The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	China tests new generation ICBM Beijing, August 28 China today announced that it has successfully test-fired a new 14,000 km range inter-continental ballistic missile which can carry multiple warheads, providing it with a "first strike capability" to attack targets deep inside the US and round the world. The Dongfeng-41 with strike distance of 14,000 km was test-fired by People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Second Artillery Corp last month, state-run CCTV reported, showing a rare lengthy footage of its mobile missile units. "The new missile's mobility, precession and war head yield combined give China a first strike capability," the report said. As many as 10 nuclear warheads can be put on the missile. China claims that it will not be the first one to use nuclear weapons and says its nuclear forces are designed for counter attack against nuclear attack on its territory. Analysts say the missile with multiple warheads also strategic significance to India as it came in the backdrop India's successful test firing of Agni-V which could reach deep into several Chinese cities. Simultaneously, the state media also announced that China's first Aircraft carrier, Varyag has set out for 10th sea trials. The retrofit carrier, whose hull was bought from Ukraine is capable of carrying 30 fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. It was expected to become operational later this year. "Two enhance the all-round operational capability we have been carrying out exercises in different areas and extreme weather conditions under complex environments. A missile now can be launched at any time and launched at multiple targets," the official said. To gain initiative in the battle, the Corp has developed technologies, high adoptability and comprehensive tactics. China's strategic missile forces have progressively become smaller, lighter, faster and more precise, he said. With renewed efforts to boost China's capability, China's artillery forces are deepening tactics and becoming more and more flexible. The Corp also developed an all women unit to handle the missiles. The video showed women soldiers taking part in missile firing exercises. The CCTV report followed New York Times article on August 25 that China has developed a new generation of inter-continental and submarine launched missiles capable of carrying as many as 10 nuclear warheads, increasing its ability to reach US and to overwhelm missile defence systems. The US military and intelligence officials say that China has developed the new long range Dongfeng-41 ICBM with mobile launching system making it harder to find and destroy the missile before it is launched, the Times report said. — PTI Missile Power With a strike range of 14,000 km, the missile, Dongfeng-41 (pic), is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads. As many as 10 nuclear warheads can be put on the missile Analysts say the missile with multiple warheads is also a challenge to India as it comes in the backdrop of India's successful test firing of Agni-V that could reach deep into several Chinese cities US military and intelligence officials say that China has developed the new long range Dongfeng-41 ICBM with mobile launching system, making it harder to find and destroy the missile before it is launched
	12 killed, 10 missing as typhoon hits S Korea Seoul, August 28 Twelve persons were killed and 10 were missing after a strong typhoon pounded South Korea on Tuesday, uprooting trees, sinking ships and cutting power to almost 200,000 homes. By early evening Typhoon Bolaven, the strongest to hit the South for almost a decade, had moved to North Korea, which is still struggling to recover from deadly floods earlier this summer. Hundreds of flights in the South were grounded, ferry services were suspended and schools in Seoul and several other areas were closed. Bolaven left a trail of death and damage in southwestern and south-central regions of the country, although it was little felt in central parts of Seoul. Off the southern island of Jeju, the storm drove two Chinese fishing ships aground early Tuesday, sparking a dramatic rescue operation. Coastguards wearing wetsuits struggled through high waves and then used a line-launcher to fire ropes to one ship, a coastguard spokesman said.. Rescuers saved 12 persons while six swam ashore, but 10 crew members are still missing, the spokesman said. — AFP
	12 killed in car bombing in Damascus Beirut, August 28 Twelve persons were killed and dozens wounded when a car bomb exploded on Tuesday at a funeral in Damascus, state television reported, in an attack that an activist group said had targeted supporters of President Bashar al-Assad. Witnesses said the bomb exploded at the entrance to a Druze cemetery in the Jaramana district of southeast Damascus, hitting the funeral procession of two men killed in bombings a day earlier. One witness said as many as 150 persons had been wounded. Another said she saw charred bodies, including children. Syrian television said 48 persons had been wounded in the "terrorist car bombing". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition body which monitors the violence in Syria, said the two men being buried on Tuesday were supporters of Assad, who is fighting to crush a 17-month-old uprising against his rule. Meanwhile, Jordan called on Tuesday for international help with a sudden influx of refugees fleeing escalating violence in southern Syria. The UN refugee agency said the pace of Syrian refugees reaching Za'atri camp in northern Jordan had doubled, with 10,200 arriving in the last week, heralding what could be a bigger movement. "This crisis is beyond the resources that are being extended by us or the efforts of the UNHCR or other humanitarian bodies," said Jordan's Minister of State for Information Samih Maaytah. — Reuters
