- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Andy-m

Burmese Junta Takes on rebels, puts rebel stronghold on alert

Andy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:56:30 +0000

Conquering armies of centuries past avoided this remote, mountainous area along the present-day border with China, a place once described by a British colonial official as “an unpenetrated enclave of savage...

Just kill him, desperate father told his son’s kidnappers

Andy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:41:08 +0000

By the third day of negotiating with his son’s kidnappers, Rasul Amoore had sold his car, withdrawn his bank savings and borrowed money from his siblings and friends to raise funds for the six-year-old’s release.

Even then he was able to gather only $8,000 (£5,000) of the $50,000 demanded by Ahmed’s captors. The kidnappers eventually dropped their ransom to $20,000 — still more than twice the amount at the disposal of Mr Amoore — after the confectionery shop owner in east Baghdad pleaded that their information about his supposed wealth was untrue

Israel warns of threats to India

Andy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:45:39 +0000

Israel is warning that Islamist militants are preparing attacks in India similar to those in Mumbai last year, media and officials have said.

Israel’s counterterrorism unit said the group that launched the Mumbai attacks was planning to target Western or Israeli tourists, AFP news agency said.

Israeli television also reported that a travel advisory would warn Israelis against travelling to India.

India has blamed Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the Mumbai attacks.

“The terrorist group that carried out the serious Mumbai attack in India is planning to carry out a number of attacks across India, particularly against concentrations of Western or Israeli tourists,” AFP quoted the counterterrorism unit as saying.

Sri Lankan Fishermen Reap Benefits of War's End

Andy — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:31:29 +0000

It was just after dawn and the fish market beneath this port city’s clock tower was humming. Fishermen shouldering baskets laden with the night’s catch tipped their Spanish mackerel, tuna and prawns onto the slick concrete floor for buyers. Sweaty men with clipboards and wads of cash leaned in close to inspect with crinkled noses, squinting eyes and prodding fingers.

Homosexuality, medicine and psychiatry

Andy — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:23:36 +0000

There are many theories on the origins of homosexuality, its social and personal meanings and its implications. The American Psychiatric Association in 1973, and the World Health Organisation in 1992, officially accepted it as a normal variant of human sexuality. Many countries have decriminalised homosexual behaviour and some have recognised same-sex civil unions and marriage.

Indian politician jailed for saying Dalit Queen ought to be raped

Andy — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:22:20 +0000

A leading member of India’s ruling Congress party was arrested and her house set on fire after she suggested a rival politician – Mayawati, the so-called Dalit Queen – ought to be raped so that she better understood the trauma faced by victims of sexual assault.

In a dramatic series of events that highlight the tense political rivalry in India’s most populous state, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Congress’s leader in Uttar Pradesh state, was placed in custody for 14 days after she made a speech in which she criticised chief minister Mayawati’s policy towards rape victims. Her house in the state capital, Lucknow, was set ablaze, apparently by members of Mayawati’s own party.

Bloggers ordered to drop cloak of secrecy

Andy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:12:49 +0000

What an irony that in a week when Iranian protesters were being hailed (not least by the British media) for harnessing the power of Internet through anonymous blogs and “tweets” bloggers in Britain were stripped of their right to anonymity after a shock court verdict.

In a judgment that, many believe, strikes at the heart of free speech and sets a dangerous precedent, the High Court ruled that bloggers could not expect to operate behind a cloak of secrecy because blogging was not a “private activity.”

Bloggers are furious and some have gone as far as to liken the ruling to a form of covert censorship arguing that it would “kill off” independent voices and take the fun out of blogging as people would be careful about what they write.

The bid to corner worlds bluefin tuna market

Andy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:14:48 +0000

Japan’s sprawling Mitsubishi conglomerate has cornered a 40 per cent share of the world market in bluefin tuna, one of the world’s most endangered fish.

A corporation within the £170bn Mitsubishi empire is importing thousands of tonnes of the fish from Europe into Tokyo’s premium fish markets, despite stocks plummeting towards extinction in the Mediterranean.

Meira nominated for post of LS Speaker

Andy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:41:20 +0000

Five-term Lok Sabha MP Meira Kumar on Tuesday became the consensus candidate of the ruling UPA and the Opposition BJP for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker
.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee led a UPA delegation to submit Kumar’s nomination papers to Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary for the election to the Speaker’s post scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

Sixty four-year-old Kumar, who will be the first woman to head the Lok Sabha, is expected to be elected unopposed as Mukherjee submitted 13 sets of nomination papers which included a set signed by Leader of the Opposition L K Advani and seconded by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj.

“We have filed 13 sets of nomination papers. The first set was signed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and I have seconded it,” Mukherjee told reporters at Parliament House.

Villagers torch rail coaches

Andy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:09:28 +0000

Angry villagers on Monday torched six rail bogies and a station near here, protesting against the cancellation of halts for a train. Thousands of villagers, perturbed at the withdrawal of halts for the Rajgir-New Delhi Shramjivi Express at Khusrupur, ransacked and torched the station and six bogies of two trains, and uprooted the track under the Danapur division, about 32 km. from here.

They stormed the station building, situated on the Patna-Rajgir section of the East Central Railway as soon as it was announced over the public address system that the halt for the Shramjivi Express was withdrawn, ECR chief public relations officer A.K. Chandra said.