• Firefighters Control over Wildfire In Athens Inferno
    ATHENS: Firefighters claimed victory on Tuesday over a devastating, wind-swept wildfire that ravaged the outskirts of Athens over four days, enabling them to redeploy waterbombers to other blazes in Greece.
    “The situation has greatly improved, we currently have no active fronts in greater Athens,” a fire department spokeswoman said. “Firefighting forces remain on location to watch out for possible areas of resurgence.”
    Waterbombers were diverted to Mount Kithaironas, west of Athens, and to Karystos on the island of Evia to tackle fires in both places that did not, however, pose a threat to inhabited areas.
    More than 500 firefighters — joined by counterparts from Austria, Cyprus, France, Italy and Turkey — battled the wildfire northeast of Athens that scorched more than 20,000 hectares and destroyed scores of homes.
    The public works ministry said around 150 homes had been “damaged,” according to a first estimate, but it was widely agreed that scores of properties were completely destroyed.
    The late summer inferno came exactly two years after similar wildfires killed 77 people in various parts of Greece, prompting strong criticism of the authorities.

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  • Ramadan Ceasefire Call Rejected By Somali Insurgents
    MOGADISHU: Somali insurgents on Sunday rejected a government call for a ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and accused the president of trying to use religion as a cover for re-arming his troops.
    President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel, had called for an end to fighting during Ramadan to allow people to pray.
    “We will not accept that ceasefire call. This holy month will be a triumphant time for mujahideen and we will fight the enemy,” Hizbul Islam leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys told a news conference.
    Ahmed’s United Nations-backed government is seen by many analysts as the country’s best hope for a return to stability after 18 years of conflict, but it holds just small pockets of the capital and parts of the south.
    Insurgents including the Al Shabaab group, which Washington says is al Qaeda’s proxy in Somalia, have controlled most of the south for months.
    A regional commander for al Shabaab questioned the government’s call for a ceasefire and vowed to escalate attacks.
    “We will redouble the war against infidels. His call does not mean he has respect for Ramadan, but it is designed to re-arm his pro-Western militia,” said Bare Adan Khoje, Shabaab commander for the South Western Gedo region.
    At least 11 people were killed and 22 others wounded on the first day of Ramadan when the insurgents attacked government positions in the capital, the state defence minister said.
    “They attacked our positions on Saturday evening and we gave them a lesson. Their bodies are lying on the streets,” Yusuf Mohamed told Reuters.
    Ali Nuur, a Mogadishu school teacher said he had been trapped in a mosque by the fighting.
    “Seven of the bodies were lying on the streets when I got out of the mosque,” he said.
    More than 100 people died last week in different parts of the country as pro-government militias and insurgents engaged in various battles.
    Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Sunday that the European Union (EU) should appoint a special envoy for Somalia.
    “The EU must not only speak with a single voice… but should study the appointment of a special envoy,” Frattini said speaking in the Italian seaside resort of Rimini.

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  • Marriott Resorts Hawaii Starts
    HONOLULU: It’s not too late to visit Hawaii in 2009! Marriott Resorts Hawaii and its partners, Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, Hawaiian Airlines, and Hertz, are making it easy by giving away free trips to the Hawaiian Islands with the “Tweet Yourself to Hawaii” sweepstakes. Designed to promote the islands through social media networks, this innovative and creative viral campaign coincides with Hawaii’s 50th anniversary of statehood.
    Starting today, US social media enthusiasts have two ways to win free trips to Hawaii aboard Hawaiian Airlines with stays at Marriott hotels in Hawaii:
    - 25 all-expense paid trips for two to a designated Marriott resort on Kauai, Oahu, Maui, or Hawaii’s Big Island by simply submitting a Twitter handle, Facebook connection, or email address
    - A Hawaii “tweetup” (meet-up for Twitterers) for one winner and 11 of his/her friends or family members by submitting a video describing why he/she loves Hawaii

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  • Siberia Power Plant Accident, PM Putin Visits
    MOSCOW: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the site of the Siberia power plant accident on Friday, as the confirmed death toll rose to 26, and 49 people remained missing and feared dead.
    Several bodies were discovered overnight in the destroyed turbine room of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in southern Siberia, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said.
    More than 1,000 rescue workers were searching the huge plant for the missing, although there is little hope anyone could still be alive after four days in near-freezing waters.
    A powerful explosion Monday blew out walls and caused the turbine room to flood. The cause of the accident is unclear but officials cited a faulty turbine and a rise of pressure in the pipes as possible triggers.
    The Sayano-Shushenskaya is Russia’s largest power plant and supplies about 10 percent of Siberia’s energy needs. The plant has been shut down since the accident and could be out of service for a significant time. Repairs are estimated to take from two to four years.
    Putin said Thursday that the accident highlighted the need for upgrading critical parts of Russia’s aging infrastructure. He also emphasized the necessity of observing industrial safety standards. “In our country … discipline in dealing with technology is very low,” he said.

