US begins enhanced Ebola screening program at New York's JFK airport

NEW YORK: Stepped up efforts by the US to halt the spread of the Ebola virus will start at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday, where teams armed with thermal guns and questionnaires will screen travelers from West African countries hit hardest by the outbreak.

JFK Airport is the first of five US airports to start enhanced screening of US-bound travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where most of the outbreak's more than 4,000 deaths have occurred.

Nearly all of those traveling to the United States from those countries arrive at JFK, Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta. The new procedures will begin at the other four airports next week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the airport screening is just one aspect of an overall strategy to fight the spread of Ebola.

"Because we want to protect the American public, we are taking a tiered approach," said CDC spokesman Jason McDonald.

But even before authorities start checking passengers for fevers, critics questioned whether the screenings would prove effective at stopping travelers infected with the often fatal Ebola virus from entering the country.

JFK is the US entry point for nearly half of the roughly 150 travelers who arrive daily from the three West African countries, and those flights amount to about one-tenth of 1% of all international daily arrivals to the airport, McDonald said.

The department of homeland security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will conduct the screenings under CDC direction, McDonald said.

Using FDA-approved infrared temperature guns, the CBP staffers will check for elevated temperatures among passengers whose journeys began or included a stop in one of the three West African countries.

Screeners will also assess passengers for signs of potential illness and ask them to answer questions about their health and whether they may have come into contact with an Ebola patient.

Those with a fever or other symptoms or possible exposure to Ebola will be referred to the CDC, which will determine next steps. Health authorities may decide to take a person to a hospital for evaluation, testing and treatment, or to quarantine or isolate the patient under federal law, according to the CDC.

"Breaking a federal quarantine order is punishable by fines and imprisonment," according to the CDC's website.

But US health authorities have never before used fever monitoring to screen travelers, said Lawrence Gostin, who teaches global health law at Georgetown Law School, and that monitoring didn't work well when used in Canada and Asia during the SARS outbreak in 2002.

Fever-monitoring "had virtually no effectiveness," he said. "It is unlikely to keep us safe."

Taking over-the-counter medication during the flight can easily help travelers bring down a fever to evade detection, Gostin said. Passengers also could lie on questionnaires aimed at determining whether the traveler has been exposed to the deadly virus, said Dr. David Mabey, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"People may not fill them in very truthfully. They don't want to be delayed for hours," Mabey said.

Passengers are already screened when they depart from the three west African countries. In the two months since those screenings began, only 77 of the 36,000 screened travelers were denied boarding, the CDC said. Many of them were diagnosed later with malaria, and none with Ebola.

Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national who died in Dallas this week, was able to fly to the United States from Liberia because he didn't have a fever when screened at the airport in the capital, Monrovia. And he filled out a questionnaire saying he had not been in contact with anyone infected with Ebola. Liberian officials have said Duncan lied on the questionnaire and had been in contact with a pregnant woman who later died.

Both Mabey and Gostin said it was unlikely that a person who passed the temperature screening at departure time would develop a high fever during the plane ride to the United States

But Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, who teaches about infectious disease at Tufts University School of Medicine, said the US screenings "will incrementally pick up some people" and are a valuable tool to raise awareness that early detection and treatment are key to survival.

"You want to convert yourself to a person who it's caught in early and increase your chances of making it," Griffiths said.

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At least nine dead, 30 missing in Guinea boat accident

CONAKRY: At least nine people are dead and another 30 are missing following a boat accident on a river in Guinea, local residents and police said.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon near the town of Contah, in the West African nation's Forecariah district, around 100 km (64 miles) southeast of the capital Conakry.

"The boat's passengers were all inside when it capsized. We have counted nine bodies and there are around 30 unaccounted for," Oumar Camara, a resident of Forecariah, told Reuters by phone.

Eighteen people were rescued and survived, he said. Local authorities were continuing to search for victims of the accident as night fell.

Boat wrecks are a fairly common occurrence in West Africa due to lax enforcement of safety regulations and particularly around Forecariah, which is home to a number of villages situated on islands.

The district is located near the border with Sierra Leone. Both countries are struggling to contain the worst Ebola epidemic on record, which has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 people since it was first identified in Guinea in March.

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Idaho becomes latest US state to allow gay marriage

WASHINGTON: A county clerk in Idaho began issuing the state's first marriage licenses to gay couples on Friday after the US Supreme Court lifted a temporary hold it imposed days earlier, capping a week of victories for supporters of same-sex matrimony in America.

The move came as barriers to gay marriage fell state by state this week, from Nevada to North Carolina, and followed days of back-and-forth federal court actions that could soon see legal weddings for same-sex couples extended to 35 states.

Susan Petersen, clerk of Latah County in northwest Idaho which includes the college town of Moscow, said she issued her first license to a lesbian couple after getting guidance from county legal advisers.

