W O R L D

Libya readies new cabinet as battle rages on for Sirte
Benghazi, September 18
Libya’s victorious rebels prepared to unveil a new government today even as their troops met fierce resistance from loyalists of fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi in his last strongholds.

Pilots who refused to bomb civilians return
Tripoli, September 18
One of two air force pilots who defected to Malta with their jets in the first days of Libya’s uprising said today they had made their decision after being ordered to attack civilians with missiles designed for tanks and buildings.

BACK TO MOTHERLAND: One of the two Libyan pilots who defected to Malta embraces a well-wisher upon his return to Tripoli on Sunday. — AFP

Air show crash toll nine

Reno, September 18 The death toll rose to nine today in an air race crash in Reno as investigators determined that several spectators were killed on impact as the 1940s model plane appeared to lose a piece of its tail before slamming like a missile into a crowded tarmac. A single engine T-28 crashes and explodes during a performance at the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Open House and Air Show at the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg on Saturday. It was part of the six-plane Trojan Horsemen Demonstration Flight Team — AP/PTI

Drone crashes in Pakistan
Islamabad, September 18
An unmanned US drone on a mission to raid a militant hideout today crashed in the restive South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan, with the Taliban claiming they had shot down the spy plane.

Pak flood-hit sell possessions Pangrio, September 18 The family of 12 was relieved when a Pakistani army boat rescued them from flood waters a week ago. But the hardships have only piled up at a makeshift camp. The few family possessions saved from the roaring waters have been sold to buy food. People displaced by floods demand aid in Sindh’s Mirpur Khas district on Sunday. — AP/PTI

Berlo ‘boasts of sleeping with 8 women in 1 night’
London, September 18
More trouble seems to be brewing for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, with the local media publishing transcripts of the 74-year-old allegedly boasting of sleeping with eight women in one night.

UK royal weddings boost sales of Sri Lankan sapphires The Ceylon Blue Sapphire engagement ring that Britain's Prince William presented to Kate Middleton, now his wife, last October has boosted demand for the gemstone from the island nation. According to the Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka, the country’s gem exports jumped 35 per cent over last year in the first half of 2011, generating revenue of over US $48 million.

SETTING a trend

Teesta deal to be inked soon, says Hasina
Dhaka, September 18
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said India and Bangladesh will soon ink a pact on Teesta water sharing, but refused to specify any timeline for the landmark deal.

Libya readies new cabinet as battle rages on for Sirte

Lessons in democracy

Libyan students flash ‘victory’ sign at the start of the school year in Tripoli on Sunday as schools in the capital are replacing repeated oaths of allegiance to Gaddafi with lessons in democracy. — AFP

Benghazi, September 18
Libya’s victorious rebels prepared to unveil a new government today even as their troops met fierce resistance from loyalists of fugitive strongman Muammar Gaddafi in his last strongholds.

The new regime’s military spokesman, Ahmed Bani, said Gaddafi diehards in his hometown Sirte and the oasis of Bani Walid to its southwest would be defeated in a “matter of days,” despite the intensity of the fighting.

Last-minute haggling delayed the announcement of the new government line-up, a National Transitional Council official said.

NTC number two Mahmud Jibril, a former Gaddafi regime official, stood accused by some of his colleagues of failing to consult enough with long-standing grass roots opposition groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, the official said.

Jibril was still expected to retain his post as interim prime minister, while Ali Tarhuni was touted to be named vice-president in charge of economic affairs.

The defence portfolio was expected to go to Osama al-Juwili and oil to Abdel Rahman bin Yezza.

Fighters loyal to the new government prepared for a new advance on Sirte on the Mediterranean coast.

Troops moving in from the east planned an assault around the village of Harawa that would bring them to within 50 to 60 km of Sirte, operations command spokesman Ahmed al-Zlitni said.

“Yesterday we faced a lot of resistance and we expect the same today,” Zlitni said.

The advancing NTC troops came under steady rocket and machine-gun fire from Gaddafi loyalists today, a correspondent reported. — AFP

Pilots who refused to bomb civilians return
They ignored commands & flew Mirage jets to Malta

Tripoli, September 18
One of two air force pilots who defected to Malta with their jets in the first days of Libya’s uprising said today they had made their decision after being ordered to attack civilians with missiles designed for tanks and buildings.

