Mid Day International News |
- Three blasts rock Bangkok, five injured
- Barack Obama concerned about Whitney Houston's daughter
- 2 explosions reported in Bangkok, causes not clear
- Don't look for skilled workers in India: Obama
- Tibetan monk sets himself on fire in China
- Moscow to turn government offices into hotels
- Amartya Sen receives Humanities Medal from Obama
- A German village where every house has a cancer patient
- Whitney was 'joyful' 2 days before death
- In a first, Pak PM charged with contempt
- I was kept in cellar as sex slave: Deaf girl
| Three blasts rock Bangkok, five injured Posted: A suspected Iranian on Tuesday exploded three bombs in Bangkok blowing off both his legs and injuring four others, a day after Israeli embassy cars were targeted in Indian and Georgian capitals for which Israel blamed Teheran. Syed Morabi, said to be from Iran, was believed to have bombed his rented house in Ekamai area of central Bangkok and then blasted a taxi when the driver refused to accept him. When the police tried to move in and arrest him, he threw another bomb that came back to him after hitting a tree. The man lost both his legs in the last blast, government spokeswoman Thitima Chaisaeng told reporters. Four others were injured in the explosions. Today's blasts come on top of attacks targeting Israelis in Delhi and Tbilisi, the capital of former Soviet republic of Georgia, yesterday. While the Georgian attack was thwarted, Tal Yehoshua, the wife of an Israeli diplomat who was herself working in the embassy, was critically injured along with three others when an unidentified motorcyclist stuck a magnetic bomb on her car that exploded within seconds. Anil Wadhwa, Indian Ambassador to Bangkok, said it was too early to establish a clear linkage between what happened in the Thai capital city today and New Delhi yesterday. The two other explosions took place around 2 pm local time outside a school on Soi Sukhumvit 71 Road that branches off a busy multi-lane road in the Thai capital far away from foreign embassies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday straightaway blamed Iran and its Lebanese protege Hezbollah for the Delhi attack. Netanyahu had also said Israel had thwarted similar attacks in recent months in Bangkok and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
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| Barack Obama concerned about Whitney Houston's daughter Posted: US President Barack Obama is concerned over the state of Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina, following her mother's death. Kristina was admitted in the hospital, the day after her mother died. She is said to be "hysterical, exhausted and inconsolable". Family members reportedly fear that she may be suicidal, reported TMZ online. A representative for the White House revealed that the president's "thoughts and prayers" are with the 18-year-old. "Obama's thoughts and prayers are with Whitney Houston's family, especially her daughter. It's a tragedy to lose somebody so talented at such a young age," White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. Houston was found dead by her bodyguard in the bathtub of her luxury hotel suite at the Beverly Hilton. The cause of death is not yet known.
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| 2 explosions reported in Bangkok, causes not clear Posted: Two explosions boomed through a busy neighbourhood in the Thai capital today, police said, but it was not immediately clear what caused the blasts or whether there were any fatalities. A picture posted on Twitter purportedly showed a wounded man laying on a sidewalk strewn with broken glass outside a Thai school, his legs apparently ripped off in one of the explosions. Several Thai television stations reported the wounded man was carrying explosives at the time. They said an identification card found in a satchel nearby indicated he may be of Iranian descent. The reports could not immediately be confirmed, however. Police Col. Sittiphab Baiprasert told The Associated Press the blasts occurred about 100 yards apart on Sukhumvit Soi 71, a multilane thoroughfare with businesses and apartment blocks. He gave no other details. Local media said traffic had been halted while authorities investigated. Thailand has rarely been a target for foreign terrorists, although a domestic Muslim insurgency in the country's south has involved bombings of civilian targets. Last month, a foreign suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah militants led Thai police to a warehouse filled with more than 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of urea fertilizer and several gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate. Israel and the United States warned their citizens to be alert in the capital, but Thai authorities said Thailand appeared to have been a staging ground but not the target of any attack. Yesterday, bombs targeted Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia. The attack in India wounded four people. Israel blamed that attack on Iran or its proxies, claims Iran denied.
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| Don't look for skilled workers in India: Obama Posted: US President Barack Obama has said that he does not want American companies to look for skilled and educated workers in India and China in fields like engineering, technology and science. To prevent that, Obama said, he wants to give the school and teachers the resources they need to train and educated students in the US. "Employers today are looking for most skilled, educated workers. I don't want them to find them in India or China. I want businesses to find those workers right here in the US," Obama said after sending the annual budgetary proposals for the fiscal 2013 to the Congress. In his State of the Union address last month, Obama had said his administration would offer incentives to those firms which will create jobs in the country. "The skills and training that employers are looking for begins with the men and women who educate our children," he said while addressing at a community college in a Washington suburb. The President said he wants the Congress to give the schools the resources to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best. "In return, they also need to give schools the flexibility to stop just teaching to the test and replace teachers who aren't helping kids learn. That's something that we can do," he said, adding that the Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling this July.
"So between the increases we've provided in Pell grants, these tax credits, keeping interest rates low. Millions of students across the country have benefited from that," he said Obama said tuition inflation has gone up in recent years. "If you can't stop tuition from going up, then funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Because higher education cannot be a luxury; it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford. That's part of the American promise in the 21st century," he said.
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| Tibetan monk sets himself on fire in China Posted: A Tibetan monk set himself on fire Monday in southwest China's Sichuan province, authorities said Tuesday.
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| Moscow to turn government offices into hotels Posted: In a bid to decongest the city centre, the Moscow city government plans to turn federal government offices based there into hotels after the offices move to outlying areas under a city expansion plan.
