With External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar set to meet on Wednesday for their first ministerial meeting in India after five months of official-level talks, New Delhi and Islamabad have decided to focus on the “positives” and “convergences” reached during discussions between the Home Secretaries and Commerce Secretaries from both sides. This emerged as a broad theme of the meeting of the Foreign Secretaries on Tuesday.“(They) had very cordial and positive discussions today... they reviewed the progress in talks between different ministries and organisations of the two countries in the preceding months,” said MEA’s official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash after Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir at Hyderabad House to finalise the agenda for the foreign ministers’ meeting. Read Morehttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/-Not-burdened-by-history---Khar-meets-Krishna-today/822868/
A 94-year-old woman in an outback town struck a kangaroo she thought was going to kill her, hitting the animal with a broom then managing to crawl to safety in her house before police subdued the creature with pepper spray.The householder, Phyllis Johnson, said the red kangaroo attacked her while she was hanging out her washing in her yard on Sunday in the Queensland town of Charleville."I thought it was going to kill me," she told the Courier Mail from hospital where she was treated for bruises and scratches. "It was taller than me, and it just ploughed through the clothes on the washing line straight for me."She said she saw a blur of red fur before the kangaroo knocked her down and kicked her as she lay on the ground. She managed to get to her feet, and then she grabbed the broom to hit the animal enough times to daze it."She fought it off herself with a bit of help from the family dog," said her son, Rob Johnson, who called the police after the incident. The kangaroo had "a bit of a go" at him too, he said.He said his mother has a large gash on her leg but was recovering.Stephen Perkins, head of police in Charleville, said the first officer to reach the house had to spray the kangaroo to avoid being injured."The animal jumped away, then saw another officer at the back of the police car and went for that officer – and he also had to deploy his capsicum spray. So the roo had to get sprayed twice," Perkins said. "After that, it hopped away from the scene, but police could still monitor its location – it didn't go too far."Wildlife rangers from the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service later trapped the intruder. Red kangaroos are the world's largest marsupials and can stand as tall as a man and weigh about 90kg (198lb).The kangaroo, which is a male, will be examined by a vet before a decision is made about his future, Mike Devery, a government official, said.Read Morehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/26/kangaroo-mugs-94-queensland-phyllis
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- An 8 year-old boy was hanged by militants in Afghanistan's Helmand province after the boy's father -- a police officer in the southern city of Gereshk -- refused to comply with militants' demands to provide them with a police vehicle, officials said.Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the hanging, saying "this action is not permitted in any culture or any religions," according to a statement Sunday, which provided details of the incident.Karzai said he has ordered local authorities to root out the militants and arrest them "as soon as possible."The boy was kidnapped Friday. It was unclear when he was killed.The incident comes amid a recent wave of attacks on local officials who are considered anti-Taliban. Less than two weeks ago, Ahmed Wali Karzai, Karzai's half-brother and a provincial council chief in neighboring Kandahar, was killed in his home by a longtime bodyguard.Elsewhere on Sunday, formal ceremonies marking the handover of security to Afghan forces took place in Kabul and Panjshir province.They are the fifth and sixth areas to be transferred to national forces.Last week, the capital of Helmand province -- Lashkar Gah -- was transferred to local control as NATO begins a drawdown of troops.The area was a scene of heavy fighting and stiff resistance last year as a coalition "surge" swept southward in an effort to drive Taliban forces from their traditional heartland.Read More
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/24/afghanistan.militants.hang.boy/
CAIRO — One woman called for a new revolution. A man called for former President Hosni Mubarak to be executed. An angry crowd in an auditorium here on Thursday night listened to stories of protesters injured or killed during Egypt’s revolution and in demonstrations since, and stood and applauded when a mother spoke of loss. One of her sons was killed by a policeman’s bullet in January, and another son sits in a military prison, after he was beaten and arrested in a protest last week. “I’ve grown tired,” the mother, Amal Zine al Abadeen, told dozens who had gathered as a prelude to a rally of tens of thousands on Friday in Tahrir Square, where the uprising began.“This revolution has done nothing for us,” she said. “I don’t want money. I don’t want anything at all. All I’m asking for is justice.” Read Morehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/09/world/middleeast/09egypt.html
Just under four months ago, in March, I prayed at Padmanabhaswamy Koil, the royal temple of the Travencore kings. Few people would have recognized it then. No miracles were attributed to the place nor was it a pilgrimage site like so many other holy places in India. I went because I was visiting my aunt's family in Trivandrum.This week's discovery of treasure in the vaults under the sanctum has propelled the Padmanabhaswamy temple to worldwide fame and allure. A team appointed by the Supreme Court of India is carrying out an inventory of astounding riches: solid gold idols, weighing several kilos each; bags of diamonds; coconuts fashioned from gold and studded with gems; coins ancient and new and so plentiful that the assessors are weighing sacks rather than counting them.Reports in Indian newspapers claim that the Travencore treasure discovered so far has an estimated value of $22-billion. Overnight, this unassuming temple in a sleepy southern town has become the richest place of worship in the world.India's Supreme Court ordered the inspection of the vaults after a lawyer petitioned a local court asking the state government to take over the temple, citing inadequate security. The current Maharaja