	Riots shake Kenya’s Mombasa Mombasa, August 28 The Kenyan anti-riot police clashed with stone-throwing youths in the port city of Mombasa on Tuesday in a second day of violence ignited by the killing of a Muslim cleric accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants in Somalia. The police fired teargas and warning shots as youths barricaded streets with burning tyres in the predominantly Muslim Majengo neighbourhood. Mobs marauded around Mombasa's city centre, taunting the police who arrested some of the protesters. Shopkeepers reported looting in some areas of Kenya's second biggest city, a tourist hub with a major Indian Ocean port. "People are breaking into our shops and looting our property and police are doing nothing," said Francis Mutua, 33, a kiosk owner who said he and his colleagues had beaten up offender. Shopkeeper Kassim Ali also complained about the police as they cleared a smouldering roadblock nearby. "These people, the police, are joking. They are taking this thing lightly, but the way I see it, it will not be good," he said. One person was killed in riots on Monday when protesters torched some churches, stoking fears that the unrest may become more sectarian in a city where grenade attacks blamed on Somali militants and their sympathisers have already strained Muslim-Christian relations. Mombasa has a big Muslim minority. Police and Muslim leaders had described the church burnings as impulsive, not premeditated. On Tuesday the gangs of youths appeared to focus their anger more on the police. Church leaders scrapped plans for a peaceful march for fear it might incite further clashes in a country where overall relations with minority Muslims have been relatively good. The unrest began after gunmen killed Muslim cleric Aboud Rogo on Monday, spraying his car with bullets in an attack many Muslims in Mombasa blamed on the police, who denied involvement. Washington and Nairobi had both accused the preacher of helping al Shabaab, Somalia's Islamist rebel group. — Reuters Suicide bomber kills Muslim cleric in Russia Bolgar: A woman suicide bomber killed an Islamic cleric and at least five of his followers in Russia's southern Dagestan region on Tuesday as President Vladimir Putin visited another mainly Muslim area and called for an end to religious violence. Said Atsayev, a 74-year-old Sufi Muslim spiritual leader also known as Sheikh Said Afandi al-Chirkavi, was killed when the woman entered his home disguised as a pilgrim and detonated an explosive belt around her waist, police sources said. Russia is struggling to contain an Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus more than a decade after federal forces toppled a separatist government in a war in Chechnya.
	America warns its citizens against travelling to Pak Washington, August 28 The US has warned its citizens against travelling to Pakistan citing possible terror attacks from Al-Qaida, Taliban elements and indigenous militant sectarian groups. "Threat reporting indicates terrorist groups continue to seek opportunities to attack locations where US citizens are known to congregate or visit, such as shopping areas, hotels, clubs and restaurants, places of worship, schools, and outdoor recreation events," the State Department said in its travel advisory. Travel to much of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and Balochistan was also restricted as per the new advisory that replaces the one issued earlier on February 2. — PTI
	Isaac revs up to hurricane force near New Orleans Obama warns of flooding & other damage New Orleans, August 28 Tropical Storm Isaac strengthened into a hurricane just off the US Gulf Coast on Tuesday as it churned toward landfall in the New Orleans area seven years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Isaac's winds, rain and storm surge could pose a major test of New Orleans' new flood control systems and reinforced levees. Forecasts from the US National Hurricane Center showed the storm coming ashore soon. The US Army Corps of Engineers began to close for the first time the massive new floodgate on the largest storm-surge barrier in the world, at Lake Borgne. In other preparations, energy companies evacuated offshore oil rigs and shut down US Gulf Coast refineries as the storm threatened to batter the oil refining belt. President Barack Obama added his concerns in a statement saying: "We're dealing with a big storm and there could be significant flooding and other damage across a large area.” — Reuters