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May 29, 2008

Thursday

Jamadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1429

Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)

Ethnic group disrupts life in India's capital NEW DELHI, May 29 (AFP) – The protesting Gujjars Thursday tried to bring India's capital to a halt, blocking key highways and paralysing trains, police said. The Gujjars, who are traditionally shepherds, are demanding New Delhi recognise them as a tribe, which would give them easier access to government jobs and education. Thousands of Gujjars squatted on roads into New Delhi at the start of a day-long shutdown, a police spokesman said. Others crowded railway tracks, preventing trains from moving as several thousand police and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the capital to prevent violence, he said. In nearby Haryana state, police shot dead a Gujjar protester in Panipat district while another died in a stampede at a roadblock, the Press Trust of India added. Fourteen policemen were also injured in clashes in Haryana state. At least 41 people, including two policemen, have been killed in northern India since the agitation started in Rajasthan state seven days ago. (First Posted @ 12:30 PST Updated @ 21:28 PST)

Forty killed, 60 injured in Indian truck crash BANGALORE, India, May 29 (AFP) - At least 40 people were killed and 60 injured on Thursday when a truck carrying guests to a wedding party crashed into a dry lake near a village in Hassan district, some 160 kilometres from Bangalore in the state of Karnataka, police said. Earlier, police had put the death toll at 25. “About 100-120 people were travelling in the open truck, which was on way to a village temple for a wedding feast,” it said. Eye-witnesses said the accident occurred after the driver of the truck swerved in a desperate attempt to avoid coming into contact with a live power cable dangling across the road. (First Posted @ 20:24 PST Updated @ 21:16 PST)

Nepal raises national flag in palace KATHMANDU, May 29 (Reuters) - Nepali authorities raised the national flag at the palace of dethroned King Gyanendra on Thursday, hours after stone-throwing demonstrators clashed with police and tried to storm inside. More than 25 people were injured when police beat the crowd back with bamboo sticks but protesters continued to shout anti-king slogans. Earlier on Thursday, the royal flag was lowered from Nepal's palace as the Himalayan nation celebrated its first day as a republic following the abolition of its 239-year-old Hindu monarchy. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)

Tennis: Seeds tumble at French Open PARIS, May 29 (AFP) -Seeds David Nalbandian and James Blake were sent crashing out of the French Open at the second round stage on Thursday. If the seventh-seeded Blake's 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia was only a minor upset, sixth seed Nalbandian's 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 collapse at the hands of French wildcard Jeremy Chardy was a shocker. (Posted @ 20:28 PST)

25 killed, 45 injured in Indian truck crash BANGALORE, India, May 29 (AFP) - At least 25 people were killed and 45 injured on Thursday when a truck carrying guests to a wedding party crashed into a dry lake near a village in Hassan district, some 160 kilometres from Bangalore in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, police said. “About 100-120 people were travelling in the open truck, which was on way to a village temple for a wedding feast,” it said. Unconfirmed media reports said up to 39 were dead and 50 hurt. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)

NATO optimistic Pakistan will resume border operations KABUL, May 29 (AFP) - The head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, US General Dan McNeill, said Thursday he was optimistic Pakistan would resume operations against militants along its border with Afghanistan. McNeill, head of the ISAF, said a recent increase in attacks in eastern Afghanistan was because “there is no pressure on the terrorists and the extremists on the other side of the border.” ”Pakistan had a very difficult year, with a huge wave of suicide bombers, the Red Mosque events, 257 soldiers captured by 20 insurgents...,” he told reporters. “They have also just gone through huge changes within their government, they're still trying to find their way,” he said. “I'm optimistic that all of this, at some point, will translate itself in military operations on the opposite side of the border,” said the general. (Posted @ 20:22 PST)

Parliament to be made supreme through constitutional package: Sherry ISLAMABAD, May 29 (APP): Pakistan Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sherry Rehman Thursday said the “restoration of the constitution of 1973 and the initiation of the agendas of Charter of Democracy (CoD) are not something ordinary. It would be a historic and important step towards a real restoration of democracy in the country.” Talking to media persons she said consultations on constitutional package with all political parties were in progress and after completion of this process the package would be tabled in the Parliament. (Posted @ 20:20 PST)

