An Indonesian wing of the deadly terrorist organization al Qaeda has taken responsibility for the 17th July twin luxury hotel blast that rocked the south easy Asian country capital. 19 people lost there lives while 50 were injured in the horrific incident as two bombs detonated within minutes of each other. Out of the nine dead, two are expected to be the suicide bombers.

Noordin M. the leader of the breakaway fraction group of the terrorist out fit Jemaah Islamiyah claimed responsibility of the attack on behalf of al Qaeda in Indonesia. The statement claiming responsibility appeared on a radical Islamist Web sites.

The statement said that the hotels were targeted as the two hotels were the biggest hotel properties owned by Americans in Jakarta. The statement also had names of the MU team members, MU cancelled the Jakarta leg of there tour post the blasts. Also mentioned in the statement was that the MU team members were Christians and they don’t deserve any respect or money in Indonesia.

Another statement mentioned that the attack on Marriot was to target American who had business and diplomatic ties with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

The Black Sea coastal region of Turkey has been facing the ravages of dire weather with Giresun bearing the brunt of this calamitous situation with most parts been heavily inundated. Coincidently, Giresun has been assigned as a catastrophe zone and has been on the receiving end for funding from the Prime Minister’s emergency fund.

The heavy rains that lashed out persisted all through Monday, intensifying during the dusk hours, inflicted mass devastation in cities located in the east Black Sea and some towns being taken unawares post dusk with colossal flooding in many districts. Regions like Giresun, Trabzon, Rize and Ordu have witnessed the most terrible destruction, with traffic interrupted in several places and many residences and business establishments significantly submerged in water. Though there are no cases of fatalities being cited as yet, more than 100 homes are submerged in water. The sporadic rains and landslides are make matters worse for the rescue operations.

Mustafa Demir, the Public Works Minister made a declaration yesterday that corroborated the facts that farming property and the city’s infrastructure has suffered extensive damage. An amount of 6,00,000 TL from the Prime Minister’s emergency fund has been obtained and would be going towards crisis management and emergency shelter for the inhabitants.

The president of the Civil Rights Congress, Shehu Sani stated that the recent outbreak of violence in North Nigeria on Tuesday has taken the death toll to more than 400 with panicked people taking shelter in hospitals, police and military barracks. Officials have stated that the gory violence that persisted on Tuesday in Maiduguri has the radical Islamic groups going loggerheads against the government police and troops located in the north-central part of the nation.

A police representative stated that after the Islamic rebels launched attacks on Government institutions on Sunday, police personnel and troops have been moved to the militant dugouts. The ensuing gun battle took the lives of 41 individuals. To get matters under control, there have been 176 arrests in Bauchi.

The Islamic rebels, who have also launched attacks on government institutions and Islamic clergy in the neighbouring Yobe and Borno states, are opposed to the manner in which the government has undertaken the teaching of Islam which they believe has borne influence from Western culture.

The police commissioner of Yobe, Alhaji Muhammed Abbas stated that twenty-three fundamentalists believed to be involved in the bomb attack on a police station located in Potiskum that killed two and hurt seven have been detained.

While the police spokesperson in Borno, Isa Azare stated that the Islamic radicals launched an unexpected attack on the police due to which they were able to take the lives of two policemen in the headquarters during late Monday.

The Islamic rebels armed with guns, bows-arrows, knives went on a killing spree, with the terrorised inhabitants in all the three affected states preferring to stay indoors and closing down all shops and business establishments.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy moved out of the Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris. He was seen leaving the hospital with his wife Carla Bruni wearing his trademark business suit. The spent a night in the hospital as he had collapsed while jogging. The president is a keen jogger and cyclist. He was allowed to leave after a series of test were done on him. According to doctors the president could have collapsed due to stress and hot weather and there was nothing wrong in the president’s health. The president has been following a diet program aimed at making him as slim and fit as his wife Carla Bruni. The president is 54 years old and will be taking his annual holiday in the French Riviera at Miss Bruni’s family home in a few days.

The Elysee Palace has ruled out the rumors that he had lost consciousness. The president went through neurological, blood and cardio tests at the Val-de-Grace military hospital. The president is said to have suffered vasovagal syncope, a condition where the person has loss of blood pressure due to exhaustion and dehydration.

This is not the first time a French president has been to a hospital, the president before Mr. Sarkozy was hospitalized as he had suffered a mini-stroke. The doctors later confirmed that it was not a serious health issue for Jacques Chirac.

In one of his premier public statements, ever since a tabloid exposed the supposed natter between a prostitute and him, the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlisconi literally made a clean breast about it by humorously implying that he was no saint.

Berlusconi has been enmeshed in such romping in several instances with nimble, pretty young things in the past months. The hullabaloo got a fresh lease of air when a left favouring weekly paper L’Expresso made public the tapes that were recorded at the Palazzo Grazioli, the prime minister’s Rome residence. Berlusconi’s lawyer has refuted the tape’s authenticity.

