International news of the week

Syrian riots, Indo-Pak relations, quake in Indonesia & US Presidential race dominates the headlines

Saturday

Damascus: Nearly 130 people are reported killed across Syria, 86 of them civilians, as regime forces pressed a protest crackdown three days ahead of a deadline to cease fire and pull back.

Islamabad: A massive avalanche slams into a Pakistan Army base in Siachen sector close to the border with India today, burying over 100 soldiers, who were asleep, under snow and triggering a frantic search for survivors.

Sunday

Lahore: The issue of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, on whose head the US has offered a bounty of $10 million, discussed during talks Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had with Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on the eve of his India visit.

Colombo: India takes up with Sri Lanka the issue of vandalism of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the eastern town of Batticaloa and offers assistance in rebuilding it.

Monday

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari's "private spiritual journey" to India ends with "a tame nudge" from the hosts who asked him to "work more to win their love," Pakistani media says.

Beijing: In a guarded response to India's assertion that South China Sea belonged to the world, China claims it fully guarantees the freedom of navigation in the region and has not allowed its maritime disputes to disrupt it in any way.

Tuesday

Washington: The Indian Embassy here received a bomb threat call this morning following which its premises, the chancery and Ambassador Nirupama Rao's residence all had to be temporarily evacuated and searched.

Sanaa:  Heavy clashes overnight between al-Qaeda-linked militants and the Yemeni military in the country's south have killed 63 people, bringing the two-day death toll in the fighting to 127, according to army officials.

Washington: Indian-Americans – Bobby Jindal and Nikky Haley are emerging as possible vice-presidential running mate of Mitt Romney, who is expected to bag the Republican Party's nomination for presidential polls.

Wednesday

Banda Aceh/Bangkok: Two massive earthquakes off Indonesian waters trigger fears of a devastating tsunami sending panic across the country and the nations along the Indian Ocean coast but there were no deadly waves or damage reported from anywhere.

Beijing: China’s Chongqing city witnesses major demonstrations hours before its top administrator and Communist Party leader Bo Xilai was removed, plunging the country into its biggest political crises in decades.

Thursday

Damascus: A UN-backed ceasefire to end 13 months of bloodshed in Syria appeared to be holding after coming into force at daybreak Thursday, despite doubts about the regime's compliance with the peace plan.

Washington: India is willing to advance its peace talks with Pakistan and discuss the Kashmir issue, but the main stumbling block is Islamabad's failure to clamp down on militant groups according to Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.

Islamabad: Pakistan's parliament unanimously approves a resolution for resetting the country's troubled relations with the US, calling for an "immediate cessation" of American drone strikes and an apology for the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a Nato air strike.

Friday

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari appeals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow the release and repatriation on humanitarian grounds of Khalil Chishti, an 80-year-old Pakistani given a life sentence in India after being convicted for murder.

New Haven: Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan is detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani, to address students at Yale University here.