Almost two-thirds of the city's 160,000 homes were said
to have been damaged, although there have been no
fatalities.
A state of emergency has been extended until Wednesday,
and the city centre remains cordoned off.
Experts warned that more tremors were likely.
"It is still possible that we will have a magnitude six
in the next week," said Ken Gledhill, a monitor at the
geological agency GNS Science.
"People ought to be aware of that, particularly if they
are around structures which are already damaged. For a
shallow earthquake like this, they will go on for
weeks," he added.
Some of the city's most historic buildings are among
those having to be pulled down because they are beyond
repair.
Engineers are also checking fresh cracks in the city's
Christ Church Cathedral, local media reported.
New Zealand's civil defence ministry said power had been
restored to most of the city and all major roads and
rail links were open.
Contamination
risk
About 300 people left homeless by the quake have been
sheltering in welfare centres. Residents are also being
advised to boil water following the risk of
contamination from burst sewage pipes.
Prime Minister John Key has warned that New Zealand's
economic recovery will suffer because of the earthquake.
New Zealand lies at the southern end of the so-called
Pacific Ring of Fire, and above an area of the Earth's
crust where the Pacific Plate converges with the
Indo-Australian Plate.
The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a
year, of which only about 20 have a magnitude in excess
of 5.0.
The last fatal earthquake was in 1968, when a
7.1-magnitude tremor killed three people on the South
Island's western coast.
Burma leader
General Than Shwe begins China visit
By Michael
Bristow, Beijing
Gen Than Shwe has ruled Burma since 1992
Burma's military leader, General Than Shwe, is beginning
a five-day visit to its major ally China.
He is expected to have talks with the country's leaders
and seek support for his government's plans to hold
national elections later this year.
Burma's military government is shunned by many countries
because of its human rights record.
But it has strong relations with China, which has
invested millions of dollars in projects in Burma.
There are few details about exactly why Gen Than Shwe is
coming to China.
Six months after Iraq's parliamentary elections, a
government minister has warned that the political
deadlock is damaging the security situation.
Oil and electricity minister Hussein al-Shahristani told
the BBC that insurgents were exploiting the failure to
reach a power-sharing agreement.
Despite improvements in recent years, attacks remain a
daily reality, killing hundreds each month.
On Sunday, insurgents attacked an army base in Baghdad,
killing 12 people.
American soldiers were called in to help Iraqi forces
fight the insurgents, in the first such use of US troops
since the end of the US combat mission five days ago.
Iraq's six-month-old political deadlock essentially
revolves around the ambitions of two men: Nouri
al-Maliki, the caretaker prime minister at the head
of a Shia-dominated alliance, and Iyad Allawi, a
former prime minister and secular Shia, who draws
his support largely from Iraq's Sunni communities.
Both want to be prime minister; but there is only
one vacancy for that job. The impasse is so
intractable, there have even been suggestions the
two should share the post, rotating every two years.
One solution may be for a strong third candidate to
take the job instead. One of Iraq's two vice
presidents, Adel Abdul Mehdi, recently put himself
forward as candidate for the Shia Iraqi National
Alliance.
But the results of the election in March were so
finely balanced that any new candidate would in any
case require the support of all the major parties.
And that, at the moment, is still looking as far off
as ever.
Iraqi voters went to the polls on 7 March, but returned
a hung parliament. Six months on, there is still no
government.
First there was the election, hailed for being inclusive
and relatively peaceful. Then there was a recount, with
millions of ballots sifted through by hand, says the
BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad.
The result, however, stayed the same: a parliament that
is hung - so finely balanced that the politicians still
cannot decide who should form the next government, our
correspondent says.
Hussein al-Shahristani, a close ally of the prime
minister in Iraq's caretaker government - effectively
the same government that was in power before the
election - told the BBC that bombers have been able to
exploit political differences to their advantage.
"The security could have been handled more firmly," he
said. "Now the terrorists are hoping that by having
these political differences they can penetrate through
the cracks in the political system."
On Tuesday morning, a small group of activists and
politicians gathered outside the Iraqi parliament in
protest at the six-month stalemate.
[Ordinary Iraqis] have seen no benefit
whatsoever for all the heartache and turmoil
that they have gone through over the past eight
years”
End QuoteFeisal
IstrabadiIraq's
former UN envoy
In other areas of life, the absence of a new government
has had little impact - jobs are scarce and public
services are patchy at best, our correspondent says.
As the US winds down its military involvement in Iraq,
many Iraqis are pondering their legacy of democratic
government. Some are wondering why they bothered voting
if they still didn't get to change their leaders, adds
our correspondent.
Feisal Istrabadi, Iraq's former ambassador to the UN,
blames the country's politicians for the deadlock.
"The problem is that the various political actors are
attempting to secure their own place in government,
rather than to think about the larger needs of the
country," Mr Istrabadi, currently director for the study
of the Middle East at Indiana University in the US, told
the BBC's Today programme.
"Even if government were magically formed tomorrow, the
ordinary citizen is completely disaffected. They have
seen no benefit whatsoever for all the heartache and
turmoil that they have gone through over the past eight
years," he added.
Barroso was generally upbeat in his assessment of
the European Union's economic prospects
The European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso,
has said unemployment is "still much too high" in the
EU, in his first "state of the union" speech.
He used the US-style format to outline the 27-nation
EU's priorities.
The high-profile speech to Euro MPs in Strasbourg is
seen as part of a drive to explain the importance of the
EU's role in restoring economic growth.
Some MEPs said the Commission must do more to earn
citizens' trust in the EU.
Mr Barroso, in his second term as head of the EU's
executive arm, said the recovery "is gathering pace,
albeit unevenly within the union".
"Growth this year will be higher than initially
forecast. The unemployment rate, whilst still much too
high, has stopped increasing. Clearly, uncertainties and
risks remain, not least outside the European Union."
Earlier, political group leaders in the European
Parliament had considered imposing fines on MEPs who
failed to attend Mr Barroso's speech.
But the assembly's president, Jerzy Buzek, said more
time was needed to decide how to beef up attendance in
parliamentary debates.
BBC Europe correspondent Jonty Bloom in Strasbourg says
Mr Barroso's speech may well be overshadowed by a
meeting of Europe's finance ministers that will discuss
the economic crisis and moves to regulate the banking
industry.
Greece will learn if it has reformed enough to receive
even more money from its neighbours, and Europe's
finance ministers will be discussing an EU-wide system
of financial regulation designed to prevent another
crisis.
The British financial services industry is worried that
this will mean more red tape and a shift of power and
influence away from the City of London towards
continental Europe, our correspondent says.
Mr Barroso said "it is now time to exit" the period of
budgetary expansion, when European governments poured
taxpayers' money into the financial sector to boost
liquidity and ease the banking crisis.
He stressed that the internal market "is Europe's
greatest asset, and we are not using it enough".
He said that in the areas of energy interconnections,
research and development aid "a euro spent at European
level gets you more than a euro spent at national
level".
But he said small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs)
were "being strangled in regulatory knots".
"The Commission has put proposals on the table to
generate annual savings of 38bn euros (£32bn) for
European companies.
"Stimulating innovation, cutting red tape and developing
a highly-skilled workforce: these are ways to ensure
that European manufacturing continues to be
world-class," he said.
Sceptical MEPs
MEPs gave a generally lukewarm response to the speech.
The head of the European Conservatives and Reformists
group, Michal Kaminski, said: "European institutions
will do nothing to scale back on waste if the Commission
president is pushing for yet more taxpayers' money.
"President Barroso is correct to say that this is the
EU's 'moment of truth'. However it should also be time
for some home truths about why the EU is so unpopular."
The head of the British Labour group of MEPs, Glenis
Willmott, warned that "if the European Commission
chooses to focus purely on free markets and unfettered
deregulation, without consideration for the wider
interests of European citizens, then it has little hope
of regaining the trust that has been lost".
Mohammed
ElBaradei urges Egypt election boycott
Mr ElBaradei said his petition for change had nearly
a million signatures
A leading opposition figure in Egypt has called for a
boycott of November's parliamentary election, saying it
is certain to be rigged by the government.
Mohammed ElBaradei said participating would go against
"the national will" to transform Egypt into a democracy.
The ex-head of the International Atomic Energy Agency
said the "next year and months will be critical and will
witness change in the rule of Egypt".
Mr ElBaradei has not yet said whether he will run for
president in 2011.
Speculation over who will succeed Hosni Mubarak -
Egypt's president of nearly 30 years - has gained pace
since he had surgery earlier this year.
The 82-year-old has himself not said if he will seek
re-election, but many Egyptians believe he will try to
install his son, Gamal, in the role if he does not.
'Decaying
temple'
After he returned to Egypt in February, Mr ElBaradei's
National Coalition for Change launched a petition
calling for constitutional changes and guarantees of
free elections.
The petition lists seven demands including allowing
independents to run for president, the judicial
supervision of elections, and the lifting of the
controversial emergency laws that have been in place
since 1981.
"We have gathered nearly a million signatures in six
months and we can reach up to two to three million more
by the end of this year," Mr ElBaradei told about 200
activists in Cairo on Monday.
Mr ElBaradei said the ruling National Democratic Party
(NDP) had failed to govern, brought only rising poverty
and illiteracy, and disregarded human rights.
"When I look at the temple they built, I see a decaying
temple, nearly collapsing. It will fall sooner rather
than later," he added. "I will never enter this temple.
