NORTH KOREA CLAIMS 2ND NUKE TEST

North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, defying international warnings and drastically raising the stakes in a global effort to get the recalcitrant Communist state to give up its nuclear weapons program.

Word of the test sent a shudder through Asian financial markets and clearly caught South Korea and the United States off guard. The news hit just as South Korea’s government and people were mourning the suicide of former President Roh Moo-hyun. And hours after the test was reported, South Korean state media reported that the North had fired a short-range missile.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006, which was considered something of a bust by South Korean and American officials. If the North’s second test was more of a success, it could mean that North Korea has bolstered its atomic weapons capabilities — and its leverage over the United States, which has sought to denuclearize the North.

SOURCE-thenewyorktimes

Slum boy at Cannes

Loach and Cantona were joined by Ayush Manesh Khedekar, one of the stars of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. The young Indian is no stranger to glitzy events following his visit to the Academy Awards

Nearly 10,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 40 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The WHO said 79 people are known to have died from the new virus.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon told the World Health Assembly that "global solidarity" was needed, particularly regarding distributing any vaccine.
Some medical charities have suggested that the large vaccine orders already placed by wealthy countries will mean there will not be enough for everyone.
The WHO says the global tally of swine flu cases stands at 9,830, after rising by 1,001 in one day.

U.S and Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents in Afghanistan, fighting from some of the poorest and most remote regions on earth, have managed for years to maintain an intensive guerrilla war against materially superior American and Afghan forces.

78 killed in Indonesian plane crash

An Indonesian army transport plane with more than 100 people aboard has crashed into a village on eastern Java, killing at least 78 people, officials say.

At least two people died on the ground when the Hercules came down near Madiun, hitting houses before skidding into a rice field where it caught fire.
An air force spokesman warned the death toll could rise further as the evacuation of the crash site continued.

The plane had been flying from Jakarta to eastern Java when it crashed.

It missed landing at Iswahyudi air force base and struck houses in the village of Geplak, 4km away, at around 0630 local time (2230 GMT).
Visibility appears to have been good and there is no indication yet of why the plane crashed.

Initial reports say the last contact with the crew was a few minutes before the plane came down, as it was making its final approach to land.

(News from BBC)

LTTE Leader: Dead or Alive?

Sri Lankan leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has declared the country "liberated" from Tamil Tiger rebels after a 26-year war.
Mr. Rajapaksa made the announcement in a speech to the country's parliament, a day after the army said rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been killed.
Sri Lankan television stations broadcast footage of a body purported to be that of Prabhakaran.
Tamil media outside Sri Lanka have denied the army's claims that the Tiger chief is dead.

After a day of feverish speculation over Prabhakaran's fate, Sri Lankan army chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka announced on state television that his body had been found.
"A few hours ago, the body of terrorist leader Prabhakaran, who ruined this country, was found on the battleground," he said, adding that it had been positively identified using DNA testing.
Television pictures showed Sri Lankan troops standing over a bloated, uniformed corpse, whose face closely resembled that of the rebel leader.
The forehead had been covered with a cloth, but the face was exposed, its eyes and mouth open. The footage also showed a copy of a military ID tag written in Tamil, bearing the number "0:01", and what appeared to be a Tamil Tiger identity card bearing Prabhakaran's photograph.

Denial
On Monday the army said it had killed Prabhakaran after over-running the last patch of territory held by the Tamil Tiger rebels (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE).
It said Prabhakaran, who founded and had led the LTTE since the mid-1970s, was shot dead with two senior deputies as they tried to escape.
There were scenes of jubilation across the country as reports of Prabhakaran's death spread.
Drivers and motorcyclists sounded their horns, while others waved flags and set off firecrackers.
"We are happy today to see the end of that ruthless terrorist organisation and its heartless leader. We can live in peace after this," said Sinhalese businessman Lal Hettige.
However, the website TamilNet quoted LTTE diplomatic head Selvarajah Pathmanathan as saying Prabhakaran was still alive.
"I wish to inform the global Tamil community distressed witnessing the final events of the war that our beloved leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran is alive and safe," he said.
Neither sides' claims have been independently verified because reporters are not allowed into the former conflict zone.
The Tigers had been fighting for a separate state for Tamils in the north and east of Sri Lanka since the 1970s.
More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict and thousands displaced.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply troubled" by civilian deaths and that he would visit Sri Lanka on Friday to assess the situation.

(Source:bbcnews.com)