International News for December 7, 2008

Guardian newspaper tracks down Mumbai terrorists family in Pak Punjab(Update)
A British daily, the Guardian, has claimed that it has tracked down the family of the lone surviving gunman involved in the last weeks terrorist attack on Mumbai in Pakistan Punjab province. ANI

Now see your favorite politician with his pants down!
You have seen them giving speeches and making TV appearances - now one can see worlds famous politicians sitting on the toilet seat - courtesy caricatures made in Spain! ANI

Martha Sunny von Bulow dies after 30 years in coma
After spending 30 years in coma, Manhattan socialite Martha Sunny von Bulow died in a New York nursing home. She was 76. ANI

Obamas ex campaign manager penning The Audacity To Win
U.S president-elect Barack Obamas former campaign manager David Plouffe is writing a book about the historic election victory. ANI

Republican National Committees $180K spending on Palin and family
Sarah Palins salons and spas expenses, including 350 dollars at Escape Skin Care and Day Spa in New York, have surfaced as the latest bills paid from the Republican National Committees account during the Presidential campaign, according to reports. ANI

Sonia Menon crowned Miss Pesta Pulau Pinang 2008
College student Sonia Menon has won Miss Pesta Pulau Pinang 2008 title. ANI

Meet the 78-year-old who celebrates Christmas with 80-year-old tree!
A Brit woman is celebrating Christmas with a tree which was bought by her late husbands grandmother nearly eight decades ago. ANI

Brit PM was thrashed at school
Gordon Brown has confessed that he was thrashed with a belt by his headmaster while at school for planning to sneak off to watch a football match. ANI

Rare blue diamond expected to fetch £9 million at auction
A rare blue diamond bearing a royal background for 300 years and weighing a staggering 35.56 carats is estimated to fetch 9 million pounds at an auction. ANI

Words linked to Christianity, British history dropped from kids dictionary
Words linked to Christianity, the monarchy and British history have been taken out from a leading dictionary for kids. ANI

UK to spend about 500 million pounds to improve Pak education
Britain is likely to spend nearly 500 million pounds on schools and hospitals in Pakistan to neutralize extremist forces blamed for the attacks in Mumbai last month. ANI

Another terror attack could lead to war between India and Pakistan
Sources close to Indian intelligence have claimed that another terror attack before the 2009 general election would almost certainly make war between India and Pakistan inevitable. ANI

Mumbai attack: Villagers claim lone surviving gunman from Pak Punjab
Residents of a village in Pakistan Punjabs Okara District have reportedly told a British daily that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the surviving gunman involved in last weeks terrorist attacks on Mumbai, hails from there. ANI

Brit doctor beaten, held as forced marriage hostage by family
A London trainee GP has been beaten and withheld hostage by her family who are forcibly trying to marry her to a stranger in Bangladesh. ANI

Queens fights credit crunch with crackdown on Christmas crackers
The Queen is to continue her efforts to show support through recession and has allegedly put 50 pound limit to all family presents beginning with her festive crackers. ANI

Archbishop of York says Mugabe should be toppled
The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, has said that Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe should be removed from power and be made to face trial for his various crimes against humanity. ANI

Nepal Maoists to adopt different democracy
Nepal Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has said that the nature of democracy envisioned by CPN-Maoist for new Nepal would be fundamentally different and pro-poor. ANI

Biden to restore Vice-Presidents `historical role as advisor
U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden says that he plans on restoring the Office of the Vice President to its historical role as adviser to the president and tie-breaker in the Senate. ANI

Koirala urges for unity among democratic forces in Nepal
Nepali Congress (NC) president Girija Prasad Koirala has urged for unity among democratic forces in order to what he called as attempt to foil totalitarian aspirations of the Maoists.Addressing a rally here on Saturday, Koirala said that Prime Minister and Maoist chairman Prachanda was veering towards totalitarianism by speaking against democracy. ANI

Sarkozy meeting with Dalai Lama has undermined Sino-French ties: China
China has described as unwise French President Nicolas Sarkozy insistence on meeting Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Saturday, adding that it has undermined Sino-French ties. ANI

Obama received the most positive campaign news coverage
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has received the most positive campaign news coverage on the main network news shows in the 20-year history of such studies conducted by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA). ANI

Bush to give Obama review on Afghanistan and Pakistan
The Bush administration is preparing to present President-elect Barack Obama with a lengthy, classified strategy review aimed at reversing the gains that militants have made in destabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan. ANI

When Obamas speechwriter couldnt help groping Hillary Clinton!
President-elect Barack Obamas speechwriter has sent an apology to Hillary Clinton for stretching out to feel a cardboard imitation of the junior United States Senator. ANI

Great Depression was one of the great creative periods
The Great Depression era from 1930s or early 1940s has been a critical period in history, which gave birth to some of the great creative works, according to a professor of English and American studies at Temple University, ANI

Council used anti-terror powers to spy on paperboys!
Council bosses in Cambridgeshire, UK, used anti-terrorism laws to spy on paperboys to investigate whether a village newsagent had obtained work permits for them. ANI

When an office paperweight turned out to be live WWI bomb!
A managing director of a printing firm was unknowingly using a live First World War bomb as a paperweight in his office. ANI

Immigrants will have to adjust to an unfriendly for religious people UK: Cardinal
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O Connor, has said that while Britain has become an unfriendly place for religious people to live in, immigrant groups still have an obligation to understand, respect and adjust to the ethos of the society they are opting to join. ANI

Thai opposition says it can form government
Thailands main opposition Democratic Party has said that it can form a government with members of the ruling coalition that collapsed this week. ANI

Chicago hopes Obama will swing 2016 Olympic games their way
After watching English politician Tony Blair win the IOC votes for the London Olympics, Chicago is now hopeful that President-elect Barack Obama will be able to swing the 2016 Games their way. ANI

Hillary Rodham Clinton brings in mom to fight $7M-plus campaign debt
President-elect Barack Obamas nominee for US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has roped in her mother Dorothy Rodham to help her in repaying her campaign debt of over seven million dollars. ANI

Karl Rove goes in overdrive to give clean chit to George Bushs legacy
U.S. President George W Bush would not have ordered the invasion of Iraq had intelligence shown that Dictator Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction, claims Karl Rove, his former chief adviser and close confidant. ANI

US, UK had to intervene to prevent Indo-Pak war
Pakistans High Commissioner in Britain Wajid Shamsul Hassan has claimed that Britain and the United States had to intervene to prevent India from attacking Pakistan following the Mumbai terror attacks. ANI

US commission says urgent need to secure Pakistans biological and nuclear weapons
A U.S. bipartisan commission has warned that the next attacks on America might originate from Pakistans volatile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), adding that there is an urgent need for Washington to secure Pakistans biological and nuclear weapons. ANI

Ex-ISI chief Gul is on US wanted list for links with Taliban, al-Qaeda
Former Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt. General (retired) Hamid Gul is said on the United States most wanted list for his alleged links to the Taliban and al-Qaeda networks, as per a two-page unsigned secret document marked as releasable to the Government of Pakistan. ANI

India will launch air strikes if Pakistan does not act fast: McCain
Suggesting that there is enough evidence of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers involvement in the planning and execution of last weeks terror attacks in Mumbai, Arizona Senator and Republican presidential candidate in 2008 John McCain has warned that if Pakistan does not act fast to arrest them, India will conduct air strikes on select targets in Pakistan. ANI

NYT: India, Pak must resolve Kashmir dispute for lasting peace
For any lasting peace, India and Pakistan would have to settle their dispute over Kashmir, says a New York Times editorial, adding that in the current scenario, the issue is the regions biggest flashpoint. ANI