Officials: 5 Taliban killed in NATO airstrike
Kabul: Officials say NATO-led coalition forces attacked a group of Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least five militants. Coalition spokesman Capt luca Carniel said today that NATO forces hadcarried out a “precision strike” in Paktia province the night before, killing five militants. He gave no further information, but Paktia provincial police chief General Zelmia Oryakhail says the airstrike targeted a group of Taliban moving down a road in a car and on three motorcycles. Oryakhail says his reports indicate 12 Taliban were killed, including a sought-after regional leader. He says there were no civilian casualties.
India to construct library for Nepal Academy
Kathmandu: India will construct a three-storey library for the Nepal Academy as a tribute to poet Bhanubhakta Acharya, who for the first time translated the epic Ramayana into Nepali language.
The announcement was made by the Indian Ambassador Jayanta Prasad while speaking at a function at the Indian library here to mark the 200th anniversary of the great poet Bhanubhakta Acharya.
Over 200 wounded in South Sudan clashes: UN
Juba: At least 200 people have been wounded in a week of bitter fighting in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country said today. “Some 200 casualties have arrived in Manyabol”, a remote village in the troubled eastern state of Jonglei, where militia gunmen from rival ethnic groups have been battling, UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan Tony lanzer said in a statement.
Asiana to sue over bogus pilot names gaffe
Seoul: Asiana today said it was planning lawsuits against US transport authorities and a TV station for mistakenly confirming and airing false and offencive names for the pilots behind its fatal crash in San Francisco. Fox network affiliate KTVU news Channel 2 in Oakland identified the pilots of the Asiana Boeing 777 that crashed last weekend as “Sum Ting Wong,” “Wi Tu lo,” “Ho lee Fuk,” and “Bang Ding Ow.” KTVU cited the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as its source, but quickly realised the mistake and apologised.
PPP leader may help UK probe against MQM chief
Karachi: A sudden visit to london by senior Pakistan People’s Party leader Zulfiqar Mirza has triggered speculation that he plans to help British police in probe against MQM chief Altaf Hussain, accused of involvement in money laundering. Sources in Mirza’s family were quoted on the website of the Dawn newspaper as saying that he would meet Scotland Yard officials in the next few days. Mirza, who has settled with his family in Dubai, flew to london after he was contacted by British officials, the report said. British police are investigating allegations that Hussain was involved in money laundering and inciting violence in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. Mirza, who was once close to President Asif Ali Zardari, has served as Home Minister of Sindh province.
pen vibrates when you make spelling error
Washington: German inventors have developed a new hi-tech pen that gently vibrates every time it senses a spelling mistake or sloppy handwriting. lernstift is a regular pen with real ink, but inside is a special motion sensor and a small battery-powered linux computer with a WiFi chip. Together those parts allow the pen to recognise specific movements, letter shapes and know a wide assortment of words. If it senses bad letter formation or messy handwriting, it will vibrate, ‘ABC News’ reported. Users can choose between two functions: Calligraphy Mode - pointing out flaws of form and legibility or Orthography Mode - recognising words and comparing the word to a language database.
France says 2 scribes held in Syria are alive
Paris: France says that two French journalists who were kidnapped in Syria last month are alive, but that one of six French hostages in Mali is likely dead as the al-Qaida-linked captors have said. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves le Drian told Europe 1 radio today that Didier Francois and Edouard Elias, the two journalists who disappeared in June in Syria, are alive. President Francois Hollande said later on French TV that "we're doing everything to find where they are, to know exactly the intentions of their captors."
However, Hollande said that Philippe Verdon who was kidnapped in 2011 in Mali, the African country where France led a military intervention against extremists apparently is dead. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb's media arm said in April that Verdon was dead.