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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Australia in trouble on opening day
Nadal reachs quarters after saving five match points
Bomb kills anti-Taliban Afghan MP
A key anti-Taliban lawmaker was killed with four other men Thursday when a bomb tore through their vehicle in Afghanistan's flashpoint southern province of Helmand, officials said. The Taliban movement said it carried out the attack that killed Helmand MP Dad Mohammad Khan, who received death threats from the extremist insurgents who control swathes of the volatile opium-producing province. "A remote-controlled roadside bomb struck a Corolla-type vehicle in which esteemed MP from Helmand province, Dad Mohammad, the highway police commander and three of Mohammad's bodyguards were martyred," the interior ministry said. A cousin of the MP confirmed the killing from the scene. "I am here where the bomb blast took place. We are carrying out the bodies now," Akhtar Mohammad told AFP by telephone. The killing took to 10 the number of MPs who have died in attacks since they were elected in Afghanistan's first democratic parliamentary vote in 2005, lower house press officer Haseeb Noori told AFP. Six died in a suicide bombing in the central province of Baghlan in mid-2007 and two were killed in Kabul, including one in an attack on a military parade last April. In July last year, Kandahar MP Habibullah Jan was shot dead by unknown gunmen. Khan, who was in his mid-50s, was known for his long opposition to the Taliban, which dated back to the hardliners' time in government between 1996 and 2001, locals told AFP. He was appointed Helmand provincial intelligence chief after the Taliban were driven from power in the 2001 US-led invasion -- a post he held until the parliamentary elections.
Obama's 'blame me' means 'move on'
Government appeals ruling against Sharifs’ disqualification
Israel seizes Hamas political leaders
Thousands stage protests in France
Gaza deaths dog Israeli military
Kidnappers seek $2m to free Canadian journalist
MIRAMSHAH, Pakistan The kidnappers of a Canadian journalist have demanded $2 million for releasing her. Khadija Al Qahar was kidnapped from Sera Derga in Janikhel of the Bannu Frontier Region on November 20 last year, along with two local guides.A video-tape was delivered to the local press club on Wednesday in which kidnappers threatened to kill her if their demands were not met by March 30. The woman said in the video that she had been kept in isolation at an undisclosed location near Afghan border. ‘I am very sick and they (kidnappers) will kill me at the end of March.’ A visibly distressed Ms Khadija pointed at a dagger hanging on a wall behind her and said that they (a reference to militants of Darra Adamkhel) had killed the Polish engineer and they would also kill her. ‘Please help me. Please help me … I request my government, human rights organisations and media associations to accept their demands and get me released.’ She specifically urged the Canadian and Pakistani governments to accept the kidnappers’ demands.
Balance of power will shift to Parliament: PM Gilani
Japan planning to spend 15 billion dollars on jobs
US economy gets $1.2 trillion boost
Bush to write book on important decisions of presidency
New Madagascar leader sets agenda
Madagascar's new leader has laid out his priorities after seizing power in an army-backed overthrow of the president.Addressing 15,000 supporters in the capital, Antananarivo, on Wednesday, Andry Rajoelina promised to reverse some of the policies that had fuelled anger against Marc Ravalomanana, the ousted president. Rajoelina - who is six years too young to be president under the constitution - heads a transitional government which has pledged to hold elections within two years. The former opposition leader promised to bring food prices down on the island, where three-quarters of the population live on less than $2 a day. He also said he would sell a plane that Ravalomanana recently bought for $60m, and use the money "to establish a hospital for the people's health, which is a higher priority". Rajoelina also cancelled an agreement to lease South Korean corporation Daewoo more than a million hectares of land in Madagascar to grow food crops, deal for which Ravalomanana was heavily criticised.
Actress Natasha Richardson dies after ski fall
Israel Arrests at Least 7 Hamas Political Leaders in West Bank Sweep
JERUSALEM Israeli soldiers rounded up at least seven of the Islamic militant group's political leaders in the West Bank in a pre-dawn arrest sweep Thursday, Hamas officials and relatives said.The detentions come after the failure of recent efforts to win the release of an Israeli soldier Hamas is holding in Gaza. The Israeli military, which routinely arrests suspected militants in the West Bank, said 20 Palestinians had been detained overnight. But it said it had no information on the arrests of the Hamas politicians. Israel has detained dozens of Hamas politicians in the West Bank on various occasions since the capture of Sgt. Gilad Schalit, 22, in a cross-border raid in June 2006. The detainees in this latest raid include Nasser Shaer, a former Palestinian deputy prime minister, and several Hamas lawmakers, Hamas officials and relatives said. Some of them were detained and released in past raids. Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had hoped to secure the release of Schalit before a new Israeli government is formed. He dispatched two senior envoys to Cairo over the weekend to try to clinch an Egyptian-brokered deal with Hamas, which rules Gaza and has no direct ties with Israel.
