Israelis Resume Protests Against Cost Of Living

TEL AVIV: More than 20,000 Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other places across the country in fresh protests against the spiralling cost of living, media reports said.

The numbers were well below the more than 300,000 who demonstrated earlier this month calling for "social justice" and a "welfare state," organisers admitted, blaming renewed tension with the Palestinians.

Since mid-July, Israel has been gripped by a rapidly growing protest movement demanding cheaper housing, education and health care.

"Security problems have always existed in Israel. They will not stop our struggle," student union leader Itzik Shmuli told the demonstration in Tel Aviv, calling for a "million-man march" in a week's time.

Noam Shalit, the father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit kidnapped in the Gaza Strip in 2006, was the guest of honour at the Tel Aviv rally on the occasion of his son's 25th birthday.

He called on the government to "pay the price needed to bring Gilad home or resign."

Although the middle class and students are the most militant, opinion polls show up to 88 percent of the population supports their protests, the largest in Israel's history.

Under pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set up a commission to look into the issues and make proposals within a month.

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Prince Harry To Be Immortalised As A Cartoon

LONDON: Prince Harry's life, loves and escapades are to be immortalised in the form of a cartoon strip. The 26-year-old Prince of Wales, the third in line to the throne has been turned into a cartoon character in his very own comic strip. The special 32-page Marvel-style comic traces the

Wild Child royal's life, right from childhood and days at Eton through to his time with the army in Afghanistan and finally his transformation into a dashing helicopter pilot.

Darren G. Davis of publisher Bluewater Productions said that he decided to commission a comic of "wild child" Prince Harry because he believed there was a renewed worldwide fascination with British royal since April's royal wedding was announced.

"I have been interested in the Royals since Princess Diana's wedding and the world has become so fascinated again with the British Royal Family since Will and Kate walked down the aisle I thought that people would want to know more about the other family members," the Daily Mail quoted Davis as saying.

The team of its creators consists of some of the most pre-eminent writers and artists in the business, who claim not to have shied away from any of the party prince's notorious antics including his visits to lap dancing clubs.

The magazine will also chart the rough and good times in the prince's love life including his off-and-on relation with long time girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Some of the incidents and dialogues are imagined including, whereas all stories are based on fact.

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5.5 Magnitude Quake Strikes Afghanistan

NEW YORK: A magnitude-5.4 earthquake rattled the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan early today, the US Geological Survey reported.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the quake that hit at 1:02 a.m. today (2032 Friday GMT).

No tsunami alerts were issued. The quake was deep, some 199.1 kilometers below the surface, the USGS said.

The USGS said the quake hit was about 74 kilometers southeast of Faizabad, Afghanistan, and 254 kilometers northeast of Kabul.

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36 Pakistani Soldiers Killed

PESHAWAR: At least 36 Pakistani security personnel were killed and dozens of others injured when hundreds of Taliban insurgents from Afghanistan attacked border checkpoints in Pakistan's north western Chitral district on Saturday.

This was the latest in a series of attacks that militants carried out inside Pakistan from their bases in Afghanistan's Nuristan and Kunar provinces, bordering Chitral. Since the US pulled out its troops from eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgents and the Hizb-i-Islami militia of former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hikmatyar re-established their bases in the two provinces. Pakistani Taliban on the run from military offensives in the country's north west also sneaked into Nuristan and Kunar which they use now as a launching pad against Pakistani forces stationed in Chitral, Dir and Swat regions.

According to security officials, hundreds of militants attacked Pakistan's paramilitary posts and civilian settlements in Arandhi and Drosht areas of Chitral before dawn on Saturday.

"Twenty-six soldiers and 10 border police were killed. About a dozen militants were also killed in retaliatory attacks," said colonel Haroon Rasheed, Chitral's FC commandant. He said that militants attacked some posts with heavy weapons while firing mortar bombs on others causing the casualties.

However, there was no independent verification of the militants death toll. One official said that clashes between the security forces and militants were still going on in the border areas. Pakistani troops also blew up three bridges on Saturday in the border region to halt the militants incursion.

Around 60 Pakistani soldiers were killed in clashes in July when some 600 militants from Afghanistan attacked two Pakistani villages in the upper Dir region. The Pakistani Taliban later claimed responsibility for the Dir attack. Pakistani militants have largely relied on a campaign of suicide and bomb attacks but carrying out large-scale attacks on government and army targets seem to be their new strategy.

Last year, Afghan officials claimed that Maulana Fazlullah (mullah radio), who escaped military operation in Swat, had been killed in a clash between security forces and militants in the Barg Mittal area of Nuristan.