of Travencore had appealed to the Supreme Court against the petition.Before the trove was uncovered, there was almost no visible security at the temple, save for a few local security guards patrolling the complex with batons, mainly for crowd control.Hindu nationalists have always claimed that such temple treasures were once common throughout India – before Afghan and Turkic raiders pillaged them in medieval times. The sack of Somnath, a coastal temple legendary for its wealth, is taught to every Indian school child. The loot at the Padmanabhaswamy temple will only bolster this claim of historic Hindu power and wealth.But before Jerry Bruckheimer sends Jack Sparrow to the Malabar Coast for the next movie in the Pirates franchise, it's worth remembering that we are not dealing with romantic notions or strictly ancient treasure here. These are active religious institutions with phenomenal wealth in a country that sees itself as the next America, and whose growth in a nascent superpower reveals the struggle between secular progress and deep-rooted nationalistic and religious traditions.Read Morehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/indian-temple-treasure-tells-the-story-of-an-upwardly-mobile-and-pious-society/article2091262/
China's Foreign Ministry warned U.S. officials on Thursday not to meet with visiting exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying it hoped Washington "appropriately dealt" with Tibet-related issues.China reviles the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama, saying he supports the use of violence to establish an independent Tibet. He strongly denies either accusation, insisting he seeks only true autonomy for the remote region.The Dalai Lama is currently visiting the United States and is due to give a public talk in Washington Saturday.The U.S. State Department said he met on Wednesday with Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero, but that it remained to be decided whether he would have any meetings at higher levels.On Thursday, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and other senior U.S. lawmakers also met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Beijing's position on the Dalai Lama's foreign visits was clear."We oppose the underhand visits of the Dalai Lama which he uses to engage in activities to split the motherland," Hong told a regular news briefing."At the same time, we also oppose any foreign government or politicians supporting or abetting in such activities by the Dalai Lama," he added."We hope that the United States strictly abide by its promises on the Tibet issue and ... cautiously and appropriately deal with relevant issues," Hong said.The Dalai Lama met U.S. President Barack Obama last year, drawing strong denunciation from Beijing.Read Morehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/us-china-usa-dalailama-idUSTRE7667OI20110708
Lawmakers working on next year's federal finances have taken the ax to the James Webb Space Telescope. That's right, NASA's next-generation space telescope, the successor to Hubble and the space agency's biggest post-shuttle project, may be killed.To be clear, there are many more steps in the budget process before this is final -- lawmakers are working on next year's budget despite a stalemate between the White House and Republican leadership, so a lot could change in the next couple weeks. And odds are decent that at least some lawmakers will fight to preserve this enormous technological marvel (and the jobs associated with its construction). But this is not good news for astronomy, to put it mildly.Read Morehttp://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/07/06/house-subcommittees-budget-bill-puts-most-powerful-space-telescope-on-chopping/?test=faces
THE world champion’s trophy sat on Michael Schumacher’s shelf for so long that the wood in its shadow was a different colour when he finally returned it.That’s how the story goes and with one title under his belt and the foundations of a second already set, Sebastian Vettel – the new Schu – has ambitions to break the greatest record in Grand Prix racing: five successive championships.Yesterday, as they prepared in the rain for Sunday’s Santander British Grand Prix, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton vowed to make sure it did not happen.Battered as they are by his record start this season, both insist they can halt the charging Red Bull.And they are determined to ensure the rot starts in Sunday’s race on the remodelled Silverstone, the grand old dame looking fresh and revitalised after a £27million makeover.The McLaren duo had no time for talk that a 77-point lead means Vettel is already creating an era of domination to rival Schumacher’s between 2000 and 2004.“I don’t think that will ever happen again, it’s a different time, the rules changing all the time,” said Hamilton.“They are clearly a strong team but there are lots of strong teams and it even looks like people like Renault are getting stronger this year, Mercedes are there or thereabouts.“You’ve even got Williams and with their updates over the next couple of years. You never know if they will be back up there.“There was a lot more to it in Schumacher’s day but I won’t bother going into that.”Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/motorsport/2011/07/08/british-gp-2011-hamilton-button-warning-to-vettel-115875-23255513/#ixzz1RUD83DZw
POSH pupils from just five private schools take more places at Oxford and Cambridge universities than Britain’s bottom 2,000 state schools combined, research reveals today.The report by the Sutton Trust also reveals that private school students are more than twice as likely to get into the top 30 universities than comprehensive pupils.Elite schools charging as much as £30,000 a year, such as Eton College where Prime Minister David Cameron was educated, and St Paul’s where Chancellor George Osborne was taught, are in the five.Eton, Westminster School, St Paul’s School and St Paul’s Girls School – all private – and Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge produced 946 Oxbridge entrants from 2007-09 – one in 20 of all the students.Meanwhile, 2,000 other schools and colleges produced a total of 927 students.Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: “We know these stark inequalities are driven primarily by the exam results, yet the data also reveals that university chances can vary dramatically for schools with similar average grades.”Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/07/08/five-top-schools-send-more-students-to-oxbridge-than-2-000-schools-combined-115875-23255186/#ixzz1RUBD6Ttz
