Suicide car bombing kills 26 in Baghdad

Baghdad Jan 27: A car bomb near a funeral procession outside a hospital in east Baghdad killed at least 28 people and wounded 50 today, a doctor at the hospital said. An interior ministry official confirmed the explosion in Zafraniyah, which struck at 1330 IST, but said it was caused by a suicide attacker driving an explosives-packed car. The blast hit the funeral procession of Mohammed al-Maliki, a real estate agent who was killed along with his wife and son a day earlier in the west Baghdad neighbourhood of Yarmuk, the doctor and interior ministry official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
The procession had collected Maliki's body and was transporting it for the funeral when the explosion struck. Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. More than 200 people have been killed in attacks since American forces completed their pullout on December 18, according to an AFP tally.
Today's attack came a day after violence in Iraq killed 17 people, and is the deadliest to hit the country in nearly two weeks, amid a political crisis pitting the Shiite-led government against the main Sunni-backed bloc, stoking sectarian tensions.
The row erupted when authorities charged Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi with running a death squad and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, called for his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlak to be sacked after the latter said the premier was "worse than Saddam Hussein".
In response Hashemi and Mutlak's Iraqiya bloc has largely boycotted the cabinet and parliament, and Hashemi, who denies the charges, has stayed in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region which has so far declined to hand him over. (PTI)

 Nine rockets hit Pak academy near Osama home

Islamabad Jan 27: Nine rockets were fired at the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad, a town where al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was shot dead in his hideout in May last year. Three of the nine rockets hit the outer wall of the academy, where training is imparted to cadets who will become Army officers. The academy is equivalent of West Point in the US and Sandhurst in Britain.
The attack took place in the town, which is just over 50 km from here, early Friday, hours after Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited it.
Imtiaz Hussain Shah, an official, said that no one was injured in the pre-dawn attack.
"Nine rockets were fired. Three rockets hit the boundary wall of the military academy and damaged it. No one was hurt in the attack," Geo News quoted Shah as saying.
"We have launched a search operation," he added.
The six other rockets landed in open fields near the outer wall.
BBC said that the attackers had fired several rocket-propelled grenades.
"It is the work of terrorists," Shah said, adding that security is always on high alert in the area due to sensitive installations there.
It was not yet known who carried out the attack after General Kayani visited Abbotabad, in connection with the Commanding Officers' Conference, reported Xinhua.
An Army statement said the Commanding Officers' Conference on Thursday was a formal event for interaction between unit commanders and senior officers.
US commandos had gunned down Osama who was hiding in a mansion that was located not far from the military academy. The al Qaeda chief's killing deep within the country had left the Pakistani military embarrassed. (Agencies)

 Oz adventurers complete South Pole trek unassisted in 89 days
 

Melbourne Jan 27: Two Australian adventurers have completed their trek from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back in 89 days on Jan 26, which also happened to be Australia Day. James Castrission and Justin Jones crossed the finish line at about 4 a.m, Sydney time, on the 2300km expedition. "Mission accomplished!!" the Herald Sun quoted them as tweeting at 7.15 a.m. The milestone will make them the first people ever to complete the trek unassisted. They did it just in the nick of time, with the last flight out of Antarctica for the season due to depart today. In 2008, Castrission and Jones became the first people ever to paddle unassisted across the Tasman from Australia to New Zealand. But expedition logistics manager Rebecca Riel said that challenge "was nothing" compared to their latest achievement.
"This has definitely been the hardest thing they've ever done. I think what they have achieved will all sink in when they get back but right now they're just focused on crossing that finish line," she said. Horrendous conditions at the start of the expedition forced the pair to start rationing their food more than 50 days ago.
As a result, they've lost an estimated 55kg of body weight between them. In his most recent audio diary entry online, Castrission described how they were so thin that their hips and backbones were digging into the snow each night. The pair undertook the challenge to help raise funds for You Can, a charity that assists youths with cancer. (PTI)

No 'creeping coup' taking place in Pak: Gilani

Islamabad Jan 27: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday rejected a perception that democracy was under threat and a 'creeping coup' was taking place in Pakistan.
All stakeholders in the country favour democracy in Pakistan and "no one has a desire to violate the Constitution", Gilani said in Davos where is attending the World Economic Forum.
Gilani rejected any perception of a clash between the state institutions and said all stakeholders in the country favoured democracy.
He said that since several things were happening at the same time, it was being felt that there was some kind of clash, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.
Referring to his meeting with Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha prior to his departure for Davos, Gilani said it focused on security matters related to Afghanistan and was also attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
Gilani said civil society, the intelligentsia, the media, the parliamentarians, want democracy in the country.
"Nobody is in favour of something other than democracy. Democracy is strong and will stay intact and no one has a desire to violate the Constitution," he said.
The past few months have been quite tense in Pakistan following a clash between the powerful Army and the political leadership. A secret memo said President Asif Ali Zardari had feared a military takeover following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 02 last year.
Gilani had taken on the Army by charging the Army chief and the spy chief's court affidavit in Memogate was unconstitutional, heightening tension. He, however, took a dramatic about turn on Wednesday when he retracted that statement.
In the meantime, Gilani said the deaths of over 100 heart patients in Lahore from spurious drugs were unfortunate. (Agencies)

