In a reshuffle of the security apparatus, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has named a new head of the civilian Intelligence Bureau (IB) and appointed a controversial police officer as the chief of Karachi police. This has had an impact on its ongoing reconciliation talks with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Tariq Lodhi has been appointed the director-general of the IB replacing a close confidant of President Musharraf, Brig Ejaz Shah. The appointment marks the end of Musharraf’s eight years stranglehold on one of the three top intelligence agencies- the intelligence the IB, the ISI and the MI. The IB is constitutionally under the Prime Minister.

Separately, Islamabad senior SP Syed Kaleem Imam has been appointed as the chief security officer of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.

Shoaib Suddle has replaced an MQM nominee Azhar Farooqi as the IG, Sindh. He is regarded as a tough, bold and highly competent officer.

Dhaka, April 13
Bangladesh is set to stage a colourful ceremony to mark the launch of the Dhaka-Kolkata direct train service that opens tomorrow after a gap of four decades, facilitating easy movement between the two countries.

A number of dignitaries, including foreign envoys and senior government officials, are expected to join the celebration when the Maitree (friendship) Express makes its maiden journey, coinciding with the Bengali New Year Pahela Baishakh, communication ministry spokesman told PTI.

Bangladesh and India had signed the final agreement for resuming the Dhaka-Kolkata train services earlier this week, after the cabinets of the two countries endorsed the deal.

The service was snapped during the 1965 Indo-Pak war when Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan.

The Maitree Express will operate weekly between the Cantonment Railway Station in Dhaka and Chitpur in Kolkata, passing through the Darshana border in a 13 to 14 hour long journey.

The journey, stretched over 538 km, will cover 418 km across Bangladesh and 120 km across India. — PTI

Beijing, April 13
China has arrested nine monks for allegedly “bombing” a government building in Lhasa, as Beijing ratcheted up the rhetoric against the Dalai Lama “clique” and on critics over its crackdown in Tibet.

Meanwhile, the Beijing Olympic torch, facing massive anti-China protests, has arrived in Tanzania amid tight security.

The nine monks were arrested for bombing a government building on March 23 amid widespread riots in the Tibetan capital, China’s state media reported.

The bombing targeted a government building in the town of Gyanbe and was carried out by monks from the Tongxia monastery, Xinhua news agency quoted the police as saying.

It named Rinqen Jamcan (27), a “ranking monk” at the monastery, as ringleader. All the suspects have “confessed”, it said as China has ratcheted up the rhetoric against the Dalai Lama “clique”.

China accused supporters of the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate of planning suicide attacks as part of a campaign ahead of the Olympics in August to push for Tibetan independence. — PTI

London, April 13
The popularity of the ruling Labour Party in Britain has plunged to its lowest level since the 1930s as Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing a cabinet revolt over the controversial new terror laws.

The dispute centres on Brown's determination to push through the legislation extending the maximum period terrorism suspects can be detained without charge from current 28 days to 42 days.

Jack Straw, justice secretary, has told Commons allies that he has reservations about the policy, which the critics say will inflame tension among Muslims and lead to miscarriages of justice.

"Jack understands that the bill as it stands, is seriously flawed," a Labour colleague told the Sunday Times. "It is no accident that in public he has so far been silent on the issue." In another blow, Geoff Hoon, chief whip, has told Brown that he will lose next month's Commons vote unless concessions are made.

"As it stands, Gordon will go down by 30 votes," said a minister. "In the current climate his leadership might not survive that blow." Today's YouGov poll for The Sunday Times put the Conservatives on 44 per cent - the party's highest level of support since 1992.

They lead by 16 points over Labour on 28 per cent, while the liberal Democrats are on 17 per cent. — PTI

London, April 13
Britain was one of the world's original Jurassic parks about 140 million years ago, researchers have claimed. They have identified 108 species found since the first discovery was named in 1824 and believe that the variety of creatures make Britain an important area for dinosaur remains.

"We're probably in the top five places in the world for concentrations of dinosaurs," said Darren Naish, a vertebrate paleontologist at Portsmouth University and one of the researchers who carried out the study.

"We've got large numbers of Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous period species, including long-necked dinosaurs and predators such as spinosaurs and velociraptors." The review, which has taken three years and is published in the Journal of the Geological Society, documents every known species and genus of dinosaur known to have lived in Britain from 200 million to 65 million years ago.

The scientists admit that the number of species found may partly be explained by the long-standing popularity of dinosaur fossil hunting.

