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LONDON, Dec 9: Declaring "I feel fine," former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, 80, checked out of a London hospital Thursday after spending the night under observation for an apparent heart problem. She shielded her eyes from flashing press cameras at the front door of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in west London, then broke into a smile and waved feebly as she got into the back leather seat of her Jaguar car — AFP.
India successfully tests Trishul missile
BHUBANESHWAR, (India), Dec 9: India successfully tested its Trishul missile Thursday in the eastern state of Orissa, defence officials said. The Trishul was fired a day after the Indian military tested its surface-to-air missile, Akash, at the same location of Chandipur-on-Sea. Trishul, which was last tested on October 5, is being designed for use by the army, airforce and the navy and can transport a 15-kilogramme (33 pound) conventional warhead up to nine kilometres (5.5 miles) — AFP.
Britain complains Iran undermining nuclear diplomacy
TEHRAN, Dec 9: (AFP) - Britain warned Thursday that efforts to resume difficult nuclear negotiations with Iran on its disputed nuclear programme were being endangered by a series of tough warnings from the Islamic republic. The bleak statement from the British embassy in Tehran comes amid increasing pessimism among European Union diplomats, who are trying to secure guarantees the clerical regime will not use an atomic energy drive as a cover for nuclear weapons developments — AFP.
Ante Gotovina - the fugitive who hampered Croatia's future
ZAGREB, Dec 9: Fugitive war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina, whose arrested was announced Thursday, has been the major obstacle in Croatia's bid to join the European Union. As a general who led a key 1995 military operation in which Croatia regained territory held by rebel Serbs in the south, practically ending the war of independence from the former Yugoslavia, he enjoys widespread popularity at home — AFP.
Musharraf says bin Laden's fate a mystery
MECCA, (Saudi Arabia), Dec 9: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday that the fate of Osama bin Laden, the Western world's most wanted man, remained a mystery. "I don't know if he is dead or alive. I don't know where he is. I would avoid guessing," Musharaf told reporters on the sidelines of a two-day summit of Islamic leaders in the holy city of Mecca, western Saudi Arabia — AFP.
Pope to visit native Bavaria
in September 2006
BERLIN, Dec 8 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI will visit the southern German province of Bavaria where he was born for the first time since his election as pontiff in September 2006, the archbishop of Munich said Thursday. During the September 10-15 trip the pope will visit Munich, the university town of Regensburg, the pilgrimage site of Altoetting and the village of Marktl-am-Inn where he was born Joseph Ratzinger on April 1927, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter said — AFP.
China announces new human
case of bird flu
BEIJING, Dec 9: A 31-year-old farmer has been confirmed as China's fifth human case of bird flu after she fell sick following contact with dead birds and was treated for pneumonia, state media reported Thursday. "The Ministry of Health reported on December 8 that a pneumonia case of unknown reason in Heishan county, Liaoning province, has been confirmed as deadly H5N1 bird flu," the Xinhua news agency said- — AFP.
Indian air force officer become first woman to be court martialled
BANGALORE, (India), Dec 9: An air force officer became the first woman to be court martialled and dismissed from India's armed forces Thursday after being found guilty of indiscipline and insubordination. "The tribunal has found flying officer Anjali Gupta guilty of indiscipline and insubordination," said Group Captain R. Ganesh, chief of a five-member military tribunal which heard the case — AFP.
Strong earthquake rocks
Papua New Guinea
JAKARTA, Dec 9: An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale struck off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea Thursday, seismologists said. The quake occurred at 4pm (0901 GMT) with the epicenter 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Jayapura, the capital of the Indonesian part of Papua island, Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency said-
— AFP.
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