MELBOURNE: Three men were found guilty Thursday of plotting to attack a Sydney army base with high-powered weapons and kill as many people as possible to further their vision of Islam. The Supreme Court in Melbourne heard that the men‚ who have been linked with Islamic extremists in Somalia‚ planned to continue their rampage at Sydney´s Holsworthy army barracks until they were killed or captured. Melbourne men Wissam Mahmoud Fattal‚ 34‚ Nayef El Sayed‚ 26 -- both of Lebanese descent -- and Somali Saney Edow Aweys‚ 27 were found guilty of conspiring t...
Published On: 2010-12-23

MELBOURNE: Three men were found guilty Thursday of plotting to attack a Sydney army base with high-powered weapons and kill as many people as possible to further their vision of Islam. The Supreme Court in Melbourne heard that the men‚ who have been linked with Islamic extremists in Somalia‚ planned to continue their rampage at Sydney´s Holsworthy army barracks until they were killed or captured. Melbourne men Wissam Mahmoud Fattal‚ 34‚ Nayef El Sayed‚ 26 -- both of Lebanese descent -- and Somali Saney Edow Aweys‚ 27 were found guilty of conspiring t...
Published On: 2010-12-23

TOKYO: Emperor Akihito celebrated his 77th birthday Thursday and urged the people of Japan to pay heed to the needs of the elderly‚ as the number of older people in the country rapidly grows. Akihito greeted thousands of well-wishers waving Japanese flags from a balcony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Empress Michiko and other royal family members — including Akihito´s eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Crown Princess Masako — appeared on the balcony. Akihito has cut back on official duties because of health reasons. He did not make any foreign trips this ...
Published On: 2010-12-23

KABUL: The chief of police in the northern Afghanistan province of Kunduz says a suicide bomber struck a police checkpoint‚ killing one officer and wounding three civilians. Abdul Rahman Sayedkhaili say the bomber struck at 8 a.m. Thursday in downtown Kunduz‚ setting off his explosives as police stopped him at a checkpoint to see where he was going. The incident comes days after a Dec. 19 attack claimed by the Taliban in which insurgents stormed an army recruitment center in Kunduz. At least two of the attackers detonated suicide vests while others clashed with security forces in...
Published On: 2010-12-23

KABUL: A provincial governor in Afghanistan said Wednesday that a battle between NATO and the Taliban the previous day killed three women and two children‚ and he called on the coalition to "pay attention" to civilian casualties. Afghan officials have often spoken out about civilian deaths‚ arguing that the international forces are not being careful enough to avoid such casualties after 10 years of fighting. Insurgents also try to use civilian deaths as a way of rallying support for their cause. Also Wednesday‚ NATO said that a leader of the Haqqani network &mdash...
Published On: 2010-12-23

WASHINGTON: The tense weekend showdown on the Korean peninsula exposes the deep US-China gap over how to resolve a long-simmering crisis that risks erupting anew‚ analysts said. Nevertheless‚ several experts suspected China helped to defuse the immediate crisis by privately warning its neighbor and nuclear-armed ally North Korea to avoid acting on its threat to retaliate for South Korean military drills. "The Chinese were very concerned about escalation‚ even to the point of a widescale war on the peninsula‚" said Bonnie Glaser‚ a China analyst with th...
Published On: 2010-12-23

WASHINGTON: The United States said Wednesday that it would welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao for a state visit on January 19‚ as the two sides seek to ease economic spats and tensions on the Korean peninsula. Hu will be the guest of honor for President Barack Obama´s third state dinner on the night of January 19‚ as the US leader reciprocates following his own state visit to China last year. The visit will come at a time of aggravated tensions between Washington and Beijing‚ despite efforts by both sides to find common ground on issues like North Korea and Iranian n...
Published On: 2010-12-23

WASHINGTON: A landmark treaty on nuclear arms that will bind the United States and Russia is set for ratification today after an arduous Senate battle‚ handing President Barack Obama a major diplomatic triumph. “We are on the brink of writing the next chapter in the 40-year history of wrestling with the threat of nuclear weapons‚” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair John Kerry after lawmakers Tuesday moved 67-28 to end debate on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)‚ paving a way to a final vote. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice Pr...
Published On: 2010-12-22

SEOUL: South Korea announced land and sea military exercises today including its largest-ever live-fire drill near North Korea just as tension on the peninsula was beginning to ease after Pyongyang’s attack on a southern island. The land drill‚ involving artillery‚ fighter jets and the largest number of personnel in a peace-time exercise‚ will take place tomorrow‚ after the South’s live-fire artillery exercise on Monday on the island of Yeonpyeong‚ and is bound to infuriate the North. “We’ll be sure to deal a punishing blow if the North ...
Published On: 2010-12-22

MOSCOW: Seductive Russian spy Anna Chapman today won a key role in a pro-Kremlin youth group‚ telling her fellow young patriots that it was time to transform the future with a smile. Chapman‚ booted out of the United States along with nine other Russian spies in July‚ became a member of the social council of the Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard) youth group at its fourth congress‚ it said on its website. The Molodaya Gvardiya has its roots in the Soviet-era Komsomol youth group and was revived in the late 1990s to mobilise “patriotic” youth to support the au...
Published On: 2010-12-22