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Sunday, August 09, 2009 BEIJING: China's state news agency says a plane has been hijacked in the restive western region of Xinjiang, which was rocked by ethnic riots last month.China’s official News Agency did not give any details about the hijacking in a brief report Sunday.A man on duty at the government office in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, said he had not heard about the hijacking.The region saw the worst ethnic violence in China in decades last month when deadly rioting in Xinjiang's capital of Urumqi killed 197people and injured more than 1,700, according to official count.The government said the violence was the work of terrorists, separatists and foreign forces as part of a plot to carve up China.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A China-bound Afghan passenger flight was sent back to Afghanistan because it lacked the proper documents required to land, not because of a bomb or hijack threat, Afghan officials said. China's Xinhua news agency had reported that Chinese authorities suspected the flight had been threatened by a bomb. But an air traffic official in Kabul and an airport police source in Kandahar said there was no such threat. The plane, from Afghanistan's Kam Air airline, had departed from Kabul but landed in the southern city of Kandahar on its return because of high winds in Kabul, they said. "It can go back to Kabul whenever it wants," the Kandahar airport police source said. The sources said the flight was the first the airline had made on that route, and the airport in China's Xinjiang province denied it permission to land. A press officer for NATO-led and U.S. forces in Kabul, Chief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, said a plane had made a...

Sunday, August 09, 2009 BRUSSELS: France has called for the "immediate release" of a French lecturer and a Franco-Iranian employee at its Tehran embassy who are being tried in an Iranian court.Paris considered the charges against 24-year-old Clotilde Reiss "devoid of any foundation" and those against embassy staffer Nazak Afshar to be "non-existent", the foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.France also objected to the fact that their embassy had not been informed in advance that they would be appearing in court, "in conformity with international rules and consular protection," the statement added.The ministry said it deplored the fact that neither of them had been represented by a lawyer in court.Reiss and Afshar were among more than 10 other defendants brought before the court for a mass hearing on charges related to huge protests that erupted across Iran after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, was declared winner of the Ju...

Sunday, August 09, 2009 BAGHDAD: Iraq's Health Ministry confirmed on Sunday the country's first H1N1 influenza death."A young woman who was already ill and living in poor circumstances died of swine flu," Deputy Health Minister Amar al-Khuzaie said.The H1N1 flu outbreak, declared a pandemic in June, has spread around the world and could eventually affect 2 billion people, according to World Health Organisation estimates.The virus has killed more than 800 people worldwide since emerging in April.

Sunday, August 09, 2009 ANNABA: One person died and at least 10 were missing after an Algerian coast guard boat collided with boats filled with possible migrants, officials said.The collision occurred off the Algerian port city of Annaba after three migrant boats ignored calls that they stop, a British news channel reported.More than 70 people have unsuccessfully tried to escape Algeria by boat during the past two days, Algerian radio said, adding that more than 400 people had been intercepted by the Annaba coast guard this year. The Algerian newspaper El Watan reported two migrant boats sank in the stand-off with the coast guards that began Saturday.

Sunday, August 09, 2009 BETHLEHEM: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received firm endorsement from his Fatah party on Saturday to remain its leader in an impromptu vote in which he was unchallenged.Abbas received the approval in a show of hands from the vast majority of Fatah's 2,300 delegates participating in the movement's first congress for 20 years and the first on Palestinian soil.Abbas succeeded the late Fatah founding father Yasser Arafat who led the movement for 40 years until his death in 2004.Fatah is seeking to throw off a reputation for corruption and cronyism that led in 2006 to an election loss to Islamist rival Hamas which opposes peace talks with Israel.The congress in Bethlehem began on Tuesday and has been marked by reformists' charges of vote-buying and nepotism by an "old guard".

Sunday, August 09, 2009 KARACHI: Each person of Pakistan is indebted to Rs24,412 in average which is 175 per cent higher compared to India.As per the statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan, over all current foreign debts cost 50 billion dollars while its population is 170 million. Thus each Pakistani is indebted to Rs24,412.Comparatively, India’s total debts value $222 billion whereas its population is about 1.25 billion.Thus, each Indian citizen is indebted to Rs8,880 based on the population which is 175 per cent lower than Pakistan.

Sunday, August 09, 2009 TOKYO: A major 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck off eastern Japan Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.The quake was felt from central to northern Japan, including Tokyo, at 19:56 (1056 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.The quake rocked buildings in the Japanese capital, but no damage was immediately reported in the city.Some local trains experienced moderate delays, East Japan Railway Co. said.The US agency estimated the quake to be extremely deep at 303 kilometers or 188 miles.

Sunday, August 09, 2009 COLOMBO: Captain Younus Khan led the way as Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 132 runs in the fifth and final one-day international here on Sunday.Younus top-scored with 76 and Misbah-ul Haq hit an unbeaten 73 to steer Pakistan to 279-8 after they won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night match at the Premadasa stadium.Teenage paceman Mohammad Aamer grabbed 4-28 and Rana Naved took 4-44 as Pakistan bowled out Sri Lanka for 147 in the 35th over to record their second successive win after Friday's 146-run success.Sri Lanka, however, clinched the one-day series 3-2, after winning the Test series 2-0. The rivals, who contested the World Twenty20 final in England in June when Pakistan won the title, will play a T20 international here Wednesday in the last match of the tour.The half-centuries from Younus and Misbah helped Pakistan recover from the first-ball dismissal of Kamran Akmal, who was given out leg-before off Nuwan Kulasekara despite getting an edge o...

