10:44 PM
IRAQ WAR
TODAY SURE HAVE CASUALTIES IN IRAQ.YESTERDAY 2 SOLDIERS DIED WHEN THEIR VEHICLES WERE STRUCK BY A IMPROVISED-EXPLOSIVE DEVICES.THAT HAPPEN JUST YESTERDAY.DUN NOE WHEN THE WAR CAN STOP.US SOLDIER DEATH TOLL HAVE ALREADY REACH 4009 LIAO BUT SOME STILL NOT CONFIRMED YET.OTHERS HAVE BEEN PRONOUCED DEAD.THIS WAR MAY NOT END SOON I THINK.
10:29 PM
TODAY WENT TO SEMBAWANG BEACH THEN SAW A OBSERVATION POST OVER THR.THAT SHOULD BE A HUNT FOR THE MAS SELAMAT.2 POLICE STANDING OVER THR SEEMS TO BE VERY BORED.ONE SITTING OVER THR SEEING THE SEA THEN THE OTHER ONE OVER THR USING BIONOCULARS SEEING AT THE SEA.I THINK THEY MUST BEEN VERY TIRED.MINISTER SAY THEY ARE GOING TO SEARCH FOR HIM UNTILL HE IS FOUND.LOLZ MAYBE HE HAS ALREADY FLED THE COUNTRY,NOBODY NOES.
12:10 PM
British Airways said Saturday that delays and cancellations at London Heathrow airport's new terminal would last into next week, amid claims that the extent of the problems were worse than admitted.
The airline said about 13 percent of short-haul and European flights in and out of Terminal 5 (T5) would be cancelled Monday, with the expectation that a similar number would be cut on Tuesday.
There would be a "progressively larger flying programme throughout the week", it said in a statement but added: "This is dependent on the performance of the baggage system."
A total of 66 flights were cancelled Saturday -- 12 more than originally announced -- with a further 37 flights set to be pulled Sunday.
So far, nearly 250 flights have been cancelled since T5 opened on Thursday because of computer glitches affecting the new baggage handling system.
BA said earlier they were trying to "reunite" 15,000 bags with their owners but the BBC, quoting an unnamed airport source, said the true figure could be as high as 20,000 and would take weeks to sort out.
It illustrated the problems with still photographs of mountains of suitcases stacked up in the terminal after passengers were unable to reclaim them or were forced to fly on to their destinations without their luggage.
As business leaders called the situation a public relations disaster for BA, London and Britain, the BBC said it had been banned from filming at the terminal, where hundreds of passengers were facing long delays.
Sky News television also said it had been locked out.
The baggage chaos is the latest embarrassment for BA, which has exclusive use of the 8.7-billion-dollar (5.6-billion-euro) terminal that was officially opened to great fanfare by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month.
Passengers arriving Saturday morning said many of the public payphones and all but one of the 16 lifts were out of order, although that is the responsibility of airport operator BAA.
BA promised, and said it had kept to, maximum delays of 30 or 40 minutes, but passengers said that did not take into account cancellations and rebookings.
"We've spent a whole day in here when we could have been in Paris having fun," said Patti Conroy, from Seattle on the US west coast. "I'll just go home if it's cancelled again."
BA laid on a coach and ferry for a party of about 40 pupils heading to Germany for an eight-day language exchange trip after their flight to Stuttgart was cancelled. One parent described the situation as "embarrassing."
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said she had spoken to both BA and operator BAA, which is owned by Spanish construction group Ferrovial.
She told them them the problems were their responsibility but that the government stood ready to assist.
The Times newspaper said BA was facing fines of up to 5,000 pounds per passenger for breaking European rules by misleading stranded passengers about a 100-pound cap on their compensatory hotel bills.
There have also been reports of scuffles between baggage handlers, staff and passengers while the Unite union said workers' concerns about baggage handling procedures, staff familiarisation and training had "fallen on deaf ears."
The Financial Times meanwhile said the chaos had forced British Airways to postpone an advertising campaign scheduled for next week that had planned to trumpet the speed with which passengers could move through T5.
T5 -- the first new facility to be built at the airport in 20 years -- is designed to handle 30 million passengers a year and alleviate notorious overcrowding at the west London air transport hub.
8:43 PM
Iraq's radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday ordered his followers to reject Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's call to surrender their arms as clashes with troops raged for a fifth straight day.
"Sadr has told us not to surrender our arms except to a state that can throw out the (US) occupation," Haider al-Jabari of the Sadr movement's political bureau told AFP in the holy city of Najaf, home to the cleric's main office.
On Wednesday, Maliki gave a 72-hour deadline to Shiite fighters, mostly Mahdi Army militants loyal to the anti-American cleric, to give up their guns in the southern city of Basra after launching a crackdown against them on Tuesday.
He said the deadline was effective from Tuesday, and it expired on Friday.
The crackdown on areas controlled by Sadr's militia has severely strained a "freeze" of Mahdi Army activities the cleric ordered last August.
The Mahdi Army fighters have put up stiff resistance to Iraqi troops, however, and on Friday Maliki issued another Basra deadline.
He said residents had until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weaponry in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of arms to militants.
Since Tuesday violence has raged across Shiite regions of Iraq, with nearly 230 people killed as Shiite fighters clashed with government troops.
On Saturday, the clashes spread to more parts of the country.
They also erupted in the central Shiite city of Karbala where 12 "criminals" were killed, local police chief Raed Jawdat Shakir said, adding that another 25 people were arrested overnight.
The death toll from similar clashes between Shiite gunmen and Iraqi and US troops in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City, stronghold of the Mahdi Army, rose to at least 75, with another 498 people reported wounded.
"Seventy-five people have been killed and 498 wounded in clashes in Sadr City in the last four days," Qassim Mohammed, a spokesman for Baghdad health directorate, told reporters in Sadr City.
He accused American forces of "creating obstacles" in transporting victims of the violence to safety.
Sadr City has been wracked by fierce clashes between security forces and the militiamen since the crackdown began in Basra.
Ahmed, a resident of the slum neighbourhood of some two million people, said the situation was deteriorating.
"The hospitals are overflowing with wounded. They can't take any more. Even the medical stores are closed," he said.
"There is no electricity, no water or fuel. We are afraid of gunbattles. The main markets are also closed."
A top Sadr aide in eastern Baghdad, Salman al-Afraiji, told AFP that several Iraqi soldiers had come to the cleric's Sadr City office and offered to lay down their own weapons.
"We told them they should keep their arms. We gave them Koran and they went back," he said.
In Basra eight people were killed in a new air strike early on Saturday as clashes continued there for the fifth straight day.
The countrywide death toll from the firefights has surged to nearly 230 since Tuesday.
Most of the casualties were in Sadr City, Basra, the southern city of Nasiriyah and the central cities of Kut and Hilla.
An AFP photographer said US-led coalition warplanes bombed the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people. Several more people were feared killed, he added.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not available for comment.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes targeted Shiite militia positions in Basra.
Clashes continued on the ground in Basra on Saturday.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the crackdown will continue till "we have arrested all criminals."
Basra is the focus of a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
US President George W. Bush called the current clashes a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the country's government.
In Baghdad most main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second day.
The Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, again came under mortar bomb or rocket attack, but no information was immediately available on casualties or damage.
8:42 PM
Australia's largest city was shrouded in darkness on Saturday night as it launched a worldwide campaign stretching from Sydney to San Francisco to highlight global warming.
Sydney was the first major metropolis to mark Saturday's 'Earth Hour', a self-imposed 60-minute black-out, with the lights on landmark buildings, corporate skyscrapers, businesses and homes switched off from 8:00 pm (0900 GMT).
From there the initiative, which aims to engage the community in combatting global warming, will see lights dimmed or turned off at 8:00 pm local time in Asian cities such as Bangkok and Manila, before spreading further to Europe and the Americas. Tel Aviv marked the event on March 27 for religious reasons.
'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley, who has said up to 30 million people could participate this year, said he was amazed at how far the initiative had spread since it was launched by environmental group WWF in Sydney a year ago.
"When we first talked about it, right at the beginning, our dream was to come up with something that made sense to a lot of people to do," he told AFP.
"And what seems to have happened is that it does seem to make sense to a lot of people to do it."
'Earth Hour' encourages governments, companies and homeowners to voluntarily switch off power to non-essential appliances for one hour to illustrate how, by working together, people can make a difference by using less energy, thereby producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
About 2.2 million people are estimated to have participated in the 2007 Sydney event which left the city's iconic harbourside Opera House and nearby Harbour Bridge bathed in moonlight as restaurant diners ate by candlelight and company logos on office buildings were dimmed.
'Earth Hour' Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said with 370 cities, towns and local governments across 35 countries taking part, he expected tens of millions of people to participate in 2008.
"I'm putting my neck on the line but my hope is that we top 100 million people," he said.
He said 'Earth Hour' carried "a message of hope and optimism... (that) we, the citizens of the world, are prepared to take action and we want to defeat climate change."
At 8:00 pm, Sydney's Harbour Bridge and Opera House dimmed as the floodlights were turned off, leaving only security lighting on. Elsewhere in the central business district, office lights were turned off.
Twenty-six cities around the world are officially signed on to turn off their lights on Saturday night, including Chicago and Atlanta in the US and the Irish capital Dublin, but hundreds more towns and local governments are expected to be involved in the 60-minute shutdown.
In Bangkok, the lights on some of the Thai capital's most famous landmarks, including the riverside Temple of the Dawn, the Rama 8 Cable Bridge across the Chao Phraya River and the main boulevard in the city's historic core will be turned off.
Sawaeng Tankam, 50, a motorcycle taxi driver, said authorities should expand the campaign to more areas.
"Why do they switch off the lights only in a few areas? That doesn't do enough to save energy. They should do this in every district in the city or even better, in every province," he said.
Some people in the Thai capital said they didn't know about the campaign.
"Switch off the lights? Where?" said Prapunpong Kaewyaem, 28, a vendor selling brass statues on Rajdamri Road, one of the thoroughfares set to turn off its street lamps.
Others voiced concern about the city plunging into darkness.
"I don't like it. This doesn't help anything. It is going to be dark," said Supoj Jaidee, a self-employed 30 year old.
Meanwhile in Manila, several major thoroughfares will go dark as street lights and billboards are switched off on the designated hour, Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.
Cities involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.
5:55 PM
SYDNEY, Australia - Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge have gone black as the first major world city to turn off the lights in this year's Earth Hour.
