Pakistan train accident kills 14: official

AT least 14 people, including two children, were killed when a train collided with a packed motorcycle rickshaw in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, officials say.

The passenger train travelling from the country's financial hub Karachi to Punjab capital Lahore on Saturday crushed the rickshaw on a road crossing which had no barrier.

"The accident occurred in Khanpur town of district Sheikhupura, around 40km northwest of Lahore," Salim Niazi, a local police official, told AFP.

Officials said at least two children were among the dead.

"Twelve people died on the spot. Four people with critical injuries were taken to hospital, of whom two expired," Muhammad Asim, a senior doctor at the local hospital, told AFP.

"Two of them were children under 12 years old," he said adding that many bodies were mutilated and unable to be identified.

Police said the rickshaw was over-capacity and drove onto the train track moments before the Lahore-bound train passed through, smashing into it.

"There was no gate at this crossing, (nor) a man to stop the traffic to clear a way for the train," said Niazi.

Pakistan has a poor railway system with a track dating back to British rule and old coaches. Many Pakistanis avoid travelling by train due to low safety standards and poor facilities.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Heavily armed Islamists attack in Cairo

RESIDENTS of Cairo's Manial neighbourhood are recovering from a bloody night of clashes with armed supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood who killed at least seven people and left dozens injured, they've told AFP.

The violence erupted when residents tried to stop hundreds of Islamists passing through Manial to reach protests being staged in the iconic Tahrir Square against toppled president Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.

"The Brotherhood attacked the area with all kinds of weapons," said resident Mohammed Yehya, who lost three of his friends in the mayhem.

Inhabitants of the Nile island of Manial reported seeing dozens of bearded Islamists armed with machineguns, machetes and sticks on Friday night before the deadly clashes broke out.

Snipers were spotted on rooftops, and medics told AFP they treated some residents of the normally quiet middle-class neighbourhood for bullet wounds with a downward trajectory.

Buildings were pockmarked with bullet holes. Rocks carpeted the floor and charred tyres showed the ferocity of the violence.

The clashes in Manial and elsewhere came two days after the army toppled Morsi, underlining the determination of his Muslim Brotherhood to disrupt the military's plan for a political transition until new elections.

Residents say the attack began just minutes afer the Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, gave a fiery speech to Morsi supporters camped out in Cairo's Nasr City, which was broadcast live on television.

"The attack came minutes after Badie's speech. They treated us like infidels. They were chanting 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) as they were shooting us," said Ahmed Fattouh.

On the door of one shop hung a sign announcing that the owner, 26-year-old Abdallah Sayyed Abdelazim, had been killed.

Parts of Manial were a ghost town on Saturday, with businesses shuttered and residents devastated by the night's violence.

"Their ammunition just didn't run out. They are trying to terrorise us and take over the country," said Khaled Tawfik.

Shopkeeper Mohammed Fekry, 29, who was wounded by birdshot said at least 10 people were killed and dozens injured.

"We have 10 people dead in this area, including six people who died with single bullets in the head. There were snipers on the roof of the Salaheddine mosque," Fekry said.

The overall toll for Friday's violence across Egypt was 30, but casualties are likely to rise.

Ihab al-Sayyed, a doctor at Qasr al-Aini hospital, told AFP that seven people he treated for injuries from the Manial clashes had died.

"I think the death toll will be much higher.

"The injuries were all from live bullets, most of them automatic weapons. Three of the dead and dozens of the injured were shot at from a height," the doctor said.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iraq bombings kill five

A suicide attacker and a car bombing have killed at least 19 people in separate attacks in Iraq. Source: AAP

BOMBINGS north of Baghdad have killed five people, including a police officer, a day after attacks across the country left 23 dead.

A roadside bomb killed four people west of the northern city of Kirkuk, while another bomb in Tikrit, also north of the Iraqi capital, killed a police officer and wounded two others.

The attacks come a day after 23 people died in a string of attacks across the country, including the bombing of a Shi'ite religious hall.

Iraq is grappling with a protracted political standoff within its national unity government and months-long protests among its Sunni Arab minority.

Analysts and diplomats worry that the stand-off is unlikely to be resolved at least until general elections due next year.

With the latest violence, attacks have killed more than 160 people and wounded more than 400 in the first six days of July, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

British PM's hopes for sporting weekend

DAVID Cameron says he hopes Andy Murray will add the Wimbledon title to the British and Irish Lions' "superb" series win over Australia to give the country a "perfect sporting weekend".

The Prime Minister was quick to congratulate the rugby union players after they roared to a 41-16 victory in the third Test in Sydney to end 16 years of hurt in unforgettable fashion.