She's thrilled to be joining American Idol - but don't expect Victoria Beckham to swap that pout for a smile. Days after we revealed that Posh was going to step into Paula Abdul's Louboutins on the hit reality talent show, she has called to tell us about her judging style. Victoria, 35, tells us: "I am beyond excited. When I heard, I just couldn't believe it. "I feel like I've got the best job that there is. I'm just so happy and I can't wait. I was in bed on Wednesday when I got the text from Simon Fuller saying: 'You're going to Denver'." When she arrived at a downtown Denver hotel yesterday before the first round of auditions, scores of onlookers crowded around taking photos. She said: "I'm a big fan of the show - I come to the shows with the kids and David loves it. I'm just so grateful to be given such a fantastic opportunity. "I'm still grinning from ear to ear.

NAGASAKI, Japan, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- More than 5,000 people gathered Saturday in the Peace Park in Nagasaki to mark the 64th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japanese city. At the memorial ceremony, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue read the Peace Declaration, calling for worldwide nuclear disarmament and enhanced measures for nuclear nonproliferation. Lauding U.S. President Barack Obama's statement on a world without nuclear weapons this April in Prague, Taue said: "...the government of Japan, a nation that has experienced nuclear devastation, must play a leading role in international society." "In a bid for thorough elimination of nuclear armaments, we urge the strongest efforts towards the Nuclear Weapons Convention, which the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon last year called on governments to negotiate actively," said the Mayor. In his speech at the ceremony, Prime Minister Taro Aso reaffirmed Japan' s three principles of not produ...

Sunday, August 09, 2009 SRINAGAR: Indian troops shot dead six Muslim rebels as they tried to cross into Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani side, the sixth infiltration attempt to be foiled in the past one week, the army said on Saturday.They said two soldiers were also killed in the gun battles, which broke out on Friday along the Line of Control (LoC), a military control line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.Intelligence officials say Pakistan-based militant groups have stepped up efforts to push their members into Indian Kashmir across the rugged LoC before winter snow blocks the Himalayan mountain passes."Less than two months are left for winter and Tanzeems (militant groups) across are desperate to send more and more terrorists before winter sets in," a senior Indian intelligence officer said.More than 20 people mostly "infiltrators" have been killed in firefights along the LoC or ceasefire line in the past one week due to increased patrolling, the of...

Sunday, August 09, 2009 NOUAKCHOTT: A suicide bomber died Saturday after staging an explosion near the French embassy in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, as two members of staff were jogging nearby, police and embassy staff said. Two French nationals, security employees at the French embassy, were near the man at the moment of the blast," embassy official Marc Flattot said. "They are in hospital, they are unharmed, but in shock," he added. "The Westerners are in hospital but their lives are not in danger," a police official said. The bomber had a belt laden with explosives, police said, adding that he staged the explosion a little before 7:00 pm local time near the wall of the French embassy complex in Nouakchott. The attack comes three days after the west African country's coup leader, who staged a widely condemned putsch a year ago, took power in the former French colony following contested elections. On June 23, a US national working in Mauritania, 4...

MADRID: One of the world's most powerful telescopes opened its shutters for the first time Friday to begin exploring faint light from distant parts of the universe.The Gran Telescopio Canarias, a euro130 million ($185 million) telescope featuring a 34-foot (10.4-meter) reflecting mirror, sits atop an extinct volcano. Its location above cloud cover takes advantage of the pristine skies in the Atlantic Ocean.Planning for the telescope began in 1987 and has involved more than 1,000 people from 100 companies. The observatory is located at 2,400 meters (7,870 feet) above sea-level where prevailing winds keep the atmosphere stable and transparent, the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute said.The institute, which runs the telescope, said it will capture the birth of stars, study characteristics of black holes and decipher some of the chemical components of the Big Bang.The telescope is composed of 36 separate mirrors that began slowly focusing in July 2007 to eventually act as a single...

Sunday, August 09, 2009 WASHINGTON: US top seed Andy Roddick outlasted John Isner 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday to book a finals date with defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro at the ATP Washington Classic. Fifth-ranked Roddick, playing in his first event since a five-set Wimbledon final loss to Roger Federer, fired only nine aces to 20 for Isner but hit 69 percent of his first serves and made just two unforced errors in the third set. It took five break-point chances in the third set before Roddick finally broke Isner in the penultimate game, then held serve to win after two hours and 31 minutes. Second seed Del Potro of Argentina defeated Chilean fourth seed Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 in a showdown of South America's top players in the other semi-final at the 1.4 million-dollar hardcourt tournament. Sixth-ranked Del Potro, who won his only prior match with fifth-ranked Roddick in last year's Los Angeles final, will try to become the first back-to-back Washington ...

Saturday, August 08, 2009 ISLAMABAD: Defending champions Young Rising Star and Iran have qualified for playing the semi-finals in the fifth national Women Football Championship here at the Islamabad Sports Complex on Saturday.Iran outclassed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) by a record margin of 22 goals. Fereshteh Karimi scored eight and Sara Gomi made seven goals.In another quarter-finals, Young Rising Star defeated Punjab 7-0 after a one-sided contest.