The lights on the Harbour Bridge turned off at 8 p.m. as part of a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
That was followed shortly by the Opera House and other landmarks in the city. Most businesses and homes were already dark, as Sydney residents embraced their second annual Earth Hour.
More than 2 million people and 2,000 businesses marked last year's event, and organizers expected this year to be more widespread in Australia.
The event is also spreading later in the day to hundreds of cities and towns in more than 35 nations, organizers said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Lights dimmed and flickered out in New Zealand and Fiji on Saturday as the two countries became the first to launch Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness about climate change.
Hundreds of cities and towns in more than 35 nations promised to join them, organizers said.
In Christchurch, New Zealand, more than 100 businesses and thousands of homes were plunged into darkness, computers and televisions were switched off and dinners delayed for the hour from 8 to 9 p.m. Suva, Fiji, in the same time zone, also turned off its lights.
Auckland's Langham Hotel switched from electric lights to candles as it joined the effort to reduce the use of electricity, which creates greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
The campaign was later to move to Australia _ where Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge as well as shops and homes would be darkened _ before spreading through Asia, to Europe and then North America.
One of the last major cities to participate will be San Francisco _ home to the soon-to-be dimmed Golden Gate Bridge.
"What's amazing is that it's transcending political boundaries and happening in places like China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea," said Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley. "It really seems to have resonated with anybody and everybody."
Organizers see the event as a way to encourage the world to conserve energy. While all lights in participating cities are unlikely to be cut, it is the symbolic darkening of monuments, businesses and individual homes they are most eagerly anticipating.
"Earth Hour is about everyone and every organization, from individuals to global companies, joining together to own a shared problem _ climate change," Ridley said. "The real goal for me is the number of people who take part."
Earth Hour debuted last year in Sydney and a reported 2 million people and 2,000 businesses participated, organizers said. They said the result was a 10.2 percent reduction in the city's greenhouse gas emissions for the hour.
"I hope participants take away the knowledge that everything you do, however small it is, counts," Ridley said.
5:54 PM
SYDNEY, Australia - Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge went dark Saturday night as the world's first major city turned down its lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
The lights on the Harbour Bridge were turned off at 8 p.m., followed shortly by the Opera House and other city landmarks. Most businesses(AP) _ and homes were already dark as Sydney residents embraced their second annual Earth Hour.
More than 2 million people and 2,000 businesses marked last year's event and organizers expected this year to be more widespread in Australia. The event was also spreading later in the day to hundreds of cities and towns in more than 35 nations, organizers said.
"It is a wake-up call," said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. "We need to really plan for our future. (Earth Hour) is something we can all do together. Going global is very empowering."
Sydney's lights-out followed New Zealand and Fiji, the first countries to launch Earth Hour this year.
5:40 PM
SYDNEY (AFP) - - Several Asian Pacific cities were Saturday preparing to plunge into darkness as they kick off the first leg of the Australia-led 'Earth Hour' campaign to raise awareness about global warming.
Sydney will be the first major metropolis to endure the self-imposed 60-minute black-out, turning out the lights on landmark buildings and corporate skyscrapers from 8:00 pm (0900 GMT), with homes and businesses also encouraged to take part.
From there the initiative, which aims to engage the community in combatting global warming, will see lights dimmed or turned off at 8:00 pm local time in Bangkok and Manila, before spreading further to Europe and the Americas.
'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley, who has said up to 30 million people could participate this year, said he was amazed at how far the initiative had spread since it was launched by environmental group WWF in Sydney a year ago.
"When we first talked about it, right at the beginning, our dream was to come up with something that made sense to a lot of people to do," he told AFP.
"And what seems to have happened is that it does seem to make sense to a lot of people to do it."
'Earth Hour' encourages governments, companies and homeowners to voluntarily switch off power to non-essential appliances for one hour to illustrate how, by working together, people can make a difference by using less energy, thereby producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
About 2.2 million people are estimated to have participated in the 2007 Sydney event which left the city's iconic harbourside Opera House and nearby Harbour Bridge bathed in moonlight as restaurant diners ate by candlelight and company logos on office buildings were dimmed.
The Australian government has this year urged people and businesses to take part and more than 100 government departments and agencies have signed up to switch off for the hour.
"The Australian government is throwing its full support behind the efforts of WWF in organising Earth Hour," Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said.
"It is vital that we raise awareness that we can all make a difference by saving energy in our homes."
In Bangkok, the lights on some of the Thai capital's most famous landmarks, including the riverside Temple of the Dawn, the Rama 8 Cable Bridge across the Chao Phraya River and the main boulevard in the city's historic core will be turned off.
Thai TV and music stars will also join events organised by the city to raise awareness of global warming, as street lamps are turned off on eight main thoroughfares and business are urged to dim their lights.
In Manila, several major thoroughfares will go dark as street lights and billboards are switched off on the designated hour, Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country's main business group, has called on members "to participate in this global hour of action by encouraging their employees and stakeholders to turn off or reduce the lights and appliances in their homes, offices and product billboards."
Twenty-six cities around the world are officially signed on to turn off their lights on Saturday night, including Chicago and Atlanta in the US and the Irish capital Dublin, but hundreds more towns and local governments are expected to be involved in the 60-minute shutdown.
Cities involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.
5:26 PM
TODAY VERY SIANZ,GO TO MY GRANDMOTHER HSE.THEN MISS THE SPH RACE .KANA SAI LA!!!!DUN FEEL SAD AT ALL AS JUS NW ABIT DIZZY IN MY HEAD.
SRY PEOPLE SO LONG NVR POST MY OWN DAILY DIARY LIAO.NOW POSTING LOLZ
30 MARCH 2008
VERY FAST COMING TO THE END OF MARCH LIAO.
SO FAST TERM 2 LIAO
GOING TO JUNE HOLIDAYS (ABT 8 WEEKS MORE)
THEN AFTER THAT TERM 3
GT EXAM
DON FORGET ABT THE BEIJING OLMPIC (HAVE TO CATCH IT ON TEVELISION)
AWAIT FOR 2010 TO ARRIVE
SINGAPORE YOUTH OLYMPIC
1 WEEK SEPTEMBER HOLIDAY
COME BACK TERM 4
TAKE EXAM THEN RELAX
WHOOOOOO DECEMBER HOLIDAY HERE I COME
FROM NOW COUNT DOWN TO DECEMEBER HOLIDAY
THEN NEXT YEAR SEE WEATHER CAN GO EXPRESS CLASS BUT I THINK CANNOT.
5:17 PM
AFP News Report
An Iraqi Shiite militiaman is seen during a gun battle with government forces in Basra's Al-Jumhuriyah neighbourhood on March 28. Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
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Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
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More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
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An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
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Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
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"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
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"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP
5:05 PM
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - - A bomb blew up a small electricity department building in southern Afghanistan's troubled Helmand province Saturday, killing two people and wounding eight, police said.
The insurgent Taliban movement said it had planted the bomb in the Gereshk district in an attempt to kill the district police chief, Razak Khan, who regularly held meetings there.
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed Khan was among the wounded in the blast but officials could not immediately confirm he had even been there.
The attackers had somehow been able to pass through security outside the building to plant the bomb, Helmand province police commander, General Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, told AFP.
"How it happened, we don't know but some explosives were planted inside the building which caused the explosion," he said.
"As a result of the explosion, two employees of the department have been killed, six other employees and two civilians have been wounded."
One of the wounded was the head of the Gereshk power department, said Tahir Rasouli, head of the local hospital.
The one-storey building, made from traditional mudbrick, collapsed after the blast, which caused scores of people to flock to the site, a witness named Fida Mohammad said.
"People and police are cleaning up the rubble," he said. Mohammad said he had seen three bodies pulled from the debris.
The building, about 200 metres from a small hyrdopower plant, was where people came to pay their electricity bills or contact officials about their power supply.
The extremist Taliban, which frequently carry out bombings as part of their insurgency, is most active in Helmand, Afghanistan's largest province which also produces most of its huge illegal opium crop.
The Taliban were in government between 1996 and 2001, when they were ousted for harbouring Al-Qaeda leaders.
The militants target Afghan and international security forces as well as government officials and institutions.
The insurgency was in its deadliest last year with more than 8,000 people killed, according to figures used by the United Nations. This included about 1,500 civilians although most of the dead were rebel fighters.
Afghan and international officials say these fighters include jobless young men who carry out attacks for income and others who are trained in radical religious schools in Pakistan.
The government is trying to find ways to bring Afghan fighters onto its side, including by promoting economic growth and dialogue.
British Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a newspaper interview published Saturday that Britain should reach out to elements of the Taliban who can be won over to democracy.
Britain is the second largest contributor to a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and has most of its 7,500 soldiers here based in Helmand.
5:03 PM
WASHINGTON - President Bush declared on Friday that Iraq stands at a defining moment as it struggles to put down heavily armed Shiite militias. New flare-ups of extremist violence are threatening to undercut security gains and could sway Bush's decision about U.S. troop drawdowns.
In Baghdad, Shiite extremists lobbed rockets and mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which has come under steady barrages this week. The U.S. sent a Hellfire missile into a Shiite stronghold in the city. And in the south, fighting escalated in Basra where the mettle of Iraqi security forces is being sorely tested.
"Any government that presumes to represent the majority of people must confront criminal elements or people who think they can live outside the law," Bush said at the White House. "And that's what's taking place in Basra and in other parts of Iraq. I would say this is a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq."
It's also a key juncture for Bush in the five-year-old war that has claimed 4,000 American lives, worn U.S. forces thin and dominated his presidency.
Bush said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdown in Basra against Shiite militias vying for control of the oil-rich region is a positive milestone in the birth of a democratic nation. The Iraqi prime minister's decision to move against enemy elements in Basra shows "evenhanded justice" and the Iraqi government's willingness to go after both Sunni and Shiite insurgents and outlaws, he said.
Just as important is how the violence plays out. The ability of Iraqi security forces to control places like Basra will color the president's decision on whether to order more U.S. troop withdrawals beyond the five U.S. brigades already returning home by July _ something that's already looking unlikely.
The renewed violence, which has followed months of relative calm, threatened to unravel a fragile cease-fire with followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. How much U.S. troops are drawn into the fight will be a telling sign of the Iraqi forces' ability to protect the nation.
