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Algerian assault ends crisis; 19 hostages, 29 militants killed
Chinese ships patrol disputed isles in East, South China Sea |
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Tighten gun control laws: Obama
African leaders call for more global involvement in Mali
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Algerian assault ends crisis; 19 hostages, 29 militants killed AIn Amenas, January 19 At least 19 hostages and 29 Islamist militants have been killed. The report, quoting a security source, didn't say whether any hostages or militants remained alive, and it didn't give the nationalities of the dead. It said the army was forced to intervene after a fire broke out in the plant and said the militants killed the hostages. It wasn't immediately possible to verify who killed the captives. Seven hostages and 11 militants were killed in today's operation, adding to the previous tally of 12 captives and 18 kidnappers. The Ain Amenas plant is jointly run by BP, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state-owned oil company. The governments of Norway and Britain said they received confirmation that the siege was over. The entire refinery was mined with explosives and set to blow up, the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach said in a statement, adding that the process of clearing the explosives had begun. The Algerian media reported that the militants had planned to blow up the complex. — AP American killed Washington: An American has been killed in the hostage standoff at an Algerian gas plant, officials said on Saturday, as the US sought to secure the release of Americans still being held by Al-Qaida-linked terrorists. "We can confirm the death of US citizen Frederick Buttaccio in the hostage situation in Algeria," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said. — PTI
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Chinese ships patrol disputed isles in East, South China Sea Beijing, January 19 A fleet of three Chinese marine surveillance ships continued to patrol territorial waters off the Diaoyu Islands today, according to the China State Oceanic Administration (SOA). Separately, two fleets of Chinese marine surveillance ships are carrying out regular patrol missions simultaneously on the South China Sea, the SOA said. While China and Japan are involved in a raging dispute over the islands called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan in the East China Sea, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia have questioned China's claims over the South China Sea. Two ships arrived in the waters south to the Xisha Islands, also claimed by Vietnam. They would continue patrolling to the south, the SOA statement said. The second mission has also started as Haijian 262 and 263 left Sanya to patrol on the waters near the Beibu Gulf. Both fleets found no foreign intruders or unusual situations, the statement said. Chinese marine surveillance ships carried out 58 patrol missions on the South China Sea in 2012, according to the SOA. — PTI
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Tighten gun control laws: Obama Washington, January 19 Obama's open appeal to the US Congress came days after he signed some 23 executive orders for stricter gun control. Obama said while the Constitution guarantees individual right to bear arms and the vast majority of gun owners act responsibly, it is imperative to ensure that people who should not be allowed to own weapons are not able to acquire them. — PTI
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African leaders call for more global involvement in Mali Abidjan, January 19 The emergency summit in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan was also attended by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius who clearly said it was time for the Africans to take over and "as soon as possible", adding that this was "the aim of our meeting". "France was obliged to intervene very rapidly, otherwise there would have been no more Mali," Fabius said on his arrival in Abidjan. "But it is well understood that he Africans must pick up the baton." France said today it had 2,000 of the 2,500 troops it had pledged on the ground in Mali, amid fears that the vast arid north which the rebels control could become a haven for Islamist militants and threaten security both in the region and overseas. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who is also current head of the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc, said it was high time that other countries did their bit in Mali. "The hour has come for a broader commitment by more countries to the military operations to show greater solidarity with France and Africa in the war against terrorism in Mali," said Ouattara . — AFP
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Pak officer probing PM graft case committed suicide, says probe
A preliminary postmortem report of the death of Kamran Faisal, an official of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigating the rental power projects (RPP) case involving Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf and others, termed his death a ‘suicide’. The report, released by a board comprising three doctors at the Poly Clinic Hospital on Saturday, said no torture marks were found on Faisal’s body. The report added that there was only one mark on Faisal’s neck and it appeared that he had committed suicide. But Faisal’s father and friends rejected the report and sought a judicial inquiry into his mysterious death at parliamentary lodges. Faisal’s father, uncle and friends have alleged that his body bore marks of torture. His uncle said Faisal’s back, arms and wrists showed torture marks. The police is also reportedly looking for Sajid Ali, a close associate of Faisal who has so far failed to get in touch with the police. Faisal (35), who was investigating the scam along with another officer Asghar Khan, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his official residence at Federal Lodges on Friday. The Prime Minister and 15 other top officials have been implicated in the multi-billion RPP scam. The Supreme Court, which had ordered arrest of the PM and other accused, allowed six days’ reprieve adjourning the case till January 23. Relatives question postmortem report Kamran Faisal’s father and friends rejected the postmortem report and sought a judicial inquiry into his mysterious death. They have alleged that the body bore marks of torture.
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Chicago The body of Urooj Khan, an Indian-origin businessman, who died of cyanide poisoning here days after he won a million dollar lottery, has been exhumed and an autopsy was conducted to find answers to his mysterious death. — AFP London A British man, Craig Allan Slee, has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment after he posted a string of ghastly beheading videos on a Facebook account set up by him. — PTI Beijing The air quality in Beijing Municipality fell to dangerous levels on Saturday as smog returned to haunt the city after just a few days of respite. The weather forecast bureau has issued yellow alerts, the third highest level following red and orange, for fog and haze. — PTI Beijing An online Chinese sales firm has started a bizarre 'Rent a Boyfriend' service for single women wanting to stave off embarrassing queries about marriage and male companion from their families. The firm, Taobao.com, is hoping to cash in on plight of single women during the next month's Chinese New Year.— PTI Karachi A Pakistani man accused of over 100 counts of manslaughter in the port city of Karachi has been released after he was acquitted in many cases and got bail in the rest, a media report said on Saturday. Ajmal Pahari had been detained for the past four months under the maintenance of public order.— PTI
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forces today stormed a natural gas complex in the middle of the Sahara desert in a "final assault" that ended a four-day-old hostage crisis, according to the state news agency and two foreign governments. 
West African leaders today called for greater international involvement in Mali as they met to speed up the deployment of regional troops to boost a French-backed offensive to halt an Islamist onslaught.
