorest in the country.

Natural disasters are common in mountainous Afghanistan, where more than 200 people lost their lives in heavy avalanches earlier this year.

Pakistan test-fires nuclear capable missiles

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan successfully testfired two missiles capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads on Saturday prompting Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to call for the country’s recognition as a nuclear power.

The two ballistic missiles, the Ghaznavi with a range of 290 kilometres, and the Shaheen 1, with a reach of up to 650 kilometres, both “successfully hit the target areas,” said a military statement. “These experiments today were part of what Pakistan has been doing to develop a delivery system for nuclear capability.

You can’t have nuclear power unless you have the means of delivering,” said defence analyst Prof. Hasan Askari Rizvi. At the same time, the test is a continuation of the military’s previous Azm-e-Nau exercises, “meant to send a clear signal to India that Pakistan is militarily ready to fight on both sides of the border,” added analyst Talat Hussain.

At the conclusion of the annual field training exercises of the Army Strategic Force Command (ASFC), the prime minister, called on the international community to recognise Pakistan as a nuclear a power and to give it access to civilian nuclear energy, reported AFP. “It is time for the world to recognise Pakistan as a de jure nuclear power with equal rights and responsibilities,” Gilani said. He demanded a Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) waiver for Pakistan saying, “energy is a vital economic security need of Pakistan and nuclear energy is a clean way forward.”

On his statement, “Gilani is picking up where he left off in the strategic dialogue with the US,” Talat Hussain commented. The continued efforts to get similar privileges to nuclear energy as India did, receiving its recent waiver from the NSG is “perhaps a pitch for the upcoming round of talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the end of this year,” he added.

Prime Minister Gilani, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed and other senior military and civilian officials witnessed the tests, the military said. The 45-member NSG controls the export and sale of nuclear technology worldwide. Its rules usually ban trade with states that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Pakistan is not a signatory.

India and Israel are two other nuclear states that are not members of the NPT. Pakistan’s arsenal includes short-range, medium and longrange missiles named after Muslim conquerors.

KG Basin row: SC says government is owner of gas

New Delhi, May 7: Emphatically stating that the government is the owner of natural resources, including gas available in the country, the Supreme Court said on Friday that no individual or commercial entity could claim right to such resources.

Delivering a judgement on the Krishna Godavari Basin Gas row between Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a three judge bench of the apex court, consisting Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices P Sathasivam and B Sudershan Reddy said only the government can decide rates of these resources.

Quashing the family formula evolved by Kokilaben Ambani to solve the long drawn out dispute between her two sons, Anil and Mukesh, over sharing of gas, the court asked both to solve the matter through renegotiations within six weeks.

The decision is a major set back to the Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) headed by Anil Ambani and its impact was felt immediately on the share market.

In June 2009, the Bombay High Court had upheld the RNRL's claim of family agreement.

At the heart of the war is the gas produced by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in the Krishna Godavari (KG) Basin.

On December 18, 2009, the apex court bench had reserved its judgement in the case.

The apex court heard the case for 26 days spread over nine weeks, beginning October 20, 2009.

The gas is sold to Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) for its power plants.

The RIL had wanted to raise the price that was agreed upon by a family agreement in 2005 after the brothers decided to split the empire built by their father, Dhirubhai Ambani.

In 2007, the government said that the agreed-upon rate of 2.34 dollars per unit was far too low.

The RIL said it had to raise his rates accordingly to 4.2 dollars per unit and follow Government orders because it owns the gas, and that the RIL is just a contractor.

The RNRL accused the RIL of artificially inflating its costs and decreasing its output to make super-normal profits.

The government said it doesn't recognize the family contract between Anil and Mukesh because the Krishna Godavari Gas is a government property.

Government said that two private parties cannot strike a deal without its clearance.

The government also says it has set the new price based on a fair formula.