Bush stressed that those Iraqi forces remained in the lead, yet U.S. forces stepped deeper into the fight.
U.S. pilots assisting Iraqi forces conducted airstrikes on Basra on Friday. American jets dropped bombs in the city, marking a sharp escalation in the fight against insurgents the Pentagon accuses of having links to Iran.
Bush said he did not know what triggered al-Maliki to act.
"This was his decision," Bush said during a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is pulling 550 Australian troops out of Iraq.
Bush said of al-Maliki: "It was his military planning. It was his causing the troops to go from point A to point B. And it's exactly what a lot of folks here in America were wondering whether or not Iraq would even be able to do in the first place."
While he praised the Iraqi government's actions, he cautioned that the situation in Iraq remains "dangerous and fragile." He urged patience.
"They're fighting some pretty tough characters, people who kill innocent people to achieve objectives," he said. "And, yes, there's going to be violence, and that's sad. But this situation needed to be dealt with, and it's now being dealt with."
The Iraqi military campaign has triggered Shiite uprisings in other parts of the country, and, if the violence is not contained it could force U.S. officials to rethink further cutbacks in troop levels.
Early next month, Bush is expected to endorse a temporary halt in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has warned against shrinking the American force so rapidly that the gains in security will be compromised.
The latest tally of casualties over the past several weeks shows more high spikes than in previous months _ including several days with 100 or more U.S. military, Iraqi military and Iraqi civilian deaths.
Officials say they are not yet certain whether the upturn in casualties represents a trend of increased violence. And it is not clear that Petraeus will be able to make such a conclusion before he goes before Congress April 8.
12:26 PM
WAH NOW HOR SCHOOL ALWAYS ON THE NEWSPAPER .COOL BUT THE THING IS WHY DO THEY WANT TO SUSPEND STUDENTS ,AT LEAST LET THEM HAVE THEIR HAIR CUT IN SCHOOL MAH.THEN THEY ALL ALWAYS LOITER AROUND THE VOID DECK IN THE NEARBY BLOCKS.LIKE THAT MAKE THEM MORE HAPPY AND DESTROYING THE SCHOOL NAME AND SUSPEND UNTILL THEY WANT TO COME BACK TO SCHOOL.THE SCHOOL DO THINGS VERY FUNNY LEH.STUDENT POSTING THE NEWS ON NEWSPAPER TO CAPTURE THE READERS ATTENTION.THEY ALL ARE ALL VERY CLEVER PERSON JUS TO PUT THE NEWS IN THE NEWSPAPER.DRAINAGE SYSTEM IN SCHOOL LOUSY? STUDENT CAPTURE THE PICTURE WITH THEIR HANDPHONES IN TEH SSCHOOL CANTEEN LAST WEDNESDAY.HAVY RAINING ,THEN EVERYONE NO UMBRELLAS CANNOT LEAVE THE SCHOOL,THEN IN TEH CANTEEN WALK HERE WALK THERE PLAYING WITH THE RAIN WATER AS THE WATER FLOODED INTO THE SCHOOL CANTEEN .I THINK THEY GT TO DO SOMETHING ABT THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM.ALL THESE THINGS HOR ,MUS STOP.THE SCHOOL MUST USE ABIT OF BRAINS.AGREE?
12:06 PM
TODAY ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO TO YCK STADIUM FOR THE SPH RELAY BUT THEN HOR MY HEAD SUDDENLY GO DIZZY SEEMS TO FEEL LIKE A BIT OF FEVER BUT NT .IN THIS CONDITIONS,FEELING LIKE I COULD NT RUN FOR THE DAY .SIANZZ SRY AR
ONE MORE THING IS I WEREN AWARE ABT THIS UNTILL MY FRIEND TOLD ME ABT THIS RACE AND MY MATHS TEACHER TOLD ME THIS SPH RELAY RACE ,SEC ONES WERE NT INVOLVE IN IT LIKE THAT I WAS CONFUSED SEH.SO DUN NOE WAD TO DO LEH .HELP ME ZZZZZZZ
12:05 PM
US-led coalition jets bombed Shiite militia positions in the southern city of Basra as prime minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday offered cash to local residents to hand in their guns.
More than 180 people have been been killed in clashes since Tuesday and new firefights broke out in Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia which Iraqi forces are battling in Basra and other regions.
Security and medical officials also reported fierce fighting in and around the southern city of Nasiriyah.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for Maliki's government.
American-led coalition forces entered the fray for the first time since the Iraqi army launched its crackdown on Shiite fighters in Basra, by bombing the militia's positions in the city, a British military spokesman said.
Two bombing missions were carried out overnight, Major Tom Holloway told AFP.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," he said.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen despite stiff resistance, protests from sympathisers and mounting casualties.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the radical cleric ordered last August.
Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
The prime minister's move was part of a three-pronged effort to break Shiite resistance, along with the imposition of a three-day curfew in Baghdad and precision bombing by the US-led coalition.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
"All those who have heavy and medium arms, they should surrender them to the security forces and receive money starting from March 28 until April 8," Maliki told Basra residents in a statement issued by his Baghdad office.
Maliki adviser Sadeq al-Rikabi said that the offer was for all those who had weapons in their homes and was aimed to "take the arms away."
"We confirm the objectives of the operation in Basra which is to chase illegal elements and to put all the weapons under the control of the law," the Maliki statement said.
"These weapons create problems for civilians and their property. The government wants to give a chance to solve the problem without having to call upon the wrath of legal action."
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted as residents observed the curfew, due to be lifted at dawn on Sunday, while parliament held an emergency session attended by just 54 of its 275 MPs.
Even as Baghdadis observed the curfew, Iraqi and US troops clashed with Shiite gunmen in parts of the capital, including Sadr City and Kadhimiyah.
At least 14 people were killed in Sadr City on Friday, including three children, medics said, while 17 people were killed in Kadhimiyah and other parts of Baghdad.
Mortar bombs also struck Baghdad's Green Zone, hitting the offices of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi and parliament speaker Mahmud Mashhadani.
Two of Hashemi's guards were killed and two of Mashhadani's were wounded.
Since the Basra assault began, more than 180 people have been killed across Shiite areas.
Fighting has raged in other strongholds such as the central cities of Kut, Hilla and Nasiriyah, Iraqi and US military officials said.
In and around Nasiriyah more than 35 people were killed on Friday, a medical official said.
Police in Hilla said they arrested 60 gunmen.
A US soldier was killed south of Baghdad, taking the military's death toll in Iraq to 4,005.
8:08 PM
A press briefing was held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the returning STS-123 mission crew Thursday afternoon.
Endeavour Commander Dominic Gorie, talked about the storybook ending to an awesome mission and thanked his crew for the difficult work they accomplished.
"We've had one of the most remarkable missions I could have ever imagined," said Gorie.
"The weather last night wouldn't quite cooperate on the first opportunity, but I think it was destiny because we had trained for a night landing, and that's what we were going to do."
Gorie said the five spacewalks were an ambitious achievement and again praised his crew for their hard work.
Pilot Gregory H. Johnson was asked about his best memory of the mission and he said, "The thing that jumps out to me is the launch."
"After almost 10 years of training … I could have never imaged how it was going to be until we actually did it." This was Johnson's first spaceflight.
Mission Specialist Robert Behnken, also made his first flight into space on Endeavour. "The EVAs … I got to translate quite a bit around the space station," said Behnken. "I got to climb on the Columbus module to install an experiment on the end of it."
"The views I was able to see looking down into the shuttle, looking down on the Earth, was just remarkable for me."
After 16 days in space and 250 orbits of the Earth, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
With the STS-123 mission concluded, the crew of Endeavour flew back to Houston for a homecoming celebration at Ellington Field and reunion with their family and friends.
The next mission, STS-124, is slated to launch in May.
6:49 PM
6:39 PM
6:31 PM
6:20 PM
Followers of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr staged noisy protests on Thursday against a crackdown on Shiite fighters in Basra, as the southern oil hub was rocked by a third straight day of fighting.
Demonstrations were held in Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, two Baghdad bastions of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, even as preliminary contacts were held between the government and Sadrist officials in a bid to resolve the crisis.
An AFP correspondent in Basra said heavy fighting erupted early Thursday in the central Jumhuriyah neighbourhood, a Mahdi Army bastion, which was rocked by rocket propelled grenade, mortar and small arms fire.
Iraqi troops launched security operations on Tuesday in Basra neighbourhoods controlled by the Mahdi Army under orders from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to rid the city of "lawless gangs".
In Sadr City, an impoverished Shiite district of around two million people in east Baghdad, crowds gathered from 10:00 am (0700 GMT) outside the Sadr office to yell slogans against Maliki, who is in Basra overseeing the military operations.
"Maliki you are a coward! Maliki is an American agent! Leave the government, Maliki! How can you strike Basra?" the crowd chanted.
Under the picture were the words: "This isIn the Kadhimiyah neighbourhood of north Baghdad, followers of Sadr carried a coffin covered in red fabric with an attached photograph of Maliki set against the background of an American flag.
the new dictator."
Sheikh Ayad al-Kaabi, a Sadr official, told AFP that the demonstration was called "to demand the resignation of the Maliki government".
"We demand the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Basra and an end to the siege in Baghdad," he said.
The Sadr movement had announced on Wednesday it would hold protest rallies against Maliki in Baghdad and the southern city of Amara, while Sadr has threatened to launch a civil revolt if the attacks against the militiamen are not halted.
Police spokesman Colonel Karim al-Zaidi said the convoy of Basra police chief Major General Abdul Jalil Khalaf was hit by a suicide car bomber around 1:00 am on Thursday (2200 GMT Wednesday) as it passed through the streets of Basra.
"Three policemen were killed in the attack," Zaidi said, adding that Khalaf was unharmed.
Residents said the streets of the oil-rich city of 1.5 million people, the economic nerve centre of Iraq, were deserted on Thursday and that shops and businesses were shut.
On Wednesday Maliki gave militiamen battling his forces in Basra 72 hours to lay down their arms and warned that those failing to do so would face the full brunt of the law.
Basra has become the theatre of a bitter turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
The three factions are fighting to control the huge oil revenues generated in the province, which was transferred to Iraqi control by the British military in December.
An aide to Sadr said representatives of the Iraqi government and a Sadrist official held preliminary talks by telephone Thursday in a bid to end the crisis in Basra.
