UK deputy PM facing Lib Dem calls to quit

THE leadership of British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been questioned by some of his own MPs as Liberal Democrat candidates joined voices urging him to quit over dismal election results.

The Deputy Prime Minister has insisted he is staying despite the party losing more than 250 councillors in local elections and anticipating another rout when European election results emerge later.

Southport MP John Pugh suggested that a dozen of his Commons colleagues had expressed doubts to him over whether Clegg should continue at the head of the party.

An internal "post-mortem" of the poor night at the polls - in which the party was almost or entirely wiped out in some former strongholds - "has to include a truly open, mature and balanced look at our whole strategy, including the leadership issue", the Southport MP told the Sunday Times.

"Although I admire enormously Nick's bravery, it does not follow that because the captain should go down with the ship that the ship has to go down with the captain."

Fellow Lib Dem MP Adrian Sanders, who represents Torbay, said: "The problem is the messenger, very few people say it's the message."

Clegg has conceded that the strongly pro-EU party could lose all 11 of its MEPS when results are declared later on Sunday and even the most optimistic polls suggest only a handful will survive.

As the scale of the losses became clear, Clegg said he would "absolutely not" resign, and insisted the Lib Dems were still succeeding where they focused on their achievements in coalition.

He blamed a wider "anti-politics mood" but his party has suffered in opinion polls, with ratings at consistently low levels since joining the Conservative-led coalition.

Two would-be MPs are among more than 600 people who have signed up to the online LibDems4Change campaign which has published an open letter calling on Clegg to step down.

Jackie Porter, who is set to fight the Conservative-held target seat of Winchester in next May's general election, said the party was "not going forward with a clear strategy".

The county councillor said the party's achievements were overshadowed because Clegg "allowed himself to be portrayed as just another pea out of the same pod" as Prime Minister David Cameron and opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband.

To win back support, the party needed to demonstrate it was different, she said.

If Clegg refuses to quit, a leadership contest would be triggered if 75 local party associations formally demanded one, or if a majority of the parliamentary party approved a no-confidence motion.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Taliban frees 24 Afghan hostages

TALIBAN militants have released 24 hostages who were seized in northeastern Afghanistan last week, an official says.

Taliban fighters captured Yamgan, a remote mountainous district in Badakhshan province on Wednesday, and took 40 policemen hostage.

Police recaptured the area on Friday.

"Tribal elders negotiated with Taliban and freed 24 hostages, most of who are policemen, but held three senior ranked officials," said Nawid Frotan, the governor spokesman for Badakhshan province.

Earlier, Fazluddin Ayyar, the provincial police chief said that 15 policemen were freed in Friday's operation.

Frotan said that the three senior ranked officials were a district police chief, a district prison chief and a member of the secret service.

The Taliban have launched their spring offensive, targeting Afghan and NATO troops, and government employees.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Belgians vote, brace for new stalemate

Belgians have begun casting their vote for a new national parliament. Source: AAP

BELGIANS are casting their vote Sunday for a new national parliament, amid fears that a fresh political stalemate may be in the making for the fissured country.

The last federal elections in 2010 left Belgium without a government for a world-record 541 days, because of a rift between the Dutch-speaking Flanders region and French-speaking Wallonia.

"The formation of a government could prove difficult after the elections this time too," Julie Cantalou of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom liberal think tank predicted, pointing to expectations that the nationalist N-VA party will emerge victorious.

The conservative party - the largest in Flanders - would like to eventually see Belgium break up along its linguistic lines.

It came in first nationally during the 2010 elections, but was then locked out from the government negotiations after its hardline leader, Bart De Wever, outright rejected proposed reforms.

In the end, Socialist leader Elio Di Rupo managed to form a six-party coalition government that did not include the N-VA.

Whether the Flemish nationalists could be shut out of new coalition talks is questionable, analysts say. The Socialists - the largest party in Wallonia - may have to end up sitting at the negotiating table with the diametrically opposed N-VA.

"With around a third of Flemish votes, the N-VA is an almost indispensable interlocutor for coalition talks," Cantalou noted.

