W O R L D

China defends air defence zone as Biden arrives in Beijing
Beijing, December 4
As US Vice President Joe Biden arrived here to press China to roll back its unilaterally declared air defence zone, Beijing today defended its controversial move, saying it is in accord with international laws and practises and will not affect normal flights.

US Vice President Joe Biden with his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. AFP

Highly dangerous radioactive material stolen in Mexico
Vienna, December 4
Thieves have made off with a truck in Mexico carrying a dangerous radioactive material used in medical treatments, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based UN nuclear body, did not give details on how much of the radioactive source, cobalt-60, was in the truck at the time.

US halts cargo shipment from Afghanistan through Pak Washington, December 4 The United States has temporarily halted shipment of its "retrograde cargo" from Afghanistan in view of the anti-America demonstrations in Pakistan which it believes puts at risk the safety and security of the truckers. Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party stop a truck in a bid to block the NATO supply in Peshawar on Wednesday. AFP

Pak Taliban threaten to target scribes over false report on Sachin Islamabad, December 4 The Pakistani Taliban has said it will target journalists and media organisations for "fabricating" the statement of its spokesperson asking news outlets not to pay tribute to cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement. Sachin Tendulkar

B’desh crisis: India rules out mediation
Dhaka, December 4
India today said it will not "broker any deal or mediate" between Bangladesh's feuding political parties though it wants the successful completion of the country's troubled election process.

UK soldier held on terror charge
London, December 4
A British soldier has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after a suspected bomb was found at a house in Manchester. The Greater Manchester Police say a 19-year-old man was arrested on Monday in connection with the discovery of the device at a house last week. Neighbours were evacuated, and bomb disposal officers were called to remove the device from the scene. — AP

China defends air defence zone as Biden arrives in Beijing

Beijing, December 4
As US Vice President Joe Biden arrived here to press China to roll back its unilaterally declared air defence zone, Beijing today defended its controversial move, saying it is in accord with international laws and practises and will not affect normal flights.

US Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that relations between Washington and Beijing had to be based on trust, amid a dispute over a new Chinese air defence zone which has rattled nerves regionally. Beijing's decision to declare an air defence identification zone in an area that includes disputed islands has triggered protests from the United States, Japan and South Korea and dominated Biden's talks in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The United States has made clear it will stand by treaty obligations that require it to defend the Japanese-controlled islands, but it is also reluctant to get dragged into any military clash between rivals Japan and China. "China has gained understanding from an increasing number of countries over the establishment of the zone. People have come to realise it is a safe and cooperative, rather than risky and confrontational area," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

Hong said 55 airlines from 19 countries have reported their flight plans to fly through its controversial Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea.

Hong's comment came after Biden arrived here today after meeting ally Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. — Agencies

Simmering tension

• Beijing says the zone is in accordance with international laws and will not affect normal flights.
• So far, 55 airlines from 19 nations have reported their flight plans to fly through the controversial zone over the East China Sea.
• US expresses concern over “attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea
• The US makes clear it will stand by treaty obligations that require it to defend the Japanese-controlled islands

Highly dangerous radioactive material stolen in Mexico

Vienna, December 4
Thieves have made off with a truck in Mexico carrying a dangerous radioactive material used in medical treatments, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based UN nuclear body, did not give details on how much of the radioactive source, cobalt-60, was in the truck at the time.

Cobalt-60 can potentially also be used to make a so-called "dirty bomb", where conventional explosives are used to disperse radiation from a radioactive source. But the IAEA made no mention of this in its statement.

The IAEA said it had been informed by Mexican authorities that the truck, which was taking cobalt-60 from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage centre, was stolen in Tepojaco near Mexico City on Monday. "At the time the truck was stolen, the (radioactive) source was properly shielded.

The IAEA has offered to assist Mexican authorities, who it said were searching for the material and had alerted the public. — Reuters

‘Dirty bomb’ threat

• A truck carrying cobalt-60 from a hospital a radioactive waste storage centre stolen in Tepojaco near Mexico City on Monday
• Radioactive material less hard to find and could be used to make so-called "dirty bomb" by militants
• A “dirty bomb” is seen as a high probability, low consequence act" with more potential to terrorise than cause large loss of life.

US halts cargo shipment from Afghanistan through Pak

Washington, December 4
The United States has temporarily halted shipment of its "retrograde cargo" from Afghanistan in view of the anti-America demonstrations in Pakistan which it believes puts at risk the safety and security of the truckers.

"We have voluntarily halted US shipments of retrograde cargo through the Pakistan Ground Line of Communication (GLOC) from Torkham Gate through Karachi to ensure the safety of the drivers contracted to move our equipment," the Pentagon spokesperson Mark Wright said.

The US is aware of the protests that have affected one of the primary commercial transit routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said.

"We anticipate we will be able to resume our shipments through this route in the near future," Wright said.

"While we favor shipping cargo via Pakistan because of cost, we have built flexibility and redundancy into our overall system of air, sea and ground routes to transport cargo into and out of Afghanistan. We also anticipate no long-term impact to our mission," Wright said.

GLOC routes are important to the US and NATO, he said adding that this was reflected recently in the joint statement released during the Washington visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in October. — PTI

Warns of troop pullout, if BSA not signed

Washington: The US has warned that it would have no other option but to pull out all its troops from Afghanistan by 2014, if the Karzai Government doesn't sign promptly the negotiated bilateral security agreement. "We have concluded negotiations, and deferring the signature of the agreement until after next year's elections is not a viable option," the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at a news conference. Carney said such a situation “would not provide the United States and our NATO allies the clarity necessary to plan for a potential post-2014 military presence. — PTI

Pak Taliban threaten to target scribes over false report on Sachin

Islamabad, December 4
The Pakistani Taliban has said it will target journalists and media organisations for "fabricating" the statement of its spokesperson asking news outlets not to pay tribute to cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on his retirement.

The shura council of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, headed by its new chief Mullah Fazlullah, decided to attack the journalists and media organisations which had carried statement of their spokesman Shahidullah Shahid regarding Tendulkar and Pakistani cricket team captain Misbahul Haq.

"In Tuesday's meeting, we decided to target only journalists and media organisations which twisted the recent statement of Shahidullah Shahid and tried to tarnish Taliban's image nationally and internationally," an unnamed senior Taliban leader and member of the shura was quoted as saying by The News daily.

"The task has been given to a select group of people within the Taliban to collect information about the journalists and media organisations who fabricated statement of the spokesman," he said.

An initial clipped video of the TTP spokesperson was circulated on social media networks which showed TTP spokesperson criticising the Pakistani media over its coverage of Tendulkar.

However, a longer video with his full remarks showed that he was not criticising the media but saying that those opposed to referring to dead militants as martyrs are like persons who do not want Tendulkar to be praised because he is an Indian.

Even after the emergence of the full video, some local and many international media continued to report that Taliban had warned Pakistani media for the coverage of Tendulkar.

In another development, TTP's Fazlullah removed senior commander Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani as the chief of the banned group's central shura in a bid to make his grip stronger over the Pakistani Taliban. — PTI

B’desh crisis: India rules out mediation

4 dead as activists derail 3 trains

Dhaka: At least four persons died and over 60 injured as opposition activists on Wednesday derailed three trains across Bangladesh as part of their campaign against elections due to be held next month. — PTI