W O R L D

Syrian rebels attack military airport
Beirut, January 2
Syrian rebels, some from Islamist units, fired machineguns and mortars at helicopters grounded at a northern military air base near the main Aleppo-Damascus highway on Wednesday, a monitoring group said.

Rebel fighters inspect the debris in a street in the Bustan al-Basha district of Aleppo on Tuesday. — AFP

Pak EC wants army to supervise general election
Islamabad, January 2
Pakistan's upcoming general election may be held under the supervision of the army. Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin Ibrahim today recommended that the election should be conducted completely under the supervision of the army in order to maintain law and order.

Hanging up the boots: Shoes hang on a power line at Letna skating park overlooking Prague on Wednesday. Teenagers, who skateboard at the park, throw their damaged and unwanted shoes over the wire for fun. — Reuters

Soon, spiky robot ‘hedgehogs’ to explore Mars’ moon Phobos
Washington, January 2
Researchers have designed robot 'hedgehogs' - about half a metre wide and covered in spikes - to explore the surface of the Martian moon Phobos. The spherical robots called hedgehogs are spiky to better cope with rolling and hopping across the surface of Phobos with its very low gravity.

China cautions Vietnam over South China Sea islands
Beijing, January 2
Deploying its maritime vessels for patrolling in the disputed South China Sea, China has asked Vietnam not to implement its new maritime law, affirming sovereignty over the contested islands and cautioned Hanoi that the move would escalate bilateral tensions.

16 dead in Angola New Year stampede
Johannesburg, January 2
As many as 16 persons, including four children, died and 120 others were injured in a stampede at an evangelical vigil in the Angolan capital Luanda on New Year's Eve, Angolan news agency Angop reported.

Syrian rebels attack military airport

Beirut, January 2
Syrian rebels, some from Islamist units, fired machineguns and mortars at helicopters grounded at a northern military air base near the main Aleppo-Damascus highway on Wednesday, a monitoring group said.

The Al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham Brigade and other units operating in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib were attacking the Afis military airport near Taftanaz, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

There was no immediate account of the fighting around the air base from Syrian state media.

Insurgents trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad see his air power as their main threat. They hold swathes of eastern and northern provinces, as well as a crescent of suburbs around the capital, Damascus, but have been unable to protect rebel-held territory from relentless attack by helicopters and jets.

In recent months, rebel units have besieged several military installations, especially along Syria's main north-south artery from Aleppo, its most populous city, to Damascus.

The Observatory's director, Rami Abdelrahman, said today's attack was the latest of several attempts to capture the base. A satellite image of the airport shows more than 40 helicopter landing pads, a runway and aircraft hangars.

An estimated 45,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011 with peaceful protests against four decades of Assad family rule but turned into an armed revolt after months of government repression.

In Damascus, Assad's forces fired artillery and mortars at the eastern districts of Douma, Harasta, Irbin and Zamlaka, where rebels have a foothold, activists living there said.

Syria's civil war is the longest and deadliest conflict to emerge from uprisings that began sweeping the Arab world in 2011 and has developed a significant sectarian element. Rebels, mostly from the Sunni Muslim majority, confront Assad's army and security forces, dominated by his Shi'ite-derived Alawite sect, which, along with some other minorities, fears revenge if he falls. — Reuters

Air raid kills 12

Beirut: An air raid on a town partly held by rebels on the outskirts of Damascus on Wednesday killed at least 12 members of the same family, most of them children. Regime warplanes bombed the town of Moadamiyet al-Sham, southwest of the capital, a watchdog said. — AFP

Scribe kidnapped

Paris: A freelance American reporter James Foley who contributed videos to AFP was kidnapped in conflict-torn Syria six weeks back and has been missing since, his family said on Wednesday. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction. — AFP

Pak EC wants army to supervise general election

Islamabad, January 2
Pakistan's upcoming general election may be held under the supervision of the army. Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin Ibrahim today recommended that the election should be conducted completely under the supervision of the army in order to maintain law and order.

Chairing a meeting of senior officials of the federal and provincial governments to assess the law and order situation ahead of the polls, Ibrahim suggested that armed soldiers should be deployed at all polling stations. The soldiers should remain in the polling stations till the results are announced, he said.

Though the Election Commission has held several meetings in recent weeks to prepare for the polls expected to be held in April or May, this was the first meeting that focused on security issues.

"The election has to be, of necessity, just and fair. The single most important problem is maintenance of law and order," Ibrahim told the meeting.

"If law and order is maintained, there is no reason that the election should not be free and fair," he said.

Ibrahim noted that army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had assured him of complete cooperation for the electoral process.

The meeting was attended by the Defence Secretary, Interior Secretary, the heads of the Frontier Corps and Pakistan Rangers and Chief Secretaries of the four provinces.

The Election Commission will prepare a comprehensive security plan for the polls following consultations with stakeholders.