For long Kabul and Washington blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to stop the infiltration of militants into Afghanistan from its tribal badlands. Pakistan told Washington and Kabul last summer to stem the flow of militants into its border areas.

While the border attacks continued, gunmen kidnapped and killed a retired army colonel on Saturday in the northwestern garrison city of Kohat. Police said that they seized Col. Shakeel Ahmad when he was on his way home from morning prayers. Police intercepted the gunmen in a car at a checkpoint and engaged them in a gunfight in which one police officer was killed. The abductors escaped and later shot dead Ahmad and abandoned his body alongside a road.

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Russia Successfully Test-Launches Ballistic Missile

MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday successfully test launched its Bulava inter-continental ballistic missile to its maximum range of 8,000 km, in a boost to the country's defence capabilities.

The missile was fired successfully by the White sea-based Russian nuclear submarine Yuri Dolgoruky, the Defence Ministry said today.

The successful launch of the Bulava came after a string of setbacks suffered by this programme. Only eight of its previous 15 launches were officially declared successful.

"The regular launch of the missile was conducted at 7:20 am Moscow time from a submerged position from the regular carrier in line with the state flight development tests at a maximum flight range of the missile," a defence ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

The missile successfully reached its target in the Pacific Ocean in accordance with the necessary shipping security measures, the spokesman said.

The successful test of the missile was reported to President Dmitry Medvedev by the defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

The Bulava, expected to become Russia's main naval strategic missile, is capable of carrying 10 warheads with a range of 8,000 km.

The first test launch from the Yuri Dolgoruky was conducted on June 28, 2011. Before that the missiles were fired from the typhoon-class Dmitry Donskoy submarine.

The three-stage missile is specifically designed for deployment on Borey class nuclear submarines.

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China Govt Cracks Down On Local Versions Of Twitter

BEIJING: China's media and culture police are at a high point of success with the local version of Twitter launching a campaign to suspend accounts of users who "spread rumors". The move came after the censors forced a TV channel to junk a sensitive video clip and blocked access to songs by Lady Gaga.

Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter-which remains banned in China-, on Saturday warned it would suspend accounts of people who spread rumors. Sina said bloggers posted false reports about a 19-year-old murder accused, who was released on bail because of his father's connections.

Observers fear the move would shut up critics, who raise uncomfortable questions about issues like corruption and inefficient railway operations that resulted in a major accident recently. Sina's action followed visits by senior officials of the Communist Party of China to its office.

The state-run China Central Television network has suppressed a video clip, which it had shown by mistake a few days back. The clip showed how authorities had implemented a cyber-attack on websites run by the banned Falun Gong sect, and inadvertently exposed the government's censorship methods.

The government recently banned 100 foreign songs including some sang by Lady Gaga because they posed "cultural threat" to the government.

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Ponting Says He Urged Dravid Not To Retire

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting claims that he persuaded Rahul Dravid against retiring when he was written off after a string of low scores last year and the in- form Indian batsman has reciprocated the support by inspiring him during his lean patch.

Dravid, the lone Indian batsman to perform well in with three centuries and 461 runs in the team's recent 0-4 Test whitewash at the hands of England, was woefully out of form last year and Ponting said he encouraged the veteran right-hander carry on despite the criticism.

"I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished," Ponting told a cricket website.

"I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said 'don't you even think about retiring' because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player.
"I just said 'don't let them wear you down, don't let them get you down'. I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well," he added.

The 36-year-old Ponting has not scored a Test century since January last year but he is confident of regaining his touch and he is looking up to Dravid for inspiration.

"There are a few ( who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years).

Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Jacques) Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now. It's not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it's good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and work hard, and if you've got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game," he said.

Speaking about the state of the game in general, Ponting said he is worried about the impact of Twenty20 on youngsters.

"The big worry I've had about Twenty20 cricket and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids' careers is that it won't teach them the art of concentration.

"Cricket for me when I was growing up meant batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that's how long it took them," he said.

"Now, even Under-17s and Under-19s are playing T20 games in national championships, and at the detriment of two- day games. Good state players these days are averaging 35; if you were averaging 35 when I was playing your dad would go and buy you a basketball or a footy and tell you to play that. So there are areas of concern there; I don't know how you change them," he explained.

Asked about India's slide from the top of ICC rankings after the debacle in England, Ponting said it would be interesting to see how Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men do once the veterans retire.

"India still haven't reached that point that I thought they'd get to yet. They've still got that crux, those great batters in that side. Time will tell with India now. Dravid was probably one who was in the gun before the rest of them and he's found a way to come through," he said.

