W O R L D
US evacuates its citizens from Yemen
Washington, August 6
The US today began evacuating its nationals from Yemen amid a worldwide alert linked to electronic intercepts from Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, ordering one of the most serious attacks since 9/11.
An image grab shows people heading to the Sanaa International Airport on Tuesday. — AFP
Syrian rebels capture northern air base
Beirut, August 6
Syrian rebels captured a major air base in the north of the country today after months of fighting, depriving President Bashar al-Assad's forces of one of their main posts near the border with Turkey, activists said.
US closes 19 missions till August 10
Death of 7-yr-old: Tale of apathy for traffic norms
Night sanitation launched in city
Rumours of robbers' gang claim youth's life
Airport hopes to bring down losses
MC gears up for another auction
Prisoners clash in Central Jail, 1 hurt
Man shot dead, 2 injured
MC plot auction runs into rough weather
Prayers for Hiroshima victims
Japan marked the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a somber ceremony to honour the dead and pledges to seek to eliminate nuclear weapons
Over 50,000 people observed a moment of silence at 8.15 am local time, the time of the detonation which turned the city into a nuclear inferno in 1945
A father and his son pray for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in front of the cenotaph at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on Tuesday. — AFP
S Korea approves $6 million aid for North
Seoul, August 6
South Korea has approved $6 million in government aid for vaccines, medical care and food for North Korean children. Seoul says it's the first such humanitarian aid set aside for Pyongyang since President Park Geun-hye took office in February.
Musharraf's indictment put off till Aug 20
Islamabad, August 6
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court today put off Pervez Musharraf's indictment in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case till August 20 after the former dictator failed to appear before the judge for "security reasons".
Python strangles 2 brothers to death in Canada
Toronto, August 6
Two young brothers, aged 5 and 7, were strangled to death in their sleep by a 45-kg python that escaped from a pet store in Canada.
Iran's Rouhani ready for nuclear talks
Tehran, August 6
President Hassan Rouhani said today that Iran was ready for "serious" talks on its nuclear programme without delay and that the US calls for tougher sanctions showed a lack of understanding.
US gurdwara attack victims remembered
Around 1,000 persons from different faiths paid homage to the six Sikh worshippers who were gunned down inside a gurdwara at Wisconsin by a white man last year
The people paid their respects to the victims at a candlelight vigil held next to the parking lot where two of the six victims had died. They called for an end to gun violence
Mourners attend a candlelight vigil on the first anniversary of a mass shooting at a US gurdwara, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. — Reuters
The State Department said it had pulled all non-essential personnel from Yemen, and the Pentagon said the US Air Force had flown staffers out today.
"In response to a request from the US State Department, early this morning the US Air Force transported personnel out of Sana'a, Yemen, as part of a reduction in emergency personnel," Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement.
"The US Department of Defence continues to have personnel on the ground in Yemen to support the US State Department and monitor the security situation," CNN quoted Little as saying.
The US earlier ordered reduction of embassy staff in Yemen issuing a fresh travel warning of a high-level security threat.
The alert came hours after a drone attack killed four Al-Qaida militants in Yemen and two days after the closure of 19 embassies in the Middle East and Africa.
"The Department of State ordered a reduction in the number of emergency US Government personnel in Yemen," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement.
"We are concerned about a threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks against US persons or facilities overseas, especially emanating from the Arabian Peninsula," she said.
US citizens remaining in Yemen despite the travel warning in effect should limit non-essential travel within the country, she said.— PTI
UK withdraws staff amid threat
London: Britain has withdrawn all diplomatic staff from its embassy in Yemen after the US ordered its citizens to leave the country in the wake of a worldwide terror alert. "Due to increased security concerns, all staff in our Yemen embassy have been temporarily withdrawn, and the embassy will remain closed until staff are able to return," a Foreign and Commonwealth Office statement said on Tuesday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Mannagh helicopter base fell nearly 24 hours after rebels, led by Al-Qaida-linked militants, launched an all-out offensive against it. The Aleppo Media Centre said rebels finally captured it before dawn.
Mannagh, in the north of Aleppo province, is deep inside territory dominated by the Syrian opposition. Rebels have been trying since last year to capture it, but faced strong resistance from defenders.
Rebels seized part of it in June, and since then its fall has been widely expected. The air base is the largest to fall in rebel hands since opposition forces captured the Taftanaz base in the northern province of Idlib in January.