But there was no immediate word on whether licenses were being issued elsewhere in the state after the late afternoon high court action. A spokesman for Idaho's attorney general said officials were awaiting a mandate from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to proceed.

"We understand the very clear message sent by the US Supreme court," said the spokesman, Todd Dvorak.

The 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over much of the western United States, overturned gay marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday, although the Idaho ruling was briefly put on hold by the US Supreme Court at the state's request.

Nevada, where officials indicated they were ready to embrace same-sex matrimony, began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on Thursday.

'Emotional roller coaster'

Ty Carson, 41 of Boise, said she hoped to swiftly marry her partner of 16 years, with whom she has three children, even as the late afternoon timing of the decision meant that many couples might have to wait until Tuesday to wed, after a long holiday weekend.

"We've been here before," Carson said. "The reason we're going through this emotional roller coaster is so that our kids can one day laugh about how this used to be against the law."

Idaho Association of Counties deputy director Tony Poinelli said he was not aware of any plans by clerk's offices to stay open past regular business hours to process applications for the permits.

The US Supreme Court action on Friday capped a week in which its nine justices played a crucial role in paving the way for gay marriage in up to 11 states where it was previously illegal.

On Monday, the justices declined to hear appeals in seven different cases, leaving intact other regional appeals court rulings that struck down gay marriage bans in five states, and could indirectly impact six more.

In North Carolina, US District Judge Max Cogburn struck down that state's prohibition, writing in his ruling that it was neither a political nor a moral issue.

"It is a legal issue and it is clear as a matter of what is now settled law ... (that the state's laws banning gay nuptials) are unconstitutional," Cogburn wrote.

A day after the Supreme Court made its surprise announcement, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down Idaho and Nevada's bans, in rulings that will in turn affect three more states in its jurisdiction: Arizona, Alaska and Montana.

In Anchorage, a federal judge heard arguments on Friday in a lawsuit brought by five same-sex couples challenging that state's prohibition.

Allison Mendell, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said they are in a winning position, but the fight is not over yet.

"In some states, the attorney general and governor have thrown in the towel. Ours hasn't," Mendell said.

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North Korea says talks with South Korea 'all but scrapped'

SEOUL: North Korea's state media said on Saturday high-level talks with the South Korea were now all but scrapped due to the launch of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets from the South a day earlier.

The two Koreas traded heavy machine-gun fire across their border Friday, triggered by the North Korean military trying to shoot down balloons carrying the leaflets, launched by activists in the South.

Some rounds fell on the Southern side, which then responded with high-calibre machine gun fire. No casualties were reported on the South's side, and none are believed to have taken place in the North.

"Because of the irresponsible and provocative acts by the puppet regime... the planned high-level meeting is all but scrapped," Pyongyang's official Internet news provider Uriminzokkiri said.

However it did not shut the door completely. "It is totally up to the South Korean puppets' attitude what would happen to the North-South Korean relations in the future," it added.

A week earlier, the two Koreas had agreed to work on resuming a formal high-level dialogue that has effectively been suspended for seven months.

The agreement came during a surprise visit to South Korea by three top-ranking North Korean officials, two of them close aides to paramount leader Kim Jong-Un, ostensibly to encourage North Korean athletes and attend the closing ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games.

The visit raised hopes of a thaw in strained inter-Korean relations. Pyongyang had repeatedly warned of a "catastrophic" end in cross-border ties unless South Korea halted the launch of the leaflets as the North marked the anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers' Party.

The North Korean website said the South should have taken its warnings seriously and prevented such launches if it really wants dialogue and improvement in inter-Korean ties.

"The real culprits of this leaflet-launching commotion are the United States and the puppet regime," it said.

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Cyclone Hudhud: SECR cancels five passenger trains in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: With Hudhud cyclone approaching south eastern regions, South East Central Railway has decided cancellation of services of five express trains in Chhattisgarh and about 30 trains will run on diverted routes on October 11 and 12 for safety of passengers.

According to weather experts Hudhud is expected to hit parts of Chhattisgarh with strong winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall which may cause damage in norther Bastar and Raipur too.

Hence, to safeguard passengers from cyclonic impact, Durg-Jagdalpur express on Saturday and Samta express, Vishakapatna-Lokmanyatilak express, Vishakapatnam-Korba express and Korba-Vishakapatnam express on Sunday have been cancelled.

Nearly 35 other trains are expected to keep diverted via other routes on Sunday.

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Bombay high court grants bail to Aggarwal in Sohrabuddin case

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Friday granted bail to Dr Vipul Aggarwal, a Gujarat cadre IPS officer accused in the Sohrabudding Sheikh fake encounter case. The court directed his release on a bail amount of Rs 50,000.

Aggarwal had sought bail on the grounds that he was not even 'remotely connected' with the alleged fake encounter of the alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Aggarwal, arrested in connection with Tulsiram Parajapati's case, claimed he was abroad for two months on a United Nations training mission and had resumed work less than a week before the alleged encounter.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its chargesheet on September 4, 2012 had said Aggarwal's role was that he tried to shield the actual perpetrators of the crime, of which several area already out on bail he said.

