Baiji, December 25
Two suicide bombings targeting US-backed neighborhood patrols today killed 33 people, highlighting the volatile situation north of Baghdad.

The US military says Al-Qaida gunmen are regrouping there. 

In the city of Baiji, Salahuddin province, a suicide bomber driving a vehicle rigged with explosives blew up at a checkpoint near a residential complex.

Iraqi army Major Shamil Mohammed and a senior provincial police official said 23 people were killed and 77 others wounded. The US military and interior ministry in Baghdad earlier put the death toll at 20.

In the province of Diyala north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives struck a funeral in the city of Baquba, killing 10 people and wounding five, the US military said.

The police said the blast wounded 21 people and said all casualties were members of the neighborhood patrols.

It said the funeral was for a father and a son who had worked as armed volunteers with the US military. They had been killed hours earlier in a shootout with US forces.

The US military said its troops had killed two “armed individuals”, one a patrol member, but was not certain whether that incident was linked to the funeral.

Neighborhood patrols, which are mainly Sunni and include many former insurgents, have been credited by the US military with helping to reduce violence in Iraq. But they have increasingly come under attack by Al-Qaida militants.

A Reuters photographer in Baiji said the bomber hit a checkpoint on a road leading to a residential compound housing employees of the Northern Oil Company.

At least 13 persons were killed and scores missing after an overloaded suspension bridge over the Bheri river in Surkhet district in mid-western Nepal collapsed on Tuesday.

Around 300 persons were crossing the ill-fated bridge connecting Daha-chaur and Medhapura village development committees in Surkhet when it collapsed at around 1.30 pm, J. Panday, a local correspondent of The Kathmandu Post, quoted the police officials as saying.

“Seven bodies, two women and five men, who were killed in the incident, have been recovered so far,” Bheri zonal police said. At least 15 persons, most of them women and girls, have been airlifted to the Bheri regional hospital.

Security officials deployed in aerial inspection and search operation said many persons could be seen flowing in the river. Deputy inspector-general at the regional Armed Police Force Office Krishna Bahadur Bista reported that most of them included women and girls.

Cairo, December 25
The death toll from the collapse of a 12-storey residential building in Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Alexandria rose to 11 today after authorities dug six more bodies out of the ruins, security sources said.

Army rescue team has joined efforts to search for survivors in the rubble, which is thought to have buried 25-30 persons.

Rescue workers have extracted at least two survivors from the rubble since the collapse, security sources said. The state news agency MENA gave the figure as three.

The building disintegrated on Monday as construction workers carried out repairs on the first floor. It was constructed as a seven-storey building in 1982 without a permit, authorities said. The owner obtained a permit later but then illegally added five more storeys.

A source on a panel of experts formed by the government to investigate the collapse said yesterday preliminary findings suggested the causes were shoddy building materials and insufficient use of steel reinforcement bars.

Prosecutors have issued warrants for the arrest of the woman who owned the building, the contractor and the architect responsible for the renovation work that was being carried out immediately before the collapse.

The state news agency MENA gave the owner’s name as Hanem Mustafa, and said the police believed she was in Kuwait.

Building collapses are common in Egypt because of lax building standards and poor maintenance. — Reuters

Islamabad, December 25
Pakistan’s caretaker government today dismissed allegations by opposition leaders about the rigging of the January 8 general election, saying they should provide evidence to back up their claims.

Information minister Nisar Memon said the interim government believes that the political parties and candidates should work together to create an atmosphere conducive to the holding of free, fair and transparent polls.

Dismissing apprehensions of “pre-poll rigging” expressed by some political leaders, Memon said in a statement that the “unfortunate culture of questioning the electoral process has become a custom in our country”.

Former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif have alleged that the government would indulge in “massive rigging” to benefit the PML-Q party which backs President Pervez Musharraf.

Bhutto has also demanded the suspension of local governments and mayors and the reconstitution of the Election Commission and the caretaker government.

But Memon said: “It will be appreciated if evidence is provided to the government about the authority or the officials allegedly involved in subverting the caretaker government’s commitment to hold free, fair and transparent elections. Mere levelling of accusations would serve no purpose.”

