Russia on Saturday said the UN Security Council would act if Syria breached the international convention banning chemical weapons under a deal reached with the United States to eliminate its arms stockpile.
"In the case of those demands not being fulfilled, or in the case of anyone using chemical weapons, the Security Council will take measures according to Chapter Seven of the United Nations charter," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Lavrov referred to the section of the charter that provides for enforcement through sanctions, including the possible use of military force, saying that the Security Council expects Syria to comply fully with the demands of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Nevertheless, he cautioned that the Security Council would not accept reports of chemical weapons violations automatically but that they would be investigated.
"Of course it does not mean that each violation reported to the Security Council will be taken on trust. Each will be investigated. We will try to ensure authenticity," he said.
Lavrov praised the agreement between the US and Russia as a "consensus, a compromise and professional".
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Japan's Jaxa space agency broadcast the rocket launch live
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Japan has launched the first in a new generation of space rockets, hoping the design will make missions more affordable.
The Epsilon rocket is about half the size of Japan's previous generation of space vehicles, and uses artificial intelligence to perform safety checks.
Japan's space agency Jaxa says the Epsilon cost $37m (£23m) to develop, half the cost of its predecessor.
Epsilon launched from south-western Japan in the early afternoon.
Crowds of Japanese gathered to watch the launch, which was also broadcast on the internet.
It was carrying a telescope that is being billed by Jaxa as the world's first space telescope that will remotely observe planets including Venus, Mars and Jupiter from its Earth orbit.
Jaxa said the rocket successfully released the Sprint-A telescope as scheduled, about 1,000km (620 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Epsilon's predecessor, the M-5, was retired in 2006 because of spiralling costs.
Jaxa said the Epsilon was not only cheaper to produce, but also cheaper to launch than the M-5.
Because of its artificial intelligence, the new rocket needs only eight people at the launch site, compared with 150 people for earlier launches.
Japan's other recent space innovations included sending a talking robot to the International Space Station.
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Smoke rises following an explosion at a smuggling tunnel dug beneath the Gaza-Egypt border in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah on August 31, 2013.
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This comes after Egypt stepped up limitations on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by blowing up dozens of tunnels under its border with Gaza.
The military has increased the destruction of the tunnels on the Egyptian side of the border since July’s ouster of the former president, Mohammed Morsi.
Egyptian troops have destroyed dozens of facilities by blowing, bulldozing or funneling water into the tunnels.
Several Palestinians have lost their lives as they were caught up in the tunnels during destruction operations.
More than 80 percent of the tunnels are no longer functional following their destruction by the Egyptian security forces.
The underground facilities serve as a lifeline for Gaza's population of over 1.7 million. Egypt’s destruction of tunnels running to the Israeli-blockaded territories has caused a shortage of fuel and other goods.
Several human rights organizations and civil groups have criticized the Egyptian army for preventing the people in Gaza from accessing most of their basic goods like construction materials, food, and fuel.
The demolishment of the tunnels has reportedly led to an increase in the price of fuel and other commodities in the coastal territory. Palestinians have to wait in long lines at gas stations and face daily power outages that last up to 14 hours.
The army says the destructions are necessary to fight militants in North Sinai Peninsula. The Egyptian army is also reported to be planning to impose a buffer zone along the border with Gaza.
JR/SS
LOS ANGELES: The $4 Coiled Hair Stella gold coin from 1880 is scheduled to be auctioned on September 23 by Bonhams in Los Angeles and could pull in up to $1.5 million.
The extraordinary coin containing six grams of pure gold was struck in the United States, but never released into circulation and will be sold in a lot with 26 other coins worth up to $8 million.
Paul Song, director of rare coins for Bonhams said, "That's an average lot value of almost $300,000 per coin. That may not be a Monet painting but in my world, that's pretty amazing. It's been a privilege to handle them, and they are gorgeous, just because they're gold, perfectly struck and the designs are really incredible."
Song explained that the rare miniature work of art, featuring a representation of Liberty, was designed to match the weight of coinage of countries in the Latin Monetary Union like France, Belgium and Switzerland, to make inter-country trading easier.
LAHORE: Police on Saturday re-arrested four suspects allegedly involved in five-year old girl rape, who were released on Friday.
Police said that Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) was suspend due flawed prove and releasing the suspects after preliminary investigation.
The police have not been able to make any solid development into the barbaric incident, in which a minor girl, daughter of a WAPDA employee was subjected to rape after being abducted outside her house.