Judges first 'real heroes' of Pakistan: Palejo KARACHI, May 29 (PPI): Brave judges, who have challenged the dictators and tyrants, are the first 'real heroes' of the history of Pakistan, said Awami Tehreek chairman and central leader of All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) Rasool Bux Palejo. At the 'Meet the Press' program of Karachi Press Club Thursday, he said Pakistan was passing through the most critical phase of its history and in these dark days the movement of brave judges, lawyers, media and civil society was the only ray of hope. He charged that the rulers, themselves, were the biggest breakers of law, and added that the withdrawal of cases against corrupt and criminal politicians and killers of people was the biggest misuse of power. He said the rulers and their cronies were afraid of the independence of judiciary because it would never allow this blatant misuse of power. Palejo alleged that Punjab was stealing some three-fourth of the share of Sindh's water. (Posted @ 19:36 PST)

PM Gilani reassures solution of Balochistan’s problems; APC soon ISLAMABAD, May 29 (APP) Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Thursday reiterated government’s resolve to provincial autonomy and abolishing the concurrent list in the Constitution. Welcoming the statement by Sardar Akhtar Mengal, former Chief Minister of Balochistan about his willingness to hold talks with the government to ensure peace and tranquility in Balochistan, Gilani said his government was ready to take every possible step to restore the shattered confidence of the Baloch. He said government had already ordered end to army operation in Balochistan and would ensure its full implementation. He also said that government was keen to hold talks with genuine Baloch leaders, and pointed out that PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari would soon hold an All Parties Conference on all matters related to Balochistan. (Posted @ 18:28 PST)

Clashes kill at least 12 insurgents in Iraq’s Tikrit TIKRIT, Iraq, May 29 (Reuters) At least 12 insurgents were killed Thursday in clashes with members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol near the city of Tikrit in Iraq, police said. The fighting erupted when insurgents jumped out of the container of a fuel tanker and attacked the patrol, said police officials. (Posted @ 18:24 PST)

Bosnian man kills six of his relatives TRSJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina, May 29 (AP): A Bosnian man killed six relatives during a 20-minute rampage Thursday through his village near the northern city of Tuzla, police said. The man was arrested after he allegedly shot dead three people in their homes before boarding a bus and killing all three passengers on board, besides injuring the bus driver, police spokesman Miralem Malkic said. Malkic said the motive for the shootings was not clear. He said the victims were all cousins of the alleged gunman. (First Posted @ 12:50 PST, Updated @ 16:40 PST)

Nuclear scientist Dr. A. Q. Khan criticizes Musharraf ISLAMABAD, May 29 (AP): Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the detained architect of Pakistan's nuclear program, rebuked Pervez Musharraf on Thursday, saying the country has “gone to the dogs” in the last 10 years. Speaking by phone from his Islamabad residence, he told Dawn News television that the test had proved skeptics in the west wrong that “we were not capable of doing anything.” Yet hopes Pakistan could then make progress in economic development after becoming “self-sufficient” in national defence had not been realized, he said. “This has not happened. The last 10 years, the country has gone to the dogs,” Khan said. “People are hungry. You see the (rising) prices and all.” Asked if he blamed Musharraf for the nation's problems, Khan said: “The team leader is to be responsible for the failure of the team but all those who were with him did not assert themselves and (did not) do a proper job.” He was of the view that the new government should be given time to cope with Pakistan's many problems. Dr. Khan told Dawn News that the restrictions on his movements had not been relaxed although he was allowed out of his house to visit the Academy of Sciences this month to mourn a former colleague. Khan said he was free to use the phone but soldiers still guard his house and “only a very few people have been allowed to come and see me.” He also said his health had deteriorated because of his detention, adding that he had suffered many illnesses including deep vein thrombosis and prostate cancer - for which he underwent surgery last year. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)

Car bomb injures six in Georgian breakaway region TBILISI, May 29 (AFP): A car bomb exploded Thursday in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia wounding six militiamen, the province's rebel administration said, blaming Georgian secret services. The six, all members of South Ossetia's security forces, were injured when the car bomb exploded near the special forces' headquarters in the rebel capital Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee said in a statement. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)

Turkish military says hit PKK targets in northern Iraq ISTANBUL, May 29 (Reuters): Turkish warplanes struck 16 Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq Thursday morning and work was continuing on assessing the damage caused, the General Staff announced. The statement on the General Staff's website said the operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel group, launched at 0800 GMT, had been completed successfully. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)

