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203 killed in China coal mine blast
60 die in Iran mosque fire
Fresh rain, snow raise Pak death toll to 510
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12 Maoists killed
Pakistan’s nuclear arms can be stolen: CIA
Pakistan ready for bus link if India waives
passport demand
Elections a step forward, but troubles of Iraqis not over
Strike paralyses work in Bangladesh
Three-year-old member of high
IQ group
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203 killed in China coal mine blast
Beijing, February 15 The gas blast occurred yesterday at the No. 3316 working face of Sunjiawan colliery about 242 metres underground, Vice-General Manager of the Fuxin coal industry group Zhang Yunfu said. Rescue operations began immediately and further investigation was underway. Senior provincial officials have rushed to the mine to direct the rescue and relief operations, China Central Television reported. China, which depends on coal for 70 per cent of its energy needs, has the most dangerous mines in the world. Over 6,000 miners died in some 6,300 mining accidents in 2004, according to official reports. One of the reasons cited for the growing coal mine accidents is the energy crunch faced by the fastest growing nation. This has prompted some mines to overwork at the expense of safety standards. About 180 rescuers have been sent to the Sunjiawan colliery to save the 13 miners still trapped underground, Xinhua news agency reported. There were 238 coal miners in the colliery when the disaster occurred. Governor of Liaoning Province Zhang Wenyue and two other Vice-Governors rushed to the site immediately after the accident to supervise the rescue work. — PTI |
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60 die in Iran mosque fire
Tehran, February 15 The blaze broke out yesterday when the Ark mosque near the main bazaar in the capital was packed for prayers, just a few days before the major Shiite Muslim religious festival of Ashura, local media reported. "Fifty-nine persons were killed and 210 others injured," Mortezza Talaie, the police chief in greater Tehran, was quoted as saying by the public television. Media reports said the fire was probably caused by a heater brought into the mosque to keep worshippers warm from the bitter cold which set a tent ablaze and spread through the mosque's courtyard. "The fire began on the women's side, then spread to the men's," said the police commander. "It was absolute panic, which explains the high number of injured, at around 200. A lot of people were hurt while rushing towards the exits." The victims had little time to escape. Many were suffocated to death as smoke enveloped corridors.
— AFP |
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Fresh rain, snow raise Pak death toll to 510
Quetta, February 15 About 260 persons have died in northwestern Pakistan after a series of avalanches and landslides during the past week and a half with a number of new accidents in the past 24 hours, officials said. Flood waters had still not receded in southwestern Baluchistan province, where officials said rains and dam bursts had killed at least 250 persons and left up to 2,000 missing. "Rain is badly affecting rescue and relief operations as bad weather was hampering helicopter flights," Mr Bostan Khan, the relief commissioner of North West Frontier Province, said.
— AFP |
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12 Maoists killed
Kathmandu, February 16 Ten Maoist rebels were killed in a clash with the security forces in the Jate area of Morang district, about 500 km east of Kathmandu. One rebel each was shot dead in Palpa and Doti districts, army headquarters sources here said. The Maoist blockade to oppose the February 1 royal takeover has had virtually no effect on the Kathmandu valley where security personnel were heavily deployed, but it received mixed response outside the capital, according to media reports. Vehicles plied, shops opened and schools and colleges operated as usual in Kathmandu despite the rebels’ economic blockade. However, vehicular movement was very thin on the major highways connecting Kathmandu. Home Ministry Spokesman Gopendra Bahadur Pandey claimed that the vehicular movement in Tribhuvan Highway and Prithvi Highway significantly improved yesterday as compared to previous days. More than 100 passenger buses, oil tankers and trucks loaded with food grains and other essential items entered Kathmandu with army escorts along with air patroling by helicopters. — PTI
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Pakistan’s nuclear arms can be stolen: CIA
Washington, February 15 Prepared by the prestigious nerve centre of strategic thinking in the US intelligence community, the National Intelligence Council, the report says that most terrorist attacks will continue to employ primarily conventional weapons, incorporating new twists to keep counter-terrorist planners off balance. The 119-page report, issued every five years, warns that terrorists probably will be the most original not in the technologies or weapons they employ, but rather in their operational concepts. One such concept that is likely to continue is a large number of simultaneous attacks, possibly in widely separated locations. While vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices will remain popular as asymmetric weapons, terrorists are likely to move up the technology ladder to employ advanced explosives and unmanned aerial vehicles, the report says. The religious zeal of terrorists increases their desire to perpetrate attacks resulting in high casualties. "Historically, religiously inspired terrorism has been most destructive because such groups are bound by few constraints," the NIC warns. "The most worrisome trend," according to this report, has been an intensified search by some terrorist groups to obtain weapons of mass destruction. The "greatest concern" of the US intelligence community, is that these groups might acquire biological agents or a nuclear device. The report says that the possibility of terrorists using biological agents is stronger, and the range of their options will grow. |