The government, he said, would welcome suggestions from political parties and proof of “anything that is contrary to the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission”.

Memon noted that even “political leaders who have been in the government in the past have been questioning the fairness of the elections.” — PTI

Islamabad, December 25
Notwithstanding a call by the legal fraternity to boycott the January 8 general election, Pakistan's 253 lawyers are in the fray for the poll to the national and provincial assemblies.

While a majority of the black coats are contesting as independents,112 lawyers are fighting on ticket issued by various political parties.

Of these,79 lawyers are contesting for the National Assembly (lower house of Parliament) seats and 174 for provincial assemblies.

The same number of members from the medical fraternity -- 253 -- are fighting it out for 98 National Assembly and 155 provincial assembly seats.

Seventyfive retired military officers are also taking part in the general election.Of these, 28 are contesting for the National Assembly while 47 for the provincial assemblies.

According to the final list of candidates issued by the Election Commission, around 139 doctors are contesting poll on ticket of various political parties, while 114 are contesting as independent candidates.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led by former Premier Benazir Bhutto has awarded ticket to 63 doctors, including 26 for the National Assembly and 37 for the provincial assembly seats.

The ruling PML-Q has fielded five doctors for the National Assembly and 15 for provincial assembly seats. — PTI

Moscow, December 25
The Russian Air Force got a shot in their arm with induction of four ultra sophisticated and upgraded Su-24M2 Fencer tactical bombers.

The fighter jets were inducted to an Air Force regiment based in Russia’s Far East, the company said in a statement today.

The aircraft have been modernised at a Novosibirsk-based aircraft manufacturing plant, a subsidiary of the Sukhoi Aircraft Holding. Another six Su-24s are currently being modernised at the same plant.

“Four Su-24M2 frontline bombers have flown from the Novosibirsk-based Chkalov aircraft-manufacturing association to an airbase in Russia’s Far East, where they would be deployed as part of an air regiment,” the Sukhoi statement said.

Another two modernised aircraft were deployed earlier in December with the Lipetsk pilot combat training center in central Russia.

The Su-24 is a two-seat fourth generation twin-engine tactical bomber and is similar to NATO’s Tornado and Mirage 2000 planes.

The fighter jet has been in service with the Russian Air Force since the mid-1970s.

Russia boosted by revenue from robust oil sales is pushing for fleet modernisation of its air planes and is on the path of phasing out its fourth generation jets. The safety records of these fighter jets have become a cause of concern for Russians.

The Sukhoi has upgraded the existing Su-24M and the new version is now called Su-24M2, equipping it with improved cockpit, SVP-24 computer and latest software, which improves navigational accuracy and non-guided weapon delivery precision.

According to the defence ministry, the Su-24 will be gradually replaced with new Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft, which has the potential to become the top plane in its class for years to come.

Russia and India have already inked an agreement in October for the production of fifth generation advanced multi-role fighter which is being developed by Sukhoi, which is part of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited under an intergovernmental agreement. — UNI

Kunming, December 25
Enacting a real combat scene, Indian and Chinese troops today carried out a mock anti-terrorism drill in a hilly terrain in Yunnan province.

This marked the climax of the first-ever joint military exercise between the world’s two largest armies that took their ties to a new high.

In the simulated 80-minute anti-terror war game, combat forces launched a joint attack using battle tanks, artillery and helicopters on 50 armed terrorists who infiltrate the Sino-Indian border area covertly, set up a training camp and attempt to launch strikes on the trade passes along the border and take hostages before they are neutralised by the troops.

Lt Gen Susheel Gupta, Deputy Chief of Staff, who heads the military Observer Group from India, his counterpart in China’s People’s Liberation Army Lt Gen Ma Xiao Tian and other senior army officials were in attendance during the operation.

At the post-operation press briefing, Ma, answering a question on the impact of the joint military exercise in respect of the festering boundary row between the two nations, said, “it is true that there are some pending questions between China and India. We have different stands and approach to questions and also we have our own interests”.

He said it had been the Chinese government’s “continuous” stand that disputes and differences should be resolved through consultations and negotiations.

