Kyrgyz gangs accused of 'genocide' as death toll rises

In the worst ethnic violence this Central Asia nation has seen in 20 years, marauding Kyrgyz gangs were last night accused of "committing genocide", burning ethnic Uzbeks out of their homes and embarking on a three-day rampage of killing, which some human rights activists on the scene estimated has killed more than 500 people.

Uzbekistan's Emergencies Ministry said that more than 75,000 people – mainly women, children and the elderly – had fled across the border to escape the rampage of killing, which began in Kyrgyzstan's second city of Osh and across the south to Jalalabad.

Speaking from behind the barricades he had erected to protect his home, Takhir Maksitov of the human rights group Citizens Against Corruption said he believed there could be a political dimension to the slaughter.

"This is genocide, because there are many Uzbeks here, and if we were to create our own party and go to the polls..." he told Reuters, his voice tailing off, before adding: "Send in the peacekeepers, Russia, the UN, whoever. The most important thing is to stop the slaughter".

Kyrgyzstan's interim authorities – in charge since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was deposed in violent riots in April – have appealed for the Russian Army to intervene and restore order in the south.

Moscow yesterday sent a battalion of troops to the country to protect its Kant airbase in the north, but insisted that it would not intervene in what it described as an "internal matter". The US – which also has a base in the north that is a crucial supply hub for troops in Afghanistan – called for the "immediate restoration of order".

At the Uzbek border, which had been closed since the April riots, there was chaos with long lines of people, some of whom had gunshot wounds, begging to be let across. The Emergencies Ministry said it was setting up refugee camps in several areas of Uzbekistan.

In Osh, the region's main city and the epicentre of the violence, there were few attributes of a functioning city remaining yesterday. Residents said almost every shop had been looted, and cafes and restaurants burned to the ground. There was no food to be bought and communications are difficult as people were unable to buy credit to top up their mobile phones.

Surat bizmen in a tizzy over Modi ad

SURAT: City’s textile industrialists, originally hailing from Bihar, find themselves in a tight spot for sponsoring advertisements praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, which have created a controversy in their native state and got its chief minister, Nitish Kumar, livid. The fact that Nitish Kumar is mulling legal action has made them a worried lot. 

The industrialists, who financed the advertisements published on Sunday in newspapers of Bihar, were now clarifying that they were not aware about the content of the advertisements. “It was a goodwill gesture by us for Modiji who helped Bihar during floods (in 2008),” said Ajay Chaudhary, president of Bihar Sanskriti Samiti (BSS). There are 40 names, in the sponsorship consortium, which paid the amount in cash to the advertisement agency, sources informed. Along with Bihar Vikas Parishad (BVP) and Bihar Vikash Mandal (BVM), BSS has sponsored the advertisements published in dailies in Bihar. 

Vinod Paliwal, member of BVP and one of the sponsors whose name is carried in advertisement, said, “I was not aware about the content of the advertisement. I received a call from BVP office and requested to give oral confirmation.” Paliwal, owner of Sudha Dyeing and Printing Mill, and many like him migrated to Surat couple of decades ago from Bihar. 

In 2008, BVM and other organisations collected around Rs 15 crore worth of goods and cash from the city and sent it to Bihar on a special train, which was flagged off by Modi at a public function organised here.

Rapper Kid Cudi is arrested in New York

Rapper Kid Cudi has been arrested on criminal charges in New York City.

Sergeant John Butorn said the singer was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Cudi - aka Scott Mescudi - was however still able to perform at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee later.

"I really wanted to be here tonight," he told the audience. The rapper was in ninth position of the BBC's Sound of 2009 poll of upcoming music talent.

He had a big hit with the club remix of Day 'n' Nite and released his debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day in 2009, which went to number four in the US album chart.

He is signed to Kanye West's label and has supported him on tour.

The Cleveland native also co-stars in the HBO cable television comedy series How To Make It In America.

World Cup organiser considers vuvuzela ban after TV complaints

Fifa says it will take action if it finds grounds to do so

Their cacophonous din has so far been a soundtrack for the World Cup, to the delight of some and the profound annoyance of others. But organisers said that the vuvuzela, one of the most visible and certainly most audible motifs of the tournament's opening weekend, could yet be banned from inside stadiums.

Organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan said he would continue to monitor their use and that a ban could be enforced if there were "grounds to do so".

Fifa and organisers have already said that they will ban the instrument if any are thrown onto the pitch or used as a weapon and urged fans not to blow them during national anthems.

"We did say that if any land on the pitch in anger we will take action. We've tried to get some order. We have asked for no vuvuzelas during national anthems or stadium announcements. It's difficult but we're trying to manage the best we can," he told the BBC.

"We've had some broadcasters and individuals [complaining] and it's something we are evaluating on an on-going basis." The BBC and ITV have received complaints from viewers about the background noise and, while both have said they will monitor the situation, they have also made the point that it is important to reflect the atmosphere of the tournament.

Fifa has previously shrugged off complaints from broadcasters, players and coaches about the noise from the plastic horns that are being sold on every street corner in South African host cities.

JAL to slash 3,600 additional jobs

Embattled Japan Airlines likely will increase the number of staff it will cut by the end of fiscal 2012 to 19,300, up 3,600 from its initial reduction plan, according to sources.

The additional cuts are expected to save JAL about 128 billion yen in labor costs by fiscal 2012.

After the latest round of cuts, JAL, which is undergoing court-administered rehabilitation procedures, will have about 32,600 employees--40 percent fewer than before it filed for court protection from bankruptcy in January.

The personnel target will be included in the airline's rehabilitation scheme to be submitted to the Tokyo District Court at the end of August.

JAL hopes the corporate downsizing will help the airline overhaul its management culture and steadily generate annual profits, the sources said.

JAL decided to ramp up the number of job cuts after financial institutions complained its original target was too low. When JAL filed for bankruptcy under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law, the airline stated in its rehabilitation scheme that it would shed 15,700 workers at JAL and its group companies by the end of fiscal 2012.

The airline also plans to accelerate the job cuts. It had let 3,000 personnel go as of March 31, and plans to cut about 16,000 more by the end of fiscal 2010.

JAL hopes its intensifying efforts to cut staff will encourage financial institutions to approve the new rehabilitation scheme.

Beneath the Battle of Okinawa

With the 65th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa upon us, Jon Mitchell traces the life of a U.S. serviceman who dedicated himself to keeping alive the memory of some of its victims

In 1966, Dave Davenport was a mystery to his fellow U.S. Air Force clerks on Okinawa. Whereas they would dress up in their finest threads and make for the clubs of Koza in their free time, Davenport would don the oldest clothes he owned and jump on a local bus heading into the middle of nowhere.

When he returned from these unexplained trips, he wouldn't be lipstick-stained or smelling of perfume. Instead, he'd be covered in mud and carrying dirt-covered objects he'd hide safely out of sight in his locker.

Needless to say, word soon spread that there was something different about Davenport — something that was possibly a little peculiar. But if his colleagues had known more about his background, they might not have considered his behavior so strange after all.

Born in South Carolina in 1944, he grew up immersed in history. At his doorstep lay Fort Sumter, the flash point that ignited the American Civil War in April 1861, when Confederate forces fired on its Union garrison. Nearby were the military bases of Charleston and Parris Island — home to veterans of more recent campaigns in France, Germany and the Pacific.

As a young boy, Davenport spent hours at his local library, poring over accounts of these battles, impatient for the day when he'd be able to explore the scenes of fighting for himself.

At the age of 21, Davenport got the opportunity to do just that when, as a member of the U.S. Air Force, he learned he was to be posted to one of the very battlefields about which he'd read so avidly — Okinawa.

Back in June 1942, in the epic, mid-Pacific Battle of Midway, the fighting force that was the Imperial Japanese Navy had effectively been eliminated. After that, with their overwhelming command of the air, Allied troops led by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps "island-hopped" from Guadalcanal to Guam to Iwo Jima as they drew ever closer to Japan's home islands.

Finally, in the spring of 1945, the ultimate showdown took place on Okinawa, a small island that, as the last stepping stone before Japan proper, was to witness some of the most ferocious fighting of World War II.

During some 82 days of slaughter after the U.S. assault began on April 1, more than 12,000 American and 110,000 Japanese troops lost their lives, together with 145,000 Okinawan civilians — almost a quarter of the island's population — before all organized resistance was overcome by June 22.

