Lahore, January 3
In a desperate move to shore up support, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today met top leaders of the opposition PML-N and PLM-Q, but got no firm assurance from them on saving his tottering government.

Beleaguered Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani emerging from the crisis talks, however, claimed that the two main opposition parties had said they would not back any move “that derails democracy”.

Gilani took the step to reach out to the PML-N and the PML-Q, as clamour mounted for his resignation following the withdrawal of support from the 25-member strong Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a development that reduced his government to a minority left with only 160 members in a 342 strong National Assembly.

First he met PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif and then drove to the Lahore residence of former premier Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the chief of PML-Q, once described by President Asif Ali Zardari as the “qatil (killer) league” for its government’s alleged failure to provide protection to his wife Benazir Bhutto at the time of her assassination in 2007.

The desperate moves by Gilani came as leaders of his erstwhile ally Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam called for his stepping down, saying he had lost support in parliament, triggering horse trading in search of new alliances.

Following separate meetings with Gilani, a day after the MQM pulled out of the ruling coalition, leaders of the PML-N and PML-Q said they would not take any step that derails democracy or amounted to “blackmailing” the government. Emerging from a meeting with PML-Q chief Hussain, Gilani told reporters: “He has said that no step will be taken (by the PML-Q) that derails democracy”.

The top leadership of the PML-Q will hold further consultations tomorrow on the question of supporting the PPP-led government, Gilani said.

Former premier Hussain said the PML-Q had given unconditional support to Gilani so far but had now set the condition that the government should address the people’s problems to get its backing in future.

At an earlier meeting with Gilani, senior PML-N leader and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said “democracy had become a reality after a long struggle against dictatorial regimes” and his party “would not let it be derailed”.

The PML-N’s top leadership will discuss the issue of backing the government at a meeting to be chaired tomorrow by party chief Nawaz Sharif.

The PPP-led government is currently facing its worst crisis since it came to power after the 2008 general election.

Asked by reporters about the possibility of a no-confidence move against him, Gilani said this could happen in only two ways - the President could ask him to seek a confidence vote or a motion could be introduced in parliament by any party. He did not comment further on the issue. — PTI

Gracemere, January 3
Military aircraft ferried supplies to an Australian town slowly sinking beneath swollen rivers on Monday, as record flooding in the country's northeast severed roads and ports, curtailing coal exports and devastating farmland.

Floods covering an area the size of France and Germany combined submerged the Capricorn Highway, the major traffic artery through Queensland state. High waters surged into homes in the sinking town of Rockhampton, sending furniture and refrigerators cascading down torrents of floodwater.

Storm warnings were issued in southern Queensland late on Monday, with heavy rain and new flash floods forecast.

Motorists were told to avoid flooded roads after a man drowned in central Queensland - bringing to two the official death toll in what state Treasurer Andrew Fraser called a "disaster of biblical proportions".

Floodwaters have brought most coal mining operations to a halt in Queensland -- the state exporting the majority of the coking coal produced in Australia. Sugar cane production was also hit as was, to a lesser extent, the grain harvest.

The state's premier said recovery would take weeks. Rockhampton, a community of 77,000 just off the Pacific coast and 600 km north of the state capital Brisbane, was accessible mainly by emergency services boats.

Rescue workers escorted stranded patients out of hospitals, police ordered reluctant residents to leave their homes, and electricity company teams made their way up to abandoned homes to ensure power was switched off.

Snakes slithered their way across the waterlogged highway a few km outside the devastated town. Police cordoned off vast swathes of territory to keep people out of flooded areas. Emergency officials erected dozens of tents for a "tactical medical centre" at the small airport in the coal port of Gladstone, about 100 km south of Rockhampton. — Reuters

Los Angeles, January 3
Arnold Schwarzenegger today stepped down as California “Governator”, defending his record to the last and keeping fans and others guessing about his next move.

After seven years at the helm of the Golden State, the former champion body builder turned “Terminator” movie megastar and businessman is leaving his adopted home mired in huge financial woes.

But as he prepared to hand over power to Democrat Jerry Brown two months after November 2 polls, Arnie stood by all his decisions.

“History will be the final judge of my administration’s record,” he said in his radio address. “But I leave office proud of what we have accomplished.” “I am proud that we were never afraid to ...make the tough choices, and set aside ideology in favour of compromise. At times this cost me politically. But I always acted in the best interests of California’s future.” — AFP

BRIEFLY

Lanka mulls ban on mini-skirts
Colombo: Sri Lanka was mulling a ban on mini-skirts following complaints, prompting the government to set up a panel to prepare a dress code for public places in the conservative country, officials and a media report said on Monday. The cultural ministry was considering public petitions calling for a ban on mini-skirts, which have raised the ire of ultra conservative sections of society, officials said. The Cultural Ministry forwarded the petitions to a committee to study the requests and come up with a dress code for public places, a ministry official said. — PTI

Chile hit by 7.2 magnitude quake
Washington: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake has been detected in the Pacific near the central coast of Chile, US authorities have said. News 24 quoted the US Geological Survey as saying that the earthquake occurred at 20:20 GMT on Sunday, offshore the Bio-bio region in central Chile. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 33 km. "No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. — ANI

Terror plot foiled in Pak
Islamabad: The Pakistani police on Monday claimed they had foiled a possible terrorist attack by arresting two men in Punjab province's Taxila city and seizing 150 kg of explosives and 2,000 detonators from them. The police said they intercepted an explosives-laden vehicle at a check post on Thatta Road in Taxila, located over 30-km from Islamabad. The two men travelling in the car were taken into custody, officials said. — PTI