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Saturday, May 16, 2009

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers 'defeated'

Sri Lanka's president has declared that the island's Tamil Tiger fighters have been "defeated," after the military said it had captured the area of coastline held by the separatists.Speaking to a G11 group of developing nations summit in Jordan on Saturday, Mahinda Rajapakse said he would return home as "a leader of a nation that crushed terrorism"."I am proud to announce... that my government with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation, finally defeated the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] militarily," he said.Earlier, the military had said that the group's remaining fighters were surrounded with no chance of escape."After this linking up of two [army] divisions ... We have completely denied the LTTE's Sea Tigers access to the sea," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the defence ministry spokesman."The LTTE have no other choice but to surrender or commit suicide.""They are slowly giving up," he said. "They are blowing up whatever arms and ammunition they have."Government forces have been hunting for Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE chief, and his deputies for months, but it is unclear if they are still in the coastal strip or have already fled overseas.

The Mingora diaries

Pakistan’s army has temporarily suspended a curfew in the Swat valley to help stranded civilians escape raging battles between Pakistani forces and the Taliban.Three days ago our Observer in Mingora told us his family had escaped, but he was staying behind. Now, his brother says he has no news from the war zone.Nazir (not his real name) has fled Mingora, in Pakistan's war-torn Swat valley.When we reached Dargai, where we are now staying with our relatives, we were able to get Aziz on the phone to tell him that we had arrived safely after a very difficult journey. He told us that a fierce battle was going on in the Mingora area, with air strikes and artillery fire. Every one is very frightened, but there are about a thousand people who refuse to leave their homeland.Aziz spoke to his elder son and promised that he would “come soon” – but I know it is a promise he cannot keep.That was our last conversation with him. We have tried calling him and other people who are still in the Swat valley, but there was no answer. Many people are now dead.As his wife started weeping I decided to call a contact Aziz had told us about. His name is Ajmal Shah Din. We asked him to help us broadcast an appeal to the Pakistani government to lift the curfew again so that the remaining people may flee the Swat valley. My cousin, who owns a car, had promised to bring go back to Mingora to fetch Aziz if the curfew was relaxed.Ajmal said he would help us contact Pakistani TV channels. They started broadcasting our appeal on Thursday. One of his colleagues, the famous TV anchor Naseem Zehra, even spoke to me during her show on Dunya TV.I think our efforts have worked because the government has just announced it is suspending the curfew to help people flee the war zone. The authorities have also organised some means of transport.My cousin Behroz has moved his car back towards the Swat valley, and we are anxiously waiting to see Aziz.

US drone attack kills Nine in North Waziristan

Nine people were killed and many wounded in US missile attack in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday morning.According to sources, US drone fired two missiles at a madarssah and a vehicle in Khesoor area in Mir Ali sub division killing four and injured several.US drones are still hovering over North Waziristan creating panic among the local residents.

Hubble spacewalk hits gyro glitch

Astronauts have struggled to complete the most critical repair to the Hubble Space Telescope in a second spacewalk.Mission specialists Mike Good and Mike Massimino put a refurbished pair of gyroscopes into the telescope after a new set refused to go in.Besides the gyroscopes - to orient it precisely - Hubble got fresh batteries to ensure five more years of life.Despite the setbacks, scientists said Hubble would function well, pointing to ever distant objects in the cosmos.Friday's troubled spacewalk was the longest yet, lasting eight hours."At times, I felt like I was wrestling a bear," Mike Massimino was quoted as saying by AFP news agency, as he and Mike Good struggled to install the gyroscopes, or "rate sensing units" (RSUs).Previously, only three of the six gyroscopes worked. But after today's marathon spacewalk, Hubble has four brand new sets and two refurbished ones. Only two are needed to orient the telescope properly.

Punjab clinch upset win over Delhi in IPL

Kings XI Punjab stunned leaders Delhi Daredevils with a six-wicket victory in their Indian Premier League match here on Friday to keep their semi-finals hopes alive.After Punjab bowlers had restricted Delhi to 120-9, Kumar Sangakkara hit an unbeaten 43 to guide his side to a thrilling win with five balls to spare. Punjab nearly made a mess of the chase, losing their top three wickets for 35 runs before Sangakkara put the innings back on track with a 53-run stand for the fourth wicket with Yuvraj Singh.Yuvraj (18) was dismissed with the side still needing 33 to win from 26 balls but Irfan Pathan kept his cool, hitting three sixes en route his unbeaten 21 to take his team home in their must-win tie. Erratic Farveez Mahroof, playing his first match of the tournament, took a wicket off his first ball to finish with 2-29 while left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra conceded just six runs off his four overs while picking one wicket. Delhi, who lead the eight-team tournament, can still make the semis even if they don't win any of their remaining three games. Delhi have 16 points from 11 matches, followed by Chennai (13/11), Rajasthan (13/12), Deccan (12/11), Bangalore (12/12), Mumbai (11/12), Punjab (12/12) and Kolkata (3/11).

England wait as day two rained off

Ravi Bopara reached three centuries in three innings as England punished the West Indies bowlers to reach 302 for two on the first day of the second Test in Chester-Le-Street - before heavy rain washed out day two.Alistair Cook also made his ninth Test century to share in a second wicket partnership of 213 with Bopara who was bowled for 108 by Lionel Baker.Cook finished Thursday unbeaten on 126."Runs are runs. It's a matter of how many you get not how you get them," the lefthander said."I have never batted the whole day before so I'm quite proud."It's been a battle for the last 12 months for me so it's just nice to score some runs."

