127 feared dead in B'desh ferry disaster
Dhaka, August 5
At least 127 persons were feared dead after an overcrowded ferry with up to 250 passengers on board sank in the Padma river in central Bangladesh, as rescuers struggled to locate survivors in choppy waters.

Ukrainian troops edge closer to rebel city
Donetsk, August 5
Ukrainian troops took control of a checkpoint today on the western edge of the pro-Russian rebel-held city of Donetsk as the government makes further gradual advances to quash separatist forces in the east.
A Ukrainian serviceman gestures while driving past a military armoured vehicle in Kramatorsk on Tuesday. Reuters

Gaza/Jerusalem, August 5
An eerie calm descended on Gaza today as a 72-hour Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect with the Jewish state withdrawing troops from the battered coastal strip, raising hopes of a lasting truce after a month of intense fighting.

Minutes before the ceasefire took hold at 8 a.m. (local time), Hamas fired a barrage of long-range rockets as revenge for Israel's "massacres", referring to the killing of nearly 1,900 Palestinians, mostly civilians.

Sirens went off in Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sdot HaNegev, Kiryat Malachi, Rehovot, Rishon Lezion, Gedera, Lod, Ramle, and in Ma'ale Adumim which is in east of Jerusalem. Six of the 17 rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by the anti-missile Iron Dome defence system, the army said.

The Israeli forces responded with artillery fire, but the guns fell silent just before the truce came into effect.

The Israeli military said it has withdrawn its ground troops from Gaza for the humanitarian ceasefire in the conflict with Hamas.

"We have no forces within Gaza," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Lt Colonel Peter Lerner told CNN.

"All of them have left," General Moti Almoz told army radio.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said troops would be "deployed in defensive positions" outside of Gaza and would retaliate to any violation of the truce.

Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks and destroying tunnels used by Palestinian militants.

In a statement just ahead of the withdrawal, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had eliminated 32 tunnels designed to allow militants to carry out raids into Israel, destroyed 3,000 missiles on the ground and killed about 900 "terrorists".

The IDF estimated that some 3,300 rockets had been fired at Israel during this period, and that Hamas had another 3,000 rockets left for future use.

As many as 67 Israelis, all but three of them soldiers, have also died in the conflict.

As the fragile truce took effect, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said he was skeptical over its prospect.

"I am skeptical. Hamas has already violated six previous truce agreements, I hope that this time will be different but we have to wait and see," he told public radio.

The removal of Israeli troops from Gaza reduces the risk of renewed clashes, but the possibility of aerial bombardment remained on both sides. — PTI

Ramallah, August 5
A month of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will cost the Palestinian territory at least $4-6 billion in damages, deputy economy minister Taysir Amro said today.

Amro said the figure included only "direct damages" to the Gaza economy and warned it could climb further once additional impacts on the 1.8 million population are taken into account.

A more precise assessment would be carried out once calm returns permanently to the overpopulated sliver of territory where more than 1,850 people were killed and nearly half a million displaced, he said.

Amro said international donors were expected to meet in Norway in September, but gave no further details.

The fighting began on July 8 and expanded into an Israeli ground offensive on July 17. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and last week the Gaza Strip's only power plant was shelled, imposing total blackouts.

The Palestinian territory, under blockade by Israel and Egypt, suffers from chronic water and power shortages.

Even before the latest fighting, Gaza suffered power cuts of eight to 12 hours a day, hampering hospitals, schools, businesses and water treatment centres.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement today calling for both parties to respect the terms of the truce.

Ban urged both sides to meet in Cairo and start talks for a long-term cease-fire agreement "as soon as possible." It was not immediately clear as to when an Israeli delegation would head to Cairo for indirect talks on a long-term agreement. — AFP

Kabul, August 5
A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire today on NATO troops at a military base, killing a US two-star General and wounding some 15 persons, among them a German Brigadier General and a number of Americans troops, authorities said.