Country can overcome challenges by adhering to democratic process: PM Gilani ISLAMABAD, May 29 (APP): Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Thursday said the country can overcome the challenges it was facing by adhering to the democratic process on a sustainable basis. Addressing participants of the National Defence University, the Prime Minister said the political leadership of the country was determined to resolve all contentious issues. Gilani expressed the hope that the government would be able to overcome the controversies surrounding the key institutions as quickly as possible to bring focus to real issues. He said the Constitutional distortions created over the years since the promulgation of 1973 constitution would be removed through the constitutional package which has already been formulated. “We have demonstrated that the unhealthy political trends of the past have been buried by the current political leadership; this we have proved by actions not by mere words,” Gilani said. At the same time, Gilani assured that the plight of common man was not out of sight of the government. “If we cannot improve the life of the common citizen of Pakistan, all our discourses on constitutional matters would be meaningless,” he said. (Posted @ 15:05 PST)

Suicide bombings kill 20 in northern Iraq MOSUL, Iraq, May 29 (AFP): At least 20 people were killed and another 42 wounded in two suicide bombings targeting police and security forces in northern Iraq Thursday, officials said. A man in an explosives-packed jacket blew himself up at a recruitment centre in Sinjar, a town west of the provincial capital Mosul on the road to Syria, and killed 17 people, officials said. Interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told AFP that the bomber targeted a centre that recruited personnel for the police and security services in the area. Hospital sources said about 30 people were wounded. A few hours earlier, a suicide bomber drove into a group of police officers and detonated his explosives in Al-Gabat, just north of Mosul, police Captain Aziz Imara told AFP. At least three people, including two policemen, were killed and 12 people were wounded, he said, adding that the blast had also damaged shops and restaurants. (First Posted @ 12:20 PST, Updated @ 14:55 PST)

Kurdish rebels kill eight Iranian soldiers TEHRAN, May 29 (AFP): Six members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards died in clashes with a separatist Kurdish group while two border guards were killed by mines laid by the rebels, the Mehr news agency reported Thursday. “Six members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in clashes with PJAK rebels in the region of Sardasht,” a town 10 kms from the Iraqi border in the West Azarbaijan province, Mehr said. It said two soldiers serving as border guards were killed in the same region after stepping on mines “laid by the counter-revolutionaries.” The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) operates from rear-bases in northeastern Iraq and makes sorties across the border into Iran. It has been involved in a series of clashes with Iranian security forces in recent years. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)

Suicide bomber kills 16 police, recruits in Iraq MOSUL, Iraq, May 29 (Reuters): A suicide bomber killed 14 police recruits and two policemen in northern Iraq Thursday, police and military sources said. An attacker wearing a military uniform detonated an explosive vest near a police recruiting centre at Sinjar, near Mosul. Ten police recruits and five police officers were wounded, the sources said. (First Posted @ 12:20 PST, Updated @ 14:30 PST)

Iraq prime minister calls for debt relief at UN conference UPPLANDS VASBY, Sweden, May 29 (AP): Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called on neighboring countries to forgive debt and war compensation from Saddam Hussein's regime, saying they impede Iraq's development. Opening a U.N. conference on Iraq, al-Maliki also praised his country's security and economic progress and said the government had kept Iraq from descending into the “abyss of civil war.” “Iraq has achieved major success in the battle against terrorism with the support of the international community,” al-Maliki told the conference through a translator. Iraq has at least US$67 billion in foreign debt - most of it owed to fellow Arab countries Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Al-Maliki said Iraq needs to get rid of the burden of war reparations and debt. More than 500 delegates from dozens of countries and international organizations were attending the conference outside Stockholm, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. (First Posted@ 13:30 PST, Updated @ 14:30 PST)

Rice defends Iraq war as McClellan calls it a “strategic blunder” STOCKHOLM, May 29 (Reuters): Speaking at a news conference, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended Thursday the Bush administration's record in Iraq after sharp criticism of the war in a new book by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan. “The one thing that I am certain was not a mistake was to liberate the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein,” said Rice, who was national security adviser when the Iraq war began in 2003. In his book, McClellan accuses President George W. Bush of using propaganda to sell the Iraq war. “It was not the United States of America alone that believed that he had weapons of mass destruction that he was hiding,” Rice said. The Iraq war was fought over charges that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction based on intelligence that later proved to be faulty. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)

