Prime Minister Key made this announcement this afternoon, while announcing that the government would give five million dollars to the Mayoral Relief Fund to meet the needs of those affected by the quake.

“The 100,000 figure shows the true extent of the quake’s damage. The Mayoral fund has been set up for those not covered by social welfare. The fund, with the added help of the public and some banks, is now up to six million dollar,” New Zealand Herald quoted Key, as saying.

“Of the 160,000 homes in the Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri areas, 100,000 could be damaged and some will be beyond repair. The Government estimated a $94m cost for infrastructure repair and replacement in the area,” he added after a three-hour cabinet meeting this afternoon.

Key said many homes and businesses will be covered by insurance and the Earthquake Commission (EQC), but those without insurance, will be looked at on a ‘case by case basis’.

“We have to be very careful in that situation. A very strong message needs to be sent to New Zealanders and that is: You need to have insurance. The EQC had already received 15,000 claims. Three field offices will be opened in Christchurch, each with 40 staff,” said Key.

New Zealand’s second largest city, Christchurch, was extensively damaged and emergency was declared early Saturday, after a massive 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the city causing widespread damage.

Buildings were destroyed, infrastructure including water and sewage pipes damaged, and people injured in the quake, which struck 40 km west of Christchurch at 4.35 a.m. (ANI)

Zafer Sahinoglu at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and colleagues, are developing a network of portable charging stations, which can be moved to wherever the demand for recharging is greatest.

To determine where the stations are needed, in-car sensors would monitor the level of charge in the battery and periodically report this to a central operations centre, which would flag areas where most cars run low on juice.

The stations can then be deployed wherever the low-charge “hotspots” are at that time, reports the New Scientist.

Just five mobile stations would be needed to cover 100 electric cars on a 100-kilometre stretch of highway, said the team.

The roaming stations could be charged up from the mains at night, and then discharge their electricity to cars during the day, they say, reducing the load on the electricity grid at peak times.

The team will present their idea at the Vehicular Technology Conference in Ottawa, Canada, next week. (ANI)

The new accusations have alarmed Britain’s security services. Muslim extremists are deeply rooted in Pakistan’s shady underworld, with criminal activity bolstering their coffers.

“The case involving the three Pakistani players has initially been traced back to an Indian betting ring, but the tentacles of this operation extend into Pakistan and beyond. There are huge sums of money to be made terror groups like al-Qaida are always keen to get in on the act,” The Daily Express quoted a security source, as saying. (ANI)

According to the New York Times, Clinton will be in the thick of the negotiations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas when they meet on September 14 in Egypt.

Her role, several officials say, will be to take over from the administration’s special envoy, George J. Mitchell, when the two sides run into serious obstacles.

It may prove the greatest test yet for Clinton, one that could cement her legacy as a diplomat if she solves the riddle that foiled even her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

But it could also pose considerable risks to any political ambitions she may harbor.

“I understand very well the disappointments of the past; I share them,” she said in convening the talks, an allusion to Mr. Clinton’s failed effort to broker a deal, most vividly at Camp David in 2000, when peace seemed tantalizingly close only to vanish amid recriminations in the Maryland mountains.

“One of the best indications that this could succeed is that Hillary Clinton is willing to get involved,” said Stephen J. Hadley, who served as national security adviser to President George W. Bush.

He added: “Because that makes me think two things: She thinks it’s possible and, because she is as skilled as she is, it increases the likelihood of success.”

Among the many hurdles that Clinton will face is the often tense relationship that this administration has had with Israel.

Obama is viewed with distrust by many in Israel and among some Jewish groups at home, where his outreach to the Muslim world and public criticism of Israeli policies have been denounced by some critics as anti-Israel.

Clinton, on the other hand, has preserved her own credibility among these groups, analysts said, which will make her perhaps the administration’s most effective salesperson for the peace process.

She also has a politician’s feel for Netanyahu, her aides say, which could help her push him to make hard choices, provided she is willing.

Some Middle East experts have asked whether Clinton has the negotiating grit to keep both men at the table — the mysterious combination of bluster, theatrics, hand-holding and guile that secretaries of state, like Henry A. Kissinger and James A. Baker III, have deployed to forge agreements between Arabs and Israelis.

Aaron David Miller, who worked on peace negotiations in the Clinton administration, said: “She’s plenty tough, tougher than her husband, but does she have a negotiator’s mind-set?

Some analysts say Clinton’s few trips to Israel and her delegation of negotiating duties to Mr. Mitchell speak of her caution.

“She has sensed this is a dog, and wanted to stay away from it,” Miller said.

But others say it makes sense for her to hold her political capital in reserve until the prospects for talks ripened. (ANI)

With the loss of their chairman, Prachanda, Nepal”s opposition Maoist party”s manoeuvre to divide the regional parties and ride to power again on their support backfired.
The former guerrillas blamed India for the failure, even before the controversial election had commenced. They accused India”s intelligence agency–Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)– of plotting to ensure Prachanda”s failure in the election.

The election has already invited charges of floor-crossing, horse-trading and backstabbing.

Even as Prachanda’s party is the largest in parliament with 236 members, he could poll only an additional four votes from other parties. He fell short of 60 more votes to become Nepal’s 34th prime minister.

While 101 MPs voted against Prachanda, 163 stayed neutral.

The rival Nepali Congress parliamentary party chief Ram Chandra Poudel, received just 122 votes while 242 MPs voted against him and 172 sat on the fence.  (ANI)

According to a statement issued from Bilawal House, Gandhi thanked Zardari for the message of felicitation.

She also offered condolences and sympathies over the flood devastation in Pakistan, and expressed hope that the people and the government would triumph over the tragic destruction, The Nation reports.