What we call for is to bring down this temple in a
peaceful civilised manner."
"Egyptians are known to be patient people. But patience
has limits and civil disobedience is our last resort if
demands for reform are not heeded."
And until the political system opened up, it would be
wrong to give it legitimacy by participating in
elections, Mr ElBaradei argued.
"Anyone who participates in the vote either as a
candidate or a voter goes against the national will," he
added.
Mr ElBaradei later told reporters: "If the whole
population boycotts the elections totally, it will be in
my view the end of the regime."
Correspondents say opposition groups in Egypt are
divided over whether to boycott the polls. The outlawed
Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, supports Mr
ElBaradei but is still likely to participate.
Iran stands firm
over Ashtiani stoning case
Ms Ashtiani's family say they have not been allowed
to contact her in prison for two weeks
Foreign powers should stop interfering in the case of an
Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning,
Iran's foreign ministry has said.
In Tehran, a spokesman said the case of Sakineh
Mohammadi Ashtiani "should not become a human rights
issue".
She is accused of murder and adultery and faces death or
life in prison.
The sentence has led to widespread criticism, the latest
from EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, who called it
"barbaric beyond words".
Speaking in France, Mr Barroso said: "We condemn such
acts, which have no justification under any moral or
religious code."
Lashes
However, Tehran's foreign ministry dismissed Western
concerns about Iranian justice.
"Unfortunately, [they are] defending a person who is
being tried for murder and adultery," spokesman Ramin
Mehmanparast said at a Tehran news conference.
"If releasing all those who have committed murder is to
be perceived as a human rights issue, then all European
countries should release all the murderers in their
countries," he was reported as saying.
Ms Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was condemned
to death for illicit sex and charged with involvement in
her husband's murder.
After criticism from foreign nations, there were reports
in July that Iranian officials may have temporarily
halted her stoning sentence. However, she still faces
the possibility of death by hanging, or life
imprisonment.
Her case is now being reviewed by Iran's Supreme Court.
It remains stayed pending a final decision by the
judiciary, Mr Mehmanparast added.
According to her son, Iranian authorities have also
sentenced Ms Ashtiani to 99 lashes after the publication
in the Times newspaper in the UK of a picture
purportedly of her without a headscarf.
The Times later published a correction, saying the
photograph was of a different Iranian woman.
Australia PM
Julia Gillard to form minority government
Julia Gillard: 'The government will be held more
accountable than ever before'
Julia Gillard will stay as Australia's prime minister
after winning the backing of two key independent MPs.
Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott held the balance of power
in parliament after a fellow independent MP, Bob Katter,
backed opposition leader Tony Abbott.
The dramatic announcement ended more than two weeks of
political deadlock following indecisive elections.
It gives Ms Gillard's Labor Party the backing of one
more MP in the lower house than the Liberal-led
coalition.
The minority government is Australia's first since World
War II.
"The events of the past fortnight show us unequivocally
that our democracy is very, very strong indeed," Ms
Gillard told a news conference in Canberra.
"With today's agreement... Labor is prepared to deliver
stable, effective and secure government for the next
three years. Ours will be a government with just one
purpose - to serve the Australian people."
"We will be held more accountable than ever before, and
more than any government in modern memory," she added.
Mr Abbott told reporters he would respect the outcome,
despite his alliance having won one more seat than Ms
Gillard's party on 21 August.
"The Coalition won more votes and more seats than our
opponents, but sadly, we did not get the opportunity to
form a government," he said. "Obviously I'm disappointed
about that, but that's our system."
'Three amigos'
The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says the election was
often compared to a soap opera and ended like the finale
of a reality show, with the winner kept a secret until
announced live on national television.
In the end, the final arbiters were three country-based
MPs - dubbed the "three amigos" - who negotiated and
deliberated for 17 days.
Shortly after lunchtime, Bob Katter from North
Queensland stepped before the cameras to announce he had
backed the Liberal-led coalition.
He said he was angry with the treatment of his fellow
Queenslander, Kevin Rudd, who was ousted as prime
minister by Ms Gillard in an internal party coup in
June. She had been Mr Rudd's deputy.
"Kevin's thinking and my thinking are very similar," Mr
Katter said. "I'm very good friends with him."
An hour later, having secured a "regional package" worth
A$9.9bn ($9bn; £5.9bn), Mr Windsor announced his support
for Ms Gillard.
He said Labor's plans for a national broadband network
and its position on climate change had been major
factors in his decision, as well as a feeling that if he
supported Mr Abbot he would rush to the polls.
Mr Windsor also made a plea to his conservative
constituents to co-operate with the new minority
government, saying: "This is about using the political
system to advantage the people we represent."
It all came down to Mr Oakeshott, who revealed at the
end of a 20-minute speech that Ms Gillard would remain
as prime minister.
Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott held the balance of
power in parliament
Mr Oakeshott stressed how close the call had been,
detailing a lengthy list of meetings and consultations
the independents had undertaken with Labor, the Liberals
and other key players.
He said he taken into account who could form a more
stable government, who had a better deal for rural
Australia and who could work best with the Senate, where
the Greens will hold the balance of power.
"This is not a mandate for any government. We should
have a great big swear jar in this building for the next
three years and if anyone uses that word 'mandate' they
should have to chip in some money."
"This parliament is going to be different; no one party
has dominance over the executive or the parliament. That
is a reality of the way we're going to do business for
the next three years. And that is a good reality."
The independents' backing means Ms Gillard will be able
to press ahead with her plans to introduce the broadband
network, a 30% tax on iron ore and coal mining
companies' profits, and a tax on major polluters to help
cut carbon emissions by 5% by 2020.
But our correspondent says that with such a tiny
majority in the House of Representatives, the government
is bound to be hostage to any unexpected events such as
by-elections.
France holds
general strike over retirement reforms
Thousands of private and public sector workers took
to the streets to protest
France is experiencing major disruption because of a
nationwide strike against the government's austerity
measures.
About 50% of trains have been affected, flights
disrupted and universities and schools closed in the
24-hour protest.
According to official figures, some 450,000 workers have
already marched in cities across the country, ahead of
the main rally in Paris later on Tuesday.
Strikers are protesting against proposed plans to raise
the retirement age from 60 to 62.
That is well below the European average, but a sizeable
jump in a country that guards jealously its way of life,
says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris.
Under current rules, both men and women in France can
retire at 60, providing they have paid social security
contributions for 40.5 years - although they are not
entitled to a full pension until they are 65.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy says reforms are needed to
cope with an ageing population, and the government plans
to raise the retirement age to 62, the qualification to
41.5 years, and the pension age to 67.
The government is also looking to find 100bn euros
(£83bn) of savings in three years, and is planning cuts
in the bloated civil sector, our correspondent adds.
Three-quarters of those surveyed say they support the
demonstrations, yet 65% of them think it will make no
difference to the government's decision, he adds.
Some secondary school teachers went on strike on Monday,
protesting against plans to cut 7,000 jobs in education.
Fewer than half of all inter-city and local train
services are expected to run on Tuesday, state railway
company SNCF said. But Eurostar trains between France
and London should be operating normally.
France's civil aviation authority said it had asked all
airlines to cut Paris flights by a quarter.
Air France said it would cut short- and medium-haul
flights into and out of Paris by up to 90%, with
long-haul flights remaining largely unaffected.
Senate debates
France's largest union, the CGT, said it expected the
turnout for the protest marches across the country to be
stronger than during the strikes in June, when more than
800,000 people took part in demonstrations.
"We may have an exceptional day and, if it is
exceptional, we will perhaps be at a turning point," CGT
leader Bernard Thibault said.
The bill is one of the key reforms the president hopes
to push through during the last two years of his
mandate.
It will be presented to the National Assembly by Labour
Minister Eric Woerth.
Separately, the French Senate will debate the ban on the
full face veil approved by the lower house in July.
Senators are also expected to debate a controversial new
security law.
It would see recent immigrants stripped of French
citizenship if they committed serious crimes such as
killing a police officer.
The law would also allow electronic tagging for foreign
criminals facing deportation.
The proposals and the recent deportation of about 1,000
Roma (Gypsies) have led to protests across the country.
The European Parliament is scheduled to debate the
situation of the Roma minority in Europe on Tuesday.
Dengue fever
fear for Delhi Games
By Jane Cowan in New Delhi
Updated September 7,
2010 10:37:00
Preperations for the New Delhi Commonwealth
Games have been hampered by fears of an outbreak
of dengue fever. (AFP: Manan Vatsyayana)
There are fears an outbreak of dengue fever in New Delhi
is getting worse with just a month to go until the
Commonwealth Games.
Exacerbated by waterlogged construction sites and
striking fumigators, dozens of new cases of the
mosquito-borne disease have been reported in the last
few days.
Further bad news predicts monsoon rains are likely to
linger, possibly into October, when the Games begin.
Unpleasant blasts of fogging machines are being used to
keep mosquitoes at bay, but the mass fumigation has not
been enough.
The medical superintendent of one of Delhi's largest
public hospitals, the All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, Dr DK Sharma, says dengue cases have been on
the rise since July.
"The number of dengue patients coming to the Institute
this year, as a matter of fact in the whole of Delhi, is
much more than last year," he said.
He says more than 1,300 cases of dengue fever have now
been reported, and three people have died.
The hospital is overloaded with patients, with those who
have been turned away camping on the ground outside.