Doctors say although the child was physically stable, she was battling a trauma and mental agony.
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| Arms seized from Maoists are displayed at the district police headquarters after a gun battle near Padia, on the border of Orissa and Chattisgarh states on September 14, 2013.—AFP Photo |
BHUBANESWAR: Security forces killed 14 Maoists in a firefight in eastern India on Saturday, police said, marking the latest bloodshed in a long conflict in which the rebels have been battling to overthrow the government.
It was the single biggest rebel death toll in Orissa state from one incident and came amid an intense anti-Maoist campaign in the area conducted over the past month, police said.
“Fourteen rebels, including one woman cadre, were killed. We are awaiting further information,” Orissa state police director general Prakash Mishra told AFP.
There were no immediate reports of casualties among security forces, Mishra added.
The Maoists have grown from a rag-tag band of ideologues into a potent insurgent force, creating a so-called “Red Corridor” that stretches throughout central and eastern India.
Saturday's battle occurred in the Padia forest area of mineral-rich but impoverished Orissa state some 650 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of state capital Bhubaneswar.
The security forces, acting on a tip-off, were conducting a sweep of the area for rebels when they came across the Maoist camp, police said, adding authorities now were looking for more insurgents in the area.
The area where the battle took place was close to rebel-hit Chhattisgarh state. Police said a cache of explosives, arms and ammunition and Maoist literature was seized from the camp site.
Local media reported the rebel group camping in the forest was suspected of involvement in a May 25 ambush by Maoists of a convoy of Congress leaders in neighbouring Chhattisgarh state.
That attack in a remote tribal belt killed some 24 people, including 12 local Congress leaders and supporters.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoists as the country's most serious internal security threat and there are frequent outbreaks of violence in areas in which the rebels are present.
Maoist rebels have been fighting in the forests and rural areas for what they say are the rights of tribal people, who have some of India's highest rates of illiteracy and poverty, and landless farmers for decades.
They demand land and jobs for the poor, and want to establish a communist society by toppling what they call India's “semi-colonial, semi-feudal” form of rule. The revolt is believed to have cost tens of thousands of lives.
The Maoists are believed to be present in at least 20 states but are most active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, occupying thousands of square kilometers (miles) of land.
Critics believe attempts to end the revolt through security offensives are doomed to fail, saying the real solution is better governance and development.
ISTANBUL (AP) — Canada's foreign minister John Baird is calling Syria's offer to begin providing information on its chemical arsenal 30 days after it signs an international convention banning such weapons "ridiculous and absurd."
Baird said Syrian President Bashar Assad could not be given extra time. Baird said: "This is a man, who up until a week ago denied that they had any such weapons."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who joined Baird at a news conference Saturday in Istanbul, also expressed skepticism, saying that Assad was playing for time while continuing to commit atrocities.
The comments come as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were in Geneva negotiating a Russian proposal to inventory, isolate and eventually destroy Syria's chemical weapons stocks.
Kerry has rejected Syria's suggestion that it should turn over information, rather than weapons.
Davutoglu said Turkey welcomed the diplomatic initiative to remove Syria's chemical weapons, but it was still incumbent on the international community to bring to justice the Syrian officials responsible for crimes against humanity.
Western countries blame Assad for the use of chemical weapons, although he denies blames rebels engaged in a 2-year-old civil war against his government.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Security jawans keep vigil at Khalapar as people are seen on the street during relaxed hours of curfew in violence-hit Muzaffarnagar. File photo
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Curfew was eased during day time in the riot-hit areas of Muzaffarnagar for fifth consecutive day on Saturday while 542 people have been arrested so far in connection with communal violence in the district and surrounding areas that claimed 47 lives.
Curfew imposed in Kotwali, Civil Lines and Nai Mandi areas of the district on September 7 following communal violence was relaxed from 7 a.m. this morning till 7 p.m., officials said.
Since the outbreak of the riot, 62 cases of rioting have been registered in different police stations and 542 persons have been arrested, Additional SP Alok Piryadarshi told media on Saturday.
About 1,800 arm licences had been cancelled in the riot-affected areas.
Meanwhile, two youths were on Saturday arrested for sending inflammatory text messages in Sikhera village in the district.
In another case, police on Saturday arrested four persons, including a son of Khap council head, for rioting in Bahawdi village in Fugana following complaints by some riot victims, who have taken shelter in a relief camp at Kaira in the district.