"A superb result for the British and Irish Lions," the Prime Minister wrote on Twitter.

"Hoping Andy Murray can make it the perfect sporting weekend."

Mr Cameron is expected to be among the spectators at Wimbledon's Centre Court tomorrow when Murray takes on the world's number one tennis player Novak Djokovic in the final in a bid to end Britain's 77-year wait for a men's champion.

Downing Street will fly the Scottish Saltire to mark the occasion.

The Lions put in an awesome display of scrummaging power to build an unshakeable victory foundation, with England prop Alex Corbisiero scoring an early try, fly-half Jonathan Sexton, wing George North and centre Jamie Roberts also touching down and brilliant full-back Leigh Halfpenny kicking 21 points.

Australia, 19-3 behind just before half-time, rallied to within three points six minutes into the second period courtesy of a James O'Connor try and 11 points from goalkicking centre Christian Leali'ifano.

But the Lions were not to be denied as they took the series 2-1, savouring a triumph they last experienced against South Africa in 1997

P

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

L-plate rider speeding nearly double limit

Kids burned alive in school attack

ISLAMIC militants have attacked a boarding school in northeast Nigeria, killing 29 students and one teacher, some of the pupils being burned alive.

Why she's Barry's top man

ANNA McPhee will take up the role of chief of staff to Premier Barry O'Farrell this month, effectively making her the most powerful woman in the state. Anna McPhee is about to become one of the most powerful women in NSW, as chief of staff to Premier Barry O'Farrell. Yoni Bashan chronicles her rise.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Islamists kill 42 in Nigeria school attack

GUNMEN believed to be Islamists from Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgent group killed 42 people, mostly students, in an attack on a secondary school in restive Yobe state, officials say.

Eyewitnesses said some of the victims were burned alive in the attack, in Mamudo town.

"We received 42 dead bodies of students and other staff of Government Secondary School (in) Mamudo last night. Some of them had gunshot wounds while many of them had burns and ruptured tissues," Haliru Aliyu of the Potiskum General Hospital told AFP.

Mamudo is some five kilometres from Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe which has been a flashpoint in the Boko Haram insurgency in recent months.

"From accounts of teachers and other students who escaped the attack, the gunmen gathered their victims in a hostel and threw explosives and opened fire, leading to the death of 42," Aliyu said.

He said security personnel were combing the bushes around the school in search of students who were believed to have escaped with gunshot wounds.

"So far six students have been found and are now in the hospital being treated for gunshot wounds."

A local resident who did not want to be named confirmed Saturday's attack.

"It was a gory sight. People who went to the hospital and saw the bodies shed tears. There were 42 bodies, most of them were students. Some of them had parts of their bodies blown off and badly burnt while others had gunshot wounds," he said.

He said the attack was believed to be a reprisal by the Boko Haram Islamists for the killing of 22 sect members during a military raid in the town of Dogon Kuka on Thursday.

Nigeria declared a state of emergency in three flashpoint states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in mid-May as it launched a major offensive to end the insurgency.

Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has left some 3600 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

Boko Haram which means "western education is evil" has killed hundreds of students in attacks on schools in the tense region in recent months

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK to charge migrants for healthcare

BRITAIN has announced plans to charge migrants hundreds of pounds a year to access its state-run National Health Service (NHS), in a bid to clamp down on so-called health tourism.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also proposed to stop giving visitors from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) free access to general practitioners (GPs).

"We have been clear that we are a national health service, not an international health service, and I am determined to wipe out abuse in the system," he said.

Countries such as Australia and Russia, which have reciprocal healthcare agreements with Britain, will not be affected by the changes.

Ministers admitted however that they have no idea of the true cost and impact of migrants on the NHS, and have commissioned an independent audit to report back in September.

The proposals, which have been put out to consultation, are tied to a wider clampdown on immigration by Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition government.

It also published plans on Wednesday to make landlords check the immigration status of tenants, with the goal of making it more difficult for illegal migrants to stay in Britain.

Under the healthcare changes, the government insisted no-one will be denied emergency care and said the treatment of infectious diseases and sexually transmitted infections would remain free.

However, health professionals warned the changes could still pose a public health risk by deterring ill patients from seeking treatment.

The National AIDS Trust (NAT) said the plans also threatened to undermine years of work to encourage marginalised at-risk groups to access HIV testing and treatment.

People visiting Britain for less than six months already have to pay for routine hospital care but the changes would mean they also have to pay to visit a GP.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Govt defends detention of children

IMMIGRATION minister Tony Burke says he's more concerned about the time children stay in asylum seeker detention centres than with the total number being held.