Liqa ali-Yassin, a member of Sadr's 32-member parliamentary bloc, said Liwa Sumaysim, head of Sadr's political bureau in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, spoke by telephone with Shiite MP Ali al-Adib from Maliki's Dawa party.
The two were planning to hold face to face talks in Basra but Yassin was unable to say exactly when the meeting would take place.
US military spokesman Major General Kevin Bergner told a news conference on Wednesday that 2,000 extra Iraqi security forces had been sent to Basra for the operation.
He said it was aimed at improving security in the city ahead of provincial elections in October.
"The prime minister's assessment is that without this operation there will not be any hopeful prospect of improving security in Basra," Bergner said.
6:17 PM
Thursday, March 27As of Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at least 4,003 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,257 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is seven more than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
___
The latest deaths reported by the military:
_ A soldier was killed Wednesday by small-arms fire in Baghdad.
_ A soldier was killed Wednesday by hostile fire in eastern Baghdad.
___
The latest identifications reported by the military:
_ No identifications reported
3:29 PM
INFORMATION ON NASA SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR TOUCH DOWN
Landed: Wed., March 26, 8:39 p.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Mission Elapsed Time:
15 days, 18 hours, 11 minutes, 3 secs
Official Landing Times
Main gear touchdown: 8:39:08 p.m. EDT
Nose gear touchdown: 8:39:17 p.m. EDT
Wheels stop: 8:40:41 p.m. EDT
Total miles: 6.6 million
NEWS REPORT ON SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR TOUCH DOWN
Endeavour Lands at Kennedy Space Center
Image above: Space shuttle Endeavour lands at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, capping the STS-123 mission. Credit: NASA/Tom Joseph
› View High-res Image
After 16 days in space and 250 orbits of the Earth, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. EST Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bringing the STS-123 mission to a flawless end.
But for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), whose Kibo laboratory module is finally taking shape aboard the International Space Station, this flight was merely the beginning.
"We are quite honored that Mr. Doi contributed to the construction of the space station," said JAXA vice president Kaoru Mamiya, referring to STS-123 Mission Specialist Takao Doi. "It's the first step for our Kibo construction, and we hope that next time, the main module will be added to the station."
Endeavour and crew are in excellent shape after a safe and successful landing, according to NASA managers.
"I got to talk to the crew, and the crew was just having a fantastic time reflecting on their mission and looking up at their vehicle that just landed," said Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. "They were glad to be home, very proud of the work they did, and we're very proud of the work they did, too."
The STS-123 crew began its mission March 11 and arrived at the International Space Station March 12. The astronauts delivered the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (JLP), the first pressurized component of the Kibo laboratory to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station's Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.
Astronaut Garrett Reisman officially joined the Expedition 16 crew, trading places with European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts, who returned to Earth aboard Endeavour after almost 50 days in space.
STS-123 is the 122nd shuttle mission and the 25th station assembly mission. The next mission, STS-124, is slated to launch in May.
2:58 PM
The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth on Wednesday, capping a milestone flight that brought Japan fully into the International Space Station partnership with the delivery of the first part of its research laboratory.
Clouds at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida prompted NASA to bypass Endeavour's first landing opportunity and nearly the second, but conditions stabilized and the wheels touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT , ending NASA's 122nd shuttle mission in darkness, just as it began 16 days ago.
With commander Dominic Gorie in control, Endeavour crossed Florida from the west, heading toward the Atlantic coast. Double sonic booms shattered the evening silence as the ship's speed dipped beneath the sound barrier for the first time since it blasted off in the predawn hours of March 11.
Gorie looped over the ocean and then nosed the 100-ton ship onto a concrete runway between canals in the Florida marshland.
"Welcome home Endeavour," said astronaut Jim Dutton from Mission Control in Houston. "Congrats to the entire crew .... on a very successful mission."
"Thanks Jim," replied Gorie. "It was a super rewarding mission, exciting from the start to the ending."
Endeavour dropped off at the space station a storage room for Japan's Kibo lab, as well as a Canadian robot to help astronauts maintain the $100 billion outpost.
In the crew cabin upon its return was space station flight engineer Leopold Eyharts, a French astronaut who spent seven weeks aloft to set up a European lab, called Columbus, which was delivered during the last shuttle mission in February.
NASA hopes to complete three more missions to the space station this year and a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope as it whittles down an 11-flight manifest that must be finished by the time the shuttles are retired in 2010.
The Endeavour astronauts stayed at the station for 12 days, longer than any previous crew, and conducted five spacewalks to install Kibo's storage room, assemble the massive Dextre maintenance robot and prepare the complex for the next wave of construction.
NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman replaced Eyharts during the mission and will stay aboard until shuttle Discovery reaches the station in late May with the main part of Kibo.
Endeavour's departure cleared the way for the space station's next visitor.
Europe's debut cargo carrier, the Jules Verne, is scheduled to undertake two days of practice rendezvous manoeuvres before berthing April 3. A Russian Soyuz rocket with two more new crew members is due to arrive the following week.
2:57 PM
The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, after a record-setting mission to the International Space Station to install a Japanese laboratory and a Canadian repair robot, NASA said.
Endeavour landed at 8:39 pm (0039 GMT, Thursday) after a 16-day mission that included a record 12-day docking at the ISS and five spacewalks -- the most ever embarked upon in a single mission.
The shuttle touched down after an initially scheduled landing 90 minutes earlier was postponed due to poor weather conditions.
The Endeavour's mission, which went by practically without a hitch, was greeted with enthusiasm by everybody at NASA.
"This has been a two-week adventure and it's been a pleasure and honor to be on it," shuttle co-pilot Greg Johnson told NASA mission control at Houston, Texas, after the crew got their wake-up call Wednesday at around 1500 GMT.
Endeavour commander Dominic Gorie late Sunday described the mission as an all-around success.
"We've done awesome," Gorie said. "Every spacewalk was a win, every robotic op (operation) was a win."
His comments came after mission specialists Robert Behnken and Mike Foreman attached a 50-foot sensory boom to the outside of the space station.
ISS flight director Dana Weigel said the spacewalk, often referred to by NASA officials as an EVA, or an extra-vehicular activity, had set a new record.
"This was five EVAs ... more than we've done on any station mission," he said.
The spacewalkers also successfully installed an experiment on the outside of the European Space Agency's laboratory, which the astronauts had failed to complete during the third spacewalk on March 17.
Endeavour launched on March 11. Its mission's main tasks were to install the first part of the Japanese Kibo lab, a micro-gravity research facility that will be the station's largest module when completed in March 2009.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takao Doi, who is returning on the Endeavour, said Kibo "is going to open up a new era for Japan in the space program."
Astronauts also tested new repair techniques for the shuttle's heat shield. NASA has been testing different in-space repair techniques on the shuttle's protective layer since a crack in Columbia's heat shield caused it to explode while re-entering Earth's atmosphere in 2003, killing its seven-member crew.
Astronauts also assembled the Canadian-made Dextre robot, which is designed to undertake maintenance operations on the space station that until now required a human touch, and reduce the need for risky spacewalks.
The robot's human-like upper torso swivels at the waist, and its arms were designed with seven joints to provide it with maximum versatility. Umbilical connectors provide power and data connectivity.
Manipulated by joysticks inside the ISS or from ground control on Earth, the 1.56-tonne Dextre will conduct operations such as replacing small components on the station's exterior.
NASA wants to complete construction of the ISS by 2010, when its three-shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired.
2:57 PM
The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday after a record-setting mission at the International Space Station, NASA said.
The shuttle landed at 8:39 pm (0039 GMT, Thursday) after a 16-day mission that included a record 12-day docking at the ISS and five spacewalks -- more than on any other shuttle mission in history.
The Endeavour delivered to the orbiting station Japan's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian robot Dextre for future maintenance operations on the ISS
2:56 PM
The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth on Wednesday, capping a milestone flight that brought Japan fully into the International Space Station partnership with the delivery of the first part of its research laboratory.
Clouds at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida prompted NASA to bypass Endeavour's first landing opportunity and nearly the second, but conditions stabilized and the wheels touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT , ending NASA's 122nd shuttle mission in darkness, just as it began 16 days ago.
With commander Dominic Gorie in control, Endeavour crossed Florida from the west, heading toward the Atlantic coast. Double sonic booms shattered the evening silence as the ship's speed dipped beneath the sound barrier for the first time since it blasted off in the predawn hours of March 11.
Gorie looped over the ocean and then nosed the 100-ton ship onto a concrete runway between canals in the Florida marshland.
"Welcome home Endeavour," said astronaut Jim Dutton from Mission Control in Houston. "Congrats to the entire crew .... on a very successful mission."
"Thanks Jim," replied Gorie. "It was a super rewarding mission, exciting from the start to the ending."
Endeavour dropped off at the space station a storage room for Japan's Kibo lab, as well as a Canadian robot to help astronauts maintain the $100 billion outpost.
In the crew cabin upon its return was space station flight engineer Leopold Eyharts, a French astronaut who spent seven weeks aloft to set up a European lab, called Columbus, which was delivered during the last shuttle mission in February.
NASA hopes to complete three more missions to the space station this year and a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope as it whittles down an 11-flight manifest that must be finished by the time the shuttles are retired in 2010.
The Endeavour astronauts stayed at the station for 12 days, longer than any previous crew, and conducted five spacewalks to install Kibo's storage room, assemble the massive Dextre maintenance robot and prepare the complex for the next wave of construction.
NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman replaced Eyharts during the mission and will stay aboard until shuttle Discovery reaches the station in late May with the main part of Kibo.
Endeavour's departure cleared the way for the space station's next visitor.
Europe's debut cargo carrier, the Jules Verne, is scheduled to undertake two days of practice rendezvous manoeuvres before berthing April 3. A Russian Soyuz rocket with two more new crew members is due to arrive the following week.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
6:57 PM
- - Antarctica's massive Wilkins Ice Shelf has begun disintegrating under the effects of global warming, satellite images by the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center showed.
The collapse of a substantial section of the shelf was triggered February 28 when an iceberg measuring 41 by 2.4 kilometers (25.5 by 1.5 miles) broke off its southwestern front.
That movement led to disintegration of the shelf's interior, of which 414 square kilometers (160 square miles) have already disappeared, scientists say.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a broad plate of permanent floating ice 1,609 kilometers (1,000 miles) south of South America, on the southwest Antarctic Peninsula.
