The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Strong quake hits PNG, no reports of damage
- Gunman turns Belgian Christmas market into bloodbath
- U.S. move to hold aid strains ties with Pakistan
| Strong quake hits PNG, no reports of damage Posted: 13 Dec 2011 10:13 PM PST (Reuters) - A strong earthquake struck the Pacific state of Papua New Guinea Wednesday, but no tsunami warning was issued as the quake occurred inland, and there were no immediate reports of damage. The 7.3 magnitude tremor was centred near Lae, the country's second-largest city, at a depth of around 115 km (71 miles) the U.S. Geological Survey said. "It was very, very big," said Dolly Kinibo, a receptionist at the Lae International Hotel. "It lasted for two to three minutes. The whole building moved. The Christmas tree moved, we all moved, people are very shaken. There are no reports of injuries or damage, but our managers are checking." The quake sent goods flying from the shelves of Lae's Foodmart store but caused only minor damage and no injuries. "It wrecked some displays and caused some damage to the ceiling, but touch wood nothing serious," said store manager Albert Martinez. Residents in the capital Port Moresby, 223 km (138 miles) from the epicenter, also reported feeling the quake. PNG, a country where the majority of people live subsistence lives despite its abundant mineral wealth, sits on the geographically active Pacific Ring of Fire. (Reporting by Michael Perry in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. | ||
| Gunman turns Belgian Christmas market into bloodbath Posted: 13 Dec 2011 04:25 PM PST LIEGE, Belgium (Reuters) - A lone gunman brought carnage to the Belgian city of Liege on Tuesday, spraying bullets at Christmas shoppers and hurling a grenade at people waiting for a bus, killing four people including a girl of 17 months before shooting himself dead.
The attack, in which another 125 people were wounded, paralysed the centre of Belgium's fifth city, with workers trapped in offices as police sealed off the area, helicopters circled, and ambulances poured in from as far away as the Netherlands. The man's motive was unclear but Belgian officials said there was no indication it was an act of terrorism. Witnesses said 33-year-old Nordine Amrani had begun his rampage at about 12:30 p.m. near a bus stop at Place Saint Lambert, site of Liege's bustling Christmas market and its main courthouse. Shoppers scattered to flee the bullets. Gaspard Grosjean, a journalist for a local newspaper, was in the square moments after the attack. "We saw people with bullet wounds in their shoulders, their hands," he said, adding that he had seen one body. "I see people completely scared, people are crying, everyone is on their phones." Amrani was freed from jail about a year ago after a conviction for possessing weapons and drug offences. Justice officials said Amrani had been summoned to answer police questions that morning on an undisclosed matter, but never turned up. One witness told RTBF radio: "He had a bag. He got a grenade out of his bag. He threw the grenade at the bus stop. "Then he had a Kalashnikov (rifle). He shot in all directions. Then everyone ran to try to save themselves. Then he got a revolver out and put a bullet in his head." TODDLER DIES Police said the dead were two boys of 15 and 17, a 75-year-old woman, and a toddler of just 17 months whom hospital doctors fought for hours to save. Liege's mayor, Willy Demeyer, said the two boys had been taking school exams nearby just before the attack. By evening, Place Saint Lambert, whose Christmas market of around 200 stalls attracts over 1.5 million visitors each year, was still sealed off, covered with shattered glass and pools of blood, and there was still no indication of Amrani's motive. At his most recent address, an apartment block near the scene of the attack, Johan Buron said he had been astonished to learn what his neighbour had done. "He was calm, every time I met him in the corridor he was very friendly and said 'Hi'," he told Reuters. "If my memory serves me right, he was a welder." Amrani was convicted in 2008 for illegal possession of arms and for growing a huge field of cannabis. "He has no history of terrorist acts," prosecutor Daniele Reynders told a news conference in Liege. A spokesman for Belgium's crisis response centre also said there was no indication that it had been a terrorist attack. It was not clear whether Amrani was Belgian. Prosecutor Cedric Visart de Bocarme told Belgian television that Amrani had been in jail several times since his youth, and said that police searching his home had not found any further weapons or suspicious items. Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo expressed horror at the attack and travelled to the city, 90 km (55 miles) east of Brussels. Belgium's king and queen also visited. Random killings are rare in Belgium. Most recently, in January 2009, a man stabbed two infants and a woman to death and injured 13 at a nursery in the town of Dendermonde. (Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. | ||
| U.S. move to hold aid strains ties with Pakistan Posted: 13 Dec 2011 04:17 PM PST ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are ready to freeze up to $700 million (451 million pounds) in aid to Pakistan until Congress gets assurances that Islamabad is helping fight the spread of homemade bombs in the region, a move one Pakistani senator called unwise and likely to strain ties further.
Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of U.S. foreign aid and the holdup on some aid for fiscal 2012 affects only part of the civil and military assistance it gets each year. But it could presage even greater cuts. If the proposal passes Congress as expected this week, it could delay military aid used to support Pakistani troops in counterinsurgency operations. Calls are growing in the United States to penalise Islamabad for failing to act against militant groups and, at worst, helping them, after the secret U.S. raid on a Pakistan garrison town in which al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in May. Salim Saifullah, chairman of Pakistan's Senate foreign relations committee, warned that relations, which are already at a low point, could worsen further following the decision by the U.S. House of Representatives-Senate panel. "I don't think this is a wise move. It could hurt ties. There should instead be efforts to increase cooperation. I don't see any good coming out of this," Saifullah told Reuters. But in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States and Pakistan had already been working together on the issue of homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices. "So if -- obviously if this legislation becomes law, we'll work with the government of Pakistan on how we can fulfill the requirements," she said. The legislation says no more than 40 percent of the money for the Pakistani Counterinsurgency Fund could be obligated or spent in fiscal 2012 until the U.S. defence secretary reports on "a strategy to enhance Pakistani efforts to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDS)." A congressional aide said that since some $1.1 billion was proposed to be appropriated for the fund in fiscal 2012, the measure would effectively put a hold on nearly $700 million of it. But appropriations for fiscal 2012 are not yet final, and if Congress appropriates less than that amount, then less could be held up as well. COMMOM FERTILIZER Homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), are among militants' most effective weapons against U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan as they struggle to fight a resurgent Taliban insurgency. Many are made using ammonium nitrate, a common fertiliser smuggled across the border from Pakistan. The holdup on U.S. aid was agreed as part of a defence bill that is expected to be passed this week. The United States wants "assurances that Pakistan is countering improvised explosive devices in their country that are targeting our coalition forces," Representative Howard McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters. The report from the U.S. defence secretary is required to include a discussion on whether Pakistan is demonstrating commitment and making significant effort toward countering IEDs, "including efforts to attack IED networks," the legislation says. The United States has allocated some $20 billion in security and economic aid to Pakistan since 2001, much of it in the form of reimbursements for assistance in fighting militants. But U.S. lawmakers have expressed increasing frustration with Pakistan's efforts in the war. There have been proposals to make economic as well as military aid to Pakistan conditional on more cooperation in fighting militants. Pakistan's civilian leaders have warned against aid cuts, saying it would only harden public opinion against the United States. Pakistan says it is doing all it can to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban and has lost thousands of soldiers since it joined the U.S.-led war in 2001. Islamabad has accused NATO of killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in an air strike near the Afghan border last month and shut down supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan in anger. The decision to freeze aid could prompt Pakistan to harden its stance towards Washington. "I think the Pakistan side will understand the type of signal that is coming, which shows it's not only a question of aid," former general and security analyst Talat Masood said. "The whole attitude of the U.S. and the relationship will be affected by these measures because they know Pakistan will not be in a position to control the smuggling." Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, also suggested pressure from the United States would hurt ties, saying Islamabad believes "in cooperative approaches." U.S. lawmakers said many Afghan bombs are made with fertiliser smuggled by militants across the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan. A U.S. Congressional Research Service report in October said the Pakistani factories, owned by one of the country's biggest companies, Pakarab, have been producing over 300,000 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate per year since 2004. The United States has urged Pakistan to regulate the distribution of ammonium nitrate to Afghanistan strictly. So far, Pakistan has produced draft legislation on the issue. (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai in CHAMAN and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Paul Tait and Vicki Allen) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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