"People in Britain have been finding dinosaur fossils for longer than anywhere else but we have an exceptionally large number here," Naish said. — PTI

Dubai, April 13
More than 2,200 Indian construction workers in Bahrain, who were on strike, have agreed to return to work after getting promises for pay rise. The workers were due to report to work at 5am yesterday, but they did not until the afternoon after the company agreed to increase their salaries.

The Indians, who work for Dubai-based Al Hamad Construction and Development, refused to go to work at various labour camps in Bahrain, said media reports.

The labourers, who receive a monthly salary ranging from $ 159 to $ 238, were angered when the company announced an across-the-board $ 26 increase, saying it was not enough to cope with the rising cost of living. Now the increase would range between $ 26 and $ 79.

An Indian Embassy official said that they could not interfere unless the workers filed a complaint with them.

Labour ministry professional development programme committee chief Ahmad Al Khabbaz said that no complaint had been registered with them, though they were looking into the matter. — PTI 

Dhaka, April 13
Detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League has agreed to join an unofficial dialogue with the interim government in Bangladesh reversing an earlier decision. "We have decided to sit with the government as we're sincere about the discussion," Awami League's acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told PTI.

He said a seven-member Awami League delegation would hold talks with the designated advisers of the interim cabinet "to discuss issues, including release of the party chief, price spiral, withdrawal of emergency and announcement of poll dates." The Awami League decision came as a commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman sent a cell phone SMS to the party's acting president Zillur Rahman for initial talks ahead of a proposed government dialogue with the political parties.

The government earlier also communicated with two factions of detained ex-premier Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for talks while sources in the 'reformist' group of the BNP led by former finance minister Saifur Rahman said they were likely to sit with the government leaders on Tuesday.

The 'conformists' led by Zia appointee secretary- general Khondker Delwar Hossain, however, demanded an appointment with the party chief at a sub-jail for "instructions" ahead of the talks but the authorities were yet to make any comment on the proposed appointment.— PTI 

London, April 13
Thirteen members of a 16-strong Asian gang, comprising mostly of Pakistani-origin youths, were convicted for assaulting a school boy in the UK which left him with his brain damaged. One of the defendants claimed in the Swindon court that there were repeated accusations of racist bullying by whites against Asians at the Ridgeway school, The Sunday Times reported.

There was no evidence of any build-up of tension, however, before the attack on 15-year-old Henry Webster in January, 2007.

The attack was sparked by a confrontation in a corridor between him and a 14-year-old Asian boy, which led to a challenge to a one-on-one fight after class on the school tennis courts, the report said.

When Henry, who had no record of disciplinary problems, arrived at the courts, he found three carloads of youths armed with a variety of weapons. They had been summoned by 59 mobile phone calls made in the space of little more than an hour with one caller telling them that one of the "gora (white) ... wanted a fight," according to the paper.

A diminutive 14-year-old boy pointed at Webster who was then cornered by the gang, punched, knocked down and hit with a hammer. Even after onlookers had heard the crack of his skull fracturing, the gang members continued to kick and punch him. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Legal battle over Harry Potter
LONDON: Movie giant Warner Bros has initiated a legal battle with a director who claims he devised an earlier version of the Harry Potter character. John Buechler was behind a little known film called Troll, released in 1986, which featured a young boy called Harry Potter Jnr. Now, 49-year-old Buechler says he intends to create a £ 20-million remake but lawyers for Warner Bros have warned him they will defend their rights to J K Rowling's character. — PTI

NASA lunar dust exploration mission
NEW YORK: NASA is preparing to send a mission to the moon in 2011 to assess the lunar atmosphere and the nature of dust lofted above the surface. Called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, the aim of the mission is to gather detailed information about conditions near the surface as well as the environmental influences on lunar dust, NASA said. — PTI

S.Korea confirms bird flu outbreak
SEOUL: South Korea's agriculture ministry says a recent outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed as the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus. The ministry on Sunday said that government tests had confirmed the H5N1 strain was what had infected chicken on a farm in Yeoungam, about 380 km southwest of Seoul. The ministry says it was the fourth confirmed outbreak of H5N1 in the country. — AP

14 killed in mine blast in China
BEIJING: Fourteen persons were killed and two others reported missing in a coalmine blast at Huludao city in China's Liaoning province,the local authorities said. The miners at the privately owned licensed company were digging coal beyond the officially approved limit causing the explosion, the authorities said quoting preliminary investigation.The local authorities have asked 77 other coal mines in the city to suspend operations for rectifying measures, official Xinhua news agency said. — PTI