Flooding destroys 100 villages in India's northeast GUWAHATI, India, May 29 (Reuters): Floods triggered by heavy rain destroyed more than 100 villages and affected thousands of people in India's northeast over the last two days, officials said Thursday. Surging rivers washed away homes and many villagers were being evacuated from low-lying areas in Assam state, officials said. Embankments at several places were damaged by water flowing down the mountains in Assam, affecting around 50,000 people. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)

At least seven people killed by rampaging elephant in northern India NEW DELHI, May 29 (AP): An elephant rampaged through a village in northern India Thursday, killing at least seven people who tried to surround it, a wildlife official said. At least seven people died after the elephant entered the village on the edge of the Jim Corbett National Park, said Srikant Chandola, the park's chief wildlife officer. Belinda Wright, director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, said the elephant had apparently become separated from its herd and entered the village. Wright said the elephant had been shot twice by police but was still running amok. (Posted @ 13:45 PST)

International conference on Iraq opens in Sweden STOCKHOLM, May 29 (AFP): An international conference on Iraq aimed at assessing progress made in the war-ravaged country opened here Thursday. “We stand ready to support the government of Iraq and all Iraqis in the quest for a sovereign and democratic united and prosperous country,” Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said as the one-day conference opened at 10:05 a.m. on the outskirts of Stockholm. Around 100 delegations were at the conference, which is being hosted by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and attended by among others US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It is the first follow-up meeting since the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), a five-year peace and economic development plan, was adopted at a May 2007 international conference at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)

China quake death toll rises to 68,516 BEIJING, May 29 (AFP): The death toll from China's earthquake has reached 68,516, with another 19,350 missing, a government spokesman said Thursday. The confirmed death toll, given by Cabinet spokesman Lu Guangjin at a press conference, marked an increase of just over 400 deaths from the day before. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)

Tamil Tigers kill 13 in Sri Lankan navy camp raid COLOMBO, May 29 (AFP): Separatist Tamil fighters launched a pre-dawn attack early Thursday against a naval camp on an island off northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 13 sailors, a pro-rebel website said. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said its Sea Tiger wing also seized weapons, including a radar, from the camp on Chiraththivu islet, close to the Jaffna peninsula. “At least 13 Sri Lanka navy personnel were killed and many sailors wounded in the raid carried out by a special marine wing of the Sea Tigers,” the Tamilnet.com reported, quoting the LTTE. “There were no LTTE casualties in the operation,” the report said. However, Sri Lanka's defence ministry said army and navy personnel successfully repulsed the rebels, killing at least 16 LTTE cadres and destroying three enemy boats. Elsewhere, according to the military, six civilians were killed and 12 others seriously wounded when the LTTE fired 20 rounds of heavy artillery shells towards two densely populated areas of Jaffna. The military earlier said four civilians were killed and six injured in the pre-dawn LTTE attack. In Vavuniya town, three policemen were injured when the LTTE triggered off a roadside mine targeting police vehicles, the ministry said. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST, Updated @ 13:10 PST)

10 killed in Hunza accident GILGIT, Pakistan, May 29 (APP): At least 10 persons were killed when a passenger van plunged into a deep ravine while negotiating a sharp turn near Sarat village Thursday morning. According to police, a passenger jeep carrying more than 15 people, including women and children, was on its way to Ali Abad, Hunza from Nani village when the accident occurred. (First Posted @ 12:00 PST, Updated @ 13:05 PST)

Musharraf's spokesman, army douse resignation rumour ISLAMABAD, May 29 (Reuters): The Pakistani army and President Musharraf's spokesman moved to dampen speculation Thursday that the president was about to quit. The military issued a statement saying General Ashfaq Kayani “regretted that a section of press is trying to unnecessarily sensationalize routine functional matters”. President Musharraf’s spokesman Rashid Qureshi rebutted rumours that Musharraf had agreed to leave his official residence in Rawalpindi. “Neither has there been any discussion of the president moving out of the President's Lodge, nor is there any plan for him to do so,” Qureshi said. (Posted @ 12:55 PST)