B'desh Army probes involvement of officers in Coup Plot

DHAKA JAN 27: Suspecting involvement of more officers in the botched coup attempt earlier this month, the Bangladesh army has constituted five more "courts of enquiry" to probe the plot, officials said.
No official statement was issued on the development but a senior military official preferring anonymity said a decision was taken to constitute the five more "courts of enquiry" under Army Act to investigate into the putsch attempt at five cantonments outside Dhaka.
"The GOCs (General Officers Commanding) of these cantonments were asked to form the enquiry courts to probe into the suspected involvement of officers in those barracks to quicken the probe," he said without further elaboration.
His comments came as the mass circulated 'Prothom Alo' newspaper quoting anonymous "military sources" said nearly two dozen officers were suspected to be involved in the abortive coup attempt while the army last week said their number could be as high as 16.
The army last week announced the formation of the first enquiry court in Dhaka with a Brigadier General as its head while the Alo report said the five new courts of enquiry were being constituted at cantonments at suburban Savar, eastern Comilla and Ghatail, northwestern Bogra and Rangpur.
"These officers were found to be in telephonic contacts with fugitive army Major Ziaul Haque," the key suspect of the plot, the report said.
The report came a day after Army Chief Gen Mohammad Abdul Mubeen apprised President Zillur Rahman about the ongoing probe when he called on him at Bangabhaban presidential palace.
The army at an extra-ordinary press conference on January 19 disclosed the abortive coup attempt saying the plotters, who included former military officers, wanted to topple ruling Awami League and they were linked to banned Islamist outfit Hizbut Tahrir and an expatriate Bangladeshi in London had a key role in hatching the plot.
A massive manhunt was underway to arrest major Haque while a number of Tahrir activists including a doctor were arrested in the past one-week.(PTI)

Biden mimics Indian call centre workers

New Hampshire: US Vice President Joe Biden has been known in the past to commit to verbal gaffes and for upsetting the Indian American community. It did so again in New Hampshire on Thursday, when he adopted foreign accent while discussing the departure of call centre jobs overseas. News sites were quick to label the accent as Indian, as the subcontinent is home to many customer call centres, and Biden had referenced India in his remarks. Biden was addressing workers of a company that has partnered with a local college in Rochester. He twice appeared to deploy a foreign accent while discussing the loss of call centre jobs to other countries. All this took place in a matter of just under 30 seconds, the New York Daily News reports. A New York magazine, however, opined that Biden might have been imitating the character of a Russian-sounding call centre worker made popular in Discovery Card commercials. (Agencies)

Nuclear Iran represents threat to world: US

Washington: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that a nuclear-capable Iran represents a threat to the United States and the world. "We see the threats coming from Iran and a nuclear- capable Iran represents a threat to us and to the world," Panetta told reporters at a Pentagon news conference when asked about the threats to the US this year. "The weapons of mass destruction and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are a concern. North Korea is a concern because they too are developing a nuclear capability," he said. "Add to that the turmoil in the Middle East that we have to confront. Add to that the whole cyber threat and the potential for cyber warfare. You can see the vast array of threats that we have to confront with the force that we've designed here. So it's all of those that are my concern for the future," Panetta said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday said his country is willing to revive talks on its nuclear programme and accused Western countries of dodging discussions. (PTI)

Italy signs deal for long-term aid to Afghanistan

Rome: Italy signed a pact on Thursday aimed at supporting Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw from the country in 2014, while Germany extended its military mission there for another year, developments that came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai began a tour of Europe with a stop in Rome. Italian Premier Mario Monti assured Karzai that "Italy will not abandon" his impoverished, conflict-scarred nation, where Taliban militants once thought defeated after the US-led invasion in 2001 have roared back in recent years. The two men signed a long-term cooperation agreement that deals with a wide range of areas, including political, security, and economic, as well as efforts to counter the drug trade and establish the rule of law. The meeting in Rome "gave Ambassador Grossman an opportunity to debrief President Karzai on his meetings in Qatar and continue to work closely with the Afghan government on next steps in the reconciliation process," Nuland told reporters. She refused to say if he had seen any Taliban officials in Qatar but said his meetings in Doha focused on whether and when the group would open an office there. (Agencies)

G-4 Nations Make Strong Pitch for UNSC Reforms

United Nations: Making a strong pitch for UN Security Council reforms, the G-4 countries -- Brazil, Germany, India and Japan today said they want "nothing more, nothing less" than expansion in the Council's permanent and non-permanent members that gives increased representation to developing nations. "Brazil, Germany, India and Japan are bound together by a common vision of an enlarged Security Council that better reflects the geopolitical realities of the 21st Century. "This Council should be expanded in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, taking into consideration the contributions made by countries to the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the need for increased representation of developing countries in both categories," the nations said in a joint introductory statement at the informal plenary of the intergovernmental negotiations on UNSC reforms. The countries also put their weight behind Africa saying the developing nation should be represented in the permanent membership in an enlarged Council. (PTI)