He was arrested by the Gujarat CID in 2010, and has already spent over three years in judicial custody after the matter was transferred to the CBI in 2011. His bail plea said it not even alleged that he was at the scene of the alleged crime. He said his pre-trial incarceration cannot become punitive, especially since the trial is not expected to be complete anytime soon.

In September the HC while granting another suspended police officer D G Vanzara bail in the Sohrabuddin case, seven years after being in custody it had said, it is evident that the killing of Sohrabuddin was pre-planned, and it was also pre-planned to show that it was an encounter.

Advocate H S Venegaonkar counsel for CBI had opposed the bail plea.

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Pentagon approves two technology transfer licences to India

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has approved two previously-stalled technology transfer licences to India and in an unprecedented move has set aside USD 20 million for strategic cooperative science and technology projects with New Delhi.

While the decision in this regard was made just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit, the announcement was made by a top Pentagon official during the annual gala of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) on Thursday.

"What is critical now is that we agree on some projects that we can use to continue building our relationship. Good intentions must lead to tangible results, or the momentum we have built will fade," said Frank Kendall, under secretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics during his address at the event.

Kendall, who is Pentagon's point person for the India-US defence trade and technology initiative (DTTI), however, did not give details about the two licences approved by the US.

He said: "I have also set aside USD 20 million for strategic cooperative science and technology projects with India, something we have done with no other country."

Kendall, who accompanied defence secretary Chuck Hagel to India this summer, was highly appreciative of the developments and policy changes in India.

"It was very clear to secretary Hagel and me that a new wind was blowing in India — the monsoon had changed direction and intensity. Everyone we met, at all levels, was highly interested in opportunities for cooperation," Kendall said.

He said: "Modi made it clear to secretary Hagel that India was very interested in expanding its defence industry and increasing the level of technology that could be developed and manufactured in India. This sentiment was repeated at every level. The desire we felt to inject new momentum into this relationship and DTTI was echoed by those across the table."

Kendall said he and his Indian counterpart Mohan Kumar have agreed to establish a written framework for DTTI and to meet in person every six months.

"We also agreed that India would work to finalise approval of the renewal of the research, development, test and evaluation memorandum of agreement (RDT&E MoU) for signature during my November visit," he said.

The two have also agreed to continue efforts to identify specific co-development and co-production opportunities and that acting assistant secretary for research and engineering Al Shaffer would continue to work with scientific adviser to the minister of defence to develop specific science and technology projects.

"I believe both the US and Indian DTTI teams concluded our meetings feeling energised, focused and optimistic about future cooperation," he said.

Kendall refuted the notion that DTTI is an attempt to sell defence products to India, saying it is "just one facet of an initiative to build a deeper, closer, and broader relationship with one of the most important countries on earth."

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We stand by joint statement with India on South China Sea: US

WASHINGTON: The US has dismissed Chinese resentment over India and America expressing concern on the South China Sea dispute during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington, and described New Delhi as an important partner.

"I think our position hasn't changed on this issue. You are familiar with it, but we certainly work with countries in the region to address maritime issues," state department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

"And certainly, India is an important partner, and it's only natural that this was a topic of discussion but also a topic of output from our meetings when the prime minister was here just a few weeks ago," she told reporters on Thursday.

A joint statement issued after Modi's meeting with US President Barack Obama on September 30 for the first time made a direct reference to the South China Sea (SCS) dispute.

The statement said: "The leaders expressed concern about rising tensions over maritime territorial disputes, and affirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea."

In the statement, both leaders called for "all parties to avoid the use, or threat of use, of force in advancing their claims" and help find a peaceful resolution in the area.

China this week reacted sharply to the joint statement, asserting that the maritime row should be resolved directly by parties concerned and no third party should meddle in it.

"Our position is that the dispute in the South China Sea should be resolved by countries directly concerned through negotiations and consultations. Any third party should not be involved in this," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei has said.

China claims over 90 per cent of the resource-rich South China Sea as its own.

Most recently, Vietnam and the Philippines have been most vocal about pushing back on China's claims, through verbal and naval confrontations.

Rival countries have wrangled over territorial claims in the contested South China Sea — but a recent surge in tension has sparked concern that the area is becoming a flashpoint with global consequences.

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Supreme Court asks CBI if it intends to examine Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday if it proposed to examine former finance minister P Chidambaram on the clearance given to the Aircel-Maxis deal over which charges had been filed some time ago.

BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy told the court that while charges on deal had already been been filed, there seemed to be no progress on CBI's part to seek clarifications on the nod given by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) at Chidambaram's behest.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice SA Bobde asked senior counsel KK Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, to apprise the court on this count at the next hearing, fixed for October 16.