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| Amartya Sen receives Humanities Medal from Obama Posted: India-born Nobel laureate Amartya Sen was today felicitated with the prestigious National Medals of Arts and Humanities award by US President Barack Obama for his efforts to increase the understanding of fighting hunger and poverty. Sen, who won Nobel Prize in economics in 1998, was given the award at a glittering White House function here. "We even have an economist, whom we don't always get on stage," Obama said referring to 78-year-old Sen, before he presented the 2011 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities. "Sen is being awarded the 2011 National Humanities Medal for his insights into the causes of poverty, famine, and injustice. By applying philosophical thinking to questions of policy, he has changed how standards of living are measured and increased our understanding of how to fight hunger," said the citation, read by a military aid of the US President. The two Nobel Laureates (Obama and Sen) were seen chatting on some issues during the award ceremony. Sen also attended the White House reception hosted by President Obama on this occasion. The First Lady, Michelle also attended the awards ceremony. The 2011 National Medal of Arts was also awarded to Will Barnet, Rita Dove, Al Pacino, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Martin Puryear, Mel Tillis, United Service Organization and Andr Watts. And the 2011 National Humanities Medal were given to Kwame Anthony Appiah, John Ashbery, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, National History Day, Charles Rosen sand Teofilo Ruiz besides Sen.
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| A German village where every house has a cancer patient Posted: A village in Germany has left health experts baffled as almost every household there has a resident suffering from cancer, a media report said Monday. The Wewelsfleth village with a population of 1,500 has been dubbed the "village of the damned", said the Daily Mail. Village mayor Ingo Karstens, who lost two wives to cancer, said: "It feels like a curse." Researchers from the University of Lubeck investigated the phenomenon and found cases of breast, lung, oesophageal, womb and stomach cancer. They could, however, find no cause for the deadly disease. Residents have blamed three nearby nuclear power plants and a shipyard where vessels were reportedly sprayed with toxic paint. Villagers say wind and rain blew in cancer-causing particles from those place into their homes. Experts have probed the nuclear plants, the shipyard, asbestos sheeting used on roofs, electro-smog from power lines and the lifestyle of the cancer patients.
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| Whitney was 'joyful' 2 days before death Posted: A singer who participated in an impromptu duet with Whitney Houston at a party two days before Houston's death said yesterday she noticed nothing amiss and the superstar was "upbeat and joyful." "She did not seem disheveled. She was dancing, she was laughing. ... We were having a good time," said Kelly Price.  We'll always love you: Jennifer Hudson breaks down while paying tribute to Whitney Houston at the Grammy concert yesterday. Pic/AFP "What I saw on Thursday night was not erratic behavior. I didn't see someone who was high." Price said the party was held to celebrate her Grammy nominations. During the party, Houston took the stage unexpectedly and sang a hoarse rendition of 'Jesus Loves Me' with Price. Price said Houston's voice is "naturally raspy," but "she sounded good on Thursday night." She acknowledged that Houston did have champagne, which "was flowing" at the party, and said she was glad to see her friend happy. "It was a genuine moment of celebration," she said. "She was in good spirits leaving the club," Price said. There were more questions than answers Monday about Houston's sudden death, as authorities were offering few details. An autopsy was completed on Houston Sunday, but authorities have not released a cause of death pending toxicology tests.
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| In a first, Pak PM charged with contempt Posted: Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani was charged with contempt by Supreme Court for failing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari Yousuf Raza Gilani was yesterday indicted by the Supreme Court in a contempt of court case for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, making it a first for any prime minister in Pakistan.  Refusing to yield: Pakistan PM Yousuf Gilani heard the charges and pledged to contest them. pic/afp The prime minister waved before entering the court where head of the seven-member bench of the apex court, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, read out the charge sheet in Gilani's presence. "This is the charge that you Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as the prime minister of Pakistan have wilfully flouted, disregarded and disobeyed the instructions given by this court," he said. Gilani faces prison and being barred from office if he is found guilty in a case that will start at the end of the month. He has argued that President Asif Ali Zardari has immunity as head of state, preventing the prime minister from writing to Swiss authorities where Zardari is accused of laundering millions of dollars in kickbacks from the time his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was prime minister in the 1990s. Crisis ahead Helicopters hovered overhead and armed police guarded the courthouse as Gilani arrived. He spoke only to confirm that he understood the charge against him and to plead not guilty. The case will resume on February 28 once both sides have submitted evidence. In an interview on Sunday, Gilani said the attempt to reopen corruption cases was designed to bring down the government. "Whatever the charges that were levelled against him, he fought those cases in the court, he was exonerated. There had been lot of cases against him and they were all politically motivated," he said. Yesterday's court appearance is the latest round in a war of attrition between government and judiciary, which many people believe is siding with the military against an embattled civilian leadership. It means once again the government is focused on its own survival rather than tackling the myriad challenges facing the country. Imran Khan asks Gilani to resign Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said that there was no moral justification left for Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani to hold his office any longer. The PTI chief asked Gilani to tender his resignation after being convicted by the Supreme Court in contempt of court case instead of pressurising the judiciary.
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| I was kept in cellar as sex slave: Deaf girl Posted: Locked in a cellar where she was allegedly raped and beaten for nearly a decade, a young deaf and mute Pakistani woman told a UK court today how she was trafficked into Britain and forced to work as a virtual slave. The woman, whose age is not known, said she was around 10 when she was brought to the northern city of Manchester as a domestic servant in 2000.
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