Now, as a result of recent losses, a large part of the 12,950-square-kilometer (5,000-square-mile) shelf is supported by a narrow 5.6-kilometer (3.5-mile) strip of ice between two islands, scientists said.
"If there is a little bit more retreat, this last 'ice buttress' could collapse and we'd likely lose about half the total ice shelf area in the next few years," NSIDC lead scientist Ted Scambos said in a statement.
"Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on West Antarctica yet to be threatened. This shelf is hanging by a thread," echoed David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey, which contributed data on the break-up.
Jim Elliott, who was onboard a British Antarctic Survey Twin Otter aircraft sent to video the extent of the damage, said the scene looked like a bomb site.
"I've never seen anything like this before -- it was awesome," he said in a BAS statement.
"We flew along the main crack and observed the sheer scale of movement from the breakage.
"Big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble -- it's like an explosion."
Antarctica has suffered unprecedented warming in the last 50 years -- with several ice shelves retreating and six of them collapsing since the 1970s.
"Climate warming in the Antarctic Peninsula has pushed the limit of viability for ice shelves further south, setting some of them that used to be stable on a course of retreat and eventual loss," Vaughan said.
Vaughan said the Wilkins breakout would not affect sea levels because it was already floating when it broke off.
"But it is another indication of the impact that climate change is having on the region."
Over the past half century, the western Antarctic Peninsula has experienced the steepest temperature increase on Earth, 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 Farenheit) per decade.
"We believe the Wilkins has been in place for at least a few hundred years, but warm air and exposure to ocean waves are causing a breakup," said Scambos, who first spotted the disintegration in March.
With the Antarctic summer drawing to a close, scientists do not expect the ice shelf to further disintegrate in the next several months.
"This unusual show is over for this season," said Scambos. "But come January, we'll be watching to see if the Wilkins continues to fall apart."
Ultimately, ice shelf breakup in the Antarctic -- more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) have been lost over the past 50 years -- could significantly increase ocean levels around the world.
In 1995 the Larsen A Ice Shelf -- 75 kilometers (47 miles) long and 35 kilometers (22 miles) wide -- disintegrated, fragmenting into icebergs in the Weddell Sea.
In March 2002, a NASA satellite captured the collapse of Larsen B, which had a surface area of 3,850 square kilometers (1,486 square miles), was 200 meters (656 feet) high, and packed in 720 billion tonnes of ice. It took just 30 days to break apart.
According to some calculations based on the present sea level rise of three millimeters per year (0.11 inches), ocean levels could rise by 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) by the end of the century
6:55 PM
- - Fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with Iraqi and US forces in their Baghdad bastion of Sadr City on Wednesday, killing four civilians, a medic and security officials said.
"Four civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded in the firefight," Qassim al-Sueidi, head of the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City told AFP.
Iraqi security officials said the fighting broke out at 1:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday) and was continuing sporadically during the day in the sprawling impoverished northeastern Baghdad neighbourhood
6:50 PM
- - Protests against China's human rights record and crackdown in Tibet disrupted ceremonies on Monday to light the Olympic flame for the Beijing Games.
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Three men from a media rights group breached tight security around Ancient Olympia to unfurl a flag demanding a boycott of the Olympics. Later 10 Tibetan activists staged a protest in the town's main street before they were detained or chased by police.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said there was no "momentum" for a boycott of the Games which start in the Chinese capital on August 8.
"I think it's always sad when there are protests, but they were not violent and that's the most important thing," Rogge told reporters.
The three members of the Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reports Without Borders -- RSF) group, staged their first protest as the chief Beijing Olympics organiser, Liu Qi, who is also the capital's municipal communist party chief, made a speech.
One man unfurled a flag declaring "Boycott the country that tramples on human rights." Another tried to grab the microphone from Liu and shouted "Freedom! Freedom!" in front of Rogge and other officials.
Security officers quickly dragged all three away. The RSF secretary general Robert Menard and two other activists were taken to the nearby city of Pyrgos, where they were later charged with an "offensive act."
"Our trial has been set for May 29. We will be there to denounce again the corruption of Olympianism" at the Beijing Games, Menard told AFP on his release.
The charge against them of "an offensive act is not the same as a provocation," he said, and is subject to a maximum one year prison term and/or a fine.
"We will continue similar protests until August 8," Menard had told AFP earlier by telephone from a Pyrgos police station.
"We have nothing against the Olympic Games or the athletes. We want to draw attention to the fact that China is the world's biggest prison," added Menard, who was presented with the Legion of Honour, France's top civilian award, by President Nicolas Sarkozy, on Sunday.
Greek police had imposed heavy security, including armed police watching down on the site from nearby hills. Greek state television cut its live broadcast away from the protesters. China's state broadcaster also quickly changed and did not mention the demonstrators.
Actors in ancient Greek costume carried out the traditional ceremony unhindered, using a parabolic mirror to focus the sun's rays and kindle a flame on the torch.
As dignitaries dispersed, about 10 Tibetan activists, covered in red paint, marched out of an Olympia hotel and lay down in the town's central street, shouting slogans against China's rule in Tibet.
Police detained at least two of the activists and chased the others.
A Tibetan woman involved in the street protest, who is a Swiss passport holder, was also held in Pyrgos, but a number of other people were released, police said.
They included a German companion of the Tibetan girl, a Japanese man found carrying a small knife at the entrance of the Olympia ceremony site, a Greek photographer and a Tibetan student protest leader who was part of an anti-Chinese protest at Olympia on March 10, police said.
Speaking before the ceremony, Rogge said "the major political leaders don't want a boycott." He added: "There is no momentum for a boycott."
"Bush doesn't want a boycott, Sarkozy doesn't want a boycott, Brown doesn't want a boycott," Rogge said, referring to US President George W. Bush, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
But he acknowledged that the torch relay across 20 countries - and Mount Everest and Tibet - might be hijacked. "Of course it's a concern," he said.
In his speech at the ceremony, Rogge said the Beijing Games should be an opportunity for China and the world "to learn, discover and respect each other."
A crackdown on anti-Chinese protests in Tibet, which exiled Tibetans say has left at least 130 dead, has overshadowed the build-up to the Games.
Various rights groups have drawn up plans aiming to galvanise opposition to China's record on Tibet, Darfur, human rights, religious freedom and other issues in the run-up to the Beijing Games.
The torch's journey to Beijing is the longest ever, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometres (85,000 miles) worldwide. Most of it will be on Chinese soil.
Aside from Athens, the flame will only stop in London and Paris among European capitals. It will stop in San Francisco and Buenos Aires in the Americas and just Dar es Salaam in Africa.
Upon arrival in Beijing, one flame will be separated from the torch and kept in a special lantern to be taken to the summit of Mount Everest
6:49 PM
Australia - Australia's senior Olympic official is urging political demonstrators not to target the Beijing Games amid global moves to bolster security for the torch relay following protests in Ancient Olympia.
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A protester evaded tight security, ran behind Beijing Olympic chief Liu Qi, and held up a black banner showing the Olympic rings as handcuffs at the traditional lighting of the flame in Greece on Monday.
In other statements against China's human rights policies and crackdown in Tibet, three men advocating press freedom evaded massive security and ran onto the field at the ceremony in Ancient Olympia before they were seized by police.
And a Tibetan woman covered in fake blood briefly blocked the path of the torch relay.
"I think the Olympic Games are a cause and an agent for good, not a panacea for ills," former International Olympic Committee vice president Kevan Gosper, vice chairman of the IOC's Coordination Commission for the Beijing Games, said.
The Australian Capital Territory's chief minister John Stanhope is proposing high security when the flame arrives in Canberra on April 24 on its 130-day journey to the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies in Beijing.
"The ACT government has been liaising with the Chinese Embassy ... and the Australian Federal Police on security arrangements from the time Canberra was invited to participate in the torch relay," Stanhope said. "These arrangements are well-advanced and, of course, will remain subject to whatever change or augmentation might be needed."
Falun Gong practitioners and Tibet supporters have already staged protests outside China's embassy in Canberra.
"The ACT government respects the right of anyone to air their opinions or make their sentiments known, so long as they do so in a peaceful manner and so long as they respect the laws of the ACT," Stanhope said. "Canberra has the advantage of hosting the torch later in the global tour, and will be able to learn from the experience of other cities along the way."
China's communist leadership has faced a public relations disaster since protests of its rule turned violent March 14 in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, sparking waves of unrest in surrounding provinces. China reported a death toll of 22 from the violence, but Tibet's exiled government says 80 Tibetans were killed. Nineteen died in subsequent violence in Gansu province, it said.
A rising chorus of international criticism and floated calls for a boycott have unnerved the Chinese leadership, which has turned up efforts to put its own version of the unrest before the international public.
"Everybody's very sensitive to what's been happening in Tibet in recent days and we hope that the Chinese will bring peace very quickly," Gosper said in an Australian TV interview Tuesday. The Olympics "is not a nasty event, this is an event of celebration.
"I think that detractors who try and draw attention to their own issues ... are only doing their own causes harm."
Gosper, who won a silver medal for Australia at the 1956 Olympics, said the spirit of the Olympics was at stake.
"It's symbolic of sport at its best, it's symbolic of peace and good will," he said. "And whilst there are detractors, we're hopeful the torch will come through as it should as an ideal of the Olympic and what it represents
6:31 PM
China says Olympic torch protests 'shameful'
BEIJING (AFP) - China said Tuesday attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay were "shameful" after protests at the ceremony to light the flame added to pressure over its handling of ongoing unrest in Tibet.
Amid reports of new bloodshed during a major crackdown by Chinese forces, the demonstrations in Greece on Monday underlined world anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China's communist leaders on the issue.
But China's foreign ministry had only sharp words for the protests and urged countries on the relay route to ensure its smooth progress.
"Any act to disrupt the Olympic torch relay is shameful and unpopular," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing in China's first official reaction to the incidents.
"We also believe that competent authorities in countries through which the torch relay will pass have the obligation to ensure a smooth relay."
With Tibetan exiles putting the death toll from 10 days of unrest at around 140, protesters condemning China's human rights record briefly disrupted the flame ceremony as it was broadcast live around the world -- with Chinese officials on hand.
Later, 10 Tibetan activists staged a protest in the town's main street.
Chinese media largely ignored it in their accounts of the lighting of the flame, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic torch in the run-up to the August 8-24 Games, which China hopes will be a showpiece for the nation.
The China Daily instead called the flame ceremony "a perfect start."