"They (Tendulkar, Dravid and VVS Laxman) are all about the same age and they won't go on forever. They will be tested more than anything with their bowlers."

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Salman Khan Heading To Us For Treatment

Salman Khan leaves Saturday for the US for treatment of a medical condition that causes him unbearable pain in the head, jaws and cheeks.

Amdist pain Salman wrapped up his commitments to promote his forthcoming film Bodyguard.

"Though he is suffering from severe pain, he finished off his interviews scheduled till last night. He is leaving for the US Aug 27 for the treatment," a source from the unit of "Bodyguard" told IANS.

He would miss Ganesh Chaturthi, Eid and the release of his film Bodyguard, which is hitting screens Aug 31.

Salman disclosed to media that the he had the first attack of pain in the left side of his face during the making of his film Partner (2007) and the pain came back while he was shooting for Veer (2010). He is suffering from this pain continuously since last year.

In medical parlance, Salman is suffering from trigeminal neuralgia and aneurysm.

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Rahul's remark pours cold water on PM's statesmanship: Sushma

The Opposition on Saturday sought to drive a wedge between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi saying the young leader's remarks on Anna Hazare's fast has "poured cold water" on the statesmanship of the leader of the country.

"Was Rahul Gandhi's speech a Zero Hour intervention or an address to the nation," asked Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj while initiating a day-long debate in the Lok Sabha on the issues relating to the setting up of a Lokpal.

The debate was held on a day when Hazare's fast entered the twelfth day and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whose statement formed the basis of the discussion, made a renewed appeal to the Gandhian to end the hunger strike.

Swaraj insisted that Rahul's remarks were the line of the Congress party which "poured cold water on the statesmanship displayed by the prime minister on the floor of the House" a couple of days back in a bid to end the impasse.

Amid objections and protests from Congress members, Swaraj also took a dig at Speaker Meira Kumar who was in the chair, for allowing Gandhi to speak for so long while other members were restricted to just three to five minutes during the Zero Hour.

Unruffled by the protests including an objection by Minister Srikant Jena, Swaraj accused the government of failing to come up with a resolution or a statement by a senior minister yesterday which could have facilitated a debate straight away.

This, she said, was because the government was not ready to make a commitment on the Lokpal issue.

Noting the absence of Gandhi in the House, Swaraj said the young leader comes rarely to Parliament. He may be general secretary of the Congress, but in the House he is just a second term member, she remarked.

"Yesterday when he (Gandhi) came and started speaking in the Zero Hour, even the Prime Minister came rushing," she said adding that the young leader had come to give his party's line on the controversial issue.

Swaraj suggested that Rahul gave a different line by telling the House that "it is not a matter of how the present impasse will resolve, it is a much greater battle. There are no simple solutions..."

She also said it was amusing that the Congress General Secretary spoke of greater democracy within political parties.

When Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal reminded Swaraj that she was diverting from the issue, she said she was happy that the prime minister has taken the "reins in his hands once again" for resolving the issue.

The senior BJP leader admitted even her party's failure in enacting a Lokpal when it got opportunity twice during the NDA rule.

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Anna Hazare Breaks His Fast, His Team Thanks Pm For Ending Lokpal Logjam

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Sunday ended his 12-day long fast against corruption at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, ending months of deadlock over the Lokpal Bill issue.

In a symbolic gesture, a Dalit girl offered coconut water and honey to the 74-year old Gandhian whose campaign galvanised widespread support against corruption. (In pics: India celebrates Anna's victory)

On Saturday, the anti-corruption crusader had announced he would call off his fast after the government accepted his key demands. He said what had happened in Parliament on Saturday was a victory of the people. He said this after Deshmukh read out the letter appealing to him to end his fast.

Earlier, the eight-hour long extraordinary debate in Parliament on the Lokpal issue on Saturday ended with the government finally agreeing to a resolution that includes all three of Anna Hazare's demands.

Soon after the resolution was passed, the prime minister said, "Parliament has spoken. The will of Parliament is will of the people."

Although there was no vote, the "sense of House" resolution was passed unanimously in the House with the thumping of desks.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee requested Speaker Meira Kumar to adopt the sense of the House as a resolution and forward it to the standing committee.

The resolution says that the House agrees in principle for a strong and effective Lokpal and also for establishment of Lokayuktas in the state. The House has also agreed to set up a citizens' charter. It also recommends the setting up of an appropriate mechanism to bring lower bureaucracy under the Lokpal.

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