“We need to understand each other and communicate with each other. Through this kind of mutual communication and understanding, we can know more about the other side and understand each other”. — PTI

Vatican City, December 25
Pope Benedict today said he hoped Christmas would bring consolation to those living in poverty, injustice and war and appealed for just solutions to conflicts in Iraq, the Holy Land, Afghanistan and Africa.

In his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) Christmas Day message, the Pope also urged people in modern societies to accept the light of Christ and warned that many human tragedies were caused by environmental upheavals.

“May this Christmas truly be for all people a day of joy, hope and peace,” he said in his address from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to tens of thousands of people below.

The address was broadcast live to some 57 countries.

“May the light of Christ, which comes to enlighten every human being, shine forth and bring consolation to those who live in the darkness of poverty, injustice and war,” he said.

Christmas should bring hope to those “still denied their legitimate aspirations for a more secure existence, for health, education, stable employment, for fuller participation in civil and political responsibilities, free from oppression and protected from conditions that offend against human dignity”.

The Pope, marking the third Christmas season of his reign, said he was close to society’s most vulnerable members, who were often the main victims of conflict and terrorism -- women, children, the elderly, migrants, refugees and evacuees.

He warned that “ethnic, religious and political tensions, instability, rivalry, disagreements, and all forms of injustice and discrimination are destroying the internal fabric of many countries and embittering international relations”.

On a day that signifies peace, he said he was close to those living in places where “the grim sound of arms continues to reverberate”.

He spoke of Darfur, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Lebanon, the Holy Land, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Balkans and “many other crisis situations that unfortunately are frequently forgotten”.

The Pope made another appeal for environmental protection, saying that the number of migrants, refugees and evacuees “is also increasing because of frequent natural disasters, often caused by alarming environmental upheavals”.

Earlier today the Pope led the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics into Christmas with a midnight mass in St Peter’s Basilica, where he urged people to find time and space for God, the needy and the suffering.

In that midnight sermon, he said the fact that Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn in Bethlehem, had modern parallels.

“In some way, mankind is awaiting God, waiting for him to draw near. But when the moment comes, there is no room for him,” he said.

“Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such urgent need of all the pace and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others -- for his neighbour, for the poor, for God. And the richer men become, the more they fill up all the space by themselves.

And the less room there is for others.” In the run-up to Christmas, the Pope several times urged Catholics to rediscover its religious significance, lamenting that the holiday had been dominated by materialism. — Reuters

New York, December 25
The first midnight Mass at ground zero happened while workers were still clearing away the debris of the fallen twin towers and recovering bodies from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

The last Mass was held on Monday night, giving police, firefighters, ground zero workers and September 11 families a final chance to pray on Christmas Eve at the site, where intensifying construction is taking up more and more open space.

“It was poignant, it was moving, it was uplifting,” the Rev Brian Jordan said after the service ended early today.

A chaplain for the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council, he spent 10 months at ground zero after the attacks and has since officiated at every midnight Mass at the World Trade Center site.

“A lot of us felt sad this was the last official midnight Mass on-site, but at the same time, there was a sense of relief. This brought closure for us,” Jordan said.

About 75 persons attended the Mass, Jordan said. A sanitation worker, who was involved in the ground zero cleanup and has sung at each year’s service rendered “God Bless America” and the Christmas hymn “O Holy Night”.

Jordan carried a chalice dedicated to the memory of the Rev Mychal Judge, a police chaplain killed while performing last rites on victims’ bodies outside the trade center.

More than 150 persons attended the first Mass in 2001, while thousands of workers were still removing the towers’ debris and searching for bodies. “One hour before, we found the body of a fireman,” Jordan said. — AP

Toronto, December 25
Canada should put in place a new visa regime as the current one is “discriminatory”, especially against the Indians, said MP Gurbax Singh Malhi.

“This government has repeatedly ignored my calls for reforms in the visa system,” said Malhi.

Punjab-born Malhi, who represents the Bramalea Gore-Malton for the Liberal Party, said his comments were in the wake of alleged remarks by a Canadian official in New Delhi that Toronto should not make efforts to recruit students and professionals from Punjab.

“The remarks are evidence of a deeply- flawed visa system,” he said.