"Once there is a surge in the number of dengue patients
and we have to admit some of these, naturally some other
patients who would normally have got admitted have to be
deferred," Dr Sharma said.
Dr Sharma says the dengue season does not peak until
September or October, and this is likely to only be the
start of the problem.
"If we are able to control the water stagnation, if we
are able to control the larval breeding, and kill adult
mosquitoes, well I'm very hopeful on that score," he
said.
"Our civic agencies are working very hard to control
this menace."
However, as billboards warn the public how to prevent
mosquitoes breeding, directly across the road from the
hospital, bulldozers sit beside pools of stagnant water.
India Meteorological Department forecaster Brahma
Prakash Yadav says there has already been double the
usual August rains, but he cannot predict when the
monsoon will pass.
"This is a meteorological factor. Nobody can help it,"
he said.
Or almost nobody. Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit
says the weather and the Games preparations are now in
the hands of the rain god.
Nino Hernandez, who weighs only 10 kilograms,
has not grown since he was two years old.
(Reuters: John Vizcaino)
Guinness World Records has dubbed a 70-centimetre-tall
Colombian as the world's shortest living man.
Nino Hernandez, who weighs only 10 kilograms, has not
grown since he was two years old.
The previous titleholder was He Pingping of China, who
was 4cm taller and died on March 13.
However, Guinness says Mr Hernandez's title could be up
for grabs very soon.
Khagendra Thapa Magar of Nepal is expected to take over
after he turns 18 on October 14. He measures about 56cm
and is currently recognised by Guinness as the shortest
living teenager.
Mr Hernandez, 24, works part-time as a dancer and says
he is very happy with his height because it makes him
unique.
He does, however, have some medical problems, with
cataracts in both of his eyes which require surgery that
his family cannot afford.
Other than his eyes, he has no medical complaints.
But he told UK newspaper The Guardian it bothers him
"that people are [always] touching me and picking me
up".
Mental illness
alone doesn't raise risk of crime: study
Posted 8 hours 37
minutes ago
A British study has found severe mental illness alone
does not make a person commit more violent crimes.
Researchers from Oxford University say the link between
mental illness and violence largely comes down to
substance abuse.
The research found people suffering from bipolar
disorder or schizophrenia are 10 times more likely to
abuse drugs and alcohol.
But study leader Dr Seena Fazel says the public
perception that mental illness causes a person to act
violently is untrue.
"People with bipolar disorder, if they abuse drugs, are
at increased risk," he said.
"But so are people in the general population if they use
or abuse drugs or drink alcohol to excess.
"I mean that's really where the focus should be in terms
of risk issues rather than worrying too much about the
illness per se."
Frying pan
chemicals linked to raised cholesterol
Posted 8 hours 35
minutes ago
US scientists say exposure to chemicals used in
non-stick frying pans may raise cholesterol levels in
children.
The researchers studied a group of children who were
exposed to particularly high levels of the chemical
through an industrial accident.
The West Virginia University team found that after the
accident, the children had extremely high levels of
cholesterol in their blood.
But the scientists say it is still too early to say
whether non-stick frying pans significantly increase the
risk of heart disease.
Petraeus slams
church's plan to burn Koran
Posted 6 hours 56
minutes ago
The top US commander in Afghanistan has criticised a
Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran on the
anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The Dove World Outreach Centre says it will burn the
Muslim holy book as a warning against what it calls the
"threat posed by Islam".
But General David Petraeus say the demonstration could
cause significant problems for American troops overseas.
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the
overall effort," he said in a statement.
"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and
could cause significant problems. Not just here, but
everywhere in the world, we are engaged with the Islamic
community."
Army spokesman Lieutenant General William Caldwell says
the plan has already caused a lot of anger in the
region.
"It has amongst the Afghan people - that's correct," he
said.
"It's their holy book, and so when somebody says that
they're going to destroy that and cause a desecration to
something that's very sacred to them, it's already
stirred up a lot of discussion and concern amongst the
people," he said.
Teens shock the
sheriff by texting him, not drug dealer
Updated 4 hours 50
minutes ago
US police caught two teenagers trying to buy marijuana
when they mistakenly sent a text message to the local
sheriff instead of their drug dealer.
The sheriff in Montana replied to the message and
organised for an undercover policeman to meet with the
boys, aged 15 and 16.
One of the teenagers reportedly fainted when the
narcotics officer flashed his badge.
The sheriff says the boys would not be charged since
their parents were eager to take care of their
punishment themselves.
- AFP
Five killed in
Thailand's troubled south
Posted 4 hours 46
minutes ago
Bombings and shootings by suspected Islamic militants
have killed five people and wounded 13 across Thailand's
troubled south, police said Tuesday.
A Buddhist couple, both teachers, were killed by unknown
gunmen while on their way to work.
The shootings took place in Narathiwat province, where
suspected ethnic Malay rebels torched government
offices, bus shelters, shops and phone booths on Sunday
in simultaneous attacks in seven districts.
In separate attacks in Pattani province, a 52-year-old
Muslim villager was shot dead while leaving his house
late Monday while a 55-year-old janitor was gunned down
on his way to guard a school.
Another shooting killed a 51-year-old Muslim woman as
she walked to her local mosque for evening prayer in
Yala province on Monday.
On the same day in Yala, two blasts wounded six people
including a soldier, while a roadside bomb in another
part of the province injured three soldiers on foot
patrol.
No credible group has claimed responsibility for the
wave of shootings, bombings, arson attacks and
occasional beheadings, which analysts and the government
believe is the work of separatists seeking independence
or some form of self rule.
The government has allocated a five-year $US1.9 billion
economic stimulus budget, controlled by the military, in
an effort to reduce economic disparity in the
impoverished region and reduce the number of recruits to
the rebels.
- Reuters
London tube
strike cripples network
Posted 2 hours 15
minutes ago
The strike was called in protest at 800 job cuts
driven by austerity measures. (Reuters: Luke
MacGregor)
Millions of commuters across London struggled to get to
work as a 24-hour strike by workers on the underground
rail system crippled much of the network, hurting the
city's convalescent economy.
Passengers took to bikes, buses, walked, or made use of
extra boat services on the River Thames in a bid to beat
the stoppage, called in protest at 800 job cuts driven
by austerity measures.
The London Chamber of Commerce estimates each day the
underground is shut will cost the capital's economy 48
million pounds ($81 million).
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union says every
underground line was suspended or running a skeleton
service after "rock solid" support for the walkouts in
protest at staffing cuts.
The RMT says the job cuts were just "the tip of the
iceberg" as the centre-right coalition government
prepares 25 per cent cuts in spending to tackle a record
budget deficit.
However, underground operator Transport for London (TFL)
said that services were running on a number of tube
lines and that contingency plans put in place to beat
the industrial action were working.
Mike Brown, London Underground's managing director,
said: "Londoners will face some disruption, but the city
is not paralysed - and people will still be able to get
around."
TFL said a good service was operating on DockLands Light
Railway which serves the financial district in the east
of the city, while the Northern Line was also largely
unaffected.
Volunteers were stationed at bus, underground and rail
stations to aid passengers and distribute walking maps.
- Reuters
Recent Somalia
bloodshed claims 230 lives
Posted 2 hours 15
minutes ago
The United Nations refugee agency says 230 civilians
have been killed during fighting between government
forces and Islamist rebels over the past two weeks in
Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says the agency is
worried by the situation.
"UNHCR is alarmed by the further deterioration we are
seeing in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu," she said.
"Fighting over the past two weeks between the
transitional government and Al Shabaab has cost more
than 230 civilian lives with at least 400 people wounded
and 23,000 displaced."
Unrest in the capital has forced 200,000 people to flee
their homes this year alone.
Ms Fleming says those who have sought refuge in the
north of Somalia or in neighbouring countries report the
streets of the capital are deserted and people are
fearful of leaving their homes.
As security conditions in the capital deteriorated, even
aid distributions were becoming rare, she added.
People had exchanged their remaining possessions to get
a seat on buses leaving Mogadishu.
The government forces and their African peacekeeper
allies - 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops - are the
last barrier between the hardline Al Shabaab fighters
and the embattled government of president Sharif Sheikh
Ahmed.
The government has only partial control of a few
districts of the capital.
Welfare agencies say many Christchurch residents are
walking around like zombies, terrified the aftershocks
will bring down their house.
Salvation Army captain Kelvin Turner says people are
very traumatised.
"I was just talking to a gentleman this morning [who is]
in a council flat and there's people above him and he's
concerned the top flat's going to come down and crush
him," he said.
"So he can't sleep, he's not sleeping well at all and
every shake he's just terrified the flat above him is
going to come down.
"We've had one lady that came in, in the initial crunch
on the weekend, and she is still wandering like a
zombie.
"She wants to talk it out and sometimes she just doesn't
even want to talk it out; she just wants to hold
somebody's hand. She is so frightened."
New Zealand prime minister John Key has cancelled a trip
to Europe to deal with the disaster.
He was to have met Britain's prime minister and the
French president and stay with the Queen at Balmoral,
but has cancelled to help coordinate the response to
Saturday's earthquake.
Mr Key says the government will provide ongoing support
to Christchurch residents traumatised by the disaster.
"I think people are very fearful of what might come
next, and given the number of aftershocks we've had now
- well over 100 - I can understand the trauma that
people are feeling," he said.