Gandhi has created a record for the longest tenure as Congress chief by leading the party since April 1998 when she replaced late Sitaram Kesri.

Her name was announced at a ceremony at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.

The process of re-electing Gandhi was set in motion with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi proposing her name for the top post along with a host of other party leaders.

Addressing the party workers after her re-election, Sonia said: “It’s a great responsibility and I thank all Congress workers. Whether we are in power or not we should always work for the oppressed.” (ANI)

Wagah, Sep 5 (ANI): One hundred one Indian fishermen crossed into India through the Wagah- Attari land route on Sunday after being released by the Pakistan maritime force and rangers.

The Pakistani Rangers handed the fishermen over to Border Security Force (BSF) officials.

Pakistan has already released about 200 Indian fishermen in two batches. A Pakistan court has ordered the release of over 450 Indian fishermen from various Pakistani jails as they have completed their jail terms. Most of these fishermen belong to Gujarat.

The fishermen said that sometimes a delay in verification caused postponement of their release from Pakistani jails.

The fishermen urged the Inidan and Pakistan governments to release their collogues who had unintentionally crossed the border on either side.

The fourth batch of Indian fishermen is expected to reach India on September 7. (ANI)

The three policemen —- Abhay Prasad Yadav, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Ehshan Khan, were freed by the Maoists on the border of Kajra-Chanan forests, about 165 kms from the state capital, Patna.

“All the three kidnapped policemen have been released by the Maoists from the Kajra-Chanan forest in Lakhisarai district after the police sealed the escape routes of the militants in the forests,” Director General of Police Neelmani told media.

“The condition of the three policemen is fine,” he added.

On August29, four policemen were taken hostage during an encounter with the Naxals in Lakhisarai.

One of the policemen, Hawaldar Lukas Tete, was killed by the Naxals after the first deadline ended and his body was found in on Friday morning in the jungles of Lakhisari district.

In a note that they left on his body, the Naxals threatened to do away with the three remaining hostages if eight of their comrades are not released from jail.

The encounter began on Sunday evening when over 150 armed Maoists attacked search teams of the Bihar police combing the area following intelligence reports of the presence of the Maoists in the forest area.  (ANI)

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) – Top-seeded Rafael Nadal and fourth-seeded Andy Murray were a pair of easy straight-set winners on Friday in second round action at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Nadal needed 2 hours, 44 minutes to post a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 victory over Denis Istomin to make it into the third round, where the Spaniard will face former Top-10 Frenchman Gilles Simon, who beat 29th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

The eight-time major champion is in search of his first U.S. Open title, which would complete the career Grand Slam. The winner of the season’s last two major titles, Nadal has beaten Simon in three of their four matchups, including both times in a major tournament.

Nadal was able to take advantage of Istomin’s 40 unforced errors and won 50 of the 60 points on his first serve. He has advanced to at least the third round in 19 straight Grand Slam events.

Murray needed under 1 1/2 hours to dispatch Jamaican Dustin Brown 7-5, 6-3, 6-0, including just an 18-minute third set. The Scot fired 12 aces and 32 winners, winning 90 percent of the points on his first serve.

Arguably the best player in the world without a major championship, Murray — a two-time major runner-up, including at the 2008 U.S. Open — will next face 25th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka.

Murray is no stranger to the capable Wawrinka, who beat Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round. The two have faced off eight times, with Murray capturing five, including a win in the fourth round of the 2008 U.S. Open.

Also advancing easily were a pair of top-10 Spaniards — eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco and 10th-seeded David Ferrer.

Verdasco had no problems in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino, while Ferrer got past German Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Verdasco will next face either 31st-seeded David Nalbandian or Florent Serra, while Ferrer will take on Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Gimeno-Traver was a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) winner over Jeremy Chardy.

Other seeded winners included 12th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who beat Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 14th-seeded Nicolas Almagro, who defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), and 18th-seeded American John Isner, who topped Marco Chiudinelli 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

Additionally, 20th-seeded Sam Querrey overwhelmed Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 23rd-seeded Feliciano Lopez defeated Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 and 31st-seeded David Nalbandian routed Florent Serra 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

Fresh off his title at New Haven last week, Sergiy Stakhovsky reached the third round here for the first time with a 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win over American Ryan Harrison.

Spain’s Tommy Robredo beat France’s Julien Benneteau after the latter retired toward the end of the second set, and Frenchman Michael Llodra was a straight- set winner over Victor Hanescu.

The night session features top-seeded Rafael Nadal, who faces off against Denis Istomin. Nadal is in search of the career Grand Slam if he can win here at Flushing Meadows, and it would be his third consecutive major tournament win.

Third-round action gets underway for the men on Saturday, with second-seeded Roger Federer and third-seeded Novak Djokovic headlining the schedule at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Federer, a five-time champion here and a finalist in each of the past six years, takes on Paul-Henri Mathieu, while Djokovic, still in search of his second major championship, battles American fan-favorite James Blake in the night session.

Manoj Mahato was nabbed from a hideout at Madhupurkhal village early on Saturday morning, according to police sources.

However, his family has claimed that their son was picked up from their home in Birkar village.

A dozen-odd cases have been filed against Manoj Mahato.

Earlier, PCPA leader Umakanto Mahato, a key accused in the train derailment, was killed in an encounter with security forces at Mohanpur forest near Lothasuli in Jhargram District.

The CBI took over the Gyaneshwari Express investigation from the state police in June, and announced a reward of Rs three lakh for information leading to the arrest of three prime accused – Bapi Mahato, Umakanto Mahato and Asit Mahato.

Bapi is already in custody and Asit is still absconding.

The derailment of the Howrah-Kurla Gyaneshwari Express on May 28 by suspected the Maoists took a huge toll of innocent civilian lives. (ANI)