Poll: 95% fear for Japan's future

With China poised to replace Japan as the world's No. 2 economy, Japanese are increasingly taking a more critical look at their country, once referred to as a nation of "economic animals" and known as Japan Inc.

According to an Asahi Shimbun survey, about 95 percent of Japanese are worried about Japan's future, while 62 percent say the nation is being rapidly overtaken by other countries.

And while acknowledging that Japan's economy--once the envy of much of the world--may no longer be a main source of pride, more than half of the respondents said Japan does not need to strive to become a major global power.

According to the survey, 75 percent of Japanese have pride in their country, but only 34 percent said they had pride in Japan's economy.

Sixty-five percent of the respondents said the economy was not a source of pride.

For the multiple-choice question on what aspects of Japan they are proud of, 94 percent cited the nation's technological prowess, while 92 percent pointed to its traditional culture.

Michael Jackson death: Joe blames mother

LOS ANGELES, June 13 (UPI) -- Michael Jackson's father, Joe, says he blames mother Katherine for Michael's death.

Joe Jackson said he and his wife Katherine argued about Michael's physical condition before the "King of Pop's" death, saying Michael was ""looking kinda funny and and frail". Joe allegedly asked Katherine to check up on Michael and "keep him cheered up," but Joe says Katherine declined, citing Michael's privacy, TMZ reported Sunday.

"I said this would have never happened if you had went and been with him," Joe said to Katherine after Michael died.

Joe, who was cut out of Michael's will, is allegedly fighting for an allowance of the estate, TMZ said.

IMF to decide on loan to Ukraine soon — Yanukovych

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will decide in the next few days on whether it should continue cooperation with Ukraine, the country's president Viktor Yanukovych said.

Ukraine's economy is currently struggling to recover from recession and the country's new leader needs the IMF loan to support economic growth.

Yanukovych said he recently exchange views on economic situation in Ukraine with an envoy of IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and asked them to make decisions as soon as possible.

"I think that a decision will be voiced soon, much earlier than by the end of this month," the Ukrainian president said on Sunday evening in an interview with the Inter TV channel.

In 2008, the IMF granted a $16.4-billion loan to Ukraine, of which the government has so far received over $11 billion. Further payments were frozen in late 2009 after Ukraine raised minimum wages and pensions contrary to IMF recommendations.

TN top among states in voluntary blood donation

CHENNAI: On Monday, when the world observes Blood Donors Day, Tamil Nadu will have a good reason to celebrate. This year, the state has been declared first in the country in voluntary blood donation. 

The state’s biggest blood bank, in the Government General Hospital, has organised a feast for all sections of people, including donors and camp organisers. “In the past one year, we have managed to increase the number of voluntary donors from 82% to 92%,” said health secretary VK Subburaj. “This is largely because of several voluntary organisations, educational institutions and corporates are willing to donate. Besides this, we have mobile blood banks stationed in public places like beaches to collect blood from voluntary donors,” he said. 

The state also maintains a registry of regular donors, where names, address and contact numbers are stored along with the blood group. In emergency situations, the donor is called in. And it’s not just rare groups that fall short. “It’s a myth that only rare blood groups are hard to get. Most often, it’s the common blood groups that go out of stock because the demand for them is more,” says Dr P Srinivasan, director of Jeevan Blood Bank. 

At least 85% of the donors are from educational institutions. “Every summer, the number of blood donation camps dwindle as educational institutions close down. It’s during those times we ask corporates for help. This year, we saw many corporates like Tata Consultancy Services donating blood,” said Dr Selvarajan, who manages the Government General Hospital blood bank.

Pranab Mukherjee nails Arjun Singh for Anderson's escape

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee joined senior Congress leaders in putting the onus of Union Carbide Corporation chairman Warren Anderson’s easy exit from India in the wake of the Bhopal gas disaster on the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh.

Breaking his silence on the issue, Mukherjee on Sunday gave a new twist to the Congress tale, seeking to justify Arjun Singh’s action in letting Anderson off the hook. 

“There was people’s frenzy all around Bhopal. People’s tempers were running high. The law and order situation was getting out of control. So, it was felt necessary to send him (Anderson) out of Bhopal,” Mukherjee said, recalling Singh’s statement on December 8, 1984.