The Global Times, a specialised newspaper focusing on international news, carried a short reference to the protests at the end of a lengthy report.
The incidents helped renew international attention on China's crackdown on the two weeks of protest over its rule of Tibet, which Beijing has blamed on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
State-run Xinhua news agency reported a policeman was killed, and other officers injured, in fresh clashes Monday in Garze, a southwest region in Sichuan province with a large proportion of ethnic Tibetans.
The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported one Tibetan protester was shot dead and another left in critical condition following "indiscriminate firing" at a group of about 200 demonstrators.
Protests began in Tibet on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region.
The unrest has since turned deadly and spread to other parts of the country.
Thirteen people who took part in the March 10 demonstration are now under arrest, the state-controlled Tibet Daily reported Tuesday.
"This repression is not tolerable," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday on the Europe 1 radio network, referring to the Chinese crackdown.
By contrast, Singapore said Tuesday it "supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force."
Xinhua on Tuesday reported a visit to Tibet by Meng Jianzhu, the head of the public security ministry and China's top police official, covering several areas in Lhasa impacted by the clashes.
"Every religion should carry out their activities according to the law and should never undermine national solidarity," Meng said, according to the agency.
"Participating in the riot essentially violated the doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism."
Independent confirmation of reports from the region and areas populated by Tibetans has been extremely difficult due to curbs China has placed on foreign media.
The foreign ministry said Tuesday it would organise a three-day trip to Lhasa by about a dozen selected foreign journalists.
Tibet, a mountainous region that straddles Mount Everest and is more than twice the size of France, has been a flashpoint issue for China's Communist leadership ever since it came to power in 1949.
Tibet has taken on greater importance in the run-up to the Olympics in August, which the country's leaders hope will be a chance to show off China's rapid transformation into a modern economic power.
Despite the protests, calls for a boycott of the Games have been muted.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Monday that there was "deep concern" over events in Tibet but has dismissed talk of boycotting the event.
10:44 PM
IRAQ WAR
TODAY SURE HAVE CASUALTIES IN IRAQ.YESTERDAY 2 SOLDIERS DIED WHEN THEIR VEHICLES WERE STRUCK BY A IMPROVISED-EXPLOSIVE DEVICES.THAT HAPPEN JUST YESTERDAY.DUN NOE WHEN THE WAR CAN STOP.US SOLDIER DEATH TOLL HAVE ALREADY REACH 4009 LIAO BUT SOME STILL NOT CONFIRMED YET.OTHERS HAVE BEEN PRONOUCED DEAD.THIS WAR MAY NOT END SOON I THINK.
10:29 PM
TODAY WENT TO SEMBAWANG BEACH THEN SAW A OBSERVATION POST OVER THR.THAT SHOULD BE A HUNT FOR THE MAS SELAMAT.2 POLICE STANDING OVER THR SEEMS TO BE VERY BORED.ONE SITTING OVER THR SEEING THE SEA THEN THE OTHER ONE OVER THR USING BIONOCULARS SEEING AT THE SEA.I THINK THEY MUST BEEN VERY TIRED.MINISTER SAY THEY ARE GOING TO SEARCH FOR HIM UNTILL HE IS FOUND.LOLZ MAYBE HE HAS ALREADY FLED THE COUNTRY,NOBODY NOES.
12:10 PM
British Airways said Saturday that delays and cancellations at London Heathrow airport's new terminal would last into next week, amid claims that the extent of the problems were worse than admitted.
The airline said about 13 percent of short-haul and European flights in and out of Terminal 5 (T5) would be cancelled Monday, with the expectation that a similar number would be cut on Tuesday.
There would be a "progressively larger flying programme throughout the week", it said in a statement but added: "This is dependent on the performance of the baggage system."
A total of 66 flights were cancelled Saturday -- 12 more than originally announced -- with a further 37 flights set to be pulled Sunday.
So far, nearly 250 flights have been cancelled since T5 opened on Thursday because of computer glitches affecting the new baggage handling system.
BA said earlier they were trying to "reunite" 15,000 bags with their owners but the BBC, quoting an unnamed airport source, said the true figure could be as high as 20,000 and would take weeks to sort out.
It illustrated the problems with still photographs of mountains of suitcases stacked up in the terminal after passengers were unable to reclaim them or were forced to fly on to their destinations without their luggage.
As business leaders called the situation a public relations disaster for BA, London and Britain, the BBC said it had been banned from filming at the terminal, where hundreds of passengers were facing long delays.
Sky News television also said it had been locked out.
The baggage chaos is the latest embarrassment for BA, which has exclusive use of the 8.7-billion-dollar (5.6-billion-euro) terminal that was officially opened to great fanfare by Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month.
Passengers arriving Saturday morning said many of the public payphones and all but one of the 16 lifts were out of order, although that is the responsibility of airport operator BAA.
BA promised, and said it had kept to, maximum delays of 30 or 40 minutes, but passengers said that did not take into account cancellations and rebookings.
"We've spent a whole day in here when we could have been in Paris having fun," said Patti Conroy, from Seattle on the US west coast. "I'll just go home if it's cancelled again."
BA laid on a coach and ferry for a party of about 40 pupils heading to Germany for an eight-day language exchange trip after their flight to Stuttgart was cancelled. One parent described the situation as "embarrassing."
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said she had spoken to both BA and operator BAA, which is owned by Spanish construction group Ferrovial.
She told them them the problems were their responsibility but that the government stood ready to assist.
The Times newspaper said BA was facing fines of up to 5,000 pounds per passenger for breaking European rules by misleading stranded passengers about a 100-pound cap on their compensatory hotel bills.
There have also been reports of scuffles between baggage handlers, staff and passengers while the Unite union said workers' concerns about baggage handling procedures, staff familiarisation and training had "fallen on deaf ears."
The Financial Times meanwhile said the chaos had forced British Airways to postpone an advertising campaign scheduled for next week that had planned to trumpet the speed with which passengers could move through T5.
T5 -- the first new facility to be built at the airport in 20 years -- is designed to handle 30 million passengers a year and alleviate notorious overcrowding at the west London air transport hub.
8:43 PM
Iraq's radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday ordered his followers to reject Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's call to surrender their arms as clashes with troops raged for a fifth straight day.
"Sadr has told us not to surrender our arms except to a state that can throw out the (US) occupation," Haider al-Jabari of the Sadr movement's political bureau told AFP in the holy city of Najaf, home to the cleric's main office.
On Wednesday, Maliki gave a 72-hour deadline to Shiite fighters, mostly Mahdi Army militants loyal to the anti-American cleric, to give up their guns in the southern city of Basra after launching a crackdown against them on Tuesday.
He said the deadline was effective from Tuesday, and it expired on Friday.
The crackdown on areas controlled by Sadr's militia has severely strained a "freeze" of Mahdi Army activities the cleric ordered last August.
The Mahdi Army fighters have put up stiff resistance to Iraqi troops, however, and on Friday Maliki issued another Basra deadline.
He said residents had until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weaponry in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of arms to militants.
Since Tuesday violence has raged across Shiite regions of Iraq, with nearly 230 people killed as Shiite fighters clashed with government troops.
On Saturday, the clashes spread to more parts of the country.
They also erupted in the central Shiite city of Karbala where 12 "criminals" were killed, local police chief Raed Jawdat Shakir said, adding that another 25 people were arrested overnight.
The death toll from similar clashes between Shiite gunmen and Iraqi and US troops in Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City, stronghold of the Mahdi Army, rose to at least 75, with another 498 people reported wounded.
"Seventy-five people have been killed and 498 wounded in clashes in Sadr City in the last four days," Qassim Mohammed, a spokesman for Baghdad health directorate, told reporters in Sadr City.
He accused American forces of "creating obstacles" in transporting victims of the violence to safety.
Sadr City has been wracked by fierce clashes between security forces and the militiamen since the crackdown began in Basra.
Ahmed, a resident of the slum neighbourhood of some two million people, said the situation was deteriorating.
"The hospitals are overflowing with wounded. They can't take any more. Even the medical stores are closed," he said.
"There is no electricity, no water or fuel. We are afraid of gunbattles. The main markets are also closed."
A top Sadr aide in eastern Baghdad, Salman al-Afraiji, told AFP that several Iraqi soldiers had come to the cleric's Sadr City office and offered to lay down their own weapons.
"We told them they should keep their arms. We gave them Koran and they went back," he said.
In Basra eight people were killed in a new air strike early on Saturday as clashes continued there for the fifth straight day.
The countrywide death toll from the firefights has surged to nearly 230 since Tuesday.
Most of the casualties were in Sadr City, Basra, the southern city of Nasiriyah and the central cities of Kut and Hilla.
An AFP photographer said US-led coalition warplanes bombed the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people. Several more people were feared killed, he added.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not available for comment.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes targeted Shiite militia positions in Basra.
Clashes continued on the ground in Basra on Saturday.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the crackdown will continue till "we have arrested all criminals."
Basra is the focus of a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
US President George W. Bush called the current clashes a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the country's government.
In Baghdad most main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second day.
The Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, again came under mortar bomb or rocket attack, but no information was immediately available on casualties or damage.
8:42 PM
Australia's largest city was shrouded in darkness on Saturday night as it launched a worldwide campaign stretching from Sydney to San Francisco to highlight global warming.
Sydney was the first major metropolis to mark Saturday's 'Earth Hour', a self-imposed 60-minute black-out, with the lights on landmark buildings, corporate skyscrapers, businesses and homes switched off from 8:00 pm (0900 GMT).
From there the initiative, which aims to engage the community in combatting global warming, will see lights dimmed or turned off at 8:00 pm local time in Asian cities such as Bangkok and Manila, before spreading further to Europe and the Americas. Tel Aviv marked the event on March 27 for religious reasons.
'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley, who has said up to 30 million people could participate this year, said he was amazed at how far the initiative had spread since it was launched by environmental group WWF in Sydney a year ago.
"When we first talked about it, right at the beginning, our dream was to come up with something that made sense to a lot of people to do," he told AFP.
"And what seems to have happened is that it does seem to make sense to a lot of people to do it."
'Earth Hour' encourages governments, companies and homeowners to voluntarily switch off power to non-essential appliances for one hour to illustrate how, by working together, people can make a difference by using less energy, thereby producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
About 2.2 million people are estimated to have participated in the 2007 Sydney event which left the city's iconic harbourside Opera House and nearby Harbour Bridge bathed in moonlight as restaurant diners ate by candlelight and company logos on office buildings were dimmed.