The Observatory said the final assault on Mannagh was led by members of the Al-Qaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
It began early yesterday when a Saudi suicide attacker blew his vehicle up outside the command centre of the sprawling compound. It said the rebels then began advancing, capturing vehicles and buildings inside the base. It did not say how many government troops were killed but said at least 10 rebels, including foreign fighters, died in the fighting.— AP
Seoul's Unification Ministry said today that it will send UNICEF the money tomorrow. Seoul last provided aid through the UN agency in 2011. Park has vowed a tough response to any North Korean provocations but has also worked to build trust and encourage dialogue. The aid comes as the Koreas remain deadlocked over efforts to restart a jointly-run factory park in North Korea. — AP
Musharraf, summoned to face charges of criminal conspiracy and failure to provide security to the former premier, was not brought to the court in Rawalpindi because of threats to his life.
The police and Musharraf's counsel told Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman that it was not safe to bring the former military ruler to court due to the threats.
Rehman adjourned the indictment till August 20 and ordered the police to ensure Musharraf's presence at the next hearing. — PTI
The African rock python, between 3.5 and 4.5 m in length, got out of its enclosure at Reptile Ocean pet shop and slithered up a ventilation duct to the apartment above the store where the boys were sleeping. The bodies of the two boys were discovered early next morning.
Jean-Claude Savoie, owner of the store in northern New Brunswick called the incident tragic. "My body is in shock. I don't know what to think," Savoie said.
The two children were the kids of his best friend and they often slept in his apartment. It's believed the boys lived in the building next to the shop. "I feel like they're my kids," he said.
Savoie said he went into the living room, where the kids were sleeping, and discovered a gruesome sight.
"I thought they were sleeping until I saw the hole in the ceiling. I turned the lights on and I saw this horrific scene," he said. — PTI
Addressing his first news conference since taking office on Saturday, Rouhani said he would not surrender Iran's rights but that he wanted to allay Western concerns.
"As the President of the Islamic republic, I am announcing that there is the political will to solve this issue and also take into consideration the concerns of the other sides. We are the people of interaction and talks, with seriousness and without wasting time, if the other sides are ready," he said.
Rouhani headed Iran's nuclear negotiating team under reformist President Mohammad Khatami in the early 2000s and Western leaders have expressed hope of a more constructive approach in the protracted talks.
Rouhani said there could be no surrender of the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy that Iran claims under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Iran's peaceful nuclear programme is a national issue... we will not give up the rights of the Iranian people," he said. — AFP
Russia backs call for n-talks
We need to resolve this, like any other problem, not on the level of ultimatums, but on the basis of respectful relations with a partner, and the basis for this is within the 'three plus three' talks.
— Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister
US County polls: Three Indians to contest from Nassau
New York: In a first, three Indian-Americans and one with a strong Indian connection are running for elected offices as the running mates of a Democratic Party leader contesting for the Nassau County Executive post. County Executive job is similar to Mayor in metro cities in the US. Tom Suozzi, who has been the friend of Indian-Americans of Nassau County and who ran unsuccessfully against Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, said he and his running mates need to make Nassau County, immediately east of New York City, an attractive and affordable place to live once again. — PTI
A firefighter hoses down destroyed ranch vehicles at the Falls Fire, west of Lake Elsinore in California, on Monday. The wildfire grew to at least 1,500 acres, prompting mandatory evacuations of the communities of Lakeland Village, Rancho Capistrano and Decker Canyon. — Reuters
Post sold: The front page of the Washington Post on Tuesday in Washington, DC, the day after it was announced that Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos had agreed to purchase the Post for $250 million. — AFP
Now, world's smallest Mona Lisa
Washington DC: Mini Lisa! Scientists have 'painted' a mini version of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Mona Lisa on the world's smallest canvas - a surface one-third the width of a human hair. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology "painted" the world's most famous painting Mona Lisa on a substrate surface approximately 30 microns in width. The creation, the "Mini Lisa," demonstrates a technique that could potentially be used to achieve nanomanufacturing of devices because the team was able to vary the surface concentration of molecules on such short-length scales. — PTI
Tibetan monk self-immolates in Nepal
Kathmandu: A Tibetan monk died here on Tuesday after setting himself on fire at one of the holiest Buddhist shrines in Nepal, in an apparent protest against the Chinese rule in Tibet. Karma Nyedhon Gyaltso (39), from Dhamshung in Tibet, set himself on fire at the Bouddhanath Stupa in north-eastern Kathmandu, a police officer said. — PTI
US blacklists Pak-based terrorist
Washington DC: The United States on Tuesday slapped sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist leader Bahawal Khan for being involved in terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Khan, designated by the US State Department as a "global terrorist", is the leader of the Mullah Nazir Group that is based in the lawless Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan. — PTI
Blasts kill 32 in Iraq
baghdad: A series of bombings across Baghdad on Tuesday were the deadliest in a spate of nationwide attacks that killed 32 people, as Iraq struggles with its worst violence since 2008. At least seven car bombs and several roadside bombs struck the capital just before Iraqis broke their daytime Ramadan fast, the latest in brutal violence during the Muslim holy month that has left hundreds dead. — AFP
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