Labor's policy states that children will not be held in detention centres, but about 1,800 currently are.

Mr Burke defended the decision on the ABC's Lateline program, telling host Emma Alberici "the principle issue" was not how many were detained but how long they are held for.

There isn't a "significant challenge for the welfare of children," he added, if children are in detention centres to undergo health and security checks and these happen quickly.

"But if you have children being held for a longer period of time then you have a very different welfare issue," he told the ABC on Wednesday.

"My principle concern here is to work out how long they've been there because I think that's actually the welfare issue."

The newly appointed immigration minister was then pressed by Ms Alberici on about 300 children who have been held in a Tasmanian detention centre for at least six months.

"These are figures that I'm wanting to have verified and I'm wanting to work out how we can deal with this as quickly as we can," Mr Burke said.

Mr Burke would not say how quickly this would be, reiterating that it was important people were screened before possible release into the community.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Elderly man dead after QLD highway crash

AN elderly man has died and five others have been injured in a three-vehicle collision in north Queensland.

Two cars and a truck crashed on the Bruce Highway at Sarina, south of Mackay, early on Wednesday afternoon, police say.

A 66-year-old was taken hospital where he later died.

Five others, aged between 13 and 69, were injured.

The forensic crash unit is investigating.

It was the second fatal crash on the Bruce Highway on Wednesday.

Two people were killed and a third was taken to hospital in a critical condition following another three-vehicle crash, also south of Mackay.

The two occupants of one car died at the scene at Sandy Creek but a woman survived and was taken to Mackay Base Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

The driver of a truck was not injured and one of three men in the third vehicle suffered injuries to his leg.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

France, Germany differ on US talk delay

FRANCE has pushed for the European Union to delay talks with Washington on a huge free trade pact over claims of US spying on EU offices, but Germany says they should go ahead as planned.

French President Francois Hollande, who has said talks with the United States should not go ahead without guarantees the spying has stopped, was due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel later on Wednesday at a Berlin summit.

WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange meanwhile urged European nations to provide asylum to fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, whose revelations of widespread US spying on its allies have sparked deep concern.

The EU-US trade talks -- on what would be the biggest free trade agreement ever negotiated -- are due to start in Washington on Monday, but the revelations of US bugging of European diplomatic missions have cast them into doubt.

French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the talks should be put aside until European governments receive answers promised by Washington about the spying allegations.

"This is not about stopping negotiations on the free trade agreement, but it does seem wise to temporarily suspend them, probably for a period of 15 days, to avoid controversy and to give time to obtain the requested information," Vallaud-Belkacem said after a cabinet session.

She said that for the talks to take place properly, "both sides must be able to meet in confidence".

But Merkel's spokesman said Berlin did not back a delay.

"The (EU) Commission wants to start negotiations on July 8, and in this it has the support of the German government," said spokesman Steffen Seibert.

"We want this free trade agreement and we want to start the talks now," he said.

Seibert also said a German delegation would travel to Washington next week to seek clarity on the NSA's activities.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two children killed in Qld crash

TWO children aged under 10 have been killed in a three-vehicle accident in Queensland's north.

A truck, a car and a ute collided on the Bruce Highway at Sandy Creek, south of Mackay, on Wednesday afternoon, police say.

The two children died at the scene and a woman in her 40s was taken to Mackay Base Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Three men in their 40s travelling in the ute were injured in the crash, but the truck driver, believed to be in his 50s, escaped unharmed.

The highway is closed as the forensic crash unit investigates.

A few hours earlier on the same highway, a 66-year-old man was killed and five others, aged between 13 and 69, were injured in another collision between two cars and a truck.

That crash happened at Sarina, also south of Mackay.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Belgium's King Albert II to abdicte

BELGIUM'S King Albert II is set to announce he will abdicate on July 21, the country's national day, in a speech to the nation.

The palace announced the king would address the nation in a speech to be broadcast live on radio and television at 1600 GMT (0100 AEST) Wednesday and daily paper Le Soir and national RTBF television said he would announce his abdication for July 21.

Albert, who has reigned for 20 years and just turned 79, has played a key role in the political life of the small language-divided nation.

He is the second son of King Leopold III (1901-1983) and Astrid of Sweden (1905-1935), and ascended to the throne in 1993 after the death of his older brother King Baudouin, who died without an heir.

The RTBF TV network said it would be the first abdication in the history of Belgium. The country gained independence from the Netherlands in 1831.

Six kings from the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha -- now known simply as the royal house of Belgium -- have since headed the constitutional monarchy.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More