Jakarta defence overhaul

JAKARTA:

The new chiefs of staff for Indonesia’s army, navy and air force were sworn in on Friday, a day after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unveiled a major overhaul in the powerful military. In a formal ceremony, Yudhoyono swore in 52-year-old Lieutenant General Joko Santoso as army chief, replacing an outspoken and controversial nationalist. The shakeup also saw Rear Marshall Slamet Sugianto appointed head of the navy and Rear Marshall Joko Suyanto put in charge of the air force. A new overall chief of the armed forces is expected to be put forward in the next three months. — AFP

Pak ultras blow up selves

QUETTA:

Two Sunni Muslim militants who were planning an attack on rival Shiites blew themselves to bits with a hand grenade after a gunbattle with Pakistani police on Friday, officials said. Police said the men, who were members of the banned Al-Qaeda-linked group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, killed themselves during a raid on their hideout near a Shiite mosque in the turbulent southwestern city Quetta. The incident comes ahead of a weekend of parades by Shiites to mark Ashura, a mourning ceremony for the grandson of the prophet Mohammed. — AFP

1,000 kids feared dead

KABUL:

Over 1,000 children may have died from cold and malnutrition during severe winter weather affecting the west of the war-shattered country, said Paul Hicks, programme director western region Afghanistan for Catholic Relief Services, on Friday. Western Ghor province has been hit hard by snowstorms in Afghanistan’s worst winter for more than a decade and most of the province remains out of reach of humanitarian aid and blanketed by snow. Afghan and UN officials said the cold snap claimed some 267 lives in Afghanistan in the past month, many of them children. — AFP

Six hurt, 65 held in J&K

SRINAGAR:

Police in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir fired teargas and used batons on Friday to break up several Muslim processions and detained 65 people, police and witnesses said. The religious processions in Srinagar, the state’s summer capital, came two days ahead of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussain, in the Muslim month of Moharram nearly 1,400 years ago. Riot police in several places set up barricades and used teargas and bamboo truncheons to push back marchers. Police used force against two more processions when marchers rejected calls by police to disperse. — AFP

Amritsar schoolboy freed

Chandigarh:

A Punjab schoolboy kidnapped from his hometown in Amritsar 10 days ago has been released in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur town. Prabir Singh, the teenaged son of a millionaire businessman, was released on Thursday night and was scheduled to come back home on Friday. Police officials confirmed that he had reached New Delhi. However, there was no information on whether any ransom had been paid to the kidnappers. Son of rice exporter KS Dimpi, Prabir was kidnapped on Feb 8 as he came out of a tuition class in Amritsar. His Honda Accord luxury car was also driven away by the kidnappers, one of whom was wearing a police uniform. — HNS

J-K highway closed

Jammu:

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only land route to the mountain locked Kashmir Valley, is closed yet again after overnight rains and fresh snowfall led to landslides in several places. “The highway is closed and it will remain so till the weather clears. No traffic will be allowed either from Jammu or Srinagar side on Friday,” said an official. — HNS

Bangla aid review on cards

Dhaka:

Donor nations are set to review their assistance programme for Bangladesh because of rising lawlessness and growth of fundamentalism in the country, a newspaper reported on Friday. The Daily Star, said “a large group of European donors, an influential European country having substantial aid involvement in Bangladesh and some Scandinavian countries” want to persuade multilateral donors and the US to take a tough line on aid to the country. — HNS