The execution of U.S. journalist James Foley by someone with a British accent has sparked soul-searching in the U.K. as to how and why the country has become an exporter of extremists to the Middle East. Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to redouble efforts to stop radicalized Britons traveling to Iraq and Syria to “take part in extremism and violence.” “The fundamental problem is as long as […]
Militant Group Says It Killed American Journalist in Syria James Foley, in a photo from the website FreeJamesFoley.org, in Aleppo, Syria, in November 2012, the month he disappeared. By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI August 19, 2014 The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria posted a video on Tuesday that it said showed the beheading of James Foley, an American journalist who was kidnapped in Syria nearly two years ago, according to […]
Islamic State insurgents released a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley, who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, and images of another U.S. journalist whose life they said depended on U.S. action in Iraq. The video, titled “A Message To America,” was posted on social media sites. It was not immediately possible to verify its authenticity. Foley, who […]
U.S. Actions in Iraq Fueled Rise of a Rebel An image of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, taken from a video of a sermon he gave in July in Mosul. By TIM ARANGO and ERIC SCHMITT August 10, 2014 BAGHDAD — When American forces raided a home near Falluja during the turbulent 2004 offensive against the Iraqi Sunni insurgency, they got the hard-core militants they had been looking for. They also picked up […]
NEW DELHI: State-run oil refiner-marketer Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has drawn up plans to ramp up the capacity of its refinery at Numaligarh in Assam’s Golaghat district from three million tonnes per annum to nine million tonnes at an investment of Rs 16,600 crore.
The project includes laying a 1,350-km pipeline to bring in crude from a port on the east coast. While the refinery expansion would cost about Rs 8,800 crore, the remaining investment is expected to go into laying the pipeline and other assorted facilities.
Company sources said the project would mark the single-largest investment in Assam and boost economic activities in the north-east as well as unlock potential for exporting fuels to India&
The U.S. is considering airdrops of aid for thousands of refugees driven from their homes by Islamist militants in Iraq, and possible airstrikes against the insurgents, according to a defense official. Aircraft dropping food and other humanitarian supplies to the refugees would be accompanied by military planes, the official said, asking not to be identified because discussions are private. If the insurgents target the planes, the U.S. […]
NEW DELHI: Through a quick series of notifications, the Union environment ministry has eased rules for mining, roads, power and irrigation projects and other industrial sectors. It has diluted a host of regulations related to environment, forest and tribal rights. Besides, sources in the ministry say, more changes in regulations are in the pipeline.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar had earlier done away with the requirement of public hearing for coal mines below 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) wishing to expand output by up to 50 per cent. This has now been extended to mines above 16 mtpa, permitting them to mine up to five mtpa more without consulting affected people. Public hearings, the only occasion when affected people are
NEW DELHI: The Obama administration will push for the stalled mega deals for M-777 ultra-light howitzers and Javelin anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) when US defence secretary Chuck Hagel comes visiting from Thursday.
There will be talks on ways to further bolster the already expansive strategic partnership, ranging from sharing of intelligence and cooperation on counter-terrorism to joint combat exercises, but the cornerstone will remain the US offer to provide India with “ground-breaking” weapon technology on par with its closest allies.
Having bagged defence deals worth over $10 billion over the last decade, the US is obviously hungry for more. Of the different co-development and co-prod
NEW DELHI: Outgoing Army chief General Bikram Singh on Thursday said that India has given a befitting reply to Pakistan after the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops in 2013 along the Line of Control (LoC) even as he did not rule out the possibility of skirmishes on the western front in future.
Talking to reporters before demitting office, he admitted that face-offs between Indian and Chinese army soldiers take place while patrolling their ‘claimed areas’ along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they are dealt with in accordance with the existing mechanisms.