Col Ali al-Rabiti spoke to reporters on his return to Tripoli along with his colleague, Col Abdullah Salheen, who also flew his Mirage warplane to Malta on February 21.

The two received cheers, hugs and gifts from dozens of colleagues, friends and relatives at the capital city’s Mitiga airport after flying in on an Malta Armed Forces aircraft.

Rabiti told a news conference they had received instructions to kill people after their planes were loaded with missiles by a Libyan commander loyal to Gaddafi.

“He told me exactly after we loaded the plane that the missiles we had were not prepared for people, that they were prepared for tanks and buildings,” he said.

“He told me exactly that we should strike people and let them die. I told him ‘OK’ and took the information.”

He said that instead of flying to the target he then took off to the north towards Malta. Officials in Valletta at the time said the two had told Maltese authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters in Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi.

Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said in February Gaddafi’s government had requested the return of the jets, but Malta had refused.

Libyan rebel fighters took control of Tripoli on August 23 but fighting has continued between interim government forces and soldiers loyal to Muammar Gaddafi who are holding out in the towns of Bani Walid and Sirte. The Libyan pilot said he was determined to carry on his air force career to protect his nation.

British and French specialists have disarmed and rendered safe the pilots’ two Mirages, which remain in Malta. Malta’s Gonzi in April called for Gaddafi to relinquish power. — Reuters

Air show crash toll nine
Another vintage plane goes down in West Virginia

Reno, September 18
The death toll rose to nine today in an air race crash in Reno as investigators determined that several spectators were killed on impact as the 1940s model plane appeared to lose a piece of its tail before slamming like a missile into a crowded tarmac.

Federal investigators trying to determine why a World War II-era fighter crashed at a Nevada air race said they would focus on the plane’s tail assembly.

A photograph of the modified P-51 Mustang in the seconds before it slammed into an airfield at the 48th Annual National Air Championship Races on Friday afternoon appears to show a component of the plane’s tail section falling off.

“We have seen the photos and the video and clearly that is one aspect of this that will be investigated intensely,” National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosenkind said at a briefing.

He said parts of the tail section had been recovered from the crash site, which left a 3-foot-deep crater on the tarmac of Reno Stead Airport.

Seven people were killed at the site when pilot Jimmy Leeward slammed the sleek silver fighter plane, which was dubbed “The Galloping Ghost” in the 1940s, into a box-seat area in front of the grandstand.

Leeward, a real estate developer who was well known in air racing circles and had worked as a stunt pilot in movies, was among the dead. A total of 54 other people were transported to hospitals, where two died of their injuries, Evans said.

Meanwhile, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, another vintage US military plane went down in a fireball at an air show on Saturday, killing the pilot. There were no other casualties.

The incidents raised questions about the safety of air shows and races, and Rosenkind said investigators would evaluate the Reno Air Races to see if proper safety protocols were followed.

Proximity to the planes is a draw for the Reno race, which advises on its website, “Always remember to fly low, fly fast and turn left.” Race spokesman Mike Draper said the planes sometimes fly at high speeds “about 50 feet off the ground and it’s an exciting, exciting sight.”

The thrill has been a deadly one on occasion, with a total of 28 people killed in the history of the race flown every year in Reno since 1964, Draper said.

The NTSB also was investigating the Martinsburg crash, which came as six T-28 aircraft were flying in formation at the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Open House & Air Show. A witness said one of the planes dropped and then rolled onto its side before crashing. The T-28 was used as a trainer by the Navy and Air Force between 1950 and 1984.

The Reno and Martinsburg crashes were the latest in a spate of fatal air show accidents since August. — Reuters

Drone crashes in Pakistan

Islamabad, September 18
An unmanned US drone on a mission to raid a militant hideout today crashed in the restive South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan, with the Taliban claiming they had shot down the spy plane.

The CIA-operated drone crashed in Makeen area of South Waziristan tribal agency, where Pakistani Taliban militants are active.