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  • Condolence Delegation Of NKorea Reaches In Seoul
    SEOUL: A high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Seoul on Friday to pay respects to late former President Kim Dae-jung, a rare visit that raised hopes of improved relations between the tense neighbors.
    A plane carrying the six-member delegation landed Friday afternoon, Gimpo airport official Park Hyun-il told newsmen. He did not provide further details.
    The convoy is to head straight for the National Assembly, where Kim’s body will lie in state until his funeral Sunday. Kim, 85, died Tuesday.
    South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the delegation is headed by senior Workers’ Party official Kim Ki Nam and includes the country’s spy chief, Kim Yang Gon.
    It was not immediately clear whether the North Koreans would hold talks with South Korean officials before returning home Saturday.
    Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters no other itinerary for the North Koreans had been set.
    However, the trip — the first by North Korean officials to the South in nearly two years — could provide a valuable opportunity for contact between officials from the two Koreas, which technically remain at war.
    Ties have been tense since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative, took office last year, abandoning the previous administration’s “Sunshine Policy” of reaching out to the communist North with aid.
    Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and champion of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, was the architect of the Sunshine Policy.
    After holding a historic summit in 2000 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, South Korea’s Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts at engaging the North after decades of inter-Korean tensions.
    Kim Jong Il sent a condolence message to Kim’s family on Wednesday. North Korean media announced the next day that he approved sending a delegation to Seoul to visit the mourning site.
    North Korea has only dispatched a condolence delegation only once before — a one-day trip in 2001 during the mourning period for Chung Ju-yung, the founder of South Korea’s Hyundai Group, which funded the first inter-Korean joint projects.

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  • Ramadan 2009 Calendar Checkout Ramadan2009 Calendar and Islamic Society of North America 2009 Here.When is Ramadan in 2009?
    On the 29th of Shabaan ( ie 8th month of the Islamic calendar. Shabaan is the month that comes before Ramadan) Muslims will start looking in the sky for the New moon. If a Muslim sees the New moon at Maghrib time or after Maghrib he will inform others and the start of Ramadan will be announced and the special Taraweeh prayers will be prayed after the Isha prayer of that night. When dawn comes the Muslims who are required to fast will observe abstinence from food, drink and sex until the sun sets.
    RAMADAN 2009 SPECIAL
    Ramadan 2009 will be start most likely on either 21 or 22nd August 2009.Exact date will be known after 11.50 pm (UK time) on 20th August 2009.
    The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is a Muslim umbrella group that describes itself as the largest Muslim organization in North America.
    The vision of ISNA is “to be an exemplary and unifying Islamic organization in North America that contributes to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large.” ISNA is an association of Muslim organizations and individuals that provides a common platform for presenting Islam, supporting Muslim communities, developing educational, social and outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities, and civic and service organizations. ISNA’s annual convention is generally the largest gathering of American Muslims in the United States.Islamic Horizons is the bi-monthly publication of ISNA.
    A speaker at the 2009 national convention, Warith Deen Umar, a New York imam, asserted that the Holocaust happened to the Jews “because they were serially disobedient to Allah.” He went on to allege that a group of Jews close to President Barack Obama “control the world.” ISNA immediately condemned the tenor of the comments.

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  • Relationship Challenging Between China and Australia
    CANBERRA: Australia’s relations with China, troubled by disputes involving mining and an ethnic Uighur activist, are challenging but worthwhile because of common interests, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday.
    “We share enormous common interests with our friends in China but we have continuous differences,” Rudd said. “They are differences of values and, from time to time, differences of interests.”
    He said a calm, measured approach would help negotiate future bumps in the road.
    The opposition Liberal party accuses Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat to Beijing, of ruining Australia’s ties with China.
    “It is time for the prime minister to act to restore the relationship that he has so seriously damaged with China,” deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop told reporters. “China is one of our most important trading partners and this deteriorating relationship will affect our national interest.”
    China recently canceled a senior minister’s trip to Australia in anger over Canberra’s granting of a visa to an exiled Uighur Muslim activist, Rebiya Kadeer. Beijing’s displeasure over her trip came as Canberra voiced concern at China’s arrest of an executive of mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. on charges of commercial espionage.
    Rudd is expected to meet in coming days with Australia’s ambassador to China, who returned to Canberra this week on a regular visit, and is certain to discuss the recent rifts.
    “China has significant interests in Australia” in terms of resources, while Australia is aware of China’s role in the Asia-Pacific region, Rudd told reporters.
    “Therefore we approach this relationship mindful of our interests in China, mindful of China’s interests in Australia,” he said.
    “This is obviously a good time to take stock of the relationship and how we move forward,” Rudd said.