'Earth Hour' Australia chief executive Greg Bourne said with 370 cities, towns and local governments across 35 countries taking part, he expected tens of millions of people to participate in 2008.
"I'm putting my neck on the line but my hope is that we top 100 million people," he said.
He said 'Earth Hour' carried "a message of hope and optimism... (that) we, the citizens of the world, are prepared to take action and we want to defeat climate change."
At 8:00 pm, Sydney's Harbour Bridge and Opera House dimmed as the floodlights were turned off, leaving only security lighting on. Elsewhere in the central business district, office lights were turned off.
Twenty-six cities around the world are officially signed on to turn off their lights on Saturday night, including Chicago and Atlanta in the US and the Irish capital Dublin, but hundreds more towns and local governments are expected to be involved in the 60-minute shutdown.
In Bangkok, the lights on some of the Thai capital's most famous landmarks, including the riverside Temple of the Dawn, the Rama 8 Cable Bridge across the Chao Phraya River and the main boulevard in the city's historic core will be turned off.
Sawaeng Tankam, 50, a motorcycle taxi driver, said authorities should expand the campaign to more areas.
"Why do they switch off the lights only in a few areas? That doesn't do enough to save energy. They should do this in every district in the city or even better, in every province," he said.
Some people in the Thai capital said they didn't know about the campaign.
"Switch off the lights? Where?" said Prapunpong Kaewyaem, 28, a vendor selling brass statues on Rajdamri Road, one of the thoroughfares set to turn off its street lamps.
Others voiced concern about the city plunging into darkness.
"I don't like it. This doesn't help anything. It is going to be dark," said Supoj Jaidee, a self-employed 30 year old.
Meanwhile in Manila, several major thoroughfares will go dark as street lights and billboards are switched off on the designated hour, Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.
Cities involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.
5:55 PM
SYDNEY, Australia - Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge have gone black as the first major world city to turn off the lights in this year's Earth Hour.
The lights on the Harbour Bridge turned off at 8 p.m. as part of a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
That was followed shortly by the Opera House and other landmarks in the city. Most businesses and homes were already dark, as Sydney residents embraced their second annual Earth Hour.
More than 2 million people and 2,000 businesses marked last year's event, and organizers expected this year to be more widespread in Australia.
The event is also spreading later in the day to hundreds of cities and towns in more than 35 nations, organizers said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Lights dimmed and flickered out in New Zealand and Fiji on Saturday as the two countries became the first to launch Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness about climate change.
Hundreds of cities and towns in more than 35 nations promised to join them, organizers said.
In Christchurch, New Zealand, more than 100 businesses and thousands of homes were plunged into darkness, computers and televisions were switched off and dinners delayed for the hour from 8 to 9 p.m. Suva, Fiji, in the same time zone, also turned off its lights.
Auckland's Langham Hotel switched from electric lights to candles as it joined the effort to reduce the use of electricity, which creates greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
The campaign was later to move to Australia _ where Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge as well as shops and homes would be darkened _ before spreading through Asia, to Europe and then North America.
One of the last major cities to participate will be San Francisco _ home to the soon-to-be dimmed Golden Gate Bridge.
"What's amazing is that it's transcending political boundaries and happening in places like China, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea," said Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley. "It really seems to have resonated with anybody and everybody."
Organizers see the event as a way to encourage the world to conserve energy. While all lights in participating cities are unlikely to be cut, it is the symbolic darkening of monuments, businesses and individual homes they are most eagerly anticipating.
"Earth Hour is about everyone and every organization, from individuals to global companies, joining together to own a shared problem _ climate change," Ridley said. "The real goal for me is the number of people who take part."
Earth Hour debuted last year in Sydney and a reported 2 million people and 2,000 businesses participated, organizers said. They said the result was a 10.2 percent reduction in the city's greenhouse gas emissions for the hour.
"I hope participants take away the knowledge that everything you do, however small it is, counts," Ridley said.
5:54 PM
SYDNEY, Australia - Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge went dark Saturday night as the world's first major city turned down its lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
The lights on the Harbour Bridge were turned off at 8 p.m., followed shortly by the Opera House and other city landmarks. Most businesses(AP) _ and homes were already dark as Sydney residents embraced their second annual Earth Hour.
More than 2 million people and 2,000 businesses marked last year's event and organizers expected this year to be more widespread in Australia. The event was also spreading later in the day to hundreds of cities and towns in more than 35 nations, organizers said.
"It is a wake-up call," said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. "We need to really plan for our future. (Earth Hour) is something we can all do together. Going global is very empowering."
Sydney's lights-out followed New Zealand and Fiji, the first countries to launch Earth Hour this year.
5:40 PM
SYDNEY (AFP) - - Several Asian Pacific cities were Saturday preparing to plunge into darkness as they kick off the first leg of the Australia-led 'Earth Hour' campaign to raise awareness about global warming.
Sydney will be the first major metropolis to endure the self-imposed 60-minute black-out, turning out the lights on landmark buildings and corporate skyscrapers from 8:00 pm (0900 GMT), with homes and businesses also encouraged to take part.
From there the initiative, which aims to engage the community in combatting global warming, will see lights dimmed or turned off at 8:00 pm local time in Bangkok and Manila, before spreading further to Europe and the Americas.
'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley, who has said up to 30 million people could participate this year, said he was amazed at how far the initiative had spread since it was launched by environmental group WWF in Sydney a year ago.
"When we first talked about it, right at the beginning, our dream was to come up with something that made sense to a lot of people to do," he told AFP.
"And what seems to have happened is that it does seem to make sense to a lot of people to do it."
'Earth Hour' encourages governments, companies and homeowners to voluntarily switch off power to non-essential appliances for one hour to illustrate how, by working together, people can make a difference by using less energy, thereby producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
About 2.2 million people are estimated to have participated in the 2007 Sydney event which left the city's iconic harbourside Opera House and nearby Harbour Bridge bathed in moonlight as restaurant diners ate by candlelight and company logos on office buildings were dimmed.
The Australian government has this year urged people and businesses to take part and more than 100 government departments and agencies have signed up to switch off for the hour.
"The Australian government is throwing its full support behind the efforts of WWF in organising Earth Hour," Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said.
"It is vital that we raise awareness that we can all make a difference by saving energy in our homes."
In Bangkok, the lights on some of the Thai capital's most famous landmarks, including the riverside Temple of the Dawn, the Rama 8 Cable Bridge across the Chao Phraya River and the main boulevard in the city's historic core will be turned off.
Thai TV and music stars will also join events organised by the city to raise awareness of global warming, as street lamps are turned off on eight main thoroughfares and business are urged to dim their lights.
In Manila, several major thoroughfares will go dark as street lights and billboards are switched off on the designated hour, Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country's main business group, has called on members "to participate in this global hour of action by encouraging their employees and stakeholders to turn off or reduce the lights and appliances in their homes, offices and product billboards."
Twenty-six cities around the world are officially signed on to turn off their lights on Saturday night, including Chicago and Atlanta in the US and the Irish capital Dublin, but hundreds more towns and local governments are expected to be involved in the 60-minute shutdown.
Cities involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.
5:26 PM
TODAY VERY SIANZ,GO TO MY GRANDMOTHER HSE.THEN MISS THE SPH RACE .KANA SAI LA!!!!DUN FEEL SAD AT ALL AS JUS NW ABIT DIZZY IN MY HEAD.
SRY PEOPLE SO LONG NVR POST MY OWN DAILY DIARY LIAO.NOW POSTING LOLZ
30 MARCH 2008
VERY FAST COMING TO THE END OF MARCH LIAO.
SO FAST TERM 2 LIAO
GOING TO JUNE HOLIDAYS (ABT 8 WEEKS MORE)
THEN AFTER THAT TERM 3
GT EXAM
DON FORGET ABT THE BEIJING OLMPIC (HAVE TO CATCH IT ON TEVELISION)
AWAIT FOR 2010 TO ARRIVE
SINGAPORE YOUTH OLYMPIC
1 WEEK SEPTEMBER HOLIDAY
COME BACK TERM 4
TAKE EXAM THEN RELAX
WHOOOOOO DECEMBER HOLIDAY HERE I COME
FROM NOW COUNT DOWN TO DECEMEBER HOLIDAY
THEN NEXT YEAR SEE WEATHER CAN GO EXPRESS CLASS BUT I THINK CANNOT.
5:17 PM
AFP News Report
An Iraqi Shiite militiaman is seen during a gun battle with government forces in Basra's Al-Jumhuriyah neighbourhood on March 28. Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP Eight people were killed in a new air strike in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra early on Saturday as clashes between troops and Shiite fighters continued for the fifth straight day.
.
More than 180 people have been killed in fierce clashes between Shiite fighters and Iraqi and US-led coalition troops after a crackdown was launched against what the government called "criminal gangs" in Basra on Tuesday.
.
An AFP photographer said bombs were dropped on the Al-Baath neighbourhood of northwest Basra early on Saturday, killing at least eight people and damaging several houses.
.
Witnesses said the strike was carried out by US-led coalition warplanes and that several more people were feared killed in the bombing.
.
The British military in Basra and the US military were not immediately available for comment on the air raid.
.
American-led coalition forces entered the fight for the first time overnight on Friday when warplanes dropped bombs on Shiite militia positions in Basra.
.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," British military spokesman Major Tom Holloway told AFP on Friday.
.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
.
Meanwhile, clashes on the ground in Basra continued on Saturday.
.
"Last night we continued our operations in all areas of Basra," an Iraqi army officer told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.
.
"We have not stopped. We will continue until we have arrested all criminals. This morning we continued raids in areas of Basra and arrested a number of people," he said, without giving specific numbers.
.
Similar clashes have taken place in other Shiite regions of Iraq since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the central cities of Kut and Hilla and the southern city of Nasiriyah have all witnessed raging firefights.
.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen in Basra despite government forces meeting stiff resistance.
.
On Friday Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in return for money in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for the Baghdad government.
.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the cleric ordered last August.
.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
.
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted on Saturday as the city remained under curfew for the second straight day.
.
The capital has also been hit by bloody gun battles between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US troops in which dozens of people have been killed since Tuesday.
.
