December 20, 2005	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 17, 1426

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Shia bloc leading in Iraq elections BAGHDAD, Dec 19: Iraq’s ruling Shia Islamists, at odds with Washington over human rights and ties to Iran, may hold on to a slim parliamentary majority despite a big turnout by Sunnis, partial election results showed on Monday....		Saddam recounts capture LONDON, Dec 19: Saddam Hussein has for the first time recounted the moment of his capture two years ago in an ‘interview’ conducted via his lawyer, British newspaper The Sun said on Monday....
US ran ‘dark prison’ in Afghanistan, says HRW WASHINGTON, Dec 19: Amid efforts by a bipartisan coalition in Congress to ban torture and inhumane treatment of detainees in the “war on terror”, a major US human rights groups charged...		GCC terms Israel biggest threat ABU DHABI, Dec 19: US-allied Arab leaders called on Monday for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, singling out Israel as the biggest threat to the region....
New York bracing for transport strike NEW YORK, Dec 19: New York commuters are bracing for their worst nightmare – a public transport strike just days before Christmas holidays, which could cost the city in excess of $400 million a day....		IAEA probes S. Korea’s work on plutonium VIENNA, Dec 19: The UN atomic agency has launched an investigation into whether South Korea plans to produce weapons-grade plutonium at a facility it is building, a diplomat said on Monday....
Tamil party to form alliance with LTTE COLOMBO, Dec 19: A political party representing the Tamil community of Indian origin in Sri Lanka’s plantation sector has agreed to forge a new ‘broader’ political front following talks with the LTTE leadership, party officials said on Monday....		UNSC urged to act promptly over Darfur NEW YORK, Dec 19: The top United Nations humanitarian relief official on Monday pleaded for the Security Council to take urgent political and security measures to stem crises resurgent in Sudan’s Darfur, Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa....
Attempt on Mahmoud’s life denied TEHRAN, Dec 19: Iran’s government said on Monday that a member of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s personal security team has been killed in a shoot-out with bandits but implicitly denied rumours of an assassination attempt....		Osama, Saddam? What’s in a name? WASHINGTON, Dec 19: With a slip of the tongue, US President George Bush briefly turned Osama bin Laden into Saddam Hussein on Monday. Mr Bush momentarily switched the names of his...
Indian minister dies in Seoul NEW DELHI, Dec 19: India’s Power Minister P.M. Sayeed died of a heart attack at a hospital in the South Korean capital of Seoul. The 65-year-old minister from the country’s ruling...		Sharon suffers minor stroke JERUSALEM, Dec 19: Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rested in a Jerusalem hospital on Monday after a minor stroke that raised questions over his political future, but doctors said he should recover fully....
Bolivians get first indigenous president LA PAZ, Dec 19: Supporters danced in the streets after Evo Morales, a firebrand leftwinger who has pledged to be a thorn in the side of the United States, claimed a historic victory in Bolivia’s presidential election....		No easy way out as an encore looms: Trench warfare in Hong Kong LONDON: Jean-Paul Sartre famously said that hell is other people, and after six days at the trade talks in Hong Kong you could see his point....
Arab media ask tough questions — of itself DUBAI: Arabs are no longer blaming external forces for giving the region and its media a bad name. As debates at the ‘Arab and World Media Conference’ revealed, they are also...		New warning to US from Latin America MONTEVIDEO: The election of a left-wing leader in Bolivia is a new Latin American warning to the United States, which is increasingly worried about the spread of potentially hostile governments in the region....
Tsunami victims struggle to rebuild lives LONDON: Seven Achenese young men living in a rough, homemade wooden shack on stilts in the village of Lampuuk, 30 kilometres from the northern tip of Sumatra, are learning self-sufficiency the hard way....		India, Brazil accused of betraying poor states GENEVA: Development aid, labour union and human rights groups on Monday blasted as ‘betrayal’ and abuse of the poor a World Trade Organization (WTO) deal in Hong Kong to keep troubled open market talks afloat....