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| The PCB wouldn't mind such series involving India and Sri Lanka as it would generate a huge amount of advertisement revenues and benefit all three boards. -Photo by AFP
CHENNAI: The Indian cricket board could explore the possibility of hosting an ODI tri-series involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka later this year and the modalities are likely to be discussed during the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting on Friday.
The officials from the three boards will be present at the meeting and there is a strong chance that the BCCI might propose to have a tri-series sometime in December in India.
PCB’s chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga and ACC chief Syed Ashraful Haq have arrived in the southern capital of Tamil Nadu for the meeting.
The ACC is headed by BCCI's president-in-exile N Srinivasan.
The ACC meeting assumes significance as it has been scheduled just two days before the proposed meeting between Cricket South Africa chief Haroon Lorgat and BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel in Dubai on the sidelines of an ICC board meeting to resolve the impasse over India's tour of South Africa.
The BCCI is presently in disagreement with Cricket South Africa (CSA) over the number of matches to be played in the series in November-December. India will play a short series against the West Indies in November and New Zealand tour will start from Jan 19.
If the tri-series takes place in between these two tours, then the South African board would be left with no other option but to host India for two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 international from December and ending with the New Year's Test.
The tri-series would lead to rescheduling of Pakistan's home series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in December-January. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are set to play two T20 Internationals, five ODIs and three Tests from Dec 11 to Jan 20. The limited-overs series concludes on Dec 27.
The PCB wouldn't mind such series involving India and Sri Lanka as it would generate a huge amount of advertisement revenues and benefit all three boards. It has been reliably learnt that Subhan will hold discussions with the BCCI officials on the issue during the meeting.—Agencies
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LUKA: Thirty-seven people were killed when a fire swept through a wooden psychiatric hospital in northwest Russia overnight Thursday, in the latest tragedy to hit the country's mental health institutions.
The fire was started by a patient who was either smoking or deliberately set fire to his bed at the hospital in the village of Luka, 220 kilometres (137 miles) southeast of Saint Petersburg, officials said.
The institution was made out of wood and officials said it had been previously warned by the judicial authorities to improve its fire security.
A criminal probe has been opened into suspected negligence.
"During a fire in the Oksochi psychiatric hospital 37 people died," regional investigators said in a statement, adding that 10 people have already been pulled from the debris.
"A 46-year-old nurse who was saving people perished in the fire," investigators added.
The fire, which broke out in the middle of the night, reduced the aged wooden building on the outskirts of the village to smouldering wreckage.
Rescue teams were combing through the debris, and bodies in black plastic bags were taken away from the scene.
Novgorod region governor Sergei Mitin told AFP at the scene that 23 people had been rescued.
Ilya Denisov, a representative of the emergencies ministry, did not rule out that more survivors could be found.
He said the firefighters were quick to react but that by the time they arrived the fire had consumed the entire building.
Local authorities said the hospital housed patients with grave psychological disorders, making evacuation even more complicated.
Lidiya Vasilyeva, 40, who lives near the hospital, said the fire broke out around 2:00 am.
"The fire spread very quickly," she said. "Many patients were pushed out of the windows, many did not want to come out or did not come out immediately, it was very scary."
She said it was difficult to pinpoint the cause of the blaze but suggested a patient might be at fault.
"In the summer they brought a patient here who they say was suffering from pyromania," she told AFP.
Investigators said they had opened a criminal probe into suspected negligence causing death.
"According to preliminary information, one of the patients set fire to himself and his bed," said the investigative committee, a Russian law enforcement agency that probes major cases.
Officials said concerns had already been aired about the state of the building, and Russian state television said the authorities had been planning to close down the hospital.
"This building had a weak resistance to fire. It was made of wood. The administration had been told by the legal authorities to remedy numerous violations in fire security by August 1," said the head of oversight at the emergencies ministry, Yuri Deshovykh.
"But this was not done," he was quoted as saying.
The Kremlin's human rights envoy, Vladimir Lukin, sounded the alarm over the state of psychiatric hospitals in the country, calling for a joint effort to improve oversight.
"The entire society, people should protect citizens who have found themselves in a unique, difficult situation when they cannot protect themselves," Lukin said on popular radio station Moscow Echo.
The fire was the latest tragedy to hit a medical institution in Russia, which struggles with outdated Soviet-era infrastructure and lax security procedures.
