India, US closer than ever: Indian envoy

Washington, July 3: Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao has said shared economic, diplomatic and security goals have brought the two nations and their peoples closer than ever.

The recently concluded annual strategic dialogue between India and the US had led to several important advancements in their strategic partnership, she wrote in The Hill, an influential Washington newspaper focusing on Congressional politics.

“These include enhanced cooperation on many fronts, including in health and education for sustainable development, in the effort to bolster energy security and in the quest to improve business-to-business relations between our two nations,” Rao said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had hailed a preliminary agreement between Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India on setting up a nuclear power project to generate electricity, in Gujarat State as “a significant step toward the fulfilment” of the landmark 2008 nuclear agreement between the US and India, she noted.

“We agree, and would add that there was a lot more progress to highlight in other realms, too,” Rao said underlining that India’s External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, emphasised that the US and India will continue to make progress and work in tandem on many issues especially in trade and business.

On trade, the two leaders announced that they would work toward completing a bilateral treaty that would boost investment and trade between the US and India. Cooperation on defence-related matters, maritime and Internet security, counter terrorism and trade would also be taken forward, Rao said. Another major area of common purpose concerned Afghanistan, she said noting the US and India have been working separately to find ways to ensure Afghanistan's long-term peace and stability.

“Today, the path is open for closer coordination as India and the US now plan to work together along with Afghanistan to promote improvements in Afghan farming, mining, energy and infrastructure. This new, trilateral effort is yet another demonstration of the like-mindedness of the US and India on security issues and their joint determination to do even more to prevent the spread of worldwide terrorism,” Rao wrote. (IANS)

Over 1.8 mn go 'powerless' in US for fourth day

Washington, July 3: Almost two million people scattered through 11 states, from Indiana to Delaware and the American capital, were still without electricity on Tuesday for the fourth day, putting a damper on Wednesday’s Independence Day holiday.

The weatherman too offered no respite to sweating citizens, forecasting blistering temperatures and issuing extreme heat warnings for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.

Heat advisory warnings were also in place for different parts of Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio as well as parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, according to CNN.

Many cities and towns in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast have already endured temperatures in the high 90s and above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (around 38 degrees Celsius) since the middle of last week.

According to CNN, 410,000 households in West Virginia, 400,000 in Ohio and 340,000 in Virginia are still without power. Traffic lights remain out in many hard-hit locales, including around the nation's capital where some 200,000 are still without electricity.

Making matters worse, utility authorities said many affected residents may not get power back until the week's end leading to cancellation of several Independence Day public celebrations. However, the National Park Service said all of its Fourth of July programmes on the Mall overlooking the Capitol are scheduled to go forward with 75 per cent of the storm damage to tents and fencing that had been erected for the festivities repaired.

“Everything that was planned is still planned,” spokesperson Carol Bradley Johnson was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.

As power company crews struggled to repair damage inflicted by the Friday storm in the capital city, Washington city Mayor Vincent Gray asked President Barack Obama to declare a disaster so the city can qualify for federal funding. (IANS)

British kids cannot escape Maths, English any more

London, July 3: The British government is all set to ensure that pupils in the country do not skip learning Mathematics and English, as they will now be forced to study these subjects until they complete their school education. The latest step follows criticism from bosses that many school-leavers lack the basic skills required in the job market, The Sun reported. According to British ministers, the ones not sitting A-levels will be given work experience to make them more employable. Under the reforms, pupils failing to get a grade C or better in General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Maths and English, will continue to study them in some form until they are 19. GCSE qualification, highly valued by schools, colleges and employers, is assessed mainly on written exams. It can facilitate a number of routes work, further study or an apprenticeship. In its grading system, higher tier exams lead to grades A - D, while foundation tier exams lead to grades C-G. Alison Wolf, who carried out a report on vocational courses for the government, welcomed the move, saying: “These reforms should radically improve the life chances of millions of young people.” A Tory-led committee, however, condemned plans by Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove to set up a single exam board to stop the dumbing down of GCSEs and A-levels. The Education Select Committee opined that the move would be “disruptive”. (IANS)