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  • Space Rocket Launch Suspended By South Korea
    SEOUL: South Korea’s rocket launch was suspended 7 minutes and 56 seconds before its scheduled time, local media reported Wednesday.South Korea Space Rocket Launch SuspendedThe Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said mission controllers decided to suspend the launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), which was scheduled at local time 05:00 p.m. (0800 GMT).
    “There was a problem in the automatic launch sequence that caused the launch to be called off,” said KARI head Lee Joo-jin, without clarifying the exact reason of the stoppage.
    He did not further go into details to identify whether the launch was a success or a failure.
    He said that no launch will take place within the day and that a new date will be set after consultation with experts from Russia, which made the first stage rocket.

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  • Bangalore News Updates Bangalore News, With foreign recruits who also qualify for other teams not coming cheap, Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore are in a dilemma whether to let them go or shell out the USD 200,000 to retain them for the Champions League Twenty20.
    Of the nine cricketers who qualify for two teams, the Daredevils alone have four in their ranks and their Chief Operating Officer Amrit Mathur said the team management would go into a huddle soon before announcing their 20-player squad.
    “We are aware of the rule and it has not come as a surprise to us,” Mathur told PTI.
    “Now it’s for us to decide on the 20-member team. We still have some time as we have to submit the list by August 24 and we would consult everyone — obviously including the coach and captain — before finalising the 20 names,” he said. If you need more updates about visit at Bangalore News.

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  • World Photography Day World Photography Day, Photographic and Allied Trades Welfare Association (PATWA), Guntur district, will hold the World Photography Day celebrations at Sri Vavilala Organisation, 12/3 Arundelpet, on Wednesday and would conduct a slew of programmes to mark the day. District Collector B. Ramajaneyulu will be the chief guest. Organisation committee members, PATWA coordinator K. Krishna, president R. Raghava Rao told mediapersons on Monday that a detailed database of blood groups of photographers would be released. He said that 50 photographers had consented to donate their blood in need by signing on the declaration forms. The database would consist of their contact details, blood groups and telephone number. Notebooks would be distributed to needy children and fruits to ailing persons in various hospitals.
    The association had also decided to felicitate two photographers, from print and electronic media. Umamaheswara Rao from Andhra Jyothi and Narayana from Siti Cable would be the recipients this year, he said.
    Former president of Bar Association Ch. Ravindra Babu would talk on basic laws in photography, and other guests would speak on body language.

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  • Kuwait Fire Tragedy, Ex-Wife Confess Herself
    KUWAIT CITY: The disgruntled former wife of a Kuwaiti bridegroom has reportedly confessed to starting the fire which charred at least 43 women and children at a wedding tent.
    The woman, who is the ex-wife of the bridegroom, was arrested after some maids claimed that they saw her setting the tent on fire with some kerosene-soaked rags, Kuwaiti News channel reported on Monday.
    The 23-year-old suspect was reportedly taking revenge on her former husband for the ill-treatment he melted out to her during their marriage.
    Meanwhile, the bride escaped unhurt but her mother and sister were killed in the devastating blaze which also claimed the lives of 43 women and three children in just three minutes while injuring 90 others, the newspaper said.
    The fire broke out on Saturday in a tent reserved for women at a wedding ceremony in Jahra north of Kuwait City.

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  • First Space Rocket Launched By South Korea
    First Space Rocket Launched By South Korea, Final preparations have begun for the launch of South Korea’s first space rocket, scheduled to blast off later this week after a series of delays.
    Barring last minute technical problems or unfavourable weather, the KSLV-1 rocket is expected to launch on Wednesday from the purpose-built Naro space centre on an island off the country’s south coast.
    On Monday the 33-metre tall rocket, built with assistance from Russia, was transported from the assembly building to the launch-pad where it will undergo final tests and fuelling.
    The rocket is carrying an experimental South Korean satellite along with the expectations of South Korean scientists who hope the launch will propel the country into an elite club of space-faring nations.
    Government officials hope the project, which has cost hundreds of millions of dollars, will give a boost to the country’s high-tech sector.
    But the planned launch has also been criticised by neighbouring North Korea, which says it was unfairly punished for a similar launch earlier this year and is a victim of double standards.
    Commenting on the planned South Korean launch, the North said last week that it would be watching closely to see whether the international community would also refer the South to the United Nations Security Council.Their reaction and attitude towards South Korea’s satellite launch will one again clearly prove whether the principle of equality exists or has collapsed. a statement on the North’s official news agency said.According to North Korean state media its April launch of a three-stage rocket successfully placed an experimental communications satellite into orbit.
    The US and it allies however say no satellite was detected in orbit, and that the launch was cover for a test of the North’s long-range missile technology.
    In response to the launch, the security council tightened international sanctions against North Korea, prompting Pyongyang to announce it was pulling out of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.
    A month later North Korea conducted its second nuclear test.
    South Korean space officials insist their own planned rocket launch cannot be compared to the North’s rocket and poses no security threat.
    We can’t put the North’s rocket launch on a parallel with ours,” Park Jeong-joo, director of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, told reporters last month.
    South Korea’s rocket, he said, was “purely for scientific and peaceful purposes.