In April, a fire that ravaged a psychiatric hospital in the Moscow region killed 38 people, most of them patients engulfed by flames as they slept behind barred windows.
In 2006, a fire in a Moscow drug rehabilitation clinic killed 45 women, many of whom were trapped by metal bars on the windows that staff could not open.
HARARE: Pakistan suffered from an embarrassing 24-run defeat by Zimbabwe in the second Test match here at the Harare Sports Club ground on Saturday.
With this historic win, Zimbabwe, ranked at bottom, also levelled the two-Test series as Pakistan already won the first Test by a big margin of 221 runs.
This was only third victory for Zimbabwe in a Test against Pakistan after 1995 and 1998.
Chasing 264 to win, Pakistan were all out for 239 after lunch on the fifth and final day of the match.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq struggled hard and carried his team close to win but failed to do so due to non-availability of any partner.
Misbah stayed at the crease for 270 minutes and faced 181 balls scoring an unbeaten 79 with nine fours.
Pakistan were 217 for eight at lunch, 47 runs short of their target of 264, with two wickets remaining. Misbah was unbeaten on 58.
Fast bowler Tendai Chatara led Zimbabwe's push for a rare win against a leading Test nation, taking two wickets during the morning to add to the two he took on Friday. He had figures of four for 48.
Resuming at 158 for five, Pakistan suffered an early blow when Chatara trapped Adnan Akmal leg before wicket with only five runs added. Akmal, who made 20, went back to a ball which angled in towards his stumps.
Abdur Rehman scored 16 in a seventh wicket partnership of 34 with Misbah, who was content to continue to bat watchfully, as he had done on the fourth afternoon, before Rehman was caught behind off Tinashe Panyangara.
Chatara returned to the attack and immediately claimed the wicket of Saeed Ajmal in almost identical fashion to the way he dismissed Akmal, with the batsmen going back to a ball which cut back sharply and hit him on the pads.
COLOMBO: A train linking the political home of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels with the rest of the island rolled into service on Saturday after a 23-year interruption, officials said.
The train, carrying President Mahinda Rajapakse, arrived in the town of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (200 miles) north of the capital Colombo, four years after the end of a nearly four-decade civil war.
The project is part of efforts to promote reconciliation with the Tamil minority and heal the scars of the long-running separatist conflict.
A new track had to be laid along a 63-kilometre stretch of the line inside the former war zone because the rebels had removed rails and used sleepers to build bunkers during the war, officials said.
Rajapakse was carrying "a message of friendship" from the Sinhalese people in the south to the Tamil-dominated north, the president's office said in a statement.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched their struggle for a separate Tamil homeland in 1972 and set up their political headquarters in Kilinochchi in 1995.
The war ended 14 years later in 2009 after a no-holds-barred military offensive.
Before the conflict escalated, trains regularly operated between Colombo and Kilinochchi and further north to the Jaffna peninsula.
The newly laid stretch of line is Sri Lanka's fastest track and can accommodate speeds up to 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour, officials said.
The link is due to be extended to Jaffna by the end of next year. Road access to the peninsula was bitterly contested during the height of the war, with thousands killed while trying to take control of the main supply route to Jaffna.
The rebels also attacked passenger and cargo trains operating in the war zone forcing the railways to abandon regular services.
Saturday's reopening of the line came ahead of local council elections in the north.
The September 21 vote is in line with Colombo's promise to share limited power with Tamils through a local council.
Getting off the train at the newly constructed Kilinochchi railway station, Rajapakse attended an afternoon political rally in support of his United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidates, the president's office said.
The Sinhalese-dominated government is under international pressure to promote ethnic reconciliation and investigate allegations of war crimes by its forces in the final stages of the war.
Railways were established in Sri Lanka by its British colonial-era rulers in 1864 for the transport of coffee and tea from the central region of the island to the main sea port of Colombo.
NEW DELHI: The fast-track court's decision to give death penalty to the four convicts in the Delhi gang-rape case was welcomed by the legal community, which said due process had been followed.
Lawyers were quick to point out that the court's primary duty is to dispense justice to the victim by punishing the accused, so that the next of kin find succour and closure. The wider message conveyed through the punishment, acting as a deterrent to future offenders, is only the second aspect of sentencing, they argue, stressing the need to differentiate between the two.
Revolted by the brutality of the crime, the court gave death sentence on Friday while observing that courts cannot turn a blind eye to the need to send a strong message to perpetrators of such crimes.
