Two policemen killed in northwest Pakistan
Islamabad: At least two policemen were killed when gunmen ambushed a security check-point in Pakistan’s northwestern city of
Peshawar, police said. Four gunmen on two motor-bikes targeted the checkpoint on Ring Road in Pishtakhara area of Peshawar, capital of restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, when they were busy checking vehicles, Haroon Khan from the city’s police control office said.
39 die, 13 missing in China’s rainstorms
Beijing: At least 39 people were killed and 13 others missing after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides in China, the Government said on Monday. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said 18 people were dead and four missing in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, while nine others lost their lives and another four remain missing in eastern Anhui Province. One person died in central Hubei Province after heavy rains led to flooding and landslides.
Pak to free 11 Indian ‘civil’ prisoners this month
Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday said it will release 11 Indian civil prisoners by the middle of this month as the two countries exchanged lists of prisoners lodged in each other’s jails. The list was exchanged as per the Consular Agreement signed between the two countries in 2008.
Consistent with the provisions of this Agreement, the Foreign Office handed over to the Indian High Commission, a list of 491 Indians lodged in Pakistani jails, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Aus restaurant in trouble over unpaid Indian chef
Melbourne: An Australian restaurant, which allegedly did not pay an Indian chef for four months and fired him via SMS for calling in sick, is under the scanner of the country’s workplace watchdog. The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched legal action against The Curry Tree restaurant in Nedlands, Perth. It alleges that the chef, who remains unidentified, was paid USD 200 in May 2012 for a few days when he first joined, the West Australian newspaper reported.
Rudd names record number of women in his cabinet
Melbourne: Australia’s new cabinet was sworn in on Monday with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd naming a record number of six women, days after he dramatically ousted the country’s first woman premier Julia Gillard. Governor-General Quentin Bryce swore in the ministers this afternoon before a first cabinet meeting in Canberra. The 55-year-old Prime Minister named 11 women ministers out of the 30 all up on the frontbench - and six in cabinet.
Indian man helps hapless inmates in UAE jails
Dubai: Moved by their plight, an Indian businessman in the UAE has helped 3,700 prisoners from several nations who had served their sentences but remained in jails in the country for lack of money, by paying off their debts and buying them air tickets. Firoz G Merchant, owner of a jewellery company, has already secured the release of about 3,700 prisoners since 2011, including 500 this year — spending an Rs6 cr.
Obama, Bush to meet in Tanzania today
Dar es Salaam (Tanzania): President Barack Obama says his appearance on Tuesday in Africa with former President George W Bush will give him a chance to thank Bush for one of the "crowning achievements" of the Republican's administration, a US-funded programme to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS on the continent.
Dewani ‘wishes' to fight charges in S Africa
london: Indian-origin businessman Shrien Dewani, accused of arranging the murder of his wife while on honeymoon in South Africa, has expressed a wish to return to the country to fight the charges, a court here heard on Monday. The 33-year-old is accused of orchestrating the death of his 28-year-old Indo-Swedish wife, Anni, who was shot as the couple travelled in a taxi in Cape Town back in November 2010.