Allies threaten to dump AIADMK, explore third front option

CHENNAI: AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's design to choke her alliance partners by sniffing out MDMK and thrusting "unwanted" seats to other allies boomeranged on her. Leaders of DMDK, CPM, CPI and Puthiya Thamizhagam met at the DMDK office on Thursday and explored the option of forming a third front if Jayalalithaa remained adamant. Jayalalithaa's allies are peeved over her taking away many seats, which were promised to the allies, for her own party. She had announced on Wednesday AIADMK candidates for 160 seats that her party was planning to contest. The list included 12 seats, represented by members of CPI and CPM in the current assembly. DMDK was upset because out of the 41 seats offered to the party, only 21 were from the wishlist it gave to AIADMK. The crisis in the front forced Jayalalithaa...

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England stay alive in another thriller

In a campaign of ludicrously slender margins, England gave themselves a fighting chance of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals after emerging victorious by 18 runs in a monstrous battle of wills against West Indies at Chennai. In a contest that fully lived up to the "arse-nipper" billing that Graeme Swann had given it beforehand, England once again teetered on the brink of oblivion before the spin of Swann and James Tredwell hauled them back into contention in a sensational denouement. Needing 244 for victory, West Indies were coasting on 222 for 6, before losing their last four wickets for three runs in 20 deliveries. It was a finale that...

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NASA spacecraft spies on Mercury

Washington: For the first time, Earth has a regular orbiting eye-in-the-sky spying on the solar system's smallest and strangest planet, Mercury. NASA's spacecraft called Messenger successfully veered into a pinpoint orbit Thursday night after a 6 1/2-year trip and 4.9 billion miles (7.9 billion kilometers) and tricky manoeuvering to fend off the gravitational pull of the sun. It is the fifth planet in our solar system that NASA has orbited, in addition to the Earth and the moon. "It was right on the money," Messenger's chief engineer, Eric Finnegan, said. Messenger is in orbit that brings it as close as 120 miles (193 kilometers) above the...

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WikiLeaks cash-for-votes exposé rocks Parliament

NEW DELHI: Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were marred on Thursday by repeated adjournments and uproar as a united Opposition demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following fresh disclosures alleging bribing of MPs during the July 2008 confidence vote, which the UPA-I government won by a slim majority. Citing the 2008 correspondence from the U.S. Embassy to its government, revealed by the WikiLeaks and published by The Hindu, the Opposition parties launched a scathing attack in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the Congress-led UPA government, accusing it of surviving “on the strength of a political sin.” The Opposition sought to mount pressure on the government outside Parliament too. At separate press conferences, both the National Democratic Alliance and...

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Karunanidhi to contest from Tiruvarur

CHENNAI: The following is the list of 119 candidates released by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi on Thursday: Tiruvarur – M.Karunanidhi, Villivakkam – K.Anbazhagan, Kolathur – M.K.Stalin, Egmore (R) – Parithi Ellamvazhuthi, Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar – P.K. Sekar Babu, Chepauk – Thiruvallikeni – J. Anbazhagan, Thousand Lights – Hasan Mohammed Jinnah, Virugampakkam – K. Dhanasekaran, Saidapet – M. Mahesh Kumar, Ponneri (R) – A. Manimekalai, Thiruvallur – E.A.P. Sivaji, Ambattur – B. Ranganathan, Madavaram – Kanimozhi, Tiruvottiyur – K.P.P. Sami, Pallavaram – T.M. Anbarasan, Tambaram – S.R. Raja, Uthiramerur – Pon Kumar, Katpadi...

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UN backs action against Gaddafi

The UN Security Council has backed a no-fly zone over Libya and "all necessary measures" short of an invasion "to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas". In New York, the 15-member body voted 10-0 in favour, with five abstentions. Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces have recently retaken several towns seized by rebels in an uprising. Rebel forces reacted with joy in their Benghazi stronghold but a government spokesman condemned UN "aggression". Loyalist forces are bearing down on Benghazi, home to a million people. 'Threatens unity' Following the vote US President Barack Obama called the French and British leaders to discuss the next move. They said Libya must comply immediately with the resolution. It is not thought that the US would be involved in the first strikes,...

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