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35 people fall sick after eating stale prasad in West Bengal

CANNING (WB): At least 35 people were taken ill after eating stale prasad at a Lakshmi Puja pandal in Thakurdaha of South 24-Parganas district, health officials said on Friday.

They were admitted to the Padmerhat primary health centre on Wednesday and their condition is stable now.

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Israel PM orders new legislation against illegal immigrants

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered ministers on Tuesday to draft new legislation to tackle illegal immigrants after the high court overturned a law allowing their extended detention without trial.

The order came at a meeting with the ministers of justice, the interior and public security a day after a heated parliamentary debate which saw hardline MPs attacking the court ruling.

"At the end of the meeting, the prime minister requested that a new bill be prepared that would express the government of Israel's determination to continue to act against infiltrators," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

It was using a term often employed by the government to refer to illegal migrants, most of them Africans who slipped across the border from Egypt.

It said tough government policy had so far led to he expulsion of 6,000 such illegals.

"It was agreed that the interior minister will at the earliest opportunity draft the outline of a new law which will enable the continued arrest of new infiltrators and their transfer to a custodial facility for an effective period of time and to continue the operation of the Holot holding facility," the statement added.

The high court ruled on September 22 that the government could no longer detain illegal migrants for up to a year without trial and ordered the closure of the Holot centre, deep in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, within 90 days.

Around 2,000 Africans are currently held there. A year ago, the High Court struck down a similar law allowing migrants to be held for up to three years without trial.

"It is in the highest national interest to prevent the entry of new infiltrators to Israel and to encourage the departure of those who are in Israel and that is what we shall do," the statement quoted Netanyahu as telling Tuesday's meeting.

Government figures indicate there are some 48,000 Africans residing illegally in Israel, most of them from Eritrea, where the regime has been repeatedly accused of widespread human rights abuses, and from conflict-torn Sudan.

Many of them live in impoverished areas of southern Tel Aviv, where Israeli residents have frequently protested against their presence.

A spokeswoman for justice minister Tzipi Livni said that while new legislation was necessary, it would not defy the court's ruling, which protected the Africans' human rights.

"Israel has a fundamental right to prevent the infiltration of work migrants through its borders, yet at the same time they will be treated only within the limitations set out by the court," Maya Bengal told AFP ahead of the meeting.

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Warren Buffett predicts Hillary Clinton will win presidency in 2016

LAGUNA NIGUEL, California: Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Tuesday predicted Democrat Hillary Clinton would run for the US presidency in 2016 and win.

"Hillary is going to run," said Buffett, the chairman and chief executive of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc, speaking at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, California.

"Hillary's going to win," said Buffett, saying he'd be willing to "bet money on it."

Buffett is ranked by Forbes as the third-richest person in the world.

Speculation has swirled whether former secretary of state Clinton will throw her hat into the ring for the next election. While she is considered a potential contender for the job, she herself has yet to announce her decision on running.

"She's going to announce it as late as possible," Buffett said.

Buffett also added that he expected a pick-up in US homebuilding as young people marry and create households of their own.

"We will have a catch up period," he said. "It (homebuilding) will improve."

The S&P homebuilding index is down about 5 percent in 2014 but has risen about 157 percent since 2008 and the financial crisis.

Buffett — whose Berkshire Hathaway owns dozens of businesses ranging from ice cream to insurance — also said that banks are not as profitable as they were previously.

"What was a very profitable business has been turned into a good business if executed well," Buffett said of the largest US banks. Among Berkshire Hathaway's stock portfolio is a significant stake in Wells Fargo.

A decade ago or more, Buffett said, the best banks were "ungodly profitable."

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US court lifts gay wedding bans in five more states

LOS ANGELES: A US federal court swept away bans on same-sex marriage in five more US states on Tuesday, bringing the number where gay weddings are permissible, or soon will be, to 35.

In the second piece of good news for same-sex marriage supporters in two days, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal handed down rulings covering Nevada and Idaho, but its findings also cover Alaska, Arizona and Montana.

"Intentional discrimination on the basis of gender by state actors violates the Equal Protection Clause," the ruling read.

"Idaho and Nevada's same-sex marriage proscriptions are sex based, and these bans do serve to preserve 'invidious, archaic, and overbroad stereotypes' concerning gender roles," it noted.

"The bans therefore must fail as impermissible gender discrimination," added the ruling, by a three-judge panel.

Same-sex marriage campaigners welcomed the move, which they said meant 64 percent of Americans now live in states where gay couples can marry or will soon be able to.

"We hope that the other federal appellate courts will move swiftly to end the disparity and unfair denial that too many loving and committed couples in the 15 remaining states endure," said Evan Wolfson, head of Freedom to Marry.

The latest ruling came a day after the Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider — for now — a nationwide ruling on the divisive issue.

In a surprise move, the top US court snubbed appeals from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin where state-level bans on gay marriage had been deemed unconstitutional.

Marriages in those five states had been on hold pending the court's decision on whether to hear the cases. Campaigners said the ruling meant that same-sex couples in the five states will soon be able to legally marry.