“Minister of citizenship and immigration Diane Finley must immediately condemn these comments and act to ensure that the visa system works fairly and without prejudice regardless of the applicants’ race, religion, or place of origin,” he said.

According to British Columbia attorney-general Wally Oppal, visa officer Brian Hudson said, “I did not understand why the heck we were recruiting in Punjab.”

Oppal’s claim was made following a recent trip to India by a group of BC College and university leaders.

The delegation was visiting the country in an effort to attract Indian students and professionals to Canada. The Federal Immigration minister had ordered a review in the matter.

“For over a hundred years Punjabis have thrived in every facet of Canadian society,” Malhi said and added, “This type of comment shows a complete lack of respect for the people of Punjabi origin in Canada and around the world.”

“Minister Finley needs to stop avoiding this issue and immediately address the deeply-rooted problems and discriminatory attitudes present in the visa system,” Malhi added. — PTI

Kathmandu, December 25
Notorious international criminal Charles Sobhraj, currently serving life imprisonment here for the murder of an American woman over three decades ago, has alleged that Nepal’s Supreme Court was delaying a verdict on his appeal due to fear of media criticism.

63-year-old Sobhraj, also known as ‘Bikini Killer’, said that he was shocked over the recent decision of the Supreme Court to reopen a fake passport case against him, which was earlier dismissed by the lower courts.

French national Sobhraj, who is half-Indian and half-Vietnamese, had filed an appeal before the apex court against Kathmandu District Court’s verdict awarding him life sentence for murdering American backpacker Connie Bronzich here in 1975.

Besides Bronzich, police had accused him of murdering her Canadian companion Laurent Armand Carriere, but he was convicted by the lower court of killing Bronzich only.

A two-judge Supreme Court bench last week delayed a verdict on his appeal against the life sentence, but ordered reopening of the fake passport case which, it said, would be heard along with the murder case.

In an e-mail statement to various media organisations from the Central Jail of Kathmandu where he is lodged, Sobhraj, who is often described as “Serpent” for his skills at deception and evasion, claimed that he was innocent and had become a victim of injustice in the Himalayan nation.

He alleged that Nepal’s judiciary was scared of a section of media due to which it was delaying a verdict in his case.

The international fugitive claimed that fearing media criticism, the judges hesitated to apply Nepal’s laws and international practices in his case. — PTI

Toronto, December 25
Oscar Peterson, whose speedy fingers propulsive swing and melodic inventiveness made him one of the world’s best-known and influential jazz pianists, has died at 82.

Peterson died at his home in Mississauga on Sunday, said Oliver Jones, a family friend and jazz musician. He said Peterson’s wife and daughter were with him during his final moments.

The cause of death was kidney failure, said Mississauga’s mayor Hazel McCallion.

“He’s been going downhill in the past few months,” McCallion said, calling Peterson a “very close friend.” During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

He is also remembered for the trio he led with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in the 1950s.

Peterson’s impressive collection of awards include all of the Canada’s highest honours, such as the Order of Canada, as well as seven Grammies and a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 1997.

“I’ve always thought of him as Canada’s national treasure. All of Canada mourns for him and his family,” said Jones.

“He had being considered the top jazz pianist in the world for 60 years. A jazz player is an instant composer,” Peterson once said in a CBC interview, while conceding jazz did not have the mass appeal of other musical genres.

“You have to think about it, it’s an intellectual form,” he said.

Peterson’s stature was reflected in the admiration of his peers. Duke Ellington referred to him as the “Maharajah of the keyboard,” while Count Basie once said, “Oscar Peterson plays the best ivory box I’ve ever heard.” — AP

Washington, December 25
Spending a lazy holiday on the beach, listening to music, gorging on your favourite food or whizzing off for winter sports to break free from a workaholic schedule can make you fall sick,experts warn.

According to a study, illness goes up when the stress of work goes down.The condition termed as ''leisure sickness'' leads to aches and pains, cold and flu-like symptoms and other health problems just when people tend to take a break from their busy schedule to enjoy a little relaxation.

The underlying cause of the problem has a lot to do with stress, the Wahington Post quoted Ad Vingerhoets of Tilburg University as saying.

A survey of 1,893 people revealed that about 3 per cent of respondents indicated that they seldom fell ill during work days but during weekends and vacations.