"That will mean the government will have to provide
those services for support and counselling for a period
of time, and actually for a long period of time I
would've thought."
Mr Key also announced an aid package for businesses.
The scheme, which is likely to cost $75 million, will
subsidise the wages of workers in small businesses for
the next month.
The money will be paid directly to employers and will
cover the first $300 of one week's wages.
He is expecting employers to cover the rest of an
employee's wage.
Public health
issues
Around 800 homeless people are being housed at a raceway
in Christchurch.
Mr Turner says there is a number of public health
issues, including food contamination.
"Obviously because of this number and all being
together, and all going in after each other, there's a
huge opportunity for disease to spread and we've got to
do our part to make sure it doesn't happen," he said.
Mr Turner says there are also quarantine areas for
gastroenteritis.
"[They can accommodate] as many as we would need to, and
if we couldn't do that here the civil defence have got
access to other medical centres," he said.
"[However] I think the challenge is more for other
people rather than us.
"We've got troops that we're bringing in, we're doing
shifts where people are coming in and they are just
working absolutely fantastic. We've got people offering
to help us and food sources are coming in today."
Even the sleeping conditions in the raceway are
"absolutely fantastic", says Mr Turner.
"Roundabout 3:30 in the day a whole tribe of workers
arrive and they convert a vacant floor to mattresses,
cubicles, little lockdown areas, barriers with a
blanket," he said.
"They're just like busy beavers and that's what's
happening. The people are just working together. It's
absolutely awesome."
Clean-up
A state of emergency remains in place until tomorrow as
the army enforces a no-go zone amid reports of looting
in the city centre.
About 100,000 homes have been damaged and reconstruction
costs could top $1.5 billion.
However, newly appointed minister responsible for
earthquake recovery Gerry Brownlee says little progress
can be made until the aftershocks stop.
"Five-point-four is a pretty big shake, so the rolling
of the ground continues and the damage will continue to
be done," he said.
"So we're like everybody else, just wondering when is
the point where you start to seriously move forward."
New fault-line
data
Since the quake, scientists have been mapping the fault
line trying to find out more about what is happening
under the ground in Christchurch.
Dr Simon Cox, a geologist at New Zealand's national
earth sciences organisation, says the team has uncovered
some unusual results.
"One of the key things we've been doing here is a team
from GNS Science at the University of Canterbury have
been looking at the fault trace, the rip in the ground,
and mapping where it goes. And there's absolutely no
sign of this fault having been across this area before,"
he said.
"It seems to be the first time it has done something
like this ever since the land has been formed here, and
they are probably about 18,000 years old or
thereabouts."
Dr Cox says the data should also help them to work out
what effect the earthquake has had on neighbouring fault
lines.
"We would certainly be looking at the other faults
around the place which have got a history of motion on
them and looking to see whether or not this earthquake
has made them more susceptible, or less susceptible, to
future rupture," he said.
"But often, we're still in the phase with earthquakes,
that they do very much happen without us being able to
have any prior warning really."
Professor Grant Devilly says traumatised people
often have to relive experiences they would
rather forget. (www.sxc.hu: sanja gjenero, file
photo)
The idea that traumatised people, especially the victims
of child sexual abuse, deliberately repress horrific
memories goes all the way back to the 19th century and
the theories of Sigmund Freud himself.
But now some experts are saying the evidence points the
other way.
Professor Grant Devilly, from Griffith University's
Psychological Health research unit, says the memory
usually works in the opposite way, with traumatised
people reliving experiences they would rather forget.
"It's the opposite. They wish they couldn't think about
it," he said.
In a briefing to the US Supreme Court, Professor Richard
McNally from Harvard University described the theory of
repressed memory as "the most pernicious bit of folklore
ever to infect psychology and psychiatry".
He maintains false memories can easily be created by
inept therapists.
"The stress hormones that are released during a trauma
tend to consolidate the memory, make it rather strong
and sometimes even intrusive, as you see in
post-traumatic stress disorder," he said.
But Professor McNally says some abuse victims do suffer
when they reassess childhood experiences much later.
"Seeing the event through the eyes of adult, they
realise what has happened to them and now they
experience the emotional turmoil of trauma," he said.
The good news is that now, Professor McNally says most
victims can be helped.
"Things have changed, happily. We now have treatments
that work," he said.
Soldiers returning from war zones, victims of violent
crime and sexual abuse, can now be helped by cognitive
behaviour therapy, where they learn to assign terrible
memories to the past, instead of them crowding their
present and future.
Professor Devilly says the therapy is working.
"We're now getting, at the end of between 8 and 12
sessions, 90 to 92 per cent of people no longer meet the
criteria for PTSD," he said.
Now psychologists are working to fend off post traumatic
stress in high-risk occupations, by teaching recruits to
develop resilience.
IAG says 2,000
customers hit by Christchurch quake
By finance reporter Lexi Metherell
Posted 11 hours 19
minutes ago
One of Australia's biggest insurers Insurance Australia
Group says it has responded to more than 2,000 calls
from people affected by the Christchurch earthquake.
IAG is the Australian insurer with the biggest exposure
to the New Zealand market, operating under the State and
NZI brands.
It says it does not yet know the full cost of the
disaster, but it is likely to be significant.
However, the company says it does not expect those costs
to hit its bottom line because of its own reinsurance
arrangements which it says should cover the entire cost.
The company has reaffirmed that its profit outlook for
the 2011 financial year remains unchanged.
An Australian Defence Force team has begun treating its
first patients in Pakistan, where millions are homeless
and there are growing fears about an outbreak of cholera
in filthy refugee camps.
The death toll and number of people affected by the
Pakistani floods are both expected to jump, but it is
becoming clear that children are bearing the brunt of
the disaster.
The Australian Medical Task Force in Kot Addu, in
southern Punjab province, will provide maternal and
children's health, as well as primary health care to 200
patients a day.
Ronnie Taylor, a Darwin-based nurse, treated her first
patients at Camp Cockatoo over the weekend.
"I think it's what we expected to see so far, as far as
infectious diseases and paediatric cases are concerned,"
she said in a statement released by the ADF.
"Treating my first patient here was excellent, a really
good experience. People seem really happy to see us and
there is a huge, huge need here."
Pakistan is now entering its fourth week in flood, and
millions are still without food and shelter across the
country.
Aid workers have described how parents saw their
children washed away when flood waters hit villages and
now, young survivors are suffering from disease and
hunger in filthy camps.
World Vision Australia's director of policy and
programs, Connie Lenneberg, has just returned from
Pakistan, where around 6 million people are still
homeless.
Ms Lenneberg has told ABC's Radio Australia that the
flood zone in Pakistan covers the same area as
two-thirds of Victoria, and much of it is still under
metres of water.
She says the death toll of 1,600 people has not been
updated for more than three weeks and it is expected to
rise dramatically.
"The communities that I visited talked about significant
loss of life as the floods came through in the night.
They came through with great force and velocity," she
said.
"Many communities had an hour in the middle of the night
to prepare.
"People spoke particularly about losing children, about
little ones being washed away in the mayhem that was
happening."
Ms Lenneberg says with stagnant water everywhere, little
food and shelter, health is the next catastrophe for
Pakistan.
She says the health of children is on a knife edge.
"These tiny little children living in very crowded camps
and seeing their health deteriorating, seeing them with
skin disorders, covered in boils, with diarrhoea," she
said.
"These children were malnourished and vulnerable to
begin with, so we are hearing of more and more deaths
occurring.
"Seeing children who are one-year-old, 18 months, who
look like they're four or five months old. They're so
fragile."
Cholera fears
Ms Lenneberg says authorities now fear Pakistan could be
on the brink of an outbreak of cholera.
"No one's naming it that [cholera] yet because the tests
are quite complicated, but the government is setting out
67 intensive care diarrhoea isolation wards, so it is an
enormous risk," she said.
"We're hearing from MSF [Medecins Sans Frontieres] for
example, in some of their clinics 50 per cent of the
cases they're seeing are acute diarrhoea."
Meanwhile, aid is trickling through to some of the 20
million Pakistanis affected by the floods, but locals
are angry that the Pakistani government has not done
more to help.
Ms Lenneberg has described visiting some towns and
villages in central Pakistan where the flood waters are
still so high that only the tops of palm trees are
visible above the water.
In some areas further north, the water is starting to
recede and locals are rebuilding.
Ms Lenneberg says the military has so far played an
important role in supporting communities.
"What we have seen is the Pakistan military really step
in and make a real difference putting up tents and it's
really changed the perspective of the way they're seen
by their own community," she said.
"But certainly people are not happy with the way the
government been able to respond."
A Japanese court has found two Greenpeace activists
guilty of stealing a box of whale meat, handing them a
one-year suspended sentence.
Prosecutors asked the court to jail Junichi Sato and
Toru Suzuki for 18 months over the theft of more than 20
kilograms of whale meat.
The activists say they intercepted the meat after it was
smuggled off a whaling ship by some of its crew.
During the trial the court was told of the systemic
theft of thousands of dollars worth of whale meat
supposedly taken for scientific research.
Today the court convicted the pair, but the activists
have avoided jail.
Suzuki and Sato say they took the whale meat in an
effort to prove that crew onboard Japan's so-called
scientific whaling fleet were smuggling it on to the
black market.
Outside the court Sato condemned the verdict as
outrageous, adding that the two would appeal against
their convictions.