Nineteen US states and the District of Columbia already recognize marriage equality, after the Supreme Court last year ruled that under federal law, wedded same-sex couples were entitled to the same rights and privileges as heterosexual ones.

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FBI asks public to help identify militant in Islamic State video

WASHINGTON: The FBI is asking the public to help identify a masked man who speaks in what is believed to be a North American accent in a video that Islamic State militants released last month aimed at Western audiences.

In an excerpt of the video released by the FBI, the man, dressed in camouflage and wearing a shoulder holster, speaks in English and Arabic as he stands in front of men he says are Islamic State prisoners.

"We're hoping that someone might recognize this individual and provide us with key pieces of information," Michael Steinbach, assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said in a statement on Tuesday. "No piece of information is too small."

The federal law enforcement agency also requested the public's assistance "in identifying U.S. persons going to fight overseas with terrorist groups or who are returning home from fighting overseas."

The agency said tips could be sent to www.fbi.gov/ISILtips.

Western countries say scores of their citizens have traveled to Syria to fight on behalf of Islamic State, which has captured sections of Iraq and Syria. The group has released videos showing the beheadings of Western hostages in which a fighter with a British accent appears.

The United States has been bombing Islamic State positions in Iraq since August and extended the campaign to Syria in September.

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Explosion rocks French Cultural Center in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: An explosion rocked the French Cultural Center in Gaza City, causing some damage but no casualties.

Gaza police said that they are investigating the blast, which occurred on Tuesday night.

Officials at the center added that no one was in the building at the time of the explosion and that most of the damage was in the facility's restaurant.

The French Cultural Center in Gaza conducts French language courses and transfers visa applications for France from local residents to the French consulate in Jerusalem for processing.

Gaza was hit hard in a 50-day war this summer between Israel and Hamas. The deadly conflict also destroyed or damaged more than 60,000 homes and more than 5,000 businesses, according to joint assessments by the Palestinian government and the United Nations.

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Maharashtra court exempts Rahul from appearance in defamation case

THANE: A magisterial court in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district on Tuesday granted exemption to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi from personal appearance in a case in which he has been accused of making defamatory references to RSS while campaigning during Lok Sabha polls.

First class judicial magistrate S V Swami granted Rahul's prayer for exemption moved by his counsel citing his busy schedule due to assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.

Swami had directed the Congress leader to be present in the court on Tuesday in connection with a case filed by secretary of Bhiwandi unit of RSS Rajesh Kunte, who had claimed Rahul had "distorted history" and "defamed" the organization by alleging that "RSS people had killed Mahatma Gandhi".

The court directed that Rahul be present himself before it on January 7, the next date of hearing.

The magistrate had on July 11 ordered processes to be issued against Rahul under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (defamation) to ensure his presence before the court for allegedly accusing RSS of killing Mahatma Gandhi, while addressing an election rally at Sonale village on March 6.

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Britain, Ireland inks visa deal to benefit Chinese, Indian travellers

LONDON/DUBLIN: Britain and Ireland on Monday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on visa cooperation to allow Chinese and Indian visitors to travel to the two island nations on a single visa.

The landmark visa deal will help Britain and Ireland share data and exchange information to inform and determine immigration decisions and allow visitors from India and China to travel more easily between the two countries, Xinhua reported citing the British Home Office.

"This agreement will make it easier and more attractive for travellers to visit both Ireland and Britain, while at the same strengthening Common Travel Area borders," British Home Secretary Theresa May said.

The British-Irish Visa scheme will start in China by the end of October and in India soon afterwards, the Home Office noted.

China and India are both key markets for British and Irish tourism and more than 10,000 visitors are expected to use the scheme.

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Britain, Ireland ink visa deal to benefit Chinese, Indian travellers

LONDON/DUBLIN: Britain and Ireland on Monday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on visa cooperation to allow Chinese and Indian visitors to travel to the two island nations on a single visa.

The landmark visa deal will help Britain and Ireland share data and exchange information to inform and determine immigration decisions and allow visitors from India and China to travel more easily between the two countries, Xinhua reported citing the British Home Office.

"This agreement will make it easier and more attractive for travellers to visit both Ireland and Britain, while at the same strengthening Common Travel Area borders," British Home Secretary Theresa May said.

The British-Irish Visa scheme will start in China by the end of October and in India soon afterwards, the Home Office noted.

China and India are both key markets for British and Irish tourism and more than 10,000 visitors are expected to use the scheme.

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'Osama's body dropped into sea with 300 pounds of iron chains'

WASHINGTON: After al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in Pakistan's garrison town of Abbottabad, his body was kept in a heavy black bag of 300 pounds of iron chain and dropped into the sea, former CIA director and defense secretary Leon Panetta has said.

After Osama was shot dead, Panetta said, as planned the body of the world's most wanted terrorist was transported by marines flying an Osprey to waiting aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for his burial by sea.