Many attributed their symptoms to difficulties transitioning from work to non-work, to stress associated with travel and to balancing a heavy workload.

Respondents who identified themselves as workaholics or perfectionists tended to have a much harder time relaxing than others.

Esther Sternberg of the National Institutes of Health termed leisure sickness as a real condition, tied to the release of hormones under stress and their interaction with the nervous and immune systems.

In times of stress, the body's adrenal glands release adrenaline, which makes the heart beat faster and causes you to feel sweaty and anxious.

Adrenaline gives a boost to the immune system, the body's defense against infection but while adrenaline is pumping, so is cortisol -- a potent anti-inflammatory hormone also released by the adrenal glands, he explained.

Paul J Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress in Yonkers, however, rubbished the claim saying, ''The condition is psychosomatic and not a bona fide diagnosis.'' — UNI

Melbourne, December 25
The year 2007 could be viewed as the most tumultuous in the Indo-Australian ties, which reached a new high when the Howard government expressed a desire to sell uranium to New Delhi.

But, the handling of the case of Indian doctor Mohd Haneef, wrongly accused of involvement in failed UK car bombings, caused huge embarrassment to Canberra.

In August, the then Prime Minister John Howard's conditional offer to sell uranium to India elevated the bilateral relationship to a new level.

For the Australian government, it meant a drastic shift in its policy as it has long opposed selling uranium to countries like India, which have not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

However, Howard made it clear that uranium exports were conditional on a satisfactory conclusion of a civilian nuclear deal between India and the US.

But, the new Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Kevin Rudd has pledged to review the Australian government's decision to export uranium.

Rudd's Labour Party has a strong and vocal disarmament lobby, which is worried that the export deal could spark a regional nuclear arms race.

"Materially and symbolically, the deal is crucial to the relationship," Rory Medcalf, a former Australian diplomat was quoted as saying by the media.

"The Indian government would find it very difficult to understand if a new government reverted to the old policy." But the relationship has always been based on "Kangaroo hops" — improvements for a short time, which aren't sustained, he said.

The controversial case of Haneef, Brisbane-based Indian doctor who was arrested and released over the failed UK bomb plot, was dubbed as the most embarrassing for the Australian government as well as its federal police. — PTI

Dhaka, December 25
Amidst public outcry and debates over the theft of two valuable terracotta statues of Hindu God Vishnu, the Bangladesh government today decided not to dispatch the artifacts to Paris’ Guimet Museum.

An official statement said due to an unfortunate incident of theft of two artifacts from the Zia International Airport on Saturday and because of the complexity and public outcry over the matter, it has been decided that the remaining artifacts would not be dispatched.

A special meeting, chaired by caretaker government chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, took the decision after thoroughly reviewing the situation involving the dispatch of the artifacts to France.

The meeting decided that the Guimet Museum would be informed regretfully that it would not be possible to “go ahead with holding the exhibition of the items as planned”.

In response to an invitation from Guimet Museum, the Bangladesh government had accepted the offer to showcase its rich cultural heritage in Paris, keeping in line with the usual practice of countries doing such displays.

Earlier, 42 artifacts in 10 boxes were sent to Paris for the exhibition. The second consignment of 147 artifacts was being sent after the Supreme Court cleared the legal roadblocks.

On Saturday, last 13 crates containing 147 artifacts were handed over to the Air France authorities after completing customs formalities.

The police said soon after the crates were loaded in the aircraft, it was found that one crate containing two statues of Hindu God Vishnu was missing. Later, the missing crate was found empty in a ditch near the runway of the airport.

The government formed a five-member inquiry committee to investigate into the matter and submit its findings by tomorrow.

The French Embassy here said they feel that the disappearance of the crate containing two small statues was “highly suspicious and could also be the result of a conspiracy” by a very small nexus of people to embarrass the two countries.

The Embassy in a release said the crate containing two small statues, belonging to the National Museum, was stolen from the service area of Zia International Airport, hours before being loaded on a flight.

Loose procedures geared towards garment exports have led to such valuable crates being left unattended on the tarmac of the airport in an area where neither the lending nor the borrowing institutions have any control, the statement added. — UNI