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Mail bombs create scare in US
Koreas start family reunions
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China, Japan PMs meet amid diplomatic row
30 killed in Iraq suicide bombing
Canada says athlete contracted dengue in Delhi
Pak-US dialogue on equal
footing: Qureshi
2010 ‘exceptional year’ for weather disasters
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Mail bombs create scare in US
Washington/New York, October 30 The brazen plot unfolded when authorities from three countries - the US, the UK and Yemen - thwarted the attacks by seizing explosives in the two packages on cargo planes in the UAE and England. The explosives were discovered overnight on cargo planes in transit to the US, one in Dubai and other in Britain's East Midland Airport. The packages were addressed to Synagogues in Chicago. The White House said Saudi authorities had tipped it off and a spokesman said, "Washington is grateful... for their assistance in developing information that led to intercepting the threat emanating from Yemen." The plot sent tremors throughout the security set up in the US and Western Europe where police and intelligence men searched for suspicious packages on board planes and temporarily froze all inbound cargo from Yemen. Preliminary investigations revealed that the packages contained the powerful industrial explosives PETN, the same chemicals as was used by a Nigerian Al-Qaida suspect in a failed Christmas attack in December last year. Warning that the US will not spare any effort to investigate the origins of Chicago-bound packages, President Obama said Washington would continue to pursue additional protective measures as long as it takes to ensure safety of its citizens. Though he did not named Al-Qaida, Obama made it clear he suspected the group's Yemen-based affiliates of being behind the plot. At a hurriedly convened press conference late Friday afternoon, in the midst of his election campaign, Obama said intelligence and law enforcement professionals from the US and other countries have identified two suspicious packages bound for the US, specifically, two places of Jewish worship in Chicago. "Those packages had been located in Dubai and East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom. An initial examination of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive material," he said. The interception of explosives led to widespread searches in Philadelphia, Newark, New Jersey and New York City. However, no more explosives were found. — PTI
UK probes whether package was ‘viable’ bomb
London: British Home Secretary Theresa May on Saturday said authorities were probing whether a US-bound package from Yemen containing explosives was a “viable” bomb. “At this stage I can say that the device did contain explosive material. But it is not yet clear that it was a viable explosive device. The forensic work continues,” she said.
Australia tightens security
Melbourne: Australia on Saturday beefed up screening of cargo from the Gulf countries after two mail bombs were sent from Yemen to the US, sparking a global airport scare overnight. Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said that air freight security had been tightened as a precaution but pointed out that there has been no direct threat made to Australia.
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Seoul, October 30 The reunions, which give divided families their first chance to see one another in six decades, started mid-afternoon at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's southeastern coast, near the border, Yonhap news agency said. "How are you, you... I could only see you in dreams," said Kim Rae-Jung, 96, from the South, choked in tears as she touched the face of her 71-year-old daughter, Wu Jong-Hye, from the North. "I've been living well here, mother," said the daughter with tears dripping from her chin. The daughter was left behind in the North when other family members fled to the South in 1951 to avoid advancing Chinese troops during the Korean War. North and South Korean troops yesterday briefly exchanged fire across the frontier, heightening tensions before next month's G20 summit of world leaders in Seoul. No casualties were reported. — AFP
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China, Japan PMs meet amid diplomatic row
Hanoi, October 30 Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he was able to talk briefly with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, but noted that a full bilateral meeting "unfortunately did not materialise this time." However, Kan said the current spat should not be regarded as "a decisive trouble," saying the two countries have weathered a long history together. "This sort of trouble that we're seeing right now, compared to various incidents we've had in the long history of our relations, would not be regarded as a decisive trouble. And I think both countries remain calm and try to come up with solutions that would be positive to both countries ... in terms of peace and stability for the Asia-Pacific and the entire world," he told reporters. There had been speculation the two would not meet at all because yesterday, China unexpectedly accused Japan of "ruining the atmosphere" for talks and making untrue statements about East China Sea islands both countries claim. The diplomatic row started after a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese patrol boats collided near the islands a month ago and Japan detained the captain, which outraged China. — AP
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30 killed in Iraq suicide bombing
Baquba, October 30 Last night’s bombing in the town of Balad Ruz also wounded 68 persons, according to Ahmed Alwan, a doctor at the general hospital of Baquba, the provincial capital of Diyala. “The final toll from Friday’s bombing is 30 dead and 68 wounded,” Alwan said. Suicide bombings across Iraq have fallen since 2008 when Diyala province was an Al-Qaeda stronghold. Yesterday’s attack took place in a region with a Kurdish Shiite majority.