"Bin Laden's body was prepared for burial according to Muslim traditions, draped in a white shroud, given final prayers in Arabic, and then placed inside a heavy black bag," Panetta wrote in his latest book 'Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace' which hit the book stores today.

"Three hundred pounds of iron chains were put inside as well, to ensure that the body would sink," he wrote.

"The bagged body was placed on a white table at the rail of the ship; the table was tipped over to drop the body into the sea. It was so heavy that it dragged the table in with it. As the body sank quickly out of sight, the table bobbed on the surface," Panetta said, without identifying the location.

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Govt mulling raising scientists' retirement age to 62

NEW DELHI: The retirement age of scientists may be raised from 60 to 62 years to help put their acumen to an extended use.

Indications in this regard were given by minister of state for science and technology Jitendra Singh here.

"The government is seriously thinking of enhancing the reitrement age of the scientists to 62. The kind of acumen they achieve by the time they reach the age of 60 should be put to use for another two years. We would seriously work on the feasibility of this proposal," he said.

He, however, clarified that the proposal to increase the age of scientists was limited to his ministries.

Besides science and technology, Singh is in-charge of Earth sciences, departments of atomic energy and space and personnel, public grievances & pensions. He is also MoS PMO.

Singh added that the proposal of increasing the age of scientists is being deliberated as it requires approvals from different ministries to take the "positive steps".

Currently, the age of Central government employees is 60. Many scientists serve in different ministries other than core sciences.

Also, there are several scientists heading different ministries and departments have well crossed their retirement age, but have been retained by the government owing to their experience and expertise.

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Kurds battle for key Syria town, woman suicide bomber hits IS

MURSITPINAR, Turkey: Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes battled the Islamic State group for a key Syrian town Sunday, with one woman defender blowing herself up using the jihadists' own tactic.

IS fighters seized part of a strategic hill overlooking the town of Kobane late on Saturday, a monitor said, but their progress was slowed by new strikes from the coalition of Washington and Arab allies.

A Kobane local official, Idris Nahsen, said IS fighters were just one kilometre (less than a mile) from the town and that air strikes alone were not enough to stop them.

He complained of a lack of coordination between the coalition and Kurdish fighters on the ground.

In a sign of the Kurdish defenders' determination to keep the jihadists at bay, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a female suicide bomber blew herself up at an IS position east of Kobane.

"The operation caused deaths, but there is no confirmed number," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said of the first reported instance of a female Kurdish fighter employing a tactic often used by IS itself.

The border town of Kobane has become a crucial battleground in the international fight against IS, which sparked further outrage this weekend with the release of a video showing the beheading of Briton Alan Henning.

The video — the latest in a series of on-camera beheadings of Western hostages — included a threat to another hostage, US aid worker Peter Kassig.

Fighting raged around Kobane as the jihadists pressed their nearly three-week siege of the town, said the Britain-based Observatory.

"IS succeeded on Saturday night in taking the southern part of the Mishtenur hill," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

He said there were seven new coalition strikes against IS positions late Saturday and that the air raids were hindering the jihadist advance.

In a statement, US Central Command said the US military carried out three air strikes in Syria on Saturday, while fighter jets, bombers and helicopters were used in six assaults against IS in Iraq on Sunday.

The sound of shelling echoed from the town — also known as Ain al-Arab — as warplanes roared overhead Sunday, an AFP reporter just across the border in Turkey said.

One mortar round hit a house on Turkish territory just a few kilometres (miles) from Kobane, wounding five people, medical sources said.

The source of the fire was unclear, but residents of two small border villages were ordered evacuated as a precaution.

Tear gas was fired to clear the border zone around the Mursitpinar crossing, the main vantage point for watching the fighting for reporters and Kurds.

Sunday's toll was not known, but the Observatory, which relies on a network of local sources, said at least 33 IS fighters and 23 of the town's Kurdish defenders were killed on Saturday.

IS began its advance on Kobane on September 16, seeking to cement its grip over a long stretch of the Syria-Turkey border.

The offensive prompted a mass exodus from the town and surrounding countryside, with some 186,000 people fleeing into Turkey.

Extremist Sunni Muslim group IS has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, declaring a "caliphate" in June and imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

The group has been accused of carrying out widespread atrocities including mass executions, abductions, torture and forcing women into slavery.

It has also released videos of the on-camera beheadings of two US journalists, a British aid worker and on Friday of Henning, a 47-year-old British volunteer driver who went to Syria with a Muslim charity.

After first launching strikes against IS in Iraq in August, Washington has built a coalition of allies to wage an air campaign against the group.

Britain and France have joined the strikes in Iraq, while an F16 war plane carried out Belgium's first bombing raid there on Sunday.

Dutch and Australian fighter jets flew their first missions over Iraq on Sunday but did not launch any air strikes.

