Oman Observer

HM greetings to Burkina Faso

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has sent a cable of greetings to President Compaore Blaise of Burkina Faso on the occasion of his country’s National Day. His Majesty wished President Compaore Blaise good health and happiness and the friendly people of Burkina Faso further progress and prosperity. — ONA

Top Japan bank official hails Oman’s development

TOKYO — Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy and Deputy Chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, met here yesterday with Watanbe, the Chairman of Japan International Bank for Co-operation (JIBC). Discussion during the meeting covered means of enhancing bilateral co-operation.

MECCA — Omani Haj convoys began leaving the sacred lands on their way back home yesterday. The pilgrims are in good health, Shaikh Issa bin Yusuf al Busaidy, Head of the Omani Haj Mission, said in a statement to reporters here. As for deaths and accidents among the pilgrims, a woman died of a heart arrest and a man died in hospital said Shaikh Issa,....

ATHENS — A fifth day of running street battles between youths and police and a general strike plunged Greece into further turmoil yesterday despite a vow by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to restore order. As tests reportedly showed the shooting of a schoolboy that sparked the riots may have been caused by a ricochet bullet,....

NAIROBI — An international conference on Somali piracy that kicked off here yesterday was expected to propose that the region’s coastal nations, like Kenya and Tanzania, arrest and prosecute the pirates. The proposal is outlined in a document drafted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).....

SANAA — Somali pirates hijacked two Yemeni fishing ships and took 22 fishermen hostage in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, Yemen’s Interior Ministry said. The pirates attacked the ships as they sailed off the Mait area near the southern port city of Aden, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

LONDON — Britain will start pulling troops from Iraq in March and most will leave by June, reports said yesterday, but the Ministry of Defence denied that US soldiers would take their place. Citing a senior defence source, the BBC and the Times newspaper said the pull-out was planned to begin in March if provincial elections in January passed off peacefully.

POZNAN, Poland — UN talks on crafting a new climate change treaty inched forward yesterday, with delegates hoping the EU would spur the process by approving its own pact at a crunch summit. The conference in the Polish city of Poznan, gathering more than 11,600 participants from around the world, reaches a climax today with the start of two days of ministerial-level talks.

New footfalls of renewable power

TOKYO — Japan has found a way to harness clean energy from thousands of stamping feet that pass through one of its busiest train stations every day. Panels that generate energy from vibrations have been laid by ticket gates through which up to 80,000 passengers pass every day at Tokyo station.

N Korea talks stalled

BEIJING — Negotiators failed to make any progress yesterday over a Chinese proposal on verifying North Korea’s atomic activities in marathon talks aimed at ending the communist state’s nuclear drive. Discussions at a Chinese government compound in western Beijing focused on the exact wording of a verification protocol,....