Mukherjee, who was not a member of Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet in 1984, said the United  Progressive Alliance government would seek to get Anderson to India to stand trial for the world’s worst industrial disaster.

“The issue of extradition has come up. Naturally, we will explore the possibility of extradition,” the Finance Minister said. Mukherjee’s comments came after several Congress  leaders dismissed suggestions that Arjun Singh had acted at then PM Rajiv Gandhi’s behest and mounted pressure on the senior Congress leader to break his silence on the issue.

1 Pakistani killed, 15 abducted

ISLAMABAD: One Pakistani student has been killed and around 15 reportedly taken hostage in Kyrgyzstan’s riot-stricken city of Osh, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday. 

"One student has been killed and there are reports that 15 have been taken hostage for ransom. We are trying to confirm these reports," Qureshi said. "Our first priority is to ensure the safety of our brethren stranded there. We are trying to establish contact with Kyrgyz authorities," he said. 

Around 1,200 Pakistanis, mostly students, live in Kyrgyzstan, although many of them have returned to Pakistan for summer vacations, Qureshi said. Universities in the former Soviet states are attractive to many Pakistanis for their cheaper training in medical and engineering fields. 

Obaid Ansari, who studies medicine in Osh, fled the city and returned to Pakistan after riots broke out. "I am receiving text messages from my colleagues and friends that have taken refuge in basements. They informed me that 15 have been abducted," Ansari said. "I and four of my friends managed to flee as we were outside Osh when trouble started. When we returned, there was fire all over," he said.

String of quakes jolts Andaman & Nicobar

Chennai/New Delhi: A string of earthquakes jolted the Andaman and Nicobar Islands over a 12-hour period on Sunday. The tremors were also felt in southern and eastern India.

There was some panic but no casualty or property damage anywhere, officials said. By evening, life returned to normal in the islands.

The first quake of 7.7 magnitude took place 56 seconds past midnight on Saturday night, followed by one of 5.3 magnitude at 4.14 a.m. on Sunday. Two more quakes of 5.1 magnitude were reported at 11 a.m. and 11.56 a.m.

Tremors were also felt in several areas of Chennai, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, officials said.

“We did feel the quake. But life is normal here now. No property damage has been reported in Port Blair,” S. Jaikumaran Nair, chairman of the Port Blair Municipal Council, told IANS over telephone from the Andamans.

The Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services told IANS that a ‘tsunami watch' notice issued after the Sunday quake was withdrawn 90 minutes later.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a Regional Watch notice covering India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia. It later scaled it down to India alone.

The Central Seismological Observatory Centre, Shillong, said the quake took place at 12.57 a.m. on the west coast of the Nicobar Island. The epicentre was located at latitude 7.9 degree north and longitude 91.9 degree east.

Several parts of coastal Orissa also experienced mild tremors, officials said in Bhubaneswar.

Honda China lock factory workers say still on strike

(Reuters) - Workers at a factory making locks for Honda Motors cars in China remained on strike on Sunday, two workers said, although Honda said the dispute had been resolved and production had resumed.

Speaking from Japan, Honda spokeswoman Natsuno Asanuma said the dispute was resolved on Saturday, and production had restarted with the second shift that day at the Honda Lock factory. She could not comment on the situation on Sunday.

But two factory workers contacted by Reuters said management had yet to reach an agreement with most frontline workers and the strike remained in effect on Sunday.

Some managers had agreed to return to work after the company called workers on Saturday night and asked them to come to work on Sunday for a day of overtime, said one worker surnamed Chen.

Many workers showed up at the factory gates, but later left after it became apparent the company would not raise their wages above the 100 yuan ($114) per month it had already offered and workers had rejected, he said.

Gaza siege must be broken: Moussa

GAZA CITY: Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the highest Arab official to do so since its seizure by Hamas in 2007, and called for an end to Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory. Moussa crossed into the enclave from Egypt, two weeks after Israel's deadly interception of a Gaza aid flotilla.

"This blockade ... must be lifted and must be broken and the Arab League decision is very clear in this regard," Moussa said. "Not only the Arabs, but the entire world should stand with the Palestinian people against the siege of Gaza and what is happening in the occupied territories, especially East Jerusalem," he said, referring to Jewish settlement growth in the annexed Arab half of the city.