Thousands of British kids vulnerable to sex abuse

London, July 3: Thousands of vulnerable children are being dumped in British care homes surrounded by sex beasts, a report has claimed. Some homes are specifically targeted by abusers, says the report by Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz, adding that kids as young as four have been victims of sexual exploitation by gangs.  Many of the homes are in rundown seaside resorts and near to bail hostels, sex offenders and high levels of drug use and prostitution, The Sun reported.  Berelowitz informed about the abuse as the government announced new reforms aiming better protect youngsters residing in the country’s 455 children's homes, said The Independent. The government action came following Berelowitz report, which was ordered after the jailing of a sex abuse ring in May which preyed on vulnerable girls in Rochdale town. The ongoing inquiry has highlighted evidence that children in care are particularly vulnerable to child sex exploitation, with some residential homes being specifically targeted by abusers. Berelowitz said her research found perpetrators come from all ethnic groups, as do their victims, who are as young as 11 and are largely but not exclusively girls. Speaking alongside Children’s Minister Tim Loughton as he announced the new measures, she said: “I’ve been in the children’s services field for a very long time, and I have never come across the scale of violence and sadism that I'm encountering now.” “The stories that children and young people tell us are truly horrific,” she added.  (IANS)

Assad regrets shooting down of Turkish warplane

Damascus, July 3: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces last month.

According to The Telegraph, Assad said he would not allow the tensions between the two countries turn into a conflict. Assad said: “We will not allow the tensions to turn into open combat between the two countries, which would harm them both.” “We learned that the plane belonged to Turkey after shooting it down. I say 100 per cent if only we had not shot it down,” Assad said.

Assad’s comment comes at a time when Syria is engulfed in a political turmoil against him.

He also said Syria had not amassed and would not amass military forces along the Turkish border, whatever action Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Government takes.

Turkey has increased military activity along its southern border since Syria shot down the Turkish jet over the Mediterranean on June 22. Syria said it shot down the Turkish jet in self-defence and that it was brought down in Syrian air space.

Turkey, however, had said the jet accidentally violated Syrian air space for a few minutes, but was brought down in international air space.

Assad said Syria would not shy away from apologizing if it emerged that the plane was shot down in international airspace. “The plane was using a corridor which Israeli planes have used three times before. Soldiers shot it down because we did not see it on our radar and because information was not given,” Assad said. “Of course, I might have been happy if this had been an Israeli plane,” Assad added. (Agencies)

In China, a swallow doesn't necessarily make a summer

Beijing, July 3: Where have all the birds gone? The pretty flowers and trees are there aplenty in the Chinese capital and elsewhere in the country, but the birds are missing. Here, a swallow doesn’t necessarily make a summer.

Accustomed to seeing birds of all kinds in India, from cawing gatherings of crows, flocks of pigeons serenading one another on balconies and any possible place, parrots squawking to each other in the trees and many other bird species, the near-absence of our flying friends in China is a startling revelation.

In Beijing’s sanitized environment, with its endless rows of spectacular high-rises, neat gardens and boulevards, you very rarely get to spot the feathered species. There are no familiar bird droppings on the balconies, no birds sitting on power cables - a familiar sight in India- and no flocks of pigeons pecking for grain on sidewalks, sharing space with pedestrians.

“During the early days of Communist China (in the 1950s), the Chinese leadership told the people to kill all birds as they ate the grain, and that reduced the bird population,” Ranjit Kumar, diplomatic editor of Navbharat Times, who has visited China several times and keenly follows developments there, said.

Millions of birds died during those years, and the after-effects of that decision can be seen even today. A small flock of birds flying in the Beijing skyline is a rare sight, and once in a while, if you are watchful, you might get to see some sparrows in the gardens.

“In India, you get to see so many birds. You guys are lucky. In Beijing, we don’t have any birds,” said a senior official of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, pointing to the large green lawns of the embassy in the Indian capital that had crows, pigeons, mynahs, sparrows, parrots, thrushes and many more bird species chirruping and squawking in happy unison. That statement by the Chinese official had seemed too incongruous to believe, till one saw it first hand in Beijing.

In China people kill birds with slingshots for the meat.

China, which did not have much forest cover, launched an afforestation drive in earnest in the 1980s. This added to the green cover and the bird population started making an appearance.

The power cables were bare, and the skyline for miles did not show up any birds, except once in a while. The gradual appearance of the bird population in China has made its presence felt in another way - bird hits.