The case has drawn international attention to Tokyo's
whaling program.
Greenpeace has condemned the sentences, saying they are
disproportionate.
Long night ... Stosur prevailed in the
latest-finishing women's clash in US Open
history. (Reuters: Kena Betancur)
Australia's Samantha Stosur is through to the US Open
quarter-finals following a three-set victory over
Russian Elena Dementieva in New York.
Stosur, the tournament's fifth seed, won 6-3, 2-6, 7-6
(7-2) in the fourth-round match to book a clash with
defending champion Kim Clijsters.
It is the deepest Stosur has gone in the singles draw at
the US Open and it adds to a solid 2010 campaign that
has so far included an appearance in the final at the
French Open.
Stosur and Dementieva only started the gripping
encounter at 10:57pm (local time) and finished at 1:37am
after tournament organisers thrust women into the second
feature night match at the Open two evenings running for
the first time.
It was the latest-finishing women's singles match in US
Open history.
"I just dug deep and never gave up and made her work for
it and I was able to pull it out," she said.
The finish only ranked fifth on the all-time latest
list, 50 minutes off the record, but eclipsed the former
women's record - Gabriela Sabatini's 6-3, 6-3 victory
over Beverly Bowers that ended at 1:30am on September 2,
1987.
"It's good to make history I guess," Stosur said.
"It's just unbelievable right now. We both played a
great match. We both went for it. To have a match like
that here is fantastic.
"That's definitely one of the most exciting matches I've
ever played."
Despite 58 unforced errors that were 20 more than
Dementieva, Stosur fought back from the brink of defeat
time and again to become the first Australian woman in
last eight at a US Open since Wendy Turnbull in 1986.
"To come here and get my best result is great," Stosur
said.
"Hopefully I can keep it going. It's not going to be
easy but I will give it my best."
Stosur had been staring down the barrel deep in the
deciding set.
Dementieva struck a forehand wide on her first match
point trying to serve it out at 5-3.
The French Open runner-up then bravely staved off
another three match points in the next game to level at
5-5.
Several opportunities lost, Dementieva crumbled to drop
serve again the following game to hand Stosur the chance
to finish the job.
This time Stosur missed her chance, Dementieva forcing
the Queenslander into a backhand error on her first
match point, before breaking to force the tie-breaker.
Finally, though, it was Stosur - who also saved a match
point against world number one Serena Williams in this
year's French Open quarter-finals - who prevailed when
Dementieva fired a forehand long after two hours and 38
minutes.
Now she faces Clijsters, who has beaten her in all three
of their meetings without dropping a set and won 18 US
Open matches in a row - and she has about 14 more hours
of rest as well.
"I guess I've got to recover as best I can and be ready
to play tomorrow," Stosur said.
"I'm going to have to play well, play some of my best
tennis, fight hard and go for it. She hits the ball
well, stays aggressive."
The women started late at Arthur Ashe Stadium after a
four-set men's affair, the lateness of the hour throwing
off Dementieva even before the start.
"It was difficult to play. We were waiting a long time,"
Dementieva said.
"It was one of the latest matches I've played in my
life. It was difficult to focus.
"I was trying to fight until the end. I was disappointed
in the way I played the match points. I wasn't
aggressive enough.
"I was feeling a little sleepy during the match. I had
opportunities. I didn't take advantage."
- ABC/AAP/AFP
Pakistan suicide
attack kills 14
Posted September 6,
2010 16:45:00
At least 14 people have been killed and 34 wounded after
a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a
police post in north-west Pakistan.
"There were nine policemen among the dead," senior
police official Iftikhar Ahmad said after the attack on
Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, not far from tribal
areas that are a stronghold of the Taliban.
Shahid Hameed, a spokesman for the Lakki Marwat police,
also confirmed the death toll. Twenty policemen were
among the injured.
Police said the blast destroyed the police station
building and damaged a nearby administrative building.
A doctor in Lakki Marwat's main hospital said eight
bodies and 13 wounded had been taken to his hospital,
which was also damaged.
"There are six policemen among the dead. The other two
bodies are beyond recognition," doctor Abdul Majid
Marwat said.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the
bombing but the Pakistani Taliban has been blamed for
similar attacks.
Last week the group vowed to carry out further attacks
inside Pakistan and against the United States and Europe
after the US state department added the group to a
blacklist of foreign terrorist organisations.
Militants have launched a series of attacks as Muslims
mark the final days of the holy fasting month of
Ramadan, even as the country struggles to deal with
massive flooding that has killed nearly 1,800 people and
left millions reliant on aid handouts.
On Friday, a suicide bomber killed at least 59 people at
a Shiite Muslim rally in Quetta, capital of the
south-west province of Baluchistan.
That attack came just days after three suicide bombers
killed 31 people and wounded hundreds more during a
Shiite mourning procession in Lahore. The attack was
subsequently claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
North-west Pakistan suffers from chronic insecurity,
largely connected to the semi-autonomous tribal belt
near Afghanistan, which Washington calls the most
dangerous place on Earth and a global headquarters of Al
Qaeda.
- AFP
Protests not
music to the ears of Iranian regime
By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker
Updated 3 hours 18
minutes ago
The protest movement in Iran is far from silent
- anti-government music has now become a new
form of dissent (AFP: Amir Sadeghi)
It is more than a year since Iran's presidential
election and the regime's brutal crackdown against
anti-government protesters that followed.
But while the streets of Tehran are quiet today, the
protest movement is far from silent.
Music has become a new form of dissent and fans, young
and old, classical and modern, are taking inspiration
from a growing underground music scene in which song
lyrics mock the regime.
Shahram Nazeri, a classical musician who has become a
political hero in Iran, was arrested a few months ago by
authorities who are still trying to stamp out opposition
to the government.
"We are not dirt or dust," he sings in a pointed
reference to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who last
year used those same words against anti-government
protesters.
Thousands of protest songs have sprung up on the
internet or on amateur CDs and videos, which are then
sold on the black market or passed around via wireless
and bluetooth technology.
Savvy music fans continually find new ways to circumvent
government efforts to shut down music or social
networking sites to silence opposition.
"The people's hands are tied," rap singer Shahin Najafi
said.
"They can't say what they want, but music and art allow
them to express what they feel."
A growing number of underground bands or musicians like
Najafi see music as a legitimate response to the
brutality dished out last year to thousands of people
beaten or jailed.
"They put the red tongue of protest under the blade," he
sings in one song. "I am a broken rancour and a throat
full of scream."
Najafi was thrown out of Iran a few years ago for a song
that poked fun at Iran's Islamic clerics.
More recently his website was shut down by a
pro-government group.
He lives in exile in Germany and says he would be
tortured or jailed if he returned to Iran.
"Whatever happens, it would be painful," he said.
"Some people who take part in demonstrations are
arrested and violated with coke bottles. If I went back
it'd be far worse."
But the more Iran's hardline rulers try to silence
dissent in the form of music, the more popular it
becomes.
One Iranian analyst living in England, Potkin Azarmehr,
says the Islamic regime simply cracks down on anything
it cannot control - even if it is not directly targeting
the government.
"It's like stopping the flood by erecting a barbed-wire
fence. You know, the barbed wire looks very menacing, it
looks very harsh, but against the flood - totally
ineffective," he said.
A record number of babies were born in the aftermath of
the powerful 7.1 earthquake that rocked New Zealand at
the weekend, hospital officials said.
A spokeswoman for Christchurch Women's Hospital said 21
babies were born at its maternity ward in the 24 hours
after the tremor, which damaged buildings and roads in
New Zealand's worst quake disaster in decades.
"In the 24 hours post earthquake, 21 babies were born at
Christchurch Women's Hospital and that's a record for a
Saturday," the spokeswoman said.
The first newborn arrived within 10 minutes of the
quake, which saw roads gridlocked as residents rushed to
higher ground to escape a potential tsunami.
Meanwhile Miriam Garcia was in labour at home when the
quake struck and had just decided to head for the
hospital.
"I couldn't believe the timing," the new mum, who
delivered baby Amelia about two hours later, told The
Press newspaper.
"I had a lot of false labours in the weeks before and I
was thinking, 'Now it's happening?'."
Danika Weeks was already in labour in the hospital when
the earth rocked.
"The first thing I remember was seeing the
[resuscitation] machines sort of coming towards us, like
two horses racing towards us," she told TVNZ.
"I was sort of like, 'Gosh, did we cause this? You know,
is this part of it? Does the earth move?'."
Baby boy Lincoln arrived safely and first-time mum Ms
Weeks said she suspected the shock of the quake was
enough to jolt others into delivering their newborns.
"If you weren't in labour already it definitely would've
brought it on for sure," she said.
Of the experience, she said the quake "made it all the
more amazing, really, that we went through two sorts of
trauma in the one day".
Christchurch is still being shaken by aftershocks
following Saturday's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake,
but some people are returning to their businesses to
assess the damage.
The New Zealand government has approved an initial
package of funding for emergency works.
Prime minister John Key says his government is making
about $NZ100 million available now, but that it will
have to commit more money down the track.
"The very large contributions the Crown will end up
making in terms of infrastructure, which is primarily
owned and controlled by local government - local roads,
water, waste water - the cost of that will run into the
hundreds of millions of dollars and won't come out of
the mayoral fund," Mr Key said.
Mr Key says everyone who needs help will get it, but the
bill is certain to run into billions for an economy that
is just coming out of recession.