Five Arab nations — Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — have meanwhile taken part in the Syria raids.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Paris will "increase" the rate of air patrols over Iraq, branding IS "a terrorist army".

In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah called for joint efforts to fight extremism "and defeat it because it has nothing to do with Islam".

Turkey's parliament last week authorised the government to join the campaign, but so far no plans for military action have been announced.

Elsewhere, the Observatory said Syrian rebels on Sunday seized a strategic hilltop in the southern province of Daraa after a two-day battle in which 30 regime forces and 29 rebels were killed.

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Two Swiss nationals shot dead in Philippines, police say

MANILA: Two Swiss nationals have been shot dead in a southern Philippine resort town, police said on Monday.

The victims, 67-year-old Robert Erich Loever and 78-year-old Baltazar Johann Erni, had just stepped out from a beach resort at 1pm (0500 GMT) Sunday in Opol town, Misamis Oriental province, when unidentified gunmen shot them in the head, municipal police chief Senior Inspector Alwin Baclao said.

The assailants fled on foot, Baclao said, according to the victims' two female companions who witnessed the attack.

Police ruled out robbery as motive after the suspects ran away without taking the victims' belongings, Baclao said, adding an investigation was underway.

Criminal gangs are known to operate in the southern Philippines, prompting China last month to warn its citizens against travel to the area.

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Malaysian navy boat goes missing with 7 crew members

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian combat boat with seven crew members has gone missing during a routine patrol off Borneo island in rough seas, with bad weather hampering the search and rescue operations.

The incident happened yesterday when the CB90H attack boat set out for a routine sea patrol on their way to Pulau Layang Layang atoll, which is part of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea, when it went off the radar with the Sepanggar Navy base.

It had last communicated with the base requesting permission to turn back from its mission due to bad weather.

China claims almost all of the sea, a vital avenue for world trade that is also believed to harbour vast oil and gas reserves.

A source with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said the search operation resumed after it was suspended for several hours earlier today due to bad weather.

Its last known position was some 20 nautical miles northeast of Pulau Mangalum.

New Straits Times, quoting unnamed sources, said three ships have been deployed from the Kota Kinabalu naval base for the search and rescue mission.

Air assets from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency have also been roped in to help with the search near Pulau Mangalum and Pulau Gaya.

Authorities believe the missing vessel may have lost contact with the base after being hit by strong waves.

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AgustaWestland chopper deal case: Businessman Gautam Khaitan sent to judicial custody, to be produced tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Businessman Gautam Khaitan, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal case, has been sent to judicial custody till tomorrow by a Delhi court.

Metropolitan magistrate Snigdha Sarvaria had yesterday sent Khaitan in two-day judicial custody after ED submitted that he was not required for further custodial interrogation.

Khaitan was produced before the court after expiry of his five-day ED custody.

ED had earlier alleged in the court that Rs 360 crore was paid as kickbacks in the entire deal.

Khaitan has filed a bail application, through advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, on which the chief metropolitan magistrate had issued notice to ED to give its response by tomorrow.

The bail plea would also be taken up for hearing tomorrow when Khaitan would be produced in court.

In the bail plea, Khaitan said he should be enlarged on bail as he has always cooperated during the investigation and there was no apprehension that he would flee from justice.

ED submitted that Khaitan was on board of Chandigarh-based company Aeromatrix which was allegedly a front firm for the financial dealings in the chopper deal.

Khaitan's counsel, however, had told the court that his client was nowhere connected with the day-to-day affairs of the firm and he had resigned from the post way back in October 2010.

Khaitan was arrested under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by ED which had lodged a case in July this year against Khaitan, former IAF chief SP Tyagi and 19 others in the VVIP chopper deal case to probe alleged kickbacks.

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Modi to address election meeting in Nagpur tomorrow

NAGPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on campaign trail ahead of assembly elections in Maharashtra, will address a public meeting here on Tuesday.

Modi will address the gathering at Kasturchand Park ground in the evening. This would be his first election rally in the city, according to an official release issued here on Monday.

The Prime Minister has already addressed nearly half a dozen meetings in Maharashtra which goes to the polls on October 15.

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Pope Francis opens landmark synod on family, marriage

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Sunday opened a landmark synod of bishops from around the world which will review Church teaching on the family and marriage.

The bishops and a small number of lay figures will spend the next two weeks addressing the gulf between what the Church says about issues such as divorce and cohabitation and what many followers actually do.

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Chinese media warns against Hong Kong-style protests in China

BEIJING: Wary over the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong spreading to China, the official media here said that any attempt to launch a "colour revolution" in the mainland would be futile and a day dream.

"Any intention among a small number of people to hold a colour revolution on the mainland through Hong Kong would be a daydream," the ruling Communist Party of China's official mouthpiece, the People's Daily said.

In a front-page commentary under the headline, "Determined to protect the rule of law in Hong Kong," the newspaper said yesterday that democracy without the rule of law would only result in chaos.