Gunman kills six people in Bosnia bus SARAJEVO, May 29 (Reuters): A man opened fire inside a bus in a village near the northern Bosnian town of Tuzla, killing six people, police said Thursday. One person was wounded in the early morning incident in the village of Gornja Lipnica. There were no details on the identity or motive of the gunman. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)

Three dead in blast near south Philippines air base MANILA, May 29 (Reuters): A bomb believed to have been set off by a mobile phone exploded outside an air base in southern Philippines Thursday, killing three people and wounding 17, police and the military said. The bomb exploded as people were waiting to board a military transport plane at Zamboanga air base, said city police chief Lurimel Detran. There was no immediate claim for the attack, but suspicion was centred on the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group that operates from the islands of Jolo and Basilan, off Zamboanga. (First Posted @ 09:20 PST, Updated @ 12:50 PST)

Indian troops kill ‘militant’ couple in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 29 (AFP): Troops shot dead a man and his wife who were suspected members of a militant group in occupied Kashmir, police said Thursday. The couple was killed in a gun fight following a joint raid by army and police in the southern district of Doda, a police statement said. (Posted @ 12:45 PST)

Dozens captured in Israeli incursion in Gaza GAZA CITY, May 29 (AFP) Dozens of Palestinians were captured before dawn Thursday in an Israeli military incursion in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Israeli troops used loudspeakers to order residents of the Beit Hanun area aged 16 to 60 to gather in a square, and then took away about 60 of them, a witness said. The Palestinian Ramattan news agency said one of its cameramen was among those captured. Witnesses said armoured military bulldozers destroyed farmland during the incursion. Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Palestinian civilian died of his wounds Thursday, one day after he was hit by Israeli gunfire in southern Gaza, the head of Gaza emergency services said. (Posted @ 12:40 PST)

Protesters besiege New Delhi over job quotas NEW DELHI, May 29 (Reuters): Thousands of protesters from an ethnic Indian group, the Gujjars, burned tyres and blocked roads leading to New Delhi on Thursday, bringing a battle for college and government job quotas in which dozens have died closer to the capital. Huge traffic jams formed on highways leading into the capital. Some train services to towns outside Delhi, including several tourist destinations, were also suspended. The Gujjars, already considered a disadvantaged group, want to be reclassified further down the complex Hindu caste and status system so they qualify for government jobs and university seats reserved for such groups. Demonstrations turned violent last week after protesters lynched a policeman and police fired on protesters, killing 36 of them in a few days. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)

Suicide car bombing kills three near Mosul MOSUL, May 29 (AFP): At least three people, including two policemen, were killed in a suicide car bomb attack against a police patrol in northern Iraq on Thursday, police said. The bomber drove into the group of police officers and detonated the explosives in Al-Gabat, just north of the main northern city of Mosul, a police official told AFP. Twelve people were wounded, including eight policemen, he said, adding that the blast had also damaged shops and restaurants. (Posted @ 12:20 PST)

Soccer's governing body lifts international ban on Iraq SYDNEY, Australia, May 29 (AP): Soccer's governing body FIFA has lifted the international ban on Iraq, allowing Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Australia to go ahead. FIFA had suspended Iraq over what it said was government interference in the running of the sport by dissolving sports federations. The ban was provisionally lifted just hours before a deadline after FIFA received a further explanation of the situation from Iraqi officials. (Posted @ 12:00 PST)

Several feared dead in Hunza accident ISLAMABAD, May 29 (APP): A passenger van plunged into a deep ravine in Sarat village of Hunza on Thursday morning. Reports said the ill-fated van was carrying about 15 passengers including women and children. Rescue teams were sent to the site of accident for carrying out rescue operation. Several persons were feared dead in the accident. Medical Officer Dr Firdaus Ali told a private television channel that an emergency has been declared in Hunza hospital. (Posted @ 12:00 PST)

Yemen arrests 11 suspected Al-Qaeda militants SANAA, May 29 (Reuters): Yemen detained eleven suspected al Qaeda militants, a state-run website said on Thursday. The group was seized in the capital and provided information linked to “terrorist acts carried out by Al-Qaeda, said the website, www.26sep.net, a mouthpiece for the Ministry of Defence. The ministry did not give further details and said the deputy prime minister for security affairs would hold a news conference to reveal more details. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)