A state of emergency will remain in place in New
Zealand's second largest city until Wednesday and most
of the central business district has been cordoned off.
Last night was the second night that police maintained a
lockdown of the CBD.
Authorities are hoping a limited number of commuter bus
services will be able to resume tomorrow morning.
Eighty soldiers have taken control of the city centre to
relieve exhausted emergency services personnel while
electricity is gradually being restored.
For the owner of a popular sushi shop, there is little
left and water is gushing everywhere. She is in shock
and tries to step over the rubble several times to see
if there is anything she can salvage.
Around the corner, pharmacist Ray Sefton is one of the
few who can reopen his business.
"[There is] not much damage actually, compared to 200
metres around the road where the buildings have fallen
over," he said.
"There has only been a couple of things fallen off my
shelf, which is very lucky, so we are open for business
unusually.
"People normally say hello to you, but everyone is sort
of just keeping to themselves at the moment. Still a bit
shocked, I think."
James Douglas, who owns buildings in Liverpool Street,
says he is OK but the rest of the city is in trouble.
"It is a huge problem... that whole building is leaning
out into the street, and also if you look down Hereford
Street, it is leaning about 300 millimetres, a foot,
into Hereford Street," he said.
"It is going to have to be demolished."
While the city is cordoned off and workers have not been
able to return, the streets are strewn with engineers,
police, soldiers, scaffolders and insurance assessors.
AMI, one of Christchurch's major insurers, says walls
are missing and there has been movement to foundations,
soil and sand underneath houses.
"We even have customers who have homes with sand geysers
that have come up through the floor, flooding the
internal part of the house with sand and water," chief
executive John Balmforth said.
And health authorities say there are reports of
gastroenteritis in the community, with fears the
sewerage system has been contaminated.
Officials are urging people to boil their drinking water
and dispose of sewage correctly to limit the spread of
disease.
Meanwhile, a judge has warned that anyone caught looting
will be dealt with harshly by the courts.
Five men have appeared in a district court on looting
charges after they allegedly posed as council workers to
try to enter the restricted city centre.
The judge has refused bail for one man and imposed
strict curfews on the four others.
Australians in
NZ
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has
urged Australians worried about friends or relatives
affected by the earthquake to try to contact them
directly.
The Australian High Commission in Wellington is liaising
with New Zealand authorities about Australians who may
be affected.
DFAT has set up a 24-hour emergency number for those who
cannot contact friends or relatives in the Christchurch
area. The number is 1300 555 135.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has offered Mr
Key any assistance his country might need.
Tube passengers have been advised by officials to find
an alternative way of getting home in London later as
the first in a series of strikes begins.
Thousands of London Underground workers are due to begin
a 24-hour walkout in two waves, at 1700 BST and 2100 BST.
They are unhappy about plans to scrap 800 jobs in ticket
offices and say station security could be at risk.
Up to 200 Jubilee and Northern line maintenance staff
began a separate 24-hour strike at 1900 BST on Sunday.
The employees at the Alstom-Metro depots voted to strike
after rejecting an "insulting" sub-inflation pay offer.
Extra boat
services
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) and the Transport
Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) unions are fighting
plans to cut ticket office staffing levels, claiming
security could be compromised for passengers.
But London Underground (LU) has insisted the plans would
mean all stations would still be staffed and has pledged
there will be no compulsory redundancies.
Sending out a few volunteers without the
necessary operational licences and training to
try and run a few trains is a disaster waiting
to happen”
End QuoteRMT General
Secretary Bob Crow
Maintenance and engineering staff will walk out at 1700
BST with drivers, signallers and station staff following
suit at 2100 BST.
The RMT has said it expects the impact of the strike to
be "massive".
A spokesman for the union said: "You can't run a railway
without 10,000 workers.
"The level of service will depend on how many managers
LU can get to stand in but there are safety implications
of doing this."
A Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said it was not
possible to speculate on what percentage of the network
would be affected by the strike.
But he warned passengers to expect disruption from late
afternoon on Monday and for most of Tuesday.
He said: "There could be disruption on any line but that
is dependant on depots and who turns up.
"Realistically people will experience difficulties this
evening after peak going-home time and tomorrow."
People have been advised to find an alternative way of
travelling with an extra 100 buses and 10,000 more
passenger journeys on Thames riverboat services being
laid on.
Lapsed licences
Some taxi ranks will be marshalled and escorted bike
rides will be operating during the strike.
Meanwhile the RMT has accused Tube bosses of playing
"fast and loose" with safety as it claimed a circular
had been sent to staff seeking volunteers to help run
services during the strike.
According to the union the note, signed by LU's managing
director Mike Brown, said no operational licence was
needed if people volunteered to support staff turning up
for work, adding that lapsed licences could be renewed.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "Sending out a few
volunteers without the necessary operational licences
and training to try and run a few trains is a disaster
waiting to happen."
Denying the allegations TfL said it would never do
anything to compromise safety on the Underground.
Guatemalan authorities say at least 36 people have been
killed in landslides caused by weeks of heavy rains.
In the worst incident, a hillside collapsed on a crowd
of volunteers as they tried to dig out a bus buried by a
previous mudslide.
At least 20 bodies have been recovered, but the search
for around 40 people still missing has been suspended
for fear of further landslides.
President Alvaro Colom has called the disaster a
national tragedy.
He visited the scene where rescuers were digging
frantically to find people buried in thick mud at
kilometre 171 of the Inter-American highway north of
Guatemala City.
"This weekend alone, we have seen damage comparable to
what we experienced with Agatha", Mr Colom said,
referring to a tropical storm that killed 165 people in
May.
"It's painful that poor people always pay the price for
natural disasters."
Desperate search
Local police officer Pascual Tuy said he was in a group
that rushed from the village of Nahuala to help with
picks and shovels when they heard vehicles had been
buried.
He said volunteers were able to pull several people out
of the mud, and were still digging when the second
landslide struck.
"The mountain was making a noise like an earthquake but
people would not leave" he told the Associated Press.
"They were being stubborn and did not get out".
Officer Tuy said he ran for his life and the mud only
reached his legs.
Local people are desperate to find missing relatives
Rescue work resumed after the second landslide, but was
then suspended because of heavy rain.
The government had already advised people to stay off
the roads after 12 people were killed when another bus
was engulfed by a mudslide on a different stretch of the
same road on Saturday.
More than 100km (65 miles) of the Inter-American highway
is closed to all traffic, and many other roads have been
blocked, with several bridges destroyed by floods.
Record rainfall
Weeks of heavy rain have saturated Guatemala's
mountainous terrain, causing hillsides to collapse
suddenly and without warning.
Parts of the country have received their highest
rainfall in half a century, according to Guatemala's
national meteorological institute.
President Colom said the rains had undone all the
reconstruction work completed since Tropical Storm
Agatha.
On Saturday he declared a state of emergency and asked
congress to approve emergency funds for rebuilding.
He said he would also propose a special tax to help pay
for reconstruction, saying there were not enough funds
available to deal with the disaster.
Student
immigration levels unsustainable, says minister
Official figures show net migration to the UK
increased to almost 200,000 last year
The number of foreign students let into the UK is
"unsustainable", immigration minister Damian Green will
say.
In a speech later, he will question whether Britain is
attracting the best students - with only half of student
visas issued for university courses.
Mr Green's comments come as Home Office research
suggests one-fifth of students were still in the UK five
years after being granted visas.
The Home Office study tracked non-EU migrants who came
to the UK in 2004.
The largest group - some 185,000 people - were students,
and 21% were still in the country five years later.
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw says this,
together with an increasing number of new overseas
students, has led Mr Green to make reform of the student
immigration route a priority.
'Out of control'
Ministers also intend to examine work visas as
two-fifths of people in this group remained in the UK
after five years.
Ahead of his speech, Mr Green said: "We can't assume
that everyone coming here has skills the UK workforce
cannot offer."
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't want to
interfere with the success stories of our universities."
But he said there was a need to examine closely
sub-degree courses and the reasons for students
remaining in the UK.
Mr Green said: "Why are they staying on? What are they
staying on to do? This is part of a wider look we need
to take at the immigration system."
Office for National Statistics figures released last
month showed net migration to the UK increased by 33,000
to 196,000 in 2009.
The number of visas issued to students went up by 35% to
362,015.
Mr Green said the figures were proof the coalition
government had inherited an immigration system "largely
out of control".
"What these figures tell me is that we also need to look
at all the other routes [aside from employment] by which
people come into this country, maybe for education, for
family reunion reasons and also, in particular, routes
that lead to permanent settlement," he said.
North Korea to
release crew of South Korea fishing boat
Captain Kim Chil-Ie and his crew will be released on
Tuesday, North Korea said
North Korea has said it will release the crew of a
fishing vessel that strayed into its waters illegally.
The seven-man crew has been held for a month after the
boat was seized off east coast of the Korean peninsula.
State media said the vessel and crew would be handed
over on Tuesday at the border on the east coast.
Pyongyang said crew members had admitted illegally
entering North Korean waters but would be released after
promising not to do it again.
The crew included three Chinese citizens and four South
Koreans.
Relations between the two Koreas have been strained
since the South blamed the North for sinking one of its
warships in March, correspondents say.
The South has also conducted a series of military drills
close to the border.
