|
KABUL: Eleven suspected militants have been detained from
eastern Afghan province of Khost during an Afghan and Coalition
forces joint operation, according to a Coalition statement issued
here early Friday morning. Afghan National Security Force and the
U.S.-led Coalition forces on March 12 searched compounds in Tanai
district “targeting militants linked to foreign fighters,
improvised explosive device and weapons facilitation operations,”
and detained 11 individuals, it said.
-- Xinhua
CANBERRA: Firefighters throughout Victoria state
of Australia are on high alert for a danger period next week as
temperatures reached 40 degrees and a total fire ban was declared
across Victoria on Friday. The state has managed to go through the
summer without a major fire, but the soaring temperatures have put
firefighters on high alert. Country Fire Authority spokesman Anthony
Spargo said that the fire risk was accentuated with people taking
advantage of the holidays during the Easter period, and called on
holidaymakers to be vigilant because human error could trigger a
major blaze.
-- Xinhua
MAKUHARI, Japan: The world’s top 20 polluters
gathered here Friday for a meeting in hopes of setting a positive
tone for negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Former
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who launched the so-called Group
of 20 (G20) initiative on global warming in 2005, is due to address
the two-day conference when it gets underway in suburban Tokyo on
Saturday. Japan wants the talks to focus in part on ways to share
with emerging economies technology to improve energy efficiency.
-- AFP
BRUSSELS: European Union (EU) leaders wrapped up
the first day of a summit here Thursday with a plan to reform the
economy while divided on the burden of sharing cutting greenhouse
gas emissions. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country
holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters after the meeting,
which dragged on until midnight that “we all agreed the Lisbon
Strategy is functioning well. Because of the Lisbon Strategy, the EU
has solid economic foundations.”
-- Xinhua
WASHINGTON: Two astronauts returned to the
International Space Station Friday after completing a seven-hour
space walk that saw a Japanese element added to the station, NASA
said. During the mission, the space walkers and their colleagues
inside the ISS moved an initial component of Japan’s Kibo
laboratory from the shuttle’s cargo bay and lifted it atop the ISS
with the space shuttle’s robotic arm.
-- AFP
NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Friday
shelved an arrest warrant issued against Hollywood heartthrob
Richard Gere for showering kisses on Hollywood actress Shilpa Shetty.
Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan “stayed” the warrant issued by a
court in Jaipur, capital of the northwestern state of Rajasthan,
saying it was “publicity hunting”.
-- AFP
|