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  • Three More Swine Flu Deaths Confirmed By Saudi Govt
    ISLAMABAD: An 11-year-old Saudi girl has become one of the latest victim of swine flu after health officials announced a further three deaths in the kingdom.
    A total number of 14 people have died from the H1N1 virus in Saudi Arabia to date, the Ministry of Health confirmed, a private news channel reported.
    The child was diagnosed with swine flu and died, meanwhile on the same day a 28-year-old Saudi woman also died from the virus.

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  • Italy’s States Lottery Reached A Record Jackpot
    ROME: Italy’s state lottery reached a record jackpot of 115.9 million Euros ($167 million) this week, prompting locals to race out and buy tickets before Tuesday’s draw.
    No one has bet on the successful six-number combination of the SuperEnalotte draw since January, meaning the jackpot has steadily risen to reach the current mark.
    The lottery, which is held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, rose from a jackpot of 107 million Euros one week ago to the current mark of 115.9 million Euros.
    Of course, the jackpot won’t necessarily go to one person, as it will be split if more than one players bets on the correct numbers.
    Italy’s largest single lottery prize up until now was the 100.7 million Euros won in the Sicilian city of Catania in October 2008.

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  • US Senator Jim Webb Will Meet Myanmar Leader
    BANGKOK: Democratic Senator Jim Webb is due to meet Myanmar supremo Than Shwe later this week in the first-ever encounter between a senior US official and the junta strongman, Webb’s office said on Thursday.
    The visit by Webb, who is close to US President Barack Obama, comes after the junta was widely condemned for extending democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest for another 18 months.
    “Later this week, US Senator Jim Webb is scheduled to meet with leaders at the highest levels of the national government in Burma (Myanmar), including Senior General Than Shwe,” a statement from Webb’s office said. “If the Shwe meeting takes place it will be the first time that a senior American official has ever met with Burma’s top leader,” it said, noting also that no member of Congress has visited Myanmar in over a decade.
    One of the most high profile visits by a US official in recent years was that of William Berger, head of a US disaster assistance team, who delivered a planeload of aid to Yangon after Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
    Webb, who arrived in Laos Thursday to kick off a two-week tour of Southeast Asia, is scheduled to visit Myanmar this weekend.
    “It is vitally important that the United States re-engage with Southeast Asia at all levels,” Webb said in another statement announcing his arrival in the Lao capital Vientiane, where he was due to hold a press briefing Thursday.
    Also convicted along with Suu Kyi was US citizen John Yettaw, who triggered her latest trial with a bizarre incident in May when he swam to her lakeside house in Yangon.
    The 54-year-old US military veteran, who is epileptic and diabetic, was sentenced to seven years of hard labour and imprisonment. Obama demanded Yettaw’s immediate release, along with Suu Kyi’s and that of thousands of political prisoners held in Myanmar’s notorious jails ahead of elections scheduled for next year.
    Webb — a hard-nosed Vietnam War veteran who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific affairs — was also to visit Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia over his two-week tour.
    The senator, a former Republican defence official who has authored military works, was seen as a potential vice presidential pick for Obama during last year’s US election campaign but was quick to rule himself out of the running.
    Myanmar researcher David Mathieson of Human Rights Watch said it was “significant” that Than Shwe had agreed to meet Webb, given the military ruler’s “distrust and xenophobia”.
    “I think Than Shwe will probably appreciate Webb’s military background and his seniority,” he told AFP, but he warned “obviously Than Shwe will try and turn it to his advantage”.
    Than Shwe, who assumed power in 1992, has long been considered a bete noire to the US, which along with the EU has imposed sanctions against the regime.
    Mathieson said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Webb tried to secure Yettaw’s release from Myanmar, but noted the senator’s visit was “just good timing” in this respect, because he had been trying to visit the country for a few months.
    Yettaw’s lawyer Khin Maung Oo said Wednesday that they would appeal against his sentence and if necessary urge Than Shwe to deport him.

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