Berlusconi mentioned ‘Let’s hope that those working at Republica understand that too’ while launching a prod at the daily that had unswervingly chased the scandal report. The 72 year old, golden oldie prime minister had pointed out that there were a lot of nice-looking girls around.

The L’Expresso paper made public the footage on Monday and Tuesday of what is claimed the night and morning after that transpired between the escort and Berlusconi, the voice of whom has been identified as Berlusconi. The recording also includes the conversations between the escort Patricia D’Addario and a business magnate who has been related to furnishing women to Berlusconi’s parties. D’Addario has stated that she taped the encounters as Berlusconi had gone back on his word to help her resolve a real estate issue.

The two key people whom Michael Jackson nominated as the co-executors of his 2002 dated will, Attorney John Branca and business executive John McClian, are actively pursuing a plan that could help churn out income that could augment their grip on Jackson’s multi-million dollar fortune.

Branca and McClain are negotiating matters with AEG Live that was promoting the London O2 concerts for which Jackson was practising for when he passed away on 25th June, to vend video recordings of Jackson rehearsing as a potential movie or DVD.

As Sony Pictures music division that have rights to the songs of famed artists like the Beatles and several others including Jackson’s, it has been extensively accounted that it will be the leading  studio for this deal.

According to reliable reports, Sony is slated to shell out between 50-60 million dollars for the rehearsal video recording, an agreement to which could possibly be make known shortly, though both AEG and Sony have constantly backed out from remarking on the matter.

Legal boffins are of the view that by abetting AEG Live in getting a deal, the duo, McClain and Branca would fortify their stake for control of Jackson’s business assets that comprise of partial rights of Sony /ATV music publishing. The duo believes that their talks regarding the video footage would be helpful as it would demonstrate to the judge that they have the proficiency to make the most of Jackson’s business.

Earlier Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson was granted temporary control of the estate, but post the 2002 Jackson’s will that emerged, the judge transferred temporary control to Branca and McClain, the hearing on the matter is due on 3rd August.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton touched down Mumbai at 10:18p.m., with a two hour snag in schedule amidst gusty winds and driving rains. The US Air Force Boeing 757 that took off from Czech Republic, landed in Mumbai amidst concerned air traffic supervision as it made an entrance into Indian airspace.

Half an hour post landing and a rigid security cover, a fleet comprising of 20 vehicles took off from the VIP terminal as it drove to the sea facing, Hotel Taj Mahal Palace and Tower at Colaba, that was amongst the terror targets last year.

Obama’s senior most official, Clinton’s five-day visit to India is aimed at initiating a fresh move towards further strengthening the strategic relationship between the two countries, pushing for greater business with India.

As a symbolic act of solidarity, Clinton is staying at the Tower Wing at the Taj Hotel. She has paid tribute to the 26/11 victims, signed the register at Taj Hotel, met up with the Taj hotel staff and was shown about the hotel areas that were damaged due to the terror attacks.

During her two day stay in Mumbai, she is scheduled to meet India Inc’s best corporate CEO’s including Mukesh Ambani, Swati Piramal, Jamshed Godrej, Chanda Kocchar , a centre of the self-help group (SEWA) in south Mumbai and at Xavier College for a meeting with Brand Ambassador of Teach India, Aamir Khan.

She would be arriving in New Delhi on Monday to meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister, S.M.Krishna, Sonia Gandhi and L.K.Advani. She is slated to give a speech at the Delhi University.

Deadly bomb blasts tore through the two best and the most secured hotels in Jakarta killing 9 and injuring over 40 people. The blasts occurred at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and J.W. Marriott Hotel. There are amongst the most luxurious hotels in the southern part of the city of Jakarta, Indonesia. The hotels are just 50 meters apart from each other.

The blast happened at 7:45 a.m. local time, and from the first reports they look like a coordinated blasts and were times to impact at the time of breakfast. Both the hotels are normally visited by foreign tourist, expats and business visitor’s .The blast targeted the restaurants in both the hotels. As of now the police have moved all the guests to secured locations and teams forensic experts are at the blast sites collecting all the evidence.

The blasts have blown massive holes in the hotel walls and also blew the windows of the hotels. From eyewitness reports one could see the restaurants shattered and also blood marks. It also is reported that it could a work of suicide bombers.

This is not the first time the Marriot has been targeted; in August 2003 a suicide bomber drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into the motor lobby of the hotel. That blast had killed 12 people and injured many as it happened during the lunch hour.

The blasts also put a big question mark on the security arrangements in the city of Jakarta. Its will be a huge puzzle for security experts to solve as to how some one could get through metal detectors and the security personal guarding the hotel entrances. The hotels have multiple layer of security with sniffer dogs and each guest is thoroughly check.