US to withdraw 4,000 troops from Iraq BAGHDAD, May 29 (AFP): The US military on Thursday announced the withdrawal of another 4,000 troops from Iraq next month as violence across the country hit a four-year low. The military said it was pulling out troops deployed as part of a controversial “surge” of forces in February 2007. The US military said that last week had seen the lowest level of violence in four years across Iraq, but gave no casualty figures. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)

6 civilians killed, 4 Tamil rebel boats sunk off northern Sri Lanka COLOMBO, May 29 (AP): Sri Lanka's navy and army sank four Tamil Tiger rebel boats early Thursday off the northern coast, while six civilians were killed in a rebel attack, the military said. A military official said the rebel boats were sunk when troops fired artillery at them as they attempted to attack army and naval positions off northern Jaffna. The remaining boats fled and it is not immediately clear how many rebels died in the attack, the official said. Meanwhile, six civilians were killed Thursday in rebel artillery fire in three villages of Jaffna peninsula, the official said. The rebel spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. However, a pro-rebel Web site reported that the guerrillas raided a navy camp Thursday in Sirutheevu islet, killing 13 sailors and seizing a haul of weapons. Tamilnet.com said the rebels did not suffer casualties. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST, Updated @ 11:00 PST)

Homemade bomb kills 2, wounds 17 outside Philippine air base MANILA, May 29 (AP): A homemade bomb exploded outside an air force base in southern Philippines Thursday, killing two people and wounding 17 others, police said. The cell phone-detonated bomb was apparently concealed in one of several bags of civilian commuters waiting to hitch a ride on an air force C-130 cargo plane outside Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga city, police said. A man and a woman, both waiting to get on the plane, were injured in the blast and died in a hospital. The blast also damaged three parked cars and a lawmaker's office in a two-story building across the street from the base. (First Posted @ 09:20 PST, Updated @ 10:45 PST)

Italy rethinks Afghanistan troop deployment: Berlusconi ROME, May 29 (AFP): Italy is considering changing the rules for the deployment of its troops in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said after talks with his Canadian counterpart. The statement came just days after Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said some of Italy's 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan might be redeployed to the south to fight the Taliban if NATO requested it. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has since September 2006 been pressing Germany, Italy and Spain to lift their ban on sending their troops into Afghan combat zones. All three countries have deployed their troops away from the conflict-hit south of the country, restricting them to non-combat assignments. (Posted @ 10:35 PST)

Kabul suicide attack kills three Afghans: police KABUL, May 29 (AFP): A suicide attacker blew up a car bomb near a US-led coalition convoy in Kabul Thursday, causing no serious injuries to the troops but killing three Afghan civilians, police and the coalition said. “There was a suicide attack against foreigners,” a Kabul police chief said. A policeman at the scene said three Afghans were killed in the blast -- two youngsters and a truck driver. A witness also said he saw five Afghans being evacuated from the scene and three appeared dead. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Johnson from the US-led coalition confirmed two vehicles in the convoy had been damaged in the attack but said the four people inside were not seriously hurt. (First Posted @ 09:35 PST, Updated @ 10:25 PST)

Royal flag lowered over palace as Nepal monarchy abolished KATHMANDU, May 29 (AFP): The flag of Nepal's 240-year-old Shah dynasty was taken down from the main palace in Kathmandu on Thursday after legislators abolished the world's last Hindu monarchy, officials said. “The royal flag was replaced by Nepal's national flag inside the palace on Thursday morning,” a palace official said on condition of anonymity. Thursday and Friday were declared public holidays in the new republic. The king has been given 15 days to vacate the sprawling pink palace at the heart of Kathmandu. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)

Landmark cluster bomb ban agreed by 111 countries DUBLIN, May 29 (AFP): Delegates from 111 nations on Wednesday agreed on a landmark treaty to ban cluster bombs, Ireland's foreign ministry said, in a deal that lacks the backing of major producers and stockpilers of the lethal weapons. After 10 days of painstaking negotiations in Dublin, diplomats agreed on the wording of a wide-ranging pact to outlaw the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions by its signatories. It also provides for the welfare of victims and the clearing of areas contaminated by unexploded cluster bombs. The agreement will be formally adopted on Friday, and signed in Oslo on December 2-3. Signatories would then need to ratify it. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)

