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Saturday, August 01, 2009 WASHINGTON: The main terminal of New York's La Guardia Airport was briefly evacuated Saturday after a man was detained carrying a suspicious package, US media reported.Televised images showed bag-laden travelers leaving the terminal and huddled outside while authorities cleared the building. They were later being allowed back in, the reports said.A US news channel reported that authorities detained a man behaving erratically and carrying a suspicious package. Spokesmen for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

NEW DELHI: India has handed over its response to the Pakistani dossier to Pakistan authorities.According to sources, India’s new foreign secretary Nirupama Rao handed over the information to Pakistani High Commissioner.Meanwhile, Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram talking to Indian media said Pakistan had sought more information regarding Mumbai attacks which has been provided to Pakistan.

Saturday, August 01, 2009 NEW DELHI: Nirupama Rao took charge as India's foreign secretary on Saturday morning, the second woman to head India's foreign service. Rao succeeded Shivshankar Menon at a brief ceremony in South Block. Chokila Iyer was the first woman to serve as India's foreign secretary in 2001. A topper of the 1973 Indian Foreign Service batch, Rao also became the first woman spokesperson of the external affairs ministry in 2001. She then went on become the Indian envoy to Sri Lanka and then China before returning to New Delhi. In her 36-year-long career, she has served also as ambassador in Peru and deputy chief of mission in Moscow.

Saturday, August 01, 2009 KABUL: The month of July had the highest death toll for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began nearly eight years ago, and the lowest death toll in Iraq since that war began six years ago. In Afghanistan, at least 43 Americans were killed, among 75 coalition troops. In Iraq, the U.S. death toll was seven. The statistics reflect the changing role of U.S. troops in both war zones. In Iraq, American combat forces left the populated areas at the end of June. Only U.S. trainers operate with Iraqi units in the cities, while combat troops work in the countryside or wait on their bases in case Iraqi units need help.In Afghanistan, by contrast, thousands of U.S. troops have been pouring in, part of the near doubling of the American military presence ordered by President Barack Obama. About 4,000 of those troops, along with British and Afghan forces, launched an offensive in southern Helmand Province, a Taliban stronghold, and took heavy casualties.Former State...

Saturday, August 01, 2009 WASHINGTON: Fifty-one more swine flu-related US deaths were reported in the United States Friday over the previous week, bringing the toll to 353 in the country worst affected by the global pandemic.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the new figures in its weekly surveillance update, which also said that 5,514 people have required hospitalization for the A(H1N1) virus.The CDC also announced in its Friday report that it was no longer publishing the individual confirmed and probable cases, or its aggregate total of cases from the 5O US states, its territories and the capital Washington. "CDC will report the total number of hospitalizations and deaths weekly, and continue to use its traditional surveillance systems to track the progress of the novel H1N1 flu outbreak," the center said on its website.As of Monday, some 816 people infected with swine flu had died, according to the World Health Organization. With the new US f...

Saturday, August 01, 2009 MANILA: Former Philippines president Corazon Aquino, whose "People Power" revolution toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy to the nation, died Saturday after a battle with colon cancer. "Cory" Aquino was propelled into the political spotlight in 1986, leading millions of Filipinos in protests against the corrupt regime of Marcos, who jailed thousands of dissidents during his brutal 20-year regime. President Gloria Arroyo declared a 10-day period of mourning and ordered a state funeral for Aquino, whom she praised as a "national treasure." Aquino's family announced her death early Saturday. "Our mother peacefully passed away at 3:18 am, August 1, 2009 of cardio-respiratory arrest," Senator Benigno Aquino Jr, said in a statement outside the Makati Medical Centre in Manila, where his mother had been hospitalised. "She would have wanted us to thank each and every one of you for all the prayers an...

Saturday, August 01, 2009 MAIDUGURI: Nigeria's national police claimed victory Friday over a radical Islamist sect after its leader was killed by security forces but experts warned revenge attacks could occur and a leading human rights group demanded a probe into the killing.Nigerian officials said Mohammed Yusuf, the leader of the sect some call the Nigerian Taliban, was killed after being captured Thursday night at the end of a four-day manhunt."This group operates under a charismatic leader. They will no more have any inspiration," national police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu told The Associated Press on Friday. "The leader who they thought was invincible and immortal has now been proved otherwise."Ojukwu said there are still some isolated cases of violence in northern Nigeria, but otherwise "life is back to normal."New York-based Human Rights Watch called for an investigation."The Nigerian authorities must act immediately to investigate and hold...