India-born responsible for Glasgow attack: Co-accused
London: One of the Glasgow bombing accused has blamed India-born Kafeel Ahmed solely for the attack. Bilal Abdulla, an Iraqi doctor, who was in the jeep with Ahmed when they drove into the Glasgow airport after which the latter succumbed to severe burns, said the attack on the airport came ''out of the blue'' and he only threw Molotov cocktails because he was trying to get rid of them.

Slain journo Soumya Viswanathan honoured by Stockholm
Stockholm: Six Indian journalists, including Delhi journalist Soumya Viswanathan, among the 87 worldwide who perished in their line of duty during the past 12 months, were among those honoured at the Stockholm Journalists' Memorial 2008.

The memorial, instituted by the Professional Foreign Correspondents Association, PROFOCA, of Sweden 2002, was commemorated for the seventh consecutive year at the the Royal Cathedral of Stockholm, in an ecumenical service, Tuesday.

A PARTNERSHIP BENEFITTING ORPHANS
Joseph Aranha
It’s a partnership that has been working well these past many years which has benefitted orphans in Indonesia, Haiti and Sri Lanka, and now with plans to open a branch in Tanzania in 2009 and with ideas to open in other countries also.
The whole idea started with a loving mother, Frances Alleman-Luce who kind of pushed her son Jim Luce to start “Orphans International Worldwide”.

Taslima Nasreen to become honorary citizen of Paris
Bangladeshi novelist Taslima Nasreen is to be made an honorary citizen of Paris, Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has said, praising her courage and freedom struggle. ''You have been chased out of your home because you raised your voice against the inhumanity of fanatism,'' Delanoe told a Paris city council meeting on Monday.

Series of blasts rock Karachi, 2 dead
Two people have died and at least 40 have been injured as seven blasts rocked Karachi in Pakistan. The blasts took place hours after the Indian cricket team left Karachi on Monday morning. The explosions were reported in Banaras, Shahra-e-Noor Jahan, Hyderi and Qasba Colony areas of Karachi.

Sudan: Plane explodes, 100 feared killed
Khartoum (Sudan): Sudanese state television says that around 100 people were killed when a plane exploded into fire after landing at Khartoum's international airport on Wednesday. There was no further official information on the accident, but about 200 passengers were thought to be aboard the plane when it landed in bad weather and a higher casualty.

80 killed in Philippines typhoon, 700 missing
Manila: Worried relatives wept on Sunday as they awaited news of more than 740 passengers and crew aboard a ferry that capsized as Typhoon Fengshen swamped the Philippines, killing more than 80 people and submerging entire communities.

UAE drops charges against Asif: Ambassador
Pakistan Ambassador Ahsan Ullah Khan has said that the charges against cricketer Mohammad Asif, detained on arrival at the Dubai airport, had been dropped. Asif was returning from India after taking part in the Indian Premier League when he was detained on charges of possessing illegal drugs.

Pervez Musharraf is a traitor: Sharif
The spell of bad news does not seem to end for Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. First, he had to grudgingly accept his sworn enemy Nawaz Sharif's triumphant return to Pakistan politics. Now, a former ISI general, who worked under Musharraf as army chief has revealed that Sharif was kept in the dark about the Kargil adventure, further weakening Musharraf's position.

APA HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATIONS
Wan Yu Chang
The Asian Pacific American Heritage month was celebrated recently by the “Department for the Aging” in New York with the theme of Leadership, Diversity, Harmony which is the Gateway to Success.

London truckers add fuel to fire, protest oil duty
London: Nearly 1,000 truck drivers drove into London to protest rising fuel costs after crude touched $135 a barrel. The drivers demanded concessions from the government, including an “essential user rebate” and cancellation of the proposed 2 p/litre fuel duty beginning October.

Sun to set on 240-year-old Nepal monarchy
Nepal will scrap its almost 240-year-old monarchy on Wednesday. The newly-elected 575 members of the Nepal Constituent Assembly will meet on Wednesday and are expected to pass a resolution declaring Nepal a republic.

Mother and daughter scale Everest, set record
Sydney: A mother and daughter team from Sydney Saturday scaled the world's highest mountain, Mt Everest, becoming the first such pair to have climbed the tallest peaks in all the seven continents.

A BREAKTHROUGH - MAYBE?
Are the Chinese becoming more pragmatic? Or are they playing for time. Well only time will tell.
It has been reported that Chinese officials have been putting out feelers to see that if an invitation was extended whether the Dalai Lama would attend the Olympics in Beijing in August of this year.

Pak announces release of 99 prisoners but not Sarabjit
Islamabad: It was a warm welcome for External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, as he returned to Islamabad after more than a year. a year in which nearly everything has changed for Pakistan.

61-yr-old China quake victim rescued after 164 hrs
New Delhi: A 61-year-old quake victim was rescued on Monday morning after being trapped under the rubble for 164 hours in Beichuan city in China’s Sichuan province.

Hillary wins West Virginia primary
Democrat presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has beaten Barack Obama in West Virginia's primary by a large margin. In fact Hilary held a big opinion poll lead over Obama ahead of the vote. However, Obama still remains the frontrunner in the overall contest to become the party's nominee, having garnered more support and cash.