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Pakistan ready for bus link if India waives
Islamabad, February 15 “We have to see if India shows flexibility when the issue comes up for discussion between the two Foreign Ministers at their formal talks tomorrow,” Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan told reporters. Asked about media reports that India had decided to do away with its demand to use Passport as identity document, Mr Khan said positions of both sides on the bus service are well known. The service has been delayed due to “inflexibility” on the Indian side, he alleged. On the trans-national gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan, he said Pakistan had noted the recent Indian Cabinet decisions giving green signal for talks with Islamabad, Tehran, Kabul and Ashkabad. “The talks are not only related to Iran pipeline but also Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan (TAP) pipeline project,” he said. — PTI |
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Elections a step forward, but troubles of Iraqis not over
The results also confirm that the United Iraqi Alliance, which is backed by Shia clerics and which won 48 per cent of the vote, is now the most dominant political force in Iraq. The other clear winners are the Kurds, whose parties received 26 per cent of the national vote. These groups, which were so cruelly suppressed under the regime of Saddam Hussein, will be making the running. It is also obvious that the Iyad Allawi list, the vehicle of the interim Prime Minister, did badly, winning only 14 per cent of the vote. But important questions remain unanswered. The Shia will claim about half the seats of the 275-member National Assembly, the body that will be charged with drawing up a new constitution for Iraq and choosing a government. Since the support of two-thirds of the assembly is required to make decisions, the Shia block will have to work with other parties. Will the various groupings in the assembly be prepared to make the necessary compromises? How, for example, will the Shia react if the Kurdish Alliance demands a greater level of autonomy, or even independence, for the oil-rich Kurdish regions in the north of the country? The logic of the election result dictates that there should be a Shia Prime Minister and a Kurdish President, but it is by no means obvious who should fill these roles. Some have suggested that Iyad Allawi, a secular-minded Shia, would be a good compromise candidate for permanent Prime Minister. But many Iraqis would feel it inappropriate for the man whose party came a poor third in the election to be given such a powerful position. There is another question hanging over Iraq. What is to be done about the Sunni? Sunday’s elections results confirmed everyone’s worst fears about the scale of the Sunni boycott of this election. Of this group, which makes up 20 per cent of Iraq’s population, only a small number cast their ballot. In the sprawling Anbar province, the turnout was just 2 per cent. These elections have no legitimacy among the Sunni population of Iraq. How will the new government convince them that it will govern in their interests, when there is virtually no Sunni representation in the assembly? These election results do not provide a resolution to Iraq’s problems. But they do widen the scope of future possibilities. The Iraqi people now have an influence over their own affairs. The responsibility of the US and British governments is to support their democratic will. By arrangement with
The Independent, London. |
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Strike paralyses work in
Bangladesh
Dhaka, February 15 Most buses and cars were off the roads and many offices and business establishments were shut. The Opposition Awami Leauge vowed there would be no respite until Khaleda resigned, while the government warned it would crack- down hard on trouble-makers.
— Reuters
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Three-year-old member of high
IQ group
London, February 15 Mikhail Ali, from the northern English city of Leeds, was admitted to Mensa after undergoing tests at the University of York, it said. The toddler's IQ puts him in the top 2 per cent of the population for his age. Mensa has only 30 members in Britain under the age of 10, but a spokeswoman said Mikhail is currently the youngest member of the society, which has more than 25,500 members in Britain and almost 1,00,000 worldwide. "We're incredibly proud of him. We knew he was a gifted child, but we had no idea quite how gifted until now," his mother, Shamsun (36), told the Yorkshire evening post newspaper yesterday. "Every day he amazes us, but underneath it all he's still our little boy”. Mikhail learned to read and write basic words as a two-year-old, and also understands the Arabic alphabet. He completed a number of tests involving mathematics, number sequences, logic and picture puzzles during the assessment.
— AFP |
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Beijing, February 15
THE results of the Iraqi election, which were released on Sunday, answer some important questions. They show conclusively that Iraq’s first national post-invasion elections were conducted successfully in many areas. That 58 per cent of the 14.2 million registered voters managed to cast their ballots, despite the horrific campaign of violence and intimidation throughout the country, is deeply impressive and better than many expected.