The 24th Air Division of the PLA Air Force, situated on the outskirts of Beijing at Yangcun, has placed coloured flags and scarecrows in the air fields to scare away the birds. “Yes, we are now facing the problem of birds,” a PLA Air Force official told a visiting group of Indian journalists.

At Beijing Airport too, finding out ways to avert bird hits is gathering focus. The China Daily last week devoted an entire page to the issue and elaborated on the devices used to shoo away the birds, including “bird-frightening devices such as automatic bird distress recorders, automatic gas exploders and raptor-like kites, to stop birds from coming close. There is also wire mesh, about six metres tall, to block birds from entering the runways.”

Hopefully, the bird population in China will thrive, like they do in India and elsewhere in the world. (IANS)

Drunken man tries to eat woman's face during 'cannibal' assault

New York, July 3: A drunken bus driver was detained in China after he attacked a woman in her car and tried to chew off her face during an attack on Tuesday afternoon. According to Shanghai Daily’s website, the police said that the man identified as “Dong” ran into a road near a bus station at around 2 pm and jumped in front of a woman’s car. The man then hopped on the hood and starting pounding on the woman’s windshield, the New York Daily News reported. When the woman, identified as “Du,” got out of the car, the man tackled her and started chewing on her face. Photographs posted on Malaysia-Chronicle.com and other websites appeared to show the deranged bus driver straddling the helpless woman on the ground. Witnesses said that they tried to stop the attack, but Dong had gone “crazy” and was able to overpower them. Police eventually pulled the maniac off Du and cuffed him, the report said. The woman was taken to a local hospital with tears to her lips and nose and would need plastic surgery to repair her face. The police said the man drank heavily during lunch with friends before the attack. (Agencies)

Chinese man stabs wife, two couples to death

Shanghai, July 3: A Chinese man stabbed to death his wife and two other couples, all relatives, following a family dispute here, police said. The suspect named Yuan Zhiwei killed all five people in the city’s suburban Minhang district on Monday night, Shanghai Daily reported on Tuesday. His neighbours said family dispute might be the cause of the man’s killing spree that took place in three separate spots within a span of three hours. One middle-aged couple was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood by their son. Both had been stabbed several times. (IANS)

Italian kills wife for being 'too beautiful'

Naples, July 3: A 35-year-old Italian stabbed his wife to death with a pair of scissors because she was “too beautiful”. Giancarlo Giannini, a factory worker and father of two, attacked his 26-year-old wife, Alessandra Sorrentino, at their home on Monday with a small pair of scissors. He then used a larger pair to stab her in the heart in an apparent fit of jealousy. Police found the woman’s body in a pool of blood on the balcony of their apartment in Palma Campania near Naples. Giannini was arrested, and told police his wife had been “too beautiful”. The couple’s two children, aged four and six, were asleep at the time of the killing. (IANS/AKI)

Castro's China visit to help speed up Cuban economy

Beijing, July 3: Cuban President Raul Castro will begin a State visit to China on Wednesday, during which he will sign a number of deals that will help accelerate Cuba’s economic reforms, a Chinese daily said on Tuesday. Castro will visit China for four days at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin was quoted as saying by China Daily. China attaches great importance to this visit, during which Castro will attend a series of state activities with Hu, he said. (IANS)

Kids may be killing your marital joy

London, July 3: While many of us may feel parenthood brings an unforgettable joy in marital life, a British study says having children could ruin a couple’s relationship after finding six out of ten new parents claiming to be having less sex and a third saying more often. The survey conducted by parenting website Yano found 42 per cent of the women were not as attracted to their husbands or partners following childbirth. They blamed financial pressures and arguments over household chores for increased arguments, Daily Telegraph reported.  As many as six in every ten parents said their intimate relationship had deteriorated since having children, with 28 per cent having sex just once a month, five per cent once a year and seven per cent not at all. Over half of the couples reported rowing as a result of financial pressures, and 41 per cent over who should do the chores. Six per cent had already split up by the time their baby was born. Some of the new mothers said they resented their husband’s approach to fatherhood as the women believed the men should take more responsibility for childcare. In the survey, nearly four in every 10 new mothers and fathers confessed to finding their partner less attractive after having children, with 63 per cent admitting their sex life had deteriorated. Another 61 per cent of the parents claimed having rowed over parenting styles, with only half spending quality time together once a month. Over a third reported arguing more since having children than ever before. (IANS)