Held Kashmir under curfew after deaths

SRINAGAR: Thousands of security forces enforced a curfew in the major towns of held Kashmir on Saturday, a day after three protesters were shot dead.

The three were killed on Friday in two separate incidents when security forces opened fire to contain angry anti-India demonstrations in northern towns of Sopore and Patan.

“Curfew is in force in Srinagar and other major towns of held Kashmir,” a police spokesman said.

170 people injured in Iran quake

TEHRAN: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 hit northeastern Iran, injuring around 170 people, state radio reported on Saturday.

The tremor hit the city of Torbat-e Heydariyeh, about 700km (435 miles) east of Tehran, at 6:20 p.m. (1350 GMT) on Friday, and had its epicenter around 7 km outside the city.

Many people spent the night outdoors in the city”s parks fearing aftershocks. Of the 170 injured, 22 needed hospital treatment while the others were treated on site. No deaths were reported.

Drought-hit Vietnamese capital hit by floods

HANOI: Heavy rains after weeks of drought turned the streets of Vietnamese capital Hanoi Tuesday into rivers up to half a metre deep.

A heavy downpour that lasted for more than two hours forced motorbike commuters to push their machines through the dirty water and trees were down.

Police said on state radio that scores of locations in the city of several million people were flooded or snarled by traffic jams.

A meteorologist said the city centre was hardest hit, with about 120 millimetres (4.7 inches) of rain falling in the rush-hour period.

Hanoi had been suffering for weeks from a drought which meteorologists said was the worst in decades.

It worsened power shortages and led to blackouts in the country, which gets more than one-third of its electricity from hydropower.

Iranian nuclear scientist takes refuge at Pakistan embassy

TEHRAN: A missing Iranian nuclear scientist has taken refuge at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington, according to Iran’s state radio.

“A few hours ago Shahram Amiri took refuge at Iran’s interest section at the Pakistan embassy in Washington, wanting to return to Iran immediately,” state radio said Tuesday.

Pakistan handles diplomacy for Tehran since Iran and the US broke off diplomatic relations in 1979. Switzerland manages American diplomatic interests in Iran.

University researcher Amiri was working for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation. He disappeared about a year ago while on a pilgrimage trip to Saudi Arabia prompting Iranian authorities to accuse Saudi officials of handing him over to the US. Saudi Arabia has denied the accusation.

Philippines braces for heavy rains from typhoon

MANILA: The Philippines’ first typhoon of the year is barreling toward the country’s eastern coast and weather forecasters say it will dump heavy rains.

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Philippines braces for heavy rains from typhoon

Philippine leader urged to end political killings

MANILA: An international human rights watchdog Tuesday urged Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to fulfill his campaign promise to end suspected state-sponsored killings.

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Philippine leader urged to end political killings

PM to chair meeting on water distribution row

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will chair a meeting to iron out water distribution differences between Sindh and Punjab.

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PM to chair meeting on water distribution row

Iran scientist seeks refuge in Pak embassy in US

WASHINGTON: Iran’s state radio said on Tuesday a missing Iranian nuclear scientist who Tehran says was kidnapped by the CIA, had taken refuge in Pakistan’s embassy in Washington.

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Iran scientist seeks refuge in Pak embassy in US

Fire at oil well in western Iran kills 3 people

TEHRAN: Iran”s state radio is reporting that a fire at an oil well in western Iran has killed three people and wounded 12 others.

The report says the fire broke out Saturday morning at an oil well in Naft Shahr, near the border with Iraq. It says a gas leak from a drilling site caused the fire. Rescue teams have been dispatched.

The radio did not specify the size of the oil well.

Iran is OPEC”s second largest oil exporter, producing around 4.2 million barrels of oil per day.

US President Obama announces 30,000 troop surge

NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama has announced he was pouring 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, vowing to “seize the initiative” to end the unpopular war and start a pullout in July 2011.

In a major speech unveiling a new fast-track war strategy, Obama pledged for the first time that American forces would start coming home in 19 months, as he groped for an exit from a conflict many backers see as a Vietnam-style quagmire.

“Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years, it has moved backwards,” Obama said Tuesday evening, placing a bet that more forces could defeat Al-Qaeda, crush a resurgent Taliban, and pave the way for a withdrawal.

The speech, before young cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point who will fight Obama’s war, marked his biggest test yet as president, and best opportunity to redefine the conflict.

But while he set a date for the start of a US withdrawal from Afghanistan, he stopped short of establishing a deadline to complete the mission launched more than eight years ago in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“As commander in chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interests to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan,” Obama said. Related article: NATO, US troop numbers in Afghanistan

“After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home,” he said, seeking to reassure Americans the new plan would not signal a war without end, and rejecting the comparison with Vietnam as a “false reading of history.”

The first US Marines could be in place by Christmas, just four months after war commander General Stanley McChrystal warned the war could be lost without more manpower. All the new troops will be fighting within six months.

McChrystal hailed the new strategy, saying it had provided him “with a clear military mission and the resources to accomplish our task.”

“The clarity, commitment and resolve outlined in the president?s address are critical steps toward bringing security to Afghanistan and eliminating terrorist safe havens that threaten regional and global security,” he said.

Obama also cranked up pressure on NATO allies for more troops, saying they were also threatened by Afghan-based terrorism.

Following an exhaustive strategy review, Obama rolled out new political approaches to Afghanistan and Pakistan and vowed to chase down Al-Qaeda wherever it emerged. Related article: Obama struggles with Afghan exit dilemma

He warned the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai, that the days of a US “blank check” were over, demanding a drive against corruption.

The White House said a key element of the political strategy would be backing for Afghan efforts to reintegrate Taliban members who renounce Al-Qaeda, lay down their arms and enter politics.

The same “cancer” of extremism that had torn at Afghanistan was also hurting Pakistan, Obama warned, crediting Islamabad with an unprecedented effort to combat home-grown extremism.

“We will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan,” Obama said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the new strategy courageous and urged “all countries which want to help the Afghan people to support it.”

Obama cautioned that strikes against America were “being plotted as I speak,” and warned he would go after Osama bin Laden’s terror group in Somalia or Yemen or further afield if necessary. Related article: Bagram Airbase is US nerve centre in Afghanistan

As many of Obama’s Democratic allies balk at the cost of the new troop surge, the US leader warned the new Afghan war operations would cost 30 billion dollars this year.

But in a swipe at the former Bush administration, blamed for not paying for conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said he would be open and honest in financing the operation.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of Obama’s fiercest critics in the US Congress, praised the new “surge of forces” and said it would help “reverse the momentum of the Taliban.”

But others bluntly dissented. “I do not support the president’s decision to send additional troops to fight a war in Afghanistan that is no longer in our national security interest,” said Democratic Senator Russell Feingold.

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US President Obama announces 30,000 troop surge was first posted on December 2, 2009 at 1:24 pm.

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