Kuwaiti emir dissolves parliament
The emir of Kuwait has dissolved parliament for the second time in a year after a bitter dispute with the government. In a televised speech on Wednesday, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah also called for a snap general election to elect a new 50-seat parliament. Sheikh Sabah did not give a date for new elections, but under the Kuwaiti constitution they must be held within two months. The emir said the MPs had abused democracy and become a threat to stability, pointing out that the people needed to choose another parliament because national unity was in danger. It is the second time in a year the emir has disbanded the confrontational legislature, which has a contentious relationship with the cabinet.
'Rights and responsibilities'
"The decision I took today was not an easy one", he said. "Parliament has rights, but they come with responsibilities. Democracy is a tool, not a goal in itself." The Kuwaiti government resigned on Monday, a day before parliamentarians were due to question Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah, the prime minister. Nasser is alleged of mismanagement, breach of the constitution and misuse of public funds. Saad al-Anezi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kuwait City, said: "Several MPs launched three tough questions against the prime minister, which is unprecedented in Kuwaiti history and is being described by the emir as an action that has exceeded all boundaries. "Although he dissolved parliament, he called for new elections, and at the same time, is going to appoint a new prime minister, who is the crown prince who will be constitutionally protected from future grillings." Kuwait's political crisis has delayed several bills, such as a stimulus package and a plan to set up a financial regulator. "You have the economic crisis, with many people losing money on the stock market. The government responded by presenting a rescue plan to save some banks and some investment companies. "Many MPs said they wouldn't approve this unless the government would buy the loans of many Kuwaitis, which amount to almost $18bn. The government found this totally unacceptable," al-Anezi said.
Predicted move
The emir's move was largely expected. Many, including some parliamentarians, have said the accusations were actually unfair, overly vague and personal in nature. Parliament has a large contingent of conservative Islamist members that are often at odds with the ruling cabinet. "The Islamists don't have a majority, but are a strong bloc. Between them, and if you add the tribal groups, the current parliament is a very conservative parliament," Al Jazeera's correspondent said. "Many of the issues that come up are social and religious. One of the grillings against the prime minister was in fact about the destruction of a mosque that was illegally built." Parliament was last dismissed in March 2008 in a bid to end clashes between the government and parliament members. Since becoming prime minister in 2006, Nasser has resigned five times due to political disputes with MPs. Kuwaiti leaders have dissolved the legislature five times since 1976, mostly to prevent parliamentarians from interrogating cabinet members or calling no-confidence votes. No head of government has ever faced questioning by legislators.
Review: Apple ReShuffles the Deck
Kabul bomb wounds three, 33 rebels killed
KABUL A bomb blast in the Afghan capital Wednesday wounded three people, the government said, as the Nato-led military announced it had killed 33 rebels.The bomb was planted outside a petrol station in a western suburb of the city and wounded three civilian passers-by, the interior ministry said. Many attacks in Afghanistan's Taliban-led insurgency cause little damage but rebels have in recent years been able to pull off several major strikes that officials say points to their growing capability. In a statement late Tuesday, Nato’s International Security Assistance Force said troops clashed with militants on Saturday in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul, and an assessment of the battle was ongoing. ‘As of March 16, an estimated total of 29 enemy dead and 12 wounded have been reported,’ ISAF said. The French military announced Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed in the same clash. ISAF also said it had killed two ‘prominent’ wanted insurgents and two of their associates in the southern province of Helmand on Monday.One of them, Jamaluddin Hanifi, had been involved in several bombings and ambushes in the Naw Zad district, it said. The Taliban were in government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. Their insurgency has picked up intensity in the past three years with 2008 being the deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion, according to officials.
Nato boosts troops for Afghan poll
Sudan urges rebels to lay down arms
The president of Sudan has returned to Darfur for a second time since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in the region. Omar al-Bashir, who declared that no international court can touch even an "eyelash" on him, called for Darfur rebels to lay down their arms on Wednesday. Vowing to develop the region that has been bedevilled by six years of conflict and decades of neglect, al-Bashir told thousands of jubilant militiamen: "We want to reunify the people of Darfur and we call on all our sons and brothers who bear arms to put them down." "We tell them you have taken up arms to demand development and development has now started and it continues," al-Bashir said, outlining various infrastructure projects already under way.