The Election Commission asked security agencies to give suggestions for maintaining law and order during the election. — PTI

Soon, spiky robot ‘hedgehogs’ to explore Mars’ moon Phobos

Washington, January 2
Researchers have designed robot 'hedgehogs' - about half a metre wide and covered in spikes - to explore the surface of the Martian moon Phobos. The spherical robots called hedgehogs are spiky to better cope with rolling and hopping across the surface of Phobos with its very low gravity.

Marco Pavone, an assistant professor in Stanford University in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed the hedgehog which is a sort of 'hybrid' machine - part flying spacecraft and part rover.

Phobos is small with a diameter of approximately 22.2 kilometres and since its discovery and that of its sister moon Deimos in 1877, very little has been learned about the nature of Phobos, website Gizmag reported.

It may be a captured asteroid or a chunk of Mars knocked off by an ancient impact. If it's the latter, then Phobos could provide a lot of information about Mars. It's also a very good place to test technologies needed to explore Mars.

The problem is that Phobos' gravity is only 1/1000th that of Earth. This makes getting around on wheels, treads or legs extremely difficult because the low gravity means little or no traction, so building a rover for Phobos presents a challenge. — PTI

The hedgehogs

The spherical robots called hedgehogs are spiky to better cope with rolling and hopping across the surface of Phobos with its very low gravity. The hedgehog is a sort of 'hybrid' machine - part flying spacecraft and part rover.

China cautions Vietnam over South China Sea islands

Beijing, January 2
Deploying its maritime vessels for patrolling in the disputed South China Sea, China has asked Vietnam not to implement its new maritime law, affirming sovereignty over the contested islands and cautioned Hanoi that the move would escalate bilateral tensions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunyang in a statement here urged Vietnam to refrain from taking any actions that complicate and escalate issues between the two countries, as the Vietnamese maritime law came into effective from yesterday.

Hua stressed China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands called by China Xisha and Nansha Islands and Paracel islands by Vietnam.

"Any claim raised by any other country and any action taken by any other nation to territorial sovereignty over the islands and waters are illegal and invalid," Hua said, adding China is deeply concerned about the negative impact of the implementation of the law. — PTI

16 dead in Angola New Year stampede

Johannesburg, January 2
As many as 16 persons, including four children, died and 120 others were injured in a stampede at an evangelical vigil in the Angolan capital Luanda on New Year's Eve, Angolan news agency Angop reported.

It quoted civil protection spokesman Faustino Sebastiao as saying the victims were crushed by the crowd and asphyxiated at the entrance to the Cidadela Desportiva stadium after only two of the four gates had been opened. Twelve of the injured were still in hospital yesterday. — AFP

BRIEFLY

26/11: US court reschedules Headley, Rana sentencing
Chicago: A US court on Wednesday rescheduled the sentencing of Pakistani American LeT terrorist David Headley, accused of involvement in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, from January 17 to January 24, while that of his accomplice Tahawwur Rana has been rescheduled for a second time to January 17. Headley, who conducted reconnaissance of the targets of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks for Lashkar-e-Toiba, had entered a plea bargain with the FBI, saving him from a possible death penalty or extradition to India or Denmark. — PTI

Harry a ‘jackal’ killing innocents
London: Days after Prince Harry participated in a successful raid on Taliban, one of Afghanistan's most feared warlords Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has described the third-in-line to the British throne as a "jackal" who hunts while "drunk"."The British Prince (Harry) comes to Afghanistan to kill innocent Afghans while he is drunk. He wants to hunt down Mujaheddin with his helicopter rockets without any shame," Hekmatyar said. — PTI

US massacre survivors ready for school
New York: Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 20 children and six staff members last month will on Thursday return to class for the first time since the horrific incident in a new building adapted to look exactly like their old one. The Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, has been closed since the December 14 tragedy. — AFP

Delhi boy quizzed over FB bomb threat
Singapore: A 13-year-old Delhi boy is being probed by the Singapore police for posting a Facebook message in which he allegedly threatened to bomb a luxury casino resort in the city-state. The unnamed boy had posted on the Facebook expletive and was critical of Singapore. — PTI

Headley, Rana sentencing rescheduled by US court
Chicago: A US court on Wednesday rescheduled the sentencing of Pakistani American LeT terrorist David Headley, accused of involvement in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, from January 17 to January 24, while that of his accomplice Tahawwur Rana has been rescheduled for a second time to January 17. Headley, who conducted reconnaissance of the targets of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks for Lashkar-e-Toiba, had entered a plea bargain with the FBI, saving him from a possible death penalty or extradition to India or Denmark. — PTI

US massacre survivors ready for school
New York: Students at the elementary school where a gunman massacred 20 children and six staff members last month will on Thursday return to class for the first time since the horrific incident in a new building adapted to look exactly like their old one. The Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, has been closed since the December 14 tragedy. — AFP