Soon after the crash, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed militants had shot down the drone.

However, security officials were quoted by Geo News channel as saying that the drone had crashed due to technical problems. The authorities reaching the scene of incident have taken over whatever left of the destroyed drone and conducting further investigation. — PTI

Pak flood-hit sell possessions
No help from government, say victims

Pangrio, September 18
The family of 12 was relieved when a Pakistani army boat rescued them from flood waters a week ago. But the hardships have only piled up at a makeshift camp. The few family possessions saved from the roaring waters have been sold to buy food.

The children have picked up potentially fatal diseases but can’t afford to rest. And Pakistan’s government is nowhere to be found.

“The children have been begging in the market to get food, and from the passing cars,” said Ahmed Junejo, one of almost 2 million people displaced by floods which have ravaged Sindh province in the south.

Like many flood victims, the Junejo family is resigned to the fact they will have to fend for themselves. “I just need two things, food and a tent to protect my children from the sun and the rain. That’s what we need here,” said Ahmed.

Pakistan’s cash-strapped government has been slow to respond to the floods, which have killed over 300 people and damaged or destroyed about 1.2 million houses since monsoon rains triggered the crisis in late August. — Reuters

Berlo ‘boasts of sleeping with 8 women in 1 night’

London, September 18
More trouble seems to be brewing for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, with the local media publishing transcripts of the 74-year-old allegedly boasting of sleeping with eight women in one night.

The conversations, wire-tapped as part of a probe into an alleged prostitution ring surrounding Berlusconi, also suggested for the first time that he gave money to the women he allegedly slept with, contradicting his repeated insistence that he never paid for sex, The Daily Telegraph reported.

In one conversation taped by investigators in early 2009, Berlusconi told him: "Last night I had a queue outside my door, there were 11 of them. I only managed to do eight of them, I couldn't manage any more. You just can't get round to all of them. But this morning I feel great, I'm pleased with my stamina."

The conversations also offered the strongest evidence yet that the scandal-prone billionaire used taxpayers' money and state-owned aircraft to fly alleged prostitutes around Italy. — PTI

UK royal weddings boost sales of Sri Lankan sapphires
Chandani Kirinde in Colombo

The Ceylon Blue Sapphire engagement ring that Britain's Prince William presented to Kate Middleton, now his wife, last October has boosted demand for the gemstone from the island nation.

According to the Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka, the country’s gem exports jumped 35 per cent over last year in the first half of 2011, generating revenue of over US $48 million. An ordinary sapphire can cost around $17,000 a gram as these gems are difficult to mine.

The country is known to produce over 50 varieties of gemstones - second only to Brazil - and is believed to account for about 25 per cent of global sapphire sales, worth an estimated $350 million annually. Lanka’s blue sapphires are known for their saturation of colour, lustre, clarity and transparency.

The 12-carat oval blue sapphire that now adorns Kate’s finger was previously owned by Prince William’s mother Princess Diana. It is said that the sapphire was originally mined as a 32-carat uncut gem before being re-cut to 18 carats and sold to a gem dealer in Colombo.

The dealer then sold it on to a Canadian jeweller who re-cut it into a 12-carat stone and in turn sold it to Garrard - the royal jewellers in London. Garrard then mounted the gem on a ring surrounded by diamonds, before placing it alongside other rings for Princess Diana to choose from for her engagement to Prince Charles in 1981.

Historically, too, Lankan gems have been sought out by royalty worldwide. Legend has it that King Solomon wooed the Queen of Sheba in Biblical times with precious stones from the ‘Paradise Isle’. Solomon has sent his emissaries to Ratnapura, which is known as the City of Gems, to procure the stones that won him the hand and then heart of the Queen.

Lanka’s mineral rich soils have been yielding a seemingly never-ending supply of high quality precious and semi-precious gem stones such as sapphire, star sapphire, ruby, star ruby, alexandrite, cat’s eye, garnets, zircons, tourmalines and spinels.

Teesta deal to be inked soon, says Hasina

Dhaka, September 18
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said India and Bangladesh will soon ink a pact on Teesta water sharing, but refused to specify any timeline for the landmark deal.