Indicating one of the reasons for the decision, it said the "increasing trend of crimes against women can be arrested only once society realizes there will be no tolerance for any form of deviance against women, and more so in extreme cases of brutality such as this one; hence, the criminal justice system must instil confidence in people, especially women."
Noted lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said the decision is fully justified. "If ever there was a rarest of rare case, this is it. I had no doubt the court will give maximum sentence as it is fully justified and appropriate."
Rohatgi said sentencing in such cases has to serve as a deterrent because the situation in most Indian cities is alarming. "Even foreign tourists feel totally unsafe and it is against the ethos of India and Indian-ness. I only feel that the judgment should have come even earlier. But the important point is that attention should be focused on hundreds and thousands of such cases which are going on unnoticed and unsung. I think this judgment should open the eyes of the public, judiciary and police."
Supreme Court advocate Surat Singh expressed his satisfaction at the death penalty. "Given the brutality of the acts of all the convicts, right from the intention to rob, rape and kill, to the intention to destroy the evidence, this case can be rightly described as rarest of rare and fit for capital punishment. It will send a deterrent message to potential offenders and restore faith in the investigation, prosecution and judicial systems. This case is exemplifies successful probe, prosecution and trial."
Lawyer Gaurang Kant felt the sentencing would go a long way in sensitizing people to crimes against women. "Not to mention that Nirbhaya would feel emancipated. I hope this acts as a deterrent to the rising offences against women."
Justice R S Sodhi, a retired HC judge, agreed with the sentencing, saying in this case the "balance easily tilts towards aggravating circumstances warranting death penalty". Sodhi pointed out how each convict was involved in the brutality, and said the judge must have weighed the pros and cons beforee deciding. He, however, added, "I am not sure if death sentence is a deterrent. But yes, it is a swift punishment that leaves the victim's kin and society relieved. In case of life term people eventually forget."
Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh was sceptical if the death penalty would be a deterrent, but felt police and the prosecution had met expectations. "Any sentence by a lower court has to be confirmed in HC. The convicts have the right to appeal. The question is does death act as a deterrent? There have been death sentences given earlier for rape and murder but still this case happened. It makes you wonder what's the purpose of a death sentence."
Lawyers were quick to point out that the court's primary duty is to dispense justice to the victim by punishing the accused, so that the next of kin find succour and closure. The wider message conveyed through the punishment, acting as a deterrent to future offenders, is only the second aspect of sentencing, they argue, stressing the need to differentiate between the two.
Revolted by the brutality of the crime, the court gave death sentence on Friday while observing that courts cannot turn a blind eye to the need to send a strong message to perpetrators of such crimes.
Indicating one of the reasons for the decision, it said the "increasing trend of crimes against women can be arrested only once society realizes there will be no tolerance for any form of deviance against women, and more so in extreme cases of brutality such as this one; hence, the criminal justice system must instil confidence in people, especially women."
Noted lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said the decision is fully justified. "If ever there was a rarest of rare case, this is it. I had no doubt the court will give maximum sentence as it is fully justified and appropriate."
Rohatgi said sentencing in such cases has to serve as a deterrent because the situation in most Indian cities is alarming. "Even foreign tourists feel totally unsafe and it is against the ethos of India and Indian-ness. I only feel that the judgment should have come even earlier. But the important point is that attention should be focused on hundreds and thousands of such cases which are going on unnoticed and unsung. I think this judgment should open the eyes of the public, judiciary and police."
Supreme Court advocate Surat Singh expressed his satisfaction at the death penalty. "Given the brutality of the acts of all the convicts, right from the intention to rob, rape and kill, to the intention to destroy the evidence, this case can be rightly described as rarest of rare and fit for capital punishment. It will send a deterrent message to potential offenders and restore faith in the investigation, prosecution and judicial systems. This case is exemplifies successful probe, prosecution and trial."
Lawyer Gaurang Kant felt the sentencing would go a long way in sensitizing people to crimes against women. "Not to mention that Nirbhaya would feel emancipated. I hope this acts as a deterrent to the rising offences against women."
Justice R S Sodhi, a retired HC judge, agreed with the sentencing, saying in this case the "balance easily tilts towards aggravating circumstances warranting death penalty". Sodhi pointed out how each convict was involved in the brutality, and said the judge must have weighed the pros and cons beforee deciding. He, however, added, "I am not sure if death sentence is a deterrent. But yes, it is a swift punishment that leaves the victim's kin and society relieved. In case of life term people eventually forget."
Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaisingh was sceptical if the death penalty would be a deterrent, but felt police and the prosecution had met expectations. "Any sentence by a lower court has to be confirmed in HC. The convicts have the right to appeal. The question is does death act as a deterrent? There have been death sentences given earlier for rape and murder but still this case happened. It makes you wonder what's the purpose of a death sentence."
London, Sep 14 (IANS) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of committing many crimes against humanity.
Speaking at the UN Friday, the secretary general said a UN report next week would provide "overwhelming" confirmation that chemical weapons were used in Syria.
Ban accused Assad of "committing many crimes against humanity", but stopped short of blaming Syria's government for the alleged chemical attack near Damascus last month, The Telegraph reported.
"Therefore, I'm sure that there will be surely the process of accountability when everything is over," The Telegraph quoted Ban as saying.
"I believe the report will be an overwhelming report that the chemical weapons were used," he said.
The secretary general also gave a UN estimate that 1,400 people were killed in the attack at Ghouta, east of Damascus, the report said.
Meanwhile, John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said discussions with Russia about putting Syria's chemical arms under international control were "constructive".
"We would both agree that we had constructive conversations regarding that, but those conversations are continuing," the newspaper quoted Kerry as saying.
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Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, seen here together in 2010, have a long-standing rivalry
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Australia's ex-Prime Minister Julia Gillard has revealed the "acute distress" she felt after being dumped as leader of the Labor Party in June.
"Losing power can bring forth a pain that hits you like a fist," she wrote in an opinion piece in the Guardian.
The country's first female prime minister was ousted by long-term rival Kevin Rudd amid dismal polling figures.
But despite the switch, Mr Rudd lost last Saturday's general election to conservative leader Tony Abbott.
Labor is set for a new leadership contest after Mr Rudd announced he would resign from his party role.
'Cynical and shallow'
Ms Gillard revealed she had watched the 7 September election night results on her own.
"I wanted it that way. I wanted to just let myself be swept up in it," she wrote in the Guardian column.
The leadership challenge in June was the second Ms Gillard had faced since taking office in 2010. She herself ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister in 2010.
She said the switch just weeks head of the election had sent Australians a "very cynical and shallow message" about Labor's purpose.
"The decision was not done because caucus now believed Kevin Rudd had the greater talent for governing," she wrote.
"Labor unambiguously sent a very clear message that it cared about nothing other than the prospects of survival of its members of parliament at the polls. There was not one truly original new idea to substitute as the lifeblood of the campaign."
After her own defeat three months ago, Ms Gillard declared she would be leaving politics for good.
"Losing power is felt physically, emotionally, in waves of sensation, in moments of acute distress," she said of that moment.
"You can feel you are fine but then suddenly someone's words of comfort, or finding a memento at the back of the cupboard as you pack up, or even cracking jokes about old times, can bring forth a pain that hits you like a fist, pain so strong you feel it in your guts, your nerve endings."
Ms Gillard said she had experienced "odd moments of relief" since quitting, "as the hard weight that felt like it was sitting uncomfortably between your shoulder blades slips off".
But she admitted that she was still "grieving" the end of her political career.
"Late at night or at quiet moments in the day feelings of regret, memories that make you shine with pride, a sense of being unfulfilled can overwhelm you. Hours slip by."
Mr Abbott and his Liberal-National coalition ended Labor's tumultuous six-year reign in a landslide victory.
During his election campaign, Mr Abbott focused on the rival party's history of political infighting, saying it cared more about personal vendettas than pressing national issues.
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Over 1,000 Philippine troops have been battling to drive MNLF rebels out of the city
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Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Binay is to hold talks with Muslim rebels following five days of deadly clashes in the southern city of Zamboanga.
The aim of the talks is to end a stand-off, in which the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) are holding at least 100 people hostage.
Fighting is reported to continue despite a ceasefire agreed between the government and rebels late on Friday.
More than 22 people have died in the violence since Monday.
About 15,000 residents have been displaced by the violence and a curfew is in place.
President Benigno Aquino, who flew to Zamboanga on Friday, earlier issued a warning to the rebels not to harm civilians.
He said government troops had "overwhelming" force and would not hesitate to use it.
Gunfire exchanges
Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the rebels had violated the truce, due to take effect on Friday at midnight.