Japan gives
anti-whaling activists suspended sentences
Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986
A Japanese court has given two Greenpeace anti-whaling
activists one-year suspended jail sentences for stealing
a box of whale meat in 2008.
They admit taking the box but say they were trying to
expose corrupt practices in Japan's whaling programme,
which the country insists is purely scientific.
Commercial whaling is banned worldwide.
Greenpeace says the sentences were "wholly
disproportionate" as the defendants had acted "in the
public interest and not for personal gain".
The activists, Junichi Sato, 33, and Toru Suzuki, 43,
were found guilty of theft and trespass by the Aomori
district court on Monday.
They said they had been contacted by a whistleblower on
board a state-sponsored whaling ship where crew members
were illegally receiving boxes of whale meat.
Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986.
But Japan has continued to hunt whales as scientific
research - while not hiding the fact that whale meat
ends up in restaurants and shops.
Many feared dead
in DR Congo after boats capsize
Many people are feared dead in the Democratic Republic
of Congo after two boats capsized in separate incidents.
One of the boats was carrying up to 300 people when it
caught fire on the Kasai river near the border with
Angola.
Information Minister Lambert Mende Omalanga told that
the BBC the vessel had been transporting fuel and was
not supposed to be carrying any passengers.
In the other accident, at least 24 people died in the
province of Equateur when a boat capsized on the Ruki
river.
The boat had up to 100 people on board, Mr Mende told
the BBC.
A spokeswoman for Equateur's provincial government,
Rebecca Ebala, said more than 70 people were believed
dead. Fifteen survivors had so far been found, she
added.
Officials are investigating why the boat was sailing at
night without lights.
'Full of people'
The accident in Kasai-Occidental province happened the
previous day.
"It was not a passenger ferry. It was a ferry which was
carrying fuel," Mr Mende told the BBC.
"It seems that at least 24 people were on board because
they have been rescued. But some other people might have
died. And we don't have the report because this boat is
not supposed to carry passengers."
One of the survivors confirmed that fuel drums on board
the vessel had caught fire before it capsized near the
village of Mbendayi.
Romaine Mishondo said the boat was so crowded it had
reminded her of "a whole market in the village full of
people".
When it began to sink and people began jumping
overboard, local fishermen ignored their pleas for help,
she added.
"Fishermen attacked the boat and started beating
passengers with paddles as they were [trying] to loot
goods," she told the Associated Press. "The fishermen
refused to save passengers, instead taking goods into
their pirogues [small, flat-bottomed boats]."
"I survived because I hung onto a jerry can until
another vessel passed by the scene and rescued us."
Boats and ferries are commonly used in DR Congo, which
has few viable roads or railways but several major lakes
and rivers.
However, the vessels are often overloaded or badly
maintained, and accidents are commonplace.
Met Police to
re-examine News of the World hacking case
Andy Coulson told MPs last year that he did not "use
or condone" phone tapping
The Metropolitan Police is to examine new evidence about
the extent of phone-hacking involving journalists on the
News of the World.
Assistant Commissioner John Yates told the BBC new
information had emerged that police would consider with
the Crown Prosecution Service.
Former reporter Sean Hoare has claimed the paper's
former editor, Andy Coulson, asked him to hack into
phones.
Mr Coulson has denied using or condoning the practice
while editor.
He came under
fresh pressure last week after
former journalists told the New
York Times
that the practice of phone hacking was far more
extensive than the newspaper acknowledged at the time.
In light of the new information, Mr Yates told BBC Radio
4's Today programme: "We've always said that if any new
material or new evidence was produced then we would
consider it.
"We've heard what Mr Hoare's had to say, we've been in
touch with the New York Times for many months prior to
the publication of the article, seeking any new material
or new evidence that they had. They didn't produce any
until they published this with Mr Hoare.
"It is new and we'll be considering it, and consulting
with the Crown Prosecution Service before we do."
Has the Metropolitan Police been doing its job
properly? Not according to those Labour leadership
candidates, former ministers and MPs who have been
calling for a new inquiry.
Lord Prescott says his name is on two invoices
submitted by a private investigator to the News of
the World. But the Metropolitan Police say that does
not prove his phone was hacked and they have no
evidence that it was.
Lord Prescott also complains that the police failed
to disclose important material to him.
Assistant Commissioner John Yates says that is
because the documents were obtained in a criminal
investigation and cannot be used for another
purpose.
Will Sean Hoare's information lead them to re-open
the case? That depends if he can provide any
evidence.
Andy Coulson has always insisted he knew nothing
about any wrongdoing and has totally denied that he
asked a reporter to hack into phones.
He confirmed Mr Hoare was new to the inquiry and had
"come from nowhere" as far as the investigation was
concerned.
On Monday morning, lawyer Tamsin Allen said her clients,
who include former Labour minister Chris Bryant and
former senior Met officer Brian Paddick, wanted the
police's decision making in this case to be "properly
scrutinised".
And shadow Home Secretary Alan Johnson has requested an
urgent question in the House of Commons, asking Home
Secretary Theresa May to explain what she intended to do
in light of accusations that current members of House
may have had their phones tapped.
On Sunday she said there were no grounds for a public
inquiry.
Mr Coulson - who is now Prime Minister David Cameron's
director of communications - has received strong backing
from Number 10, which said he "totally and utterly"
rejected claims he was aware of any wrongdoing.
Mr Hoare worked with Mr Coulson at the News of the World
but was dismissed for drink and drug problems.
The News of the World's royal editor, Clive Goodman, was
jailed for conspiracy to access phone messages in 2007,
along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, but the
paper insists it was an isolated case.
While critical of the conduct of the News of the World's
journalists, the Commons Culture and Media Committee
found no evidence that Mr Coulson either approved
phone-hacking by his paper, or was aware it was taking
place.
In 2009, the Metropolitan Police chose not to launch an
investigation following the Guardian's claims that News
of the World journalists were involved in widespread
phone hacking of several thousand celebrities, sports
stars and politicians.
All five candidates in the Labour leadership contest
have called for a fresh inquiry, echoing sentiments
expressed by other senior party figures in recent days.
But on Sunday, Education Secretary Michael Gove told the
BBC's Andrew Marr programme that the New York Times
allegations "seem to be a recycling of allegations we
have heard before" and may have been a product of
newspaper "circulation wars" in the US.
Mr Gove said it was often "overlooked" that Mr Coulson,
by resigning as editor in 2007, had taken responsibility
for what had happened over the Goodman case even though
there "was no evidence he knew what was going on".
Assistant Commissioner John Yates is considering
reopening the case
Labour leadership contender Ed Balls, former Labour
minister Tessa Jowell, who says her phone was hacked 28
times, and former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott,
who also believes he was targeted, have all called for
action.
Mr Balls said Mr Coulson's role at the heart of Number
10 meant that the government's "integrity" was under
question.
Lord Prescott threatened legal action in his bid to gain
access to documents relating to his records.
Mr Yates defended the initial police investigation,
saying: "This was a very thorough inquiry, conducted in
2006, that resulted in the conviction of two people.
"It resulted in a very complex area of law being
clarified, and it sent an extremely strong deterrent
message for other people who may be getting involved
with this in the future that this is not a privacy
issue.
"This is much more than a privacy issue, this is a
criminal issue for which you face the prospect of going
to jail. I have to say this was a successful
investigation."
The News of the World has rejected "absolutely any
suggestion there was a widespread culture of wrongdoing"
at the newspaper.
It said in a statement: "The News of the World
repeatedly asked the New York Times to provide evidence
to support their allegations and they were unable to do
so.
"Indeed, the story they published contained no new
credible evidence and relied heavily on anonymous
sources, contrary to the paper's own editorial
guidelines.
"In so doing they have undermined their own reputation
and confirmed our suspicion their story was motivated by
commercial rivalry."
Children die as
Pakistan suicide bomber targets police
There are reports that police officers are among the
casualties
At least three school children are among 17 people
killed in a suicide car bombing in north-west Pakistan.
The attacker rammed a pick-up into a police station in
Lakki Marwat town, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Books and a school-bag could be seen in the wreckage.
The dead included 11 police officers.
More than 100 people died in attacks on Shia Muslims in
Pakistan last week, as violence resumed after flooding.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed the attacks.
After a lull in violence during the recent floods,
Pakistan's militant networks seem to be back in
business.
More than 100 people have been killed in bloodshed
over the last six days. Initially, the attacks have
been sectarian, targeting minority sects.
But with Monday's bombing, the militants once again
appear to have the security agencies in their
crosshairs.
This comes after a de facto truce between the two
sides since Pakistan's army announced in January
2010 that it would not carry out any new offensives
against the Taliban.
Although the army has maintained pressure in the
areas which it wrested from them, the militants have
used the time to regroup and replenish their
strength.
The Pakistani Taliban's leadership, including
supreme commander Hakimullah Mehsud, is still
active.
The militants had said they would not carry out any
attacks in the flood-affected areas, and with the
waters now receding, more attacks can be expected
across Pakistan.
More than 40 people were wounded in Monday's blast at
Lakki Marwat.
The bomber reportedly struck a school van before ramming
the rear wall of the police station; the building
collapsed.
A neighbourhood shop and mosque were also damaged.
Rescue workers and police officials dug through the
rubble to reach those trapped.
"Seventeen dead bodies and 45 injured have been brought
to our hospital," Dr Ghulam Ali, of Lakki Marwat's main
hospital, told news agency AFP by telephone.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the
attack, in a telephone call to the AP news agency.