The Occupy Central protests involving thousands of students in Hong Kong opposing the rule to screen the candidates to contest for the post of Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2017 polls wear blue ribbons as the identity of their protest movement.

"Colour revolution" is a term widely used to describe various movements in the former Soviet Union republics during the early 2000s that led to the overthrow of governments. The term was also applied to uprisings in the Middle East in recent years.

It was the third day in a row the party-run newspaper had carried front-page commentary on the protests in Hong Kong that entered its second week today.

Occupy Central "would also cause significant economic loss, and possibly serious consequences in terms of injuries and deaths," Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted the Daily's commentary as saying.

The People's Daily also reported that business had fallen for many hotels, and some overseas investors had put their Hong Kong investment plans on hold.

It added that voters in US had a "limited choice" of presidential candidates and the British made no attempt to introduce democracy in Hong Kong when they ruled the city.

The commentary said, Occupy Central was illegal even though it was branded as "civil disobedience" and peaceful, and Hong Kong police had no alternative but to fire tear gas.

"Dealing with illegal activities through legal means is the best safeguard for the rule of law, and a strong defence for democracy," it said.

"No one can ignore the law. No one is an exception to the rule of law, and young people and students should also obey the law," it added.

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Mexico hit by 5.4-magnitude quake: USGS

MEXICO CITY: A 5.4-magnitude earthquake rattled southeastern Mexico today, seismologists said.

The quake was centered in the state of Veracruz, 47 kilometers southeast of Sayula de Aleman, the US Geological Survey said.

Mexico's National Seismology Service initially measured it at a strong 6.2-magnitude but later revised it to 5.6 strength.

The USGS said the quake was 145 kilometers deep, much farther underground than Mexico's preliminary measurement of 10 kilometers.

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US disease control agents remove sick passenger from flight in Newark: Report

US disease-control agents in biohazard suits removed a sick passenger and his daughter from a United Airlines jet that landed on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, but local media said the man was not believed by federal health officials to have Ebola.

The passenger, who was vomiting during the flight from Brussels to Newark Liberty International Airport, was escorted off the plane by officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and taken to University Hospital in Newark, accompanied by his daughter, according to a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport.

CDC officials were testing the man but do not believe he was sick with the deadly Ebola virus, airport officials told the New Jersey newspaper the Record.

The CDC, which has reported fielding more than 100 inquiries about possible Ebola cases that have turned out to be false alarms, could not be reached by phone or email for comment.

The plane's 251 other passengers and 14 crew members were held in temporary quarantine while health officials evaluated the situation, Erica Dumas, the Port Authority spokeswoman, said. She added that all were ultimately cleared and permitted to leave the plane.

United Airlines said in a statement that passengers and crew were held while public health officials interviewed each person on board.

"Upon arrival at Newark Airport from Brussels, medical professionals instructed that customers and crew of United Flight 998 remain on board until they could assist an ill customer," a statement said.

The sick passenger and his daughter were believed to be from Liberia, WABC-TV reported. It said they had transferred to the US-bound flight in Brussels, a major hub for flights from western and central African countries.

Liberia is the West African country hardest-hit by the Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 3,400 people since March, according to the World Health Organization.

The first case of Ebola diagnosed in the United States was confirmed this week in a man who had recently flown to Dallas from Liberia by way of Brussels.

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Pro Jayalalithaa protests complete a week, to continue

CHENNAI: Protests and fasts continued in Tamil Nadu today over jailing of AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa in the illegal assets case with bus services being suspended in many districts and a private schools' federation announcing that their schools would remain closed on October 7.

Officials said passengers were affected as over 6,000 private buses suspended their services in the state, barring three districts, protesting the conviction of Jayalalithaa by a Special Court at Bangalore on September 27.

Responding to the call given by the Federation of Bus Operators' Association of Tamil Nadu, private bus services were suspended in all districts, barring Chennai, Nilgiris and Kanyakumari. Inter-district, intra-district and private buses plying inside towns were part of the strike, officials said.

Protests by AIADMK workers and Jayalalithaa supporters continued with some of them conducting special prayers in temples for the speedy release of their leader.

AIADMK legislators and Chennai Mayor S Duraisamy wore black shirts and observed a fast at the memorial of party founder M G Ramachandran (MGR) at the Marina beach here.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu announced that private schools across the state would remain closed on October 7.

Over 4,500 private schools would not function protesting the jailing of Jayalalithaa, while principals and administrators of these schools would hold a protest in front of the School Education Department in Chennai on that day, D C Elangovan, Secretary, Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, said in Salem.

A Coimbatore report said some 800 private buses did not ply in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts with their owners, drivers and conductors observing one-day strike.

Police said passengers were put to a lot of hardship due to the strike, as about 350 buses in the city, 150 in Pollachi and 210 in Tirupur did not run.

Meanwhile, about 20 employees of a Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation liquor outlet staged a demonstration in Coimbatore seeking early release of Jayalalithaa, they said.

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