A renewed stalemate could come at an economic cost for Belgium.

During the 2010-11 political crisis, for instance, the country saw the interest rates on its debt rise to challenging levels.

A new deadlock or a quarrelling coalition could be "a significant barrier to resolving Belgium's deteriorating competitiveness," Michael Pearce of the Capital Economics research group warned.

The national elections will also be the first real test for Belgium's King Philippe, who took over the throne from his father last July.

The monarch will play a role by tasking leading politicians to form a government or appointing mediators.

The vote takes place under the pall of a deadly shooting on Saturday at the Jewish Museum of Belgium, in which three people were killed by an unknown individual who fired a gun into the building before fleeing the scene. The motives were initially unclear.

Belgians will also be casting ballots on Sunday for the country's regional legislatures and for a new European Parliament.

The last polls close at 4pm (1400 GMT), with results expected in the evening.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Car bomb kills at least 10 in Syria

A CAR bomb has struck a pro-government neighbourhood in the central Syrian city of Homs, killing at least 10 people, setting cars on fire and sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky, activists and a government official say.

The blast in the Zahra district, which is predominantly inhabited by Alawites and Christians, sent tremors through Homs, where rebels and the government have struck two ceasefire deals this month that have restored at least a semblance of peace to the shattered city.

The provincial governor, Talal Barazzi, said the attack targeted such reconciliation efforts in Homs.

An official in the Homs governor's office said 10 people were killed in the explosion on Sunday and more than 40 were wounded.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.

The director of the opposition Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group, Rami Abdurrahman, put the death toll at 12.

He also said more than 40 were wounded.

Differing death tolls are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria.

Syrian state television blamed the bombing on "terrorists".

The station broadcast footage that showed cars on fire and people trying to push other vehicles away from the blast site.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

China 'offers leniency' to bomb suspects

AUTHORITIES have called for anyone involved in terrorist activities in China's restive northwest to turn themselves in and promised leniency following a bombing that killed dozens of people.

The announcement followed a security crackdown launched over the weekend in response to Thursday's attack at a morning street market, which killed at least 43 people and wounded dozens.

The official Xinhua News Agency said an anti-terrorism campaign in the northwest Xinjiang region would target religious extremist groups, underground gun workshops and "terrorist training camps," and that "terrorists and extremists will be hunted down and punished".

Police have revealed the names of five people blamed for the attack and said they were part of a "terrorist gang".

Based on their names, all the suspects appeared to be Uighurs, the region's most populous Muslim minority.

Police said that four of the assailants were killed in the bombing and that the fifth was captured on Thursday night.

In Sunday's announcement, public security officials in Xinjiang said people involved in a range of designated terrorist activities would receive mitigated punishments if they turn themselves in within 30 days, Xinhua reported.

The announcement also said those who surrender and offer information about other suspects or criminal activities "will be given minor punishment or exempted from punishment".

The bombing in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, left the region's residents on edge and raised fears that organised extremism was on the rise.

Ismail Tiliwaldi, a former governor of Xinjiang, said in an editorial posted on a website sponsored by regional authorities that the attackers "vainly attempted to attract attention through a large-scale bloody incident and maliciously sow ethnic estrangement and cause hatred and opposition to achieve their criminal plot of separating the country," according to Xinhua.

In far-off Beijing, police announced they were canceling vacations for officers and would step up patrols at train stations, schools, hospitals and markets.

A measure under which passengers at stations in central Beijing are required to undergo security checks will be extended to three additional stations, the city government said.

Thursday's violence was the deadliest single attack in Xinjiang's recent history, and the latest of several that have targeted civilians, in contrast to a past pattern of targeting police and officials.

It was the highest death toll since several days of rioting in Urumqi in 2009 between Uighurs and members of China's dominant Han ethnic group left nearly 200 people dead.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunmen kill 6 police officers in Pakistan

GUNMEN have stormed a tribal police post in southwestern Pakistan, killing six police officers and wounding three, authorities say.

The attack took place in Wadh area of Baluchistan province's Khuzdar district, where insurgents have launched previous attacks, said Baroz Khan, a senior government official.