— AFP
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Canada says athlete contracted dengue in Delhi
Toronto, October 30 Swimming Canada officials said Vancouver-based Pierse returned from India with a fever and other symptoms. They said medical tests had confirmed that she is suffering from dengue fever, with all its attendant symptoms like nausea, fever, bone and joint pain and fatigue. A world record holder in the 200-metre breaststroke, 26-year-old Pierse managed to finish only fifth in the event in Delhi. But she won the bronze medal in the 4x100-metre medley relay. In a statement yesterday, the athlete said: “I am thankful for all the continued help offered from our medical team and I'm confident that I will recover quickly. I will continue to update everyone on what will hopefully be a speedy recovery.” Canadian officials also confirmed that another athlete returned home from India suffering from typhoid fever. Canada was one of the countries, which had threatened to pull out of the Games because of hygiene and security reasons. It managed to finish fourth, with a tally of 75 medals, including 26 gold medals.
— IANS
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Pak-US dialogue on equal
footing: Qureshi
Rejecting criticism at home against the latest round of Pak-US "strategic dialogue" in Washington, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said the dialogue was productive and the US had accepted Pakistan’s point of view on various issues. This was a major development. “These talks were held on an equal footing and, unlike in the past, we are also making the Obama administration accept our position on various issues," Qureshi told reporters in Lahore on return from Washington.
Critics, including prominent politicians, say the so-called strategic dialogue had produced "empty rhetoric" from both sides without any concrete outcome. They also voiced skepticism about the terms of $2 billion, five-year military aid that will begin in 2012. The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has submitted a privilege motion for the National Assembly session, saying the government did not consult or take Parliament into confidence on the dialogue. Qureshi said the two sides had made progress in further understanding each other's position. Pakistan is being provided $7.5 billion economic package (approved by the US Congress last year) and (the new offer of) $2-billion military aid, all of which is in grant and not credit. Qureshi said discussions were also held on the demand for military action in North Waziristan (by the US). “We told them that Pakistani agencies have conducted several operations in the tribal belt and they need some consolidation before entering North Waziristan. They were told that we have already deployed 34,000 personnel there and we have to move in while keeping in mind our resources and priorities,” he said.
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2010 ‘exceptional year’ for weather disasters
Berlin, October 30 “This year really has been a year of weather records,” Peter Hoeppe, an expert from the Munich Re's Geo Risks Research Department, said. “The first nine months of the year have seen the highest number of weather-related events since Munich Re started keeping records,” he added. Hoeppe said a clear pattern of continuing global warming was contributing to the natural disasters. This year has so far been the warmest since measurements began 130 years ago, with new temperature records set in Russia (37.8 degrees centigrade) and in Asia (53.5 degrees in Pakistan). Only last month, a new temperature record was set in Los Angeles, with the mercury hitting 45 degrees. “It is clear that global warming is getting worse,” said Hoeppe. He added that he did not expect much from the forthcoming climate summit in Cancun, following what he termed the “genuine catastrophe” of the last such summit in Copenhagen. That meeting, in December, broke up acrimoniously amid bickering between developed and developing nations over who should bear the main burden to stop global warming. “Our expectations are lower than they were one year ago in Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, there had been a commitment to success and there were over 100 heads of state. That simply won't be the case in Cancun,” he said. France's Academy of Science published a report written by 120 scientists from France and abroad stating that global warming was unquestionably due to human activity. — AFP
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Thailand arrests 61 Lankan Tamil migrants Internet climbs to Everest base summit Hillary Clinton arrives in China Mt Merapi’s biggest blast yet 80 Taliban insurgents killed Repairs delay Discovery’s launch 
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