"Everybody wants peace, to stop this without more bloodshed," Mr Gazmin said.
"But as we speak, there's firing so there's no ceasefire. We agreed that government forces will not fire only if the MNLF will not open fire."
Residents in Zamboanga said gunfire exchanges could be heard throughout the night.
At 2:00 local time, the city government tweeted that the "Police Operations Division says no order of a ceasefire".
On Friday, Vice-President Binay said he had spoken by telephone to MNLF leader Nur Misuari and Mr Gazmin, who both agreed to suspend fighting.
Army spokesman Lt Col Ramon Zagala told reporters at least 52 had been killed, including 43 rebels and four civilians.
Mr Misuari set no conditions in exchange for agreeing to the ceasefire, the vice-president said.
Mr Binay is now travelling to the area to take part in the negotiations.
More than 1,000 troops, backed by police, have been battling to drive MNLF rebels out of the city, who say they are fighting for an independent state.
Officials said the rebels set fire to many homes in the city on Friday as a possible diversionary tactic to try to escape amid shortages of food, supplies and ammunition.
Schools and shops have been closed, with only essential government offices open, according to aid agencies.
The MNLF was founded by Nur Misuari in 1971, with the goal of fighting the Philippine state for an independent Islamic nation. The MNLF then signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996.
However Nur Misuari has complained that his faction has been marginalised in a peace agreement currently being negotiated between the government and another insurgent group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Last month, he declared an independent Muslim state in the southern Philippines.
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Narendra Modi has massive support among India's middle classes and business community, who credit him with turning Gujarat into an economic powerhouse
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India's main opposition party has named controversial politician Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for elections due next year.
Mr Modi, who has been chief minister of Gujarat state since 2001, has long been seen as a rising star of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In June, he was chosen to lead the party's campaign for the election.
Mr Modi is credited with making Gujarat one of India's most prosperous states.
But he is also accused of doing little to stop anti-Muslim riots in 2002 which left more than 1,000 dead - allegations he has always denied.
In recent months he has been courted by international investors and foreign diplomats, and his image is that of a clean and efficient administrator who is corruption-free.
'No stone unturned'
A crowd of jubilant supporters gathered outside the BJP's headquarters in New Delhi ahead of the formal announcement of Mr Modi's candidacy on Friday.
"I assure that I will leave no stone unturned in working for a BJP victory in the 2014 elections," Mr Modi said in a statement after being nominated.
"I seek the blessings of the people in our efforts to free our nation of the turbulent times we are going through."
Critics say his candidacy will shift the debate from the alleged scams and inefficiencies of the ruling Congress to Mr Modi's controversial persona, the BBC's Vineet Khare, in Delhi, reports.
But supporters see him as a strong figure who can lead the BJP to power, after it lost the last two parliamentary elections, our correspondent says.
A brilliant speaker, Mr Modi was chosen in June to lead the BJP's election campaign for next year. Some senior party leaders including former deputy prime minister L K Advani opposed his appointment.
However, Mr Modi has massive support both within the party as well as among India's middle classes and business community, who see him as a charismatic leader who has turned Gujarat into an economic powerhouse.
As a result, he was re-elected twice as the state's chief minister.
Mr Modi also enjoys strong backing from senior leaders in the right-wing Hindu organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The RSS, founded in the 1920s with a clear objective to make India a Hindu nation, functions as an ideological fountainhead to a host of hardline Hindu groups - including Mr Modi's BJP, with which it has close ties.
The RSS has a particularly strong base in Gujarat, and Mr Modi's links were seen as a strength the organisation could tap into when he joined the state unit of the BJP in the 1980s.
Ability for secrecy
Mr Modi has a formidable reputation as a party organiser, along with an ability for secrecy, which comes from years of training as an RSS "pracharak" or propagandist, analysts say.
Although Mr Modi escaped censure in the 2001 Gujarat riots, his close aide, Maya Kodnani, was convicted last year and sent to jail for 28 years.
The rioting began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire blamed on Muslims in the town of Godhra.
Ms Kodnani was not a minister at the time of the riots, but was appointed junior minister for women and child development by Mr Modi in 2007.
His critics accused him of "rewarding her with the ministership" for her role in the riots.
Mr Modi himself has never expressed any remorse or offered any apologies for the riots, and many Muslims displaced by the violence continue to live in ghettos near Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city and commercial capital.