Officers manning the post returned fire and pushed the gunmen back toward nearby mountains, Khan said. Reinforcements from the paramilitary Frontier Corps later reached the post, some 300 kilometres south of Quetta, the provincial capital, he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Baluch nationalist groups who have claimed responsibility for such attacks in the past.

For over a decade, Baluchistan has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by some nationalist groups demanding autonomy or a greater share from mineral and gas resources being extracted from the impoverished province. It is also believed to be home to many Afghan Taliban members.

Residents say a crackdown has sparked disappearances in Baluchistan blamed on security forces. They say the disappearances swelled in the mid-2000s, when Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government cracked down on insurgents there.

Two years ago, the Voice for Baluch Missing Persons organisation handed the United Nations a list of 12,000 names they said belonged to people missing in the conflict.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man who helped create GI Joe dies

DONALD Levine, the American toy company executive credited with developing the world's first action figure, GI Joe, has died aged 86.

He died of cancer early on Thursday at a hospice on Rhode Island, said his wife, Nan. They were just about to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

Levine shepherded the toy through design and development as toy company Hasbro's head of research and development.

He and his team came up with an 28cm articulated figure with 21 moving parts, and since the company's employees included many military veterans, it was decided to outfit the toy in the uniforms of the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, with such accessories as guns, helmets and vehicles.

Levine, who served in the Army in Korea, said he got the idea for the moveable figure as a way to honour veterans.

GI Joe hit the shelves in time for the 1964 Christmas shopping season and soon became a big seller at $US4 apiece.

It remained popular until the late 1960s, as opposition to Vietnam intensified and parents shied away from military-related toys.

Hasbro countered in 1970 by introducing "Adventure Team" GI Joes that played down the military connection.

Into the 1970s, GI Joes featured "lifelike hair" and "kung-fu grip" and were outfitted with scuba gear to save the oceans and explorer's clothing for discovering mummies.

Over the decades, GI Joe has spawned comic books, cartoons, two movies starring Channing Tatum, and a GI Joe Collector's Club and its annual convention - GIJoeCon - held in Dallas in April.

Levine's funeral will be held on Sunday at Temple Beth-El in Providence. He is survived by his wife, three children and four grandchildren.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunmen fire inside El Salvador bus, kill 6

Police in El Salvador say gunmen boarded a bus in a town near the capital killing six people. Source: AAP

POLICE in El Salvador say gunmen boarded a bus in a town near the capital and opened fired on passengers, killing six.

National police director Rigoberto Pleites said another five people were wounded during the Friday bus attack in the town of San Luis Talpa near San Salvador.

Pleites said witnesses told police the assailants were gang members dressed in uniforms similar to those issued to road maintenance workers.

He said investigators haven't confirmed they belonged to a gang.

Police Commissioner Mauricio Ramirez said there have been threats of increased violence in the country in the coming days, but he didn't provide any other details.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Girl, 13, hit crossing Sydney road

A TEENAGE girl has been placed in a coma after she was hit by a car near Dee Why, on Sydney's northern beaches.

The CareFlight helicopter, police and paramedics rushed to help the unconscious 13-year-old after she was hit while trying to cross Warringah Road at Narraweena on Saturday night.

CareFlight director Ian Badham said helicopter operators wearing night vision goggles had to land at a nearby oval.

The Mona Vale girl was placed in an induced coma and onto a ventilator as she was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital, where she arrived in a critical condition.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More

Suspected drug ring busted in Canberra

Police have raided 10 north Canberra properties, uncovering what they say is a major drug syndicate. Source: AAP

A MAJOR drug ring has been busted in the national capital, with a Canberra man set to face court charged with trafficking drugs.

ACT Policing raided several north Canberra properties on Friday afternoon where they seized $200,000 worth of illicit drugs, cars and cash.

They found 728 grams of cocaine, a methylamphetamine-suspected substance, tablets suspected to be ecstasy, and steroids.

Police believe the operation cracked a major drug syndicate operating in the capital.

A 28-year-old man will appear in court on Saturday charged with drug trafficking.

22.24 | 0 komentar | Read More