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TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday said his US counterpart Barack Obama would find it hard to deliver his much-promised change due to "Zionist" pressure, a foreign news agency reported. Speaking by telephone to Tehran's close ally President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, the hardline Iranian leader said the "US president came to power by campaigning under the slogan of change, but I find it remote that the Zionist leaders (Israeli officials) will allow him to do his job," the report said. Tehran does not recognise Israel and the Iranian president has sparked global outrage for his hardline anti-Israeli stance. Ahmadinejad's latest comment came a day after he said that Tehran was prepared to talk to Washington on the basis of mutual respect and equality. His readiness to talk was a reaction to Obama's comment that in the coming months Washington would be ready to hold "face-to-face" talks with Tehran.

JAKARTA: A strong 6.3-magnitude aftershock struck off the northeast tip of Indonesia's Sulawesi island early Thursday, the US Geological Survey said. The tremor, which followed an earlier 7.0-magnitude quake, struck at 22:14 GMT at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles), the US agency said. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

WASHINGTON: United Airlines confirmed Wednesday that it was closing its call center in India and transferring 165 jobs to the United States, which is reeling from layoffs amid recession.The move came about a month after UAL Corp, parent of the third biggest North American carrier, said it was cutting 1,000 more jobs, pushing the total to 9,000 by year's end, to help stem losses. The jobs in India will be transferred to call centers in Chicago and Honolulu, Hawaii, and filled by workers who now handle reservations, the Chicago-based airline said.

KABUL: Hizbe Islami, an Islamic outfit resisting against US domination in Afghanistan, claimed killing five US soldiers in two separate attacks, a foreign news agency reported on Tuesday.Spokesman Hisbe Islami Afghanistan claimed, they completely devastated a US military tank in an attack in Zaron city, killing four US troops.In other ambush in Lughman province, a US soldier was shot dead, he added.

BEIRUT: Indifference and skepticism prevail among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, feelings also present among most Arab nations, where little or nothing is expected from the future Israeli government.Leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Osama Hamdan, residing in Lebanon, and Fawzi Barhoum, in Gaza, said the expect "more of the same" from the Israeli policy.Hamdan affirmed he expects little from the administration that will emerge from the already complex negotiations between the Kadima and Likud parties, as their electoral program is pretty similar.According to preliminary results of the Israeli elections on Tuesday, current Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the Kadima leader, has won 28 of the 120 parliamentary seats.Conservative Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud leader, goes next with 27 seats, followed by ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman (15), from Yisrael Beiteinu faction, thus making believe the future executive will comprise the most radical sectors, chi

NEW YORK: International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have decided to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir over alleged genocide in Darfur, A US daily reported on Wednesday.The daily, quoting court lawyers and diplomats, reported on its website that the move by a panel of judges in The Hague marked the first time that the world's first independent, permanent tribunal on war crimes has sought the detention of a sitting head of state since it began its work in 2002.It said precise charges, cited by the judges against Beshir, had not been disclosed.Last year, ICC's chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court for an arrest warrant for Beshir on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.It quoted UN officials as saying the decision on the warrant was communicated to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and was expected to be formally announced at the court in the coming days.But asked to comment on the report, UN deputy spokeswoman Marie

LONDON: Four people died on Wednesday when two light aircraft crashed in mid-air in southwest Britain, UK media reported. According to UK defense department, two Air Training Corps cadets and trainers from the Royal Air Force were killed near Porthcawl, a seaside resort in south Wales just before noon.Two female teenage cadets who were cousins also died in the collision. At least one of the twin-seater planes was on fire when emergency services arrived at the scene. The aircraft involved were Grob Tutors, a twin-seater light plane with propellers often used for flying training. A few helicopters were mobilized after the incident to gather evidence while mountain rescue teams were on stand-by.

NEW DELHI: India would "spare no efforts in tackling the multi-dimensional challenges of terror", Minister for external affairs Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday. Addressing a meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mukherjee said: "Security has been a concern.There are multidimensional challenges before us."