Asked if India had given a befitting reply after the January 8, 2013 beheading incident, he said, “It has been done. Please
A cease-fire proposal by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt met most of Israel’s demands; Hamas immediately rejected it. By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK July 30, 2014 CAIRO — Battling Palestinian militants in Gaza two years ago, Israel found itself pressed from all sides by unfriendly Arab neighbors to end the fighting. Not this time. After the military ouster of the Islamist government in Cairo last year, Egypt has led a […]
By DAVID E. SANGER July 29, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration officials engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran ran into a wall of skepticism at two congressional hearings on Tuesday, with members of both parties insisting on a vote on any final agreement with the Tehran government and administration officials strongly hinting that they have little intention of complying. The disagreements surfaced after Wendy R. Sherman, the under secretary […]
By MATT APUZZO July 27, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has gone to court to protect the files of an influential anti-Iran advocacy group, saying they likely contain information the government does not want disclosed. The highly unusual move by the Justice Department raises questions about the connections between the American government and the group, United Against Nuclear Iran, a hard-line voice seeking to prevent Iran from obtaining […]
Large sections of Gaza, including Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood, have been destroyed in the current 20-day battle with Israel. By JODI RUDOREN and BEN HUBBARD July 27, 2014 JERUSALEM — Hamas, the militant Palestinian faction that dominates the Gaza Strip, has more to boast about in its current 20-day battle against Israel than ever before. Forty-three Israeli soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting. Gunmen infiltrated Israel through tunnels five times. Rockets […]
The European Union reached outline agreement on Friday to impose the first economic sanctions on Russia over its behavior in Ukraine but scaled back their scope to exclude technology for the crucial gas sector. The EU also imposed travel bans and asset freezes on the chiefs of Russia’s FSB security service and foreign intelligence service and a number of other top Russian officials, saying they had helped […]
NEW DELHI: Power plants in India are not importing coal despite global prices of the fuel slumping to decade-low levels. Power generating companies are rather operating at lower capacity on domestic coal that is short in supply, as distribution companies (discoms) are not willing to pay for costly power fuelled by imports.
A Mumbai-based trader, who did not wish to be identified, said global prices had fallen to a 10-year low due to weak demand from China that is reducing dependence on imports by encouraging production from own mines.
He said prices of 4,200 kcal/kg thermal coal in international markets were hovering around $36.50 per million tonne as against $52 per million tonne two years ago.
NEW DELHI: The subsidy burden for distribution utilities of 16 states is estimated at Rs 72,000 crore, 17% higher than the previous financial year, due to higher costs and cheaper tariff for the farm sector, said ICRA in a recent note. The note states that state electricity regulators in 16 out of the 29 states have issued tariff orders for the current fiscal so far, attributing the delay partly to the recently-held Lok Sabha elections.
The rating agency noted that subsidy dependence for utilities in Maharashtra is likely to increase sharply by about 55% on a year-on-year basis in FY15 as a result of tariff subsidy of 20% announced by the state government, and also for Jammu & Kashmir where the subsidy burden is projected to rise
DOHA, Qatar — The five hardened Taliban militants were quickly whisked in a fleet of cars to the shoulder of a highway on the outskirts of the capital just as they arrived. There, out of the public eye and under the watchful gaze of Qatari security, they exchanged warm hugs with a welcome delegation and then once more were whisked off into hiding. If Qatar holds to […]
JERUSALEM — An unusual survey of Iranian public opinion indicates that 40 percent of Iranians would be willing to give up any ability to produce nuclear weapons in the future in return for the full removal of sanctions. Nearly 40 percent of those asked agreed that Iran should recognize Israel if Israel reached a peace accord with the Palestinians and withdrew from the contested territories. Such delicate […]
An aerial view of Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi Reuters Capacity at seaports and airports in the Middle East is growing faster than regional trade, potentially jeopardizing the viability of billions of dollars worth of new investment in transportation infrastructure. Government-led investment in regional logistics and transport has taken off in the past decade, driven by energy-rich Gulf Arab countries trying to carve out a niche as […]
WASHINGTON — Weeks before a Black Hawk helicopter lifted off in the dying light of eastern Afghanistan, carrying with it an American soldier who had spent five years in the hands of the Taliban, American officials grew increasingly worried that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s life might be in jeopardy. A video produced by his captors months earlier had shown him weak and dazed, and there was a growing […]
WASHINGTON — Did the search for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl cost the lives of American soldiers? Since last weekend’s prisoner exchange in which Afghan insurgents turned over Sergeant Bergdahl after five years of captivity, a number of the men who served with him have called him a deserter. Some have gone further, blaming him for the deaths of six to eight soldiers. That second claim is hardening into […]
WASHINGTON — The White House argued on Tuesday that the “unique circumstances” presented by the opportunity to return Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl gave President Obama the authority to lawfully bypass a federal statute requiring the Pentagon to notify Congress a month before he transferred the five Taliban detainees necessary to complete the deal. But the White House was forced by turns to defend its decision not to notify Congress […]
PARIS — The three young Frenchmen were arrested as they tried to make their way to Syria to wage jihad. They had not harmed anyone in France or made plans to do so, according to the evidence at their trial in January, but in France these days, seeking to fight in Syria is enough to bring a charge of plotting terrorism — and in this case sentences […]
JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority swore in a transitional government on Monday intended to unify the West Bank and Gaza after seven years of division, though the run-up was marred by last-minute disputes over its composition. The move is likely to complicate further the Palestinians’ already fraught relations with Israel and put them under international scrutiny because the new government is supported by […]
