Wounded Syrians show signs of chemical attack – Turkey says

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

Syrian casualties treated in Turkeyshow signs of being victims of chemical weapons, the Turkish foreign minister said on Friday, adding to indications that President Barack Obama’s “red line” on the use of such arms may have been crossed. Wary of the false intelligence used to justify the 2003 war in Iraq, the United States says it wants proof that chemical weapons have been used before taking any action in Syria. But if the evidence is confirmed it would increase the possibility of Western intervention against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the two-year civil war, even as the United States and Russia try to bring the sides to peace talks. … Continue reading →

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Woman pulled from Dhaka building 17 days after it collapsed

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

A woman was yesterday pulled alive from the ruins of an eight-storey building that collapsed in a suburb of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, 17 days ago. Rescuers said the woman, named Reshma, was found in the remains of the second floor of the Rana Plaza after they heard her crying: “Please save me.” She was  taken to hospital, but is not thought to have serious injuries. More than 1,000 are now confirmed to have died, most of them women working in clothes factories. The authorities said 2,437 people had been rescued, of whom about 1,000 had suffered serious injuries. Reshma: “I kept banging whatever I could with my legs but no-one could hear … Continue reading →

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Obama warns on US military sexual assaults

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

President Barack Obama has said sexual harassment and assault will not be tolerated in the US military. He spoke as figures showed reported sexual assaults in the US military rose from 3,192 to 3,374 in 2012. But as many attacks go unreported, officials estimate the total number of sexual assaults stands at 26,000, up from 19,000 last year. It comes after the officer tasked with stopping sexual crimes in the US Air Force was charged with sexual battery. Lt Col Jeff Krusinski, 41, was arrested on Sunday accused of grabbing a woman’s breasts and buttocks in a car park in Virginia, police said. The Air Force has been criticised after … Continue reading →

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Malaysia opposition holds protest at vote result

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

Thousands of Malaysian opposition supporters have rallied against alleged fraud in the election, defying police who said the protest was illegal. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called the protest after what he said were “stolen” polls, won by PM Najib Razak’s ruling coalition. Mr Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN or National Front) coalition won 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats on Sunday. It was the coalition’s worst result in more than half a century in power. While it secured a simple majority, it failed to regain the two-thirds parliamentary majority it lost for the first time in 2008. The BN has vehemently denied the opposition’s allegations of cheating and accused Mr Anwar … Continue reading →

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Blast at election rally in north-west Pakistan leaves 15 dead

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

At least 15 people are reported to have died in an explosion at an election rally in north-west Pakistan. The blast is believed to have happened near the stage at a rally of Jamaat Ulema Islam – Fazl (JUI-F), a religious party, in the tribal Kurram region. Dozens of people were injured, according to local officials. This is the latest in a string of attacks on parties and candidates since campaigning began last month for the general election on 11 May. Many of the attacks, but not all, have been against secular parties. A JUI-F candidate from another constituency in the same region, Maulana Ainuddin Shakir, who was also present … Continue reading →

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U.S. military plane crashes in southern Kyrgyzstan

Posted on May 4, 2013 by

 A U.S. military refuelling plane on its way to Afghanistan exploded in mid air and crashed in Kyrgyzstan on Friday when its cargo of fuel ignited, the Central Asian country’s Emergencies Ministry said. The aircraft took off from the U.S. military transit centre at Kyrgyzstan’s international Manas airport, which U.S. forces maintain for operations in Afghanistan, with around 70 tonnes of fuel on board, a local ministry official said. The plane, used for in-flight refuelling, disappeared from radar screens at 3:10 p.m. as it flew near the Kyrgyz village of Chaldovar, the ministry said. The three person crew was unaccounted for, it said. The ministry said witnesses saw the plane … Continue reading →

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Two Iranians found guilty of Kenya terror plot

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

A Kenyan court has found two Iranian men guilty of plotting to attack Western targets inside Kenya. Ahmed Mohammed and Sayed Mansour were caught with 15 kilos (33 pounds) of explosives in the capital, Nairobi, last June. They are accused of belonging to a terror network planning to blow up British, US or Israeli targets in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa. The pair, who deny all charges, face up to 15 years in prison. Judges ruled that both men had been proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt of all terror-related charges. Prosecutors said the suspects had explosives “in circumstances that indicated they were armed with the intent to commit … Continue reading →

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April bloodiest month in Iraq since 2008 – U.N.

Posted on May 2, 2013 by

April was Iraq’s bloodiest month for almost five years, with 712 people killed in bomb attacks and other violence, the United Nations Iraq mission said on Thursday. Iraq has grown more volatile as the civil war in neighboring Syria strains fragile relations between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims. Tensions are at their highest since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011. The number of attacks increased sharply after security forces raided a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk last week, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas including the western province of Anbar, which borders Syria and Jordan. “The month of April was the deadliest since June 2008. A total … Continue reading →

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Chinese military cracks down on licence plate abuse

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

China’s new leadership is seeking to dismantle a system of privilege which has allowed the drivers of military vehicles to do as they please on the roads. On Sunday the Chinese military began replacing license plates on its cars and trucks to crack down on legions of vehicles, many of them plush luxury brands, which routinely break traffic laws and fill up with free gas. The People’s Liberation Army General Logistics Department began supervising the removal of current military license plates that will expire on Tuesday, the PLA Daily newspaper reported. Luxury sedans and sport utility vehicles with PLA and People’s Armed Police license plates gliding through red lights or … Continue reading →

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Karzai confirms US has been giving him ‘loads of cash’

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday that his national security team has been receiving payments from the U.S. government for the past 10 years. Karzai confirmed the payments when he was asked about a story published in The New York Times saying the CIA had given the Afghan National Security Council tens of millions of dollars in monthly payments delivered in suitcases, backpacks and plastic shopping bags. During a news conference in Helsinki, Finland, where he was on an official visit, Karzai said the welcome monthly payments were not a “big amount” but were a “small amount,” although he did not disclose the sums. He said they were used to … Continue reading →

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