30 Taliban killed in fighting: Afghan officials HERAT, May 29 (AFP): NATO warplanes pounded a militant compound in southwest Afghanistan, killing 30 Taliban fighters, after clashes that left three Afghan police and troops dead, officials said Thursday. Afghan and international forces confronted the militants at a compound in Farah province Wednesday when two Afghan soldiers and a policeman were killed in the fighting, the army commander for western Afghanistan told AFP. “Later, ISAF air planes bombed the fort and 30 Taliban including their ranking commanders were killed,” said an Afghan commander. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)

Train wrecks in Boston, Chicago kill 1, hurt many NEWTON, Massachusetts, May 29 (Reuters): Two commuter trains collided and derailed during the evening rush hour outside Boston, trapping and killing the operator of one train and injuring several passengers, authorities said. The crash came Wednesday just hours after an elevated train derailed in Chicago, sending several people to hospitals.The Boston wreck killed a woman and injured about 10 passengers in an above-ground accident. The operator's body was still trapped in the wreckage late Wednesday, said a firefighter at the scene. IN CHICAGO, officials said a train operator apparently made two key errors in quick succession to cause a derailment that left passengers perched more than 20 feet above the ground and sent several to hospitals. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)

Suicide bomber attacks foreign soldiers in Kabul; several killed KABUL, May 29 (AP): Afghan police said a suicide car bomb had hit a convoy of international soldiers in Kabul. A police officer at the scene said the attack targeted two SUVs carrying international soldiers. He said there were several casualties, but he didn't immediately know how many. American troops in Humvees arrived at the scene shortly after the attack. The bombing took place on a road leading to several military bases. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)

Five dead as two rebel boats destroyed in Sri Lanka: military COLOMBO, May 29 (Reuters): Sri Lanka's military sank two Tamil Tiger boats killing at least five rebels before dawn on Thursday, and rebel artillery fire killed four civilians, the military said. The sea operation took place off the northern tip of Jaffna. “The LTTE using about five dinghy boats tried to approach a small island off Jaffna peninsula. A combined army-navy operation sank two dinghies and another was partly damaged and capsized,” said a navy spokesman. He said five rebels were killed. The military also said rebel artillery fire on Jaffna town had killed four civilians. Tigers claim killing 13 in attack on navy camp: Tamil rebels launched a pre-dawn attack on Thursday against a naval camp on an island off northern Sri Lanka killing at least 13 sailors, a pro-rebel website said. “At least 13 Sri Lanka navy personnel were killed and many sailors wounded in the raid carried out by the Sea Tigers,” the Tamilnet.com reported. Journalist hacked to death: A Sri Lankan journalist working in the war-torn northern region and his friend were hacked to death, a media rights group said Thursday. P. Devakumar, 36, a correspondent for the privately-run Sirasa television, was murdered on Wednesday, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said. Devakumar is the ninth media worker to have been killed in Jaffna since 2006, FMM said. Three more journalists have been abducted in the town in the last two years. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)

Blast injures 10 near Philippine airforce base MANILA, May 29 (AFP): At least 10 people were injured in an explosion Thursday outside an air force base in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga, media reports said. Mostly civilians were injured in the blast just outside of the Edwin Andrews Airforce Base, according to a report on the GMA 7 television web site. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)

Canadian police find five dead in home, baby alive CALGARY, May 28 (Reuters): Two small children and three adults were found dead in a suburban Calgary house on Wednesday and police said they had yet to determine if they were investigating a murder or a murder-suicide. Officers also found a one-year-old girl alive in the home. The dead children were four and six years old and the adults were 30 to 35, a Calgary police spokesman said. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)

Mexico crime wave takes 10 more lives CIUDAD JUAREZ, May 29 (AFP): Ten people were found shot execution style, including three beheaded bodies, in 24 hours of drug-related warfare in northern Mexico, the Juarez prosecutor's office said Wednesday. A local police officer's head was found inside a plastic bag with a note signed by La Linea, a rival drug group warning the Sinaloa drug cartel fighting for control of this city on the US border, the office said. On a blanket spread over a bridge in nearby Chihuahua, were scribbled the names of several local police officers and a threat -- “these guys are next,” the prosecutor's office added. (Posted @ 08:55 PST)

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