Eurozone economy shrinks by 2.5 percent

The Eurozone economy contracted by a worse-than-expected 2.5 percent during the first quarter, its deepest slump on record since 1995. Dragged down by German output, Europe has blundered deeper into recession than the United States.The 16-nation eurozone contracted a record 2.5 percent in the first quarter as Europe lurched deeper into recession than the United states, an official EU estimate showed on Friday.The eurozone suffered its deepest slump on records going back to 1995 in the first quarter as the economy shrank 4.6 percent over one year, according to the Eurostat data agency in a first estimate.Even though the downturn first emerged across the Atlantic, the downturn in Europe proved to be even more dramatic than in the United States, where the economy shrank 1.6 percent over one quarter and 2.6 percent over one year.The eurozone slump was much worse than expected, with economists forecasting a contraction of 2.2 percent over one quarter and 4.1 percent over one year.It also marked a dramatic turn for the worse at the start of the year after the eurozone economy contracted 1.6 percent over one quarter in the final three months of 2008 and 4.4 percent over one year.The broader 27-nation European Union was not spared the pain of a deep downturn with its combined economy shrinking a record 2.5 percent and 4.4 percent over one year.Germany led the way deeper into recession as Europe's biggest economy shrank a stunning 3.8 percent and 6.9 percent over one year in a sharp deterioration.However, Italy was not far behind with its economy contracting 2.4 percent and 5.9 percent over one year while the French economy officially entered recession as it shrank 1.2 percent and 3.2 percent over one year.

'Thousands flee' Taliban-held town

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled from a Taliban-occupied town in northwest Pakistan's Swat valley after the country's military suspended its curfew, according to officials.People rushed out of Mingora on Friday after the government relaxed its restrictions around the city and advised civilians to leave."People are leaving in large numbers ... They are vacating their homes," Arsha Khan, a local administration official, said.Pakistan's military is pursuing its 20th day of operations against suspected Taliban bases in the districts of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP).At least 55 suspected Taliban fighters have been killed in the last 24 hours by government forces in the NWFP, a military statement released on Friday said.Three soldiers were killed in Taliban counterattacks over the same period, the statement said.

Sri Lanka 'takes last rebel patch'

Sri Lankan troops have captured the last patch of coastline held by the separatist Tamil Tigers, according to a senior military source.Two army divisions fighting along the coastline from the southern and northern ends of the conflict zone linked up on Saturday morning, the official said."The Tigers still have a few square kilometres of land, but not the use of the beach front," he said.Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, had vowed on Thursday to end a decades-old war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) within 48 hours.He also said civilians in the war zone would be quickly freed.

Vote count begins after key legislative elections

India began counting the hundreds of millions of votes cast in last week's legislative election, with no clear winner designated by exit polls. Results are expected on Saturday afternoon, local time.India starts counting the hundreds of millions of votes cast in its marathon election on Saturday, with all signs pointing to a hung parliament and a shaky coalition government.The world's largest electorate may have spoken but even once the ballots are tallied up it could be hard to decipher exactly what it said, with no clear winner expected to emerge."Nothing is settled yet, except the things that are," was the cryptic verdict of the Indian Express newspaper as the country awaited Saturday's result.Exit polls have given an edge to the alliance led by the ruling Congress party, with most predicting it will win anywhere between five and 20 more seats than the main opposition bloc headed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).One poll suggested the margin could be as high as 40 seats.But neither group is expected to get close to the 272 seats needed for a parliamentary majority, leaving the balance of power in the hands of a multitude of regional parties.The use of electronic voting machines means the counting should be completed by Saturday afternoon.Speculation as to the eventual make-up of the government has thrown up countless permutations but most analysts agree that the most likely outcome is a patchwork coalition that will struggle to see out a full term.Before Saturday's count -- in fact even before the final phase of voting on Wednesday -- the main parties were already jockeying for position, bolstering existing allies, lining up new ones and seeing what they could poach from their rivals.For some, the mad rush for coalition partners is not just unseemly but also risks betraying voter intentions, as parties ditch campaign promises in order to placate a potential ally.

Obama restarts Guantanamo trials

Barack Obama, the US president, has said military commissions for al-Qaeda suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp will be restarted.He said new legal safeguards would be introduced to the system, including a ban on evidence obtained using "cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogation methods"."These reforms will begin to restore the commissions as a legitimate forum for prosecution, while bringing them in line with the rule of law," Obama said in a statement released on Friday. Obama suspended the tribunals, which were set up by the administration of George Bush, his predecessor, soon after he took office in January and placed them under review.The move is likely to affect the five detainees charged with having played key roles in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been accused of planning the attacks.Obama said he would also place restrictions on the use of hearsay evidence, so that the "burden will no longer be on the party who objects to hearsay to disprove its reliability".

At least 60 killed in Hutu rebel attacks, says UN

The United Nations mission in DR Congo revealed that at least 60 people were killed last weekend in a "massacre" in the east of the country blamed on Rwandan Hutu rebels. At least 60 people were killed last weekend in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during attacks blamed on Rwandan Hutu rebels, the country's UN mission said Friday, almost doubling its last toll.In a statement, MONUC spoke of a "massacre" during a "murderous raid" by rebels "against the civilian population" in Busurungi, a Nord-Kivu village located near Sud-Kivu province."A special helicopter mission... arrived at the scene (Thursday) and has now established a situation of total desolation."The area is completely deserted and has been destroyed by flames," it added.The killings took place in an attack on May 9 and 10.According to a UN military source contacted by AFP, the locals were "killed by bullet or with machetes."The midweek tally given by the UN mission known as MONUC was 35, with another two dozen now reported injured in the bloody rampage after inspectors descended on the town.Three women and a child are classed as seriously wounded "massacre survivors" and have been taken for specialist hospital treatment, the mission added."Several local sources and witnesses have pointed the finger at the FDLR (the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) which has attacked several villages over the past few weeks," MONUC said Wednesday.