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Rebels claim control over helicopter base in Syria
Obama-Karzai talks: Troop pullout in focus
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Lankan Parliament votes to impeach Chief Justice
China publishes maps claiming sovereignty over disputed isles
British TV host Savile ‘abused’ hundreds, including children
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Rebels claim control over helicopter base in Syria Beirut, January 11 The Syrian military struck back hours after fighters captured the base, launching air strikes on the area, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Taftanaz base is being bombarded by Syrian war planes, which are trying to destroy the airport after it was seized by fighters," it said. These came from several Islamist battalions strong in northern Syria such as the Ahrar al-Sham, the Islamic Vanguard and the Al-Nusra Front, which has links to the Al-Qaida. For months, rebels had fought for the base used by military helicopters in Idlib province. But it only fell after Islamist units reinforced them earlier in January. The United States has branded the Nusra a terrorist organisation although it enjoys wide support in Syria for its combat skills. Rebels from the Islamic Front, an alliance of several Islamist units, said Taftanaz is the largest helicopter base in northern Syria and the second largest in the country. They posted an online video showing armed men in camouflage jackets tearing down posters of Assad and shouting "Allahu akbar (God is Greatest)" at what they said was the Taftanaz base. The videos could not be verified independently. The government has imposed strict curbs on foreign media access. — Reuters
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Obama-Karzai talks: Troop pullout in focus Washington, January 11 Hosting Karzai at the White House, Obama faces the challenge of pressing ahead with his re-election pledge to continue winding down the long war in Afghanistan while preparing the Afghan government to prevent a slide back into chaos and a Taliban resurgence once most NATO forces are gone. Karzai's visit, which follows a year of growing strains in US-Afghan ties, comes amid stepped-up deliberations in Washington over the size and scope of the US military role in Afghanistan once the NATO-led combat mission concludes at the end of next year. White House officials have left open the possibility of a complete US withdrawal after 2014 - as happened in Iraq in 2011 - an option that conflicts with the Pentagon's view that thousands of troops will be needed to bolster and train still-fragile Afghan security forces. But talk of this "zero option" may actually be a gambit to squeeze concessions from Karzai, who has yet to agree on immunity from prosecution for any US forces that stay behind under a bilateral security pact being negotiated. It could also send a message to the Pentagon to scale back expectations of future troop levels. — Reuters
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Lankan Parliament votes to impeach Chief Justice
Colombo, January 11 The Parliament voted 155 to 49 to dismiss Bandaranayake, whose recent rulings had gone against the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse who is widely expected to approve her sacking. "The motion (to impeach) was carried with 155 voting for and 49 against," Speaker Chamal Rajapakse said at the end of a two-day debate on a controversial Parliament Select Committee (PSC) report which found Bandaranayake guilty of misconduct on three counts. She was accused of financial impropriety based on non-declaration of assets and conflict of interest in a case involving a failed investment company. As many as 20 MPs were not present during the voting which was held amid tight security. Four government MPs, including two senior ministers, were among those absent at the vote. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa overruled opposition protests that a vote should not be taken. — PTI
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China publishes maps claiming sovereignty over disputed isles
Beijing, January 11 The new vertical-format maps of China, published by Sinomaps Press, include more than 130 islands and islets in the South China Sea, most of which have not been featured on previous maps of China, the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation said. — PTI
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Beijing, January 11 As many as 42 bodies had been pulled from the mud-inundated debris in Gaopo village, Zhenxiong county, located some 550 km north-east of Yunnan's capital city of Kunming, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. The landslide hit the village around 8.20 am, burying the homes of 16 families, a local government official surnamed Wang told Xinhua. Over 40 persons are believed to have been buried in the landslide, according to an initial investigation. Two injured persons have been sent to a nearby hospital, but their condition has not been revealed. "The landslide, which brought about several thousand cubic metres of watery mud to the village, buried all of the houses there and created difficulties for rescue efforts amid low temperatures," said Sun Anfa, the leader of a local rescue team. — PTI
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British TV host Savile ‘abused’ hundreds, including children London, January 11 Of his victims, 73 per cent were under 18 years’ old and 82 per cent were women. The oldest was 47 and the youngest just 8. "Savile's offending footprint was vast, predatory and opportunistic," Commander Peter Spindler told reporters. Savile, one of the BBC's biggest stars of the 1970s and 80s received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth for charity work. He died in 2011, aged 84, a year before allegations about his abusive behaviour emerged in a TV documentary. Today's report said he had committed 214 criminal offences, including 34 rapes or serious sexual assaults, across the country. His offending first occurred in 1955 in the northern English city of Manchester and the last attack was in 2009, the report said. He abused people at the BBC from 1965, including in 2006 at the last recording of popular weekly show Top of the Pops. He also targeted people at hospitals over 30 years from 1965, including at the renowned Great Ormond Street children's hospital in London. "It is now clear that Savile was hiding in plain sight and using his celebrity status and fund-raising activity to gain uncontrolled access to vulnerable people," the report said. — Reuters
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Nawaz Sharif's younger brother dies of electric shock Death toll in Pak blasts reaches 126 Obama criticised for white male Cabinet 3 US men among 7 killed in Philippine fire Haley’s hubby deployed in Afghanistan
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London, January 11
