‘Qaeda attack on Iraq ministry killed 30’
Baghdad: A brazen attack on the Iraqi Justice Ministry claimed by Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate killed 30 people and wounded 50, State TV quoted justice minister Hassan al-Shammari as saying on Monday.
Security and medical officials had previously put the toll from the March 14 violence at 18 killed and 30 wounded. The attack involved a series of mid-day bombings in central Baghdad’s Allawi neighbourhood, adjacent to the heavily-fortified Green Zone, which is home to key Government facilities and the American and British embassies.
Cuba declares holiday on Good Friday
Havana: Cuba's communist Government on Monday declared a holiday on Good Friday without mentioning the day's religious significance to Christians. last year it observed a holiday on Good Friday, which commemorates Jesus's crucifixion, as an "exceptional" gesture following a request by Pope Benedict XVI, who had just visited the island.
H1N1 now resistant to current medicine Tamiflu
Melbourne: Swine flu virus may be now resistant to key medicine Tamiflu, raising fears a new outbreak may be difficult to fight, Australian research has warned. While just 2 per cent of swine flu (H1N1) strains around the world are resistant to Tamiflu, the Australian research found mutations in all strains of the swine flu that suggest they might be prone to develop resistance. Researchers found that one in five cases of swine flu in one area of Australia in 2011 were resistant to the antiviral medicine.
paedophilia remarks: S African cardinal aplogises
Johannesburg: A South African cardinal apologised to sex abuse victims on Monday for describing paedophilia as an illness and not a crime in an interview. “I apologise to victims of child abuse offended by my misstatement of what was and still is my concern about all abused, including abused abuser,” Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, the Archbishop of Durban, said on Twitter after his interview Saturday to the BBC.
Militants storm judicial complex, 17 injured
Islamabad: A group of militants stormed a judicial complex in the restive Peshawar city of northwest Pakistan on Monday, injuring at least 17 people, including four policemen, officials and witnesses said.
‘Zardari not to undertake political activities’
lahore: A court on Monday asked President Asif Ali Zardari not to take part in political activities till the next hearing on March 29 of a petition challenging his holding of the post of head of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
1.7 lakh Indian pilgrims for Haj this year
Dubai: Saudi Arabia has allotted a quota of 1.7 lakh pilgrims from India for Haj this year, even as New Delhi made a formal request for an additional 10,000 slots. According to the Indian Consulate in Jeddah, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed called on Saudi Minister of Hajj Bandar Bin Mohammed Al Hajjar yesterday to discuss the arrangements for this year’s Hajj and to sign the Annual Bilateral Hajj Agreement.
Experts meet in Istanbul over Iran’s n-programme
Istanbul: Iranian and foreign nuclear experts gathered in Istanbul on Monday to discuss Tehran’s controversial atomic programme, a European Union spokeswoman said. “The meeting is taking place at the expert-level as planned,” said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is leading talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.
Syrian rebel official backs interim Government
Istanbul: The leader of the main Syrian rebel force on Monday threw his weight behind the formation of an interim Government to administer rebel-held areas as heavy fighting broke out in the Syrian capital and several suburbs. At least three mortar shells struck central Damascus, the seat of President Bashar Assad's power. The pro-government's Al-Ikhbariya TV said one of the shells fell in Muhajireen district near Tishreen Palace, one of three palaces that Assad uses in the capital.