The attack at Camp Qargha, a base west of the capital, Kabul, killed who is believed to be the highest-ranking US officer to die in the nearly 13-year war and comes as foreign troops prepare to withdraw by the year's end.

While details remained murky about what sparked the attack, it showed the challenges still remaining in Afghanistan, a nation that's known three decades of war without end.

Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Defence Ministry, said a "terrorist in an army uniform" opened fire on both local and international troops. Azimi said the shooter had been killed and that three Afghan army officers were wounded.

US officials identified the dead US officer as a Major General. One US official said about half of the wounded were Americans. That officials spoke on condition of anonymity as the officials were not allowed discuss the information by name ahead of an official announcement.

Germany's military said 15 NATO soldiers were wounded in an assault launched "probably by internal attackers." The wounded included a German brigadier general, who the German military said was receiving medical treatment and was "not in a life-threatening condition." NATO said it was investigating the attack, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned as "cowardly."

In a statement sent to journalists, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid praised the "Afghan soldier" who carried out the attack, as well as a police officer in Paktia province who shot at NATO forces earlier today. He did not claim the attacks. — AP

Donetsk, August 5
Ukrainian troops took control of a checkpoint today on the western edge of the pro-Russian rebel-held city of Donetsk as the government makes further gradual advances to quash separatist forces in the east.

An Associated Press reporter saw a tank waving the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag in the suburb of Marinka, which lies on a key road into Donetsk. Rebel combatants could still be seen in sniper positions in a nearby area closer to the city centre.

The government offensive against separatist fighters has focused recently on besieging the main rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the smaller but strategically important town of Horlivka.

After not seeing much fighting other than a rebel attempt in May to seize the city airport, Donetsk has come under shelling in recent weeks. City authorities estimate that around 200,000 people in the city of 1 million have left their homes.

The airport is closed, but buses and trains are still running. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have been battling the Kiev government since April. Ukraine and Western countries have accused Moscow of providing the rebels with equipment and expertise, a claim the Russian government has repeatedly denied.

The West has also accused Russia of most likely providing the insurgents with surface-to-air missiles that may have been used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over rebel-held territory on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.

Despite the presence of pro-government forces at the western entrance into Donetsk, defense officials said that the situation there remained in flux.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian military operation in the east, Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky, said further fighting was expected to ensure full control over Marinka. Yesterday, security officials announced that government troops had taken over Yasinuvata, a town just north of Donetsk that is the site of an important railway junction. — AP

London, August 5
Prince Charles is “furious” with a former close aide for penning a new book which is expected to give details of the breakdown of his marriage to Princess Diana and other royal family gossip, according to a media report.

Charles, 65, has blasted the former close aide for “betraying” him by writing the explosive new book, the Daily Mirror reported.

The Queen’s ex-Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter is set to spill secrets about Charles’ relationship with Diana and the breakdown of two other royal marriages, the report said.

“Charles is furious. This man was a trusted friend,” a palace source was quoted as saying. For 12 years, Buckingham Palace Press Secretary Arbiter was regarded as a man he could trust, the report said.

Arbiter will be the first Buckingham Palace press officer to spill the beans on what he witnessed behind closed doors. It is understood officials have been taking legal advice in an attempt to halt its publication. “He is raking over the breakdown of the marriage and the Prince has been asking aides ‘Why do we have to go through this all again?’” a palace source said.

“It is just a case of a man who he thought was a friend and who could be trusted cashing in on the misery of that time. It is disloyal. Arbiter has been told that he does not have official permission to write this book and a legal team has reviewed all his old contracts to find a way to stop it,” the source said.

Arbiter’s disclosures will detail how Princess Diana felt “humiliated” by her husband’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles and her “dark days” as an unhappy wife. The book is said to reveal how the relationship went “sour” after Diana had been “madly in love with Prince Charles at the start of their marriage”.

Arbiter said: “This is not just a memoir but a story of my life that has been quite extraordinary.” — PTI