They said that police were targeted because they had
been encouraging residents to set up militias - known
locally as lashkars - to fight the militants.
The Taliban pledged to carry out more attacks unless the
militias disbanded.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the
latest bombing.
"It goes to show that the terrorists have no creed
except bloodshed and chaos, and are desperately carrying
out their agenda regardless of the precarious
conditions," he told a meeting of provincial officials.
"I want to stress today that we shall never let their
nefarious designs succeed and will eliminate them."
Pakistan's security forces have been fighting Taliban
and al-Qaeda militants based in the north-west of the
country for several years. Members of the Afghan Taliban
are also based in the region.
Last week, more than 100 people were killed in suicide
bombings at Shia minority processions in Pakistan. On
Friday, an attack in Quetta killed 73 people, two days
after blasts killed 35 people in Lahore.
The town of Lakki Marwat has previously been the scene
of huge bomb attacks by militants, mainly on security
personnel and tribesmen allied to them.
The police chief of Lakki Marwat district was killed in
a suicide bombing several months ago.
The biggest attack in the town was on New Year's Day
2010, when more than 100 people died after a suicide
bomber blew up a pick-up truck, after crashing into a
crowd watching a volleyball match.
Nearly 9,000 people died across Pakistan in
militant-related violence between 2007-09, according to
the country's independent human rights commission.
Afghan progress slower than first
hoped, general says
U.S. General David Petraeus testifies at his
Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation
hearing to become commander of U.S. forces
in Afghanistan on Capitol Hill in Washington
June 29, 2010. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
By Paul
Tait
updated
9/4/2010 10:58:20 AM ET
Font:
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KABUL — International forces in Afghanistan
have at times overstated the progress being
made this year, the deputy commander of the
NATO-led force said on Saturday, with
advances coming slower than originally
expected.
British Lieutenant-General Sir Nick Parker,
second-in-command of the International
Security Assistance Force behind U.S.
General David Petraeus, said progress had
been slowed by the complexity of the
mission.
Petraeus has said in a range of interviews
in recent weeks that progress was being made
and that the Taliban's momentum had been
checked, though violence across the country
is at its worst since the hardline Islamists
were ousted in late 2001.
Progress made is coming into sharper focus,
with President Barack Obama to conduct a
strategy review in December and public
support for the war sagging amid record
casualties.
For the past year, principally U.S. and
British NATO forces have been pushing
through Taliban strongholds in southern
Helmand and Kandahar provinces, making
painstaking progress through a network of
valleys and mountains and seeking to counter
a growing Taliban-led insurgency from all
sides.
ISAF troops have faced stiff resistance
since Operation Moshtarak began in late
February, particularly around the Taliban
stronghold of Marjah in the Helmand River
valley.
"If you were to go back and listen to the
sort of things we said in January and
February, before Moshtarak started, I think
we were probably a little bit
over-enthusiastic," Parker told a small
group of reporters in Kabul.
Afghan governor says kidnapped Japan
journalist freed
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — A Japanese journalist
kidnapped in Afghanistan in April has been
freed, according to an Afghan provincial
official who said on Sunday the journalist
had been abducted by the Taliban.
Kosuke Tsuneoka, a 41-year-old freelance
journalist, was at Japan's embassy in the
Afghan capital, Kabul, Kyodo news agency
reported earlier on Sunday, quoting Japanese
government sources.
Tsuneoka, who has been in Afghanistan since
mid-March, went missing in the northern city
of Kunduz near the border with Tajikistan.
Mohammad Omar, the governor of Kunduz
province, said Tsuneoka was freed on
Saturday in the Dasht-e Archi district of
Kunduz.
"Based on security forces reports, he was
freed yesterday. He was released most
probably in return for payment of money,"
Omar told Reuters. He gave no further
details.
The Taliban, fighting an increasingly bloody
insurgency against the Afghan government and
foreign forces, said at the time Tsuneoka
went missing that they had abducted him.
The Islamist group could not be reached for
comment on Sunday.
The Taliban use Kunduz as a base for
launching attacks in some parts of the
north, once one of the more peaceful areas
of Afghanistan. The Taliban have spread the
insurgency out of their traditional
strongholds in the south and east in recent
years.
The kidnapping of Afghans and foreigners has
become lucrative in recent years, for
criminal gangs and the Taliban.
Violence is at its worst across Afghanistan
since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed
Afghan forces in late 2001.
An Afghan boy is removed from a stretcher at
a hospital, after being injured in a suicide
attack in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Saturday,
Sept. 4, 2010. Some people were killed and
others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack
on a U.S. Army convoy in the insurgent
hotbed of Kandahar, according to local
hospitals. NATO said there were no injuries
to coalition forces or damage to their
vehicles. (AP Photo/Allauddin Khan)
KABUL, Afghanistan — A coalition service
member was killed in fighting in
Afghanistan's turbulent south Sunday, one
day after President Hamid Karzai moved a
step closer to opening talks with Taliban
who might be having doubts about the ongoing
insurgency.
The death is the sixth among foreign
fighters in Afghanistan this month, five of
them Americans. The nationality of the
person killed was not released in accordance
with standard NATO procedure.
The southern Afghan provinces of Helmand and
Kandahar have seen some of the heaviest
fighting between insurgents and coalition
forces seeking to uproot the Taliban from
their long-held strongholds.
A dozen Taliban, including a veteran
commander known as Mullah Abdul Aziz, were
killed in fighting with Afghan and coalition
forces on Friday and Saturday in Helmand's
Sangin district, according to provincial
government spokesman Daood Ahmadi.
In Uruzgan province just to the north, a
Taliban explosive expert, Rahmidullah, was
killed on Saturday in Chora district when
the roadside bomb he was planting exploded
prematurely, according to Chora district
chief Mohammad Daood Zaheer.
With the conflict entering its ninth year,
Karzai is hoping talks with weary insurgents
could help divide the Taliban between
hardcore members unwilling to compromise and
those who might consider abandoning the
insurgency.
Karzai said Saturday he would soon name the
members of the High Peace Council, whose
formation was approved in June at a national
peace conference in Kabul. A statement
released by his office said the move marks a
"significant step toward peace talks."
The statement said members will include
former Taliban, jihadi leaders, leading
figures in Afghan society and women, but
gave no other details. They will be prepared
to negotiate with insurgents who renounce
violence, honor the Afghan constitution, and
sever ties with terrorist networks.
The Taliban have so far rejected peace talks
while foreign troops remain in the country.
Talks held in Kabul and the Maldives with an
insurgent group led by ex-Prime Minister
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar produced no
breakthrough.
Though some observers have expressed concern
about cutting any sort of deal with
insurgents, foreign governments working to
stabilize the Afghan government and economy
have welcomed the move, especially given
U.S. plans to begin withdrawing some of its
forces next July.
"We warmly welcome today's announcement,"
the British Foreign Office said of Karzai's
move. "We will not bring about a more secure
Afghanistan by military means alone ... We
have always said that a political process is
needed to bring the conflict in Afghanistan
to an end."
Karzai's announcement was given added
poignancy by comments from the outgoing
deputy commander of NATO forces in the
country that commanders promised too much
when they predicted quick success taking the
key Taliban-held town of Marjah last winter.
While British Lt. Gen. Nick Parker now sees
signs of a turnaround in the turbulent area,
he said the military will be more restrained
in forecasting success in the future.
___
Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier in
Kabul and Mirwais Khan in Kandahar
contributed to this report.
Suicide bomber kills 5 in attack on
Russian military firing range
Guards credited with saving lives
after blocking bomber's vehicle
MAKHACHKALA, Russia — At least five people
were killed and 35 wounded Sunday when a
suicide bomber attacked troops at a firing
range in Russia's southern republic of
Dagestan, sources in official security
agencies said.
The bomber detonated a car packed with
explosives at the firing range outside the
town of Buynaksk, about 30 miles west of the
local capital, Makhachkala, said the
sources, who declined to be identified.
The suicide bomber rammed the gates of the
136th motorized rifle brigade, said RIA
Novosti news agency.
The unit's guard blocked the car, preventing
a larger death toll, RIA said, citing
anonymous sources.
A second explosion rocked the town as
investigators were heading to the site, RIA
said. However, the second bomb exploded
after a police car responding to the car
bomb passed. No on was killed or injured in
the second blast, RIA said.
Servicemen in Buynaksk have repeatedly come
under terrorist attacks.
A car bomb wounded a senior Russian official
and killed his driver Saturday.
Bekmurza Bekmurzayev, the regional minister
in charge of national policy, religious and
foreign affairs, was taken to hospital along
with two bodyguards, also injured in the
attack, Russia's investigative committee
said in a statement.
In July, servicemen of the 136th motorized
rifle brigade came under fire. Three people
were killed, RIA said.
In 2007, an explosive device planted on the
roadside detonated when the brigade's
servicemen were returning from military
exercises. Two were killed and two injured,
the agency said.
There has been a surge in violence over the
past two years in the mainly Muslim North
Caucasus, especially in Dagestan, Chechnya
and Ingushetia. Russia fought two wars
against Chechen separatists since the 1991
fall of the Soviet Union.
The Kremlin has pledged to wage "a ruthless
fight" against militant groups but also has
acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment,
organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption
as causes of the ongoing violence in the
region, RIA said.
Abbas: Will quit peace talks if no
building freeze
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