Egypt had kept its Gaza border largely closed, bolstering Israel's embargo, since Hamas, which won a 2006 election, seized sole control of the Gaza Strip in a war with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction three years ago.

But Cairo reopened its Rafah crossing with the enclave after Israeli marines killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in a May 31 raid on a Turkish-flagged aid vessel.

Palestinian and Arab League officials said Moussa's visit was also aimed at giving momentum to reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah that Egypt has sponsored but which have failed to remove deep mistrust between the two rivals. "Reconciliation is the basic and principle question. It is a question of will and not a mere signature — it's a will, it's a policy, it's a position that translates into an agreement on all issues," Moussa told reporters. "History does not halt before a sentence here or a paragraph there".

In an apparent bid to avoid any impression of Arab League recognition of Hamas' Gaza takeover, Moussa met Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government, in his home rather than in his office.

Edinburgh Airport's £1 drop-off tax

BOSSES at Edinburgh Airport have been accused of cashing in on motorists after it emerged they want to charge drivers for dropping off passengers.

Airport operator BAA is proposing to charge both taxi drivers and the general public £1 every time they drop off at the terminal as part of measures to revamp the airport's forecourt. The move was today described as "outrageous" by city cabbies, while leading motoring organisation the RAC Foundation said the move ran the risk of "irritating" paying customers.

Edinburgh is one of the first airports to look at charging for drop-off, although Glasgow is understood to be considering similar proposals.

The airport said it would retain a free drop-off area, but it is likely to be further away from the terminal, possibly in one of the existing car parks.

Navy to Christen Amphibious Transport Dock Ship San Diego

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy will christen the newest amphibious transport dock ship, San Diego, June 12 during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. 

The ship is named for the city of San Diego, principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, and honors the people of "America's Finest City" and its leaders for their continuous support of the military.

Gen. James Amos, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Linda Winter, wife of former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter, is the sponsor, and in accordance with Navy tradition, will break a bottle of champagne across the bow to formally christen the ship.

Designated LPD 22, San Diego is the sixth amphibious transport dock ship in the San Antonio class. As an element of future expeditionary strike groups, the ship will support the Marine Corps "mobility triad," which consists of the landing craft air cushion vehicle, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle and the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. 

San Diego will provide improved warfighting capabilities, including an advanced command and control suite, increased lift capability in vehicle and cargo-carrying capacity and advanced ship survivability features. The ship is capable of embarking a landing force of up to 800 Marines.

Three previous ships have carried the name San Diego - an armored cruiser (ACR 6) named in 1914, a World War II-era cruiser (CL 53) commissioned in 1942 and a combat stores ship (AFS 6) that served from 1969 to 1997.

Cmdr. Jon Haydel, of Houston, is the prospective commanding officer and will lead a crew of 360 officers and enlisted Navy personnel and three Marines. The 24,900-ton San Diego is 684 feet in length, has an overall beam of 105 feet and a navigational draft of 23 feet. Four turbo-charged diesels power the ship to sustained speeds of 22 knots.

Assisted reproduction boosts risk of deformity: study

PARIS — Children born after assisted reproduction face a significantly higher chance of having major birth defects, according to a study released Sunday.

Parents contemplating assisted reproductive technology (ART) should be informed that such treatments carry increased risks, the researchers warned.

The study, the largest of its kind to date, reviewed all the ART births in 33 registered clinics in France from 2003 to 2007, more than 15,000 children in all.

"We found a major congenital malformation in 4.24 percent of the children," said lead researcher Geraldine Viot, a clinical geneticist at the Port Royal maternity hospital in Paris.

The rate of such deformities for the general population is two to three percent.

"This higher rate was due in part to an excess of heart disease and malformations of the uro-genital system. This was much more common in boys," she said in a statement.

Among minor malformations, there was a five-fold increase in cases of angioma, the formation of benign tumours on or near the surface of the skin. These occurred twice as frequently in girls than boys.

"We estimate that in France some 200,000 children have been born through ART. A malformation rate of this magnitude is a public health issue," Viot said.

"It is important that all doctors -- and also politicians -- are informed about this," she added.

Parents of children born with malformations were not on average older than other parents in the ART group, so age did not seem to be a factor.