Baghdad's Green Zone, seat of the government and the US embassy, also came under mortar bomb or rocket attack on Saturday, Iraqi and US officials said. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage. — AFP
5:05 PM
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - - A bomb blew up a small electricity department building in southern Afghanistan's troubled Helmand province Saturday, killing two people and wounding eight, police said.
The insurgent Taliban movement said it had planted the bomb in the Gereshk district in an attempt to kill the district police chief, Razak Khan, who regularly held meetings there.
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed Khan was among the wounded in the blast but officials could not immediately confirm he had even been there.
The attackers had somehow been able to pass through security outside the building to plant the bomb, Helmand province police commander, General Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, told AFP.
"How it happened, we don't know but some explosives were planted inside the building which caused the explosion," he said.
"As a result of the explosion, two employees of the department have been killed, six other employees and two civilians have been wounded."
One of the wounded was the head of the Gereshk power department, said Tahir Rasouli, head of the local hospital.
The one-storey building, made from traditional mudbrick, collapsed after the blast, which caused scores of people to flock to the site, a witness named Fida Mohammad said.
"People and police are cleaning up the rubble," he said. Mohammad said he had seen three bodies pulled from the debris.
The building, about 200 metres from a small hyrdopower plant, was where people came to pay their electricity bills or contact officials about their power supply.
The extremist Taliban, which frequently carry out bombings as part of their insurgency, is most active in Helmand, Afghanistan's largest province which also produces most of its huge illegal opium crop.
The Taliban were in government between 1996 and 2001, when they were ousted for harbouring Al-Qaeda leaders.
The militants target Afghan and international security forces as well as government officials and institutions.
The insurgency was in its deadliest last year with more than 8,000 people killed, according to figures used by the United Nations. This included about 1,500 civilians although most of the dead were rebel fighters.
Afghan and international officials say these fighters include jobless young men who carry out attacks for income and others who are trained in radical religious schools in Pakistan.
The government is trying to find ways to bring Afghan fighters onto its side, including by promoting economic growth and dialogue.
British Defence Secretary Des Browne said in a newspaper interview published Saturday that Britain should reach out to elements of the Taliban who can be won over to democracy.
Britain is the second largest contributor to a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and has most of its 7,500 soldiers here based in Helmand.
5:03 PM
WASHINGTON - President Bush declared on Friday that Iraq stands at a defining moment as it struggles to put down heavily armed Shiite militias. New flare-ups of extremist violence are threatening to undercut security gains and could sway Bush's decision about U.S. troop drawdowns.
In Baghdad, Shiite extremists lobbed rockets and mortars against the U.S.-protected Green Zone, which has come under steady barrages this week. The U.S. sent a Hellfire missile into a Shiite stronghold in the city. And in the south, fighting escalated in Basra where the mettle of Iraqi security forces is being sorely tested.
"Any government that presumes to represent the majority of people must confront criminal elements or people who think they can live outside the law," Bush said at the White House. "And that's what's taking place in Basra and in other parts of Iraq. I would say this is a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq."
It's also a key juncture for Bush in the five-year-old war that has claimed 4,000 American lives, worn U.S. forces thin and dominated his presidency.
Bush said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's crackdown in Basra against Shiite militias vying for control of the oil-rich region is a positive milestone in the birth of a democratic nation. The Iraqi prime minister's decision to move against enemy elements in Basra shows "evenhanded justice" and the Iraqi government's willingness to go after both Sunni and Shiite insurgents and outlaws, he said.
Just as important is how the violence plays out. The ability of Iraqi security forces to control places like Basra will color the president's decision on whether to order more U.S. troop withdrawals beyond the five U.S. brigades already returning home by July _ something that's already looking unlikely.
The renewed violence, which has followed months of relative calm, threatened to unravel a fragile cease-fire with followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. How much U.S. troops are drawn into the fight will be a telling sign of the Iraqi forces' ability to protect the nation.
Bush stressed that those Iraqi forces remained in the lead, yet U.S. forces stepped deeper into the fight.
U.S. pilots assisting Iraqi forces conducted airstrikes on Basra on Friday. American jets dropped bombs in the city, marking a sharp escalation in the fight against insurgents the Pentagon accuses of having links to Iran.
Bush said he did not know what triggered al-Maliki to act.
"This was his decision," Bush said during a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is pulling 550 Australian troops out of Iraq.
Bush said of al-Maliki: "It was his military planning. It was his causing the troops to go from point A to point B. And it's exactly what a lot of folks here in America were wondering whether or not Iraq would even be able to do in the first place."
While he praised the Iraqi government's actions, he cautioned that the situation in Iraq remains "dangerous and fragile." He urged patience.
"They're fighting some pretty tough characters, people who kill innocent people to achieve objectives," he said. "And, yes, there's going to be violence, and that's sad. But this situation needed to be dealt with, and it's now being dealt with."
The Iraqi military campaign has triggered Shiite uprisings in other parts of the country, and, if the violence is not contained it could force U.S. officials to rethink further cutbacks in troop levels.
Early next month, Bush is expected to endorse a temporary halt in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has warned against shrinking the American force so rapidly that the gains in security will be compromised.
The latest tally of casualties over the past several weeks shows more high spikes than in previous months _ including several days with 100 or more U.S. military, Iraqi military and Iraqi civilian deaths.
Officials say they are not yet certain whether the upturn in casualties represents a trend of increased violence. And it is not clear that Petraeus will be able to make such a conclusion before he goes before Congress April 8.
12:26 PM
WAH NOW HOR SCHOOL ALWAYS ON THE NEWSPAPER .COOL BUT THE THING IS WHY DO THEY WANT TO SUSPEND STUDENTS ,AT LEAST LET THEM HAVE THEIR HAIR CUT IN SCHOOL MAH.THEN THEY ALL ALWAYS LOITER AROUND THE VOID DECK IN THE NEARBY BLOCKS.LIKE THAT MAKE THEM MORE HAPPY AND DESTROYING THE SCHOOL NAME AND SUSPEND UNTILL THEY WANT TO COME BACK TO SCHOOL.THE SCHOOL DO THINGS VERY FUNNY LEH.STUDENT POSTING THE NEWS ON NEWSPAPER TO CAPTURE THE READERS ATTENTION.THEY ALL ARE ALL VERY CLEVER PERSON JUS TO PUT THE NEWS IN THE NEWSPAPER.DRAINAGE SYSTEM IN SCHOOL LOUSY? STUDENT CAPTURE THE PICTURE WITH THEIR HANDPHONES IN TEH SSCHOOL CANTEEN LAST WEDNESDAY.HAVY RAINING ,THEN EVERYONE NO UMBRELLAS CANNOT LEAVE THE SCHOOL,THEN IN TEH CANTEEN WALK HERE WALK THERE PLAYING WITH THE RAIN WATER AS THE WATER FLOODED INTO THE SCHOOL CANTEEN .I THINK THEY GT TO DO SOMETHING ABT THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM.ALL THESE THINGS HOR ,MUS STOP.THE SCHOOL MUST USE ABIT OF BRAINS.AGREE?
12:06 PM
TODAY ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO TO YCK STADIUM FOR THE SPH RELAY BUT THEN HOR MY HEAD SUDDENLY GO DIZZY SEEMS TO FEEL LIKE A BIT OF FEVER BUT NT .IN THIS CONDITIONS,FEELING LIKE I COULD NT RUN FOR THE DAY .SIANZZ SRY AR
ONE MORE THING IS I WEREN AWARE ABT THIS UNTILL MY FRIEND TOLD ME ABT THIS RACE AND MY MATHS TEACHER TOLD ME THIS SPH RELAY RACE ,SEC ONES WERE NT INVOLVE IN IT LIKE THAT I WAS CONFUSED SEH.SO DUN NOE WAD TO DO LEH .HELP ME ZZZZZZZ
12:05 PM
US-led coalition jets bombed Shiite militia positions in the southern city of Basra as prime minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday offered cash to local residents to hand in their guns.
More than 180 people have been been killed in clashes since Tuesday and new firefights broke out in Baghdad's Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, strongholds of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia which Iraqi forces are battling in Basra and other regions.
Security and medical officials also reported fierce fighting in and around the southern city of Nasiriyah.
US President George W. Bush called the violence a "defining moment" for Iraq and a key test for Maliki's government.
American-led coalition forces entered the fray for the first time since the Iraqi army launched its crackdown on Shiite fighters in Basra, by bombing the militia's positions in the city, a British military spokesman said.
Two bombing missions were carried out overnight, Major Tom Holloway told AFP.
"Coalition forces are providing capability in those niche areas that the Iraqi armed forces don't have," he said.
"Particularly we are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance.
"And also they have been providing air support in terms of dropping munitions on identified militia targets in the city."
Maliki has vowed to pursue the crackdown against Shiite gunmen despite stiff resistance, protests from sympathisers and mounting casualties.
Bush said there had been progress in Iraq but "it's still a dangerous, fragile situation," adding that future troop deployment would be based on ensuring that Washington had "enough of a presence" to achieve success.
The crackdown focusing on areas controlled by Sadr's Mahdi Army has severely strained a "freeze" of the militia's activities that the radical cleric ordered last August.
Maliki gave Basra residents until April 8 to surrender heavy and medium weapons in a bid to cut the supply of weaponry to the militants.
The prime minister's move was part of a three-pronged effort to break Shiite resistance, along with the imposition of a three-day curfew in Baghdad and precision bombing by the US-led coalition.
Basra has become the theatre for a turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
"All those who have heavy and medium arms, they should surrender them to the security forces and receive money starting from March 28 until April 8," Maliki told Basra residents in a statement issued by his Baghdad office.
Maliki adviser Sadeq al-Rikabi said that the offer was for all those who had weapons in their homes and was aimed to "take the arms away."
"We confirm the objectives of the operation in Basra which is to chase illegal elements and to put all the weapons under the control of the law," the Maliki statement said.
"These weapons create problems for civilians and their property. The government wants to give a chance to solve the problem without having to call upon the wrath of legal action."
On Wednesday Maliki announced a separate deadline of 72 hours for Shiite gunmen to surrender their weapons which was effective from Tuesday and ended on Friday.
In Baghdad most of the capital's main roads were deserted as residents observed the curfew, due to be lifted at dawn on Sunday, while parliament held an emergency session attended by just 54 of its 275 MPs.
Even as Baghdadis observed the curfew, Iraqi and US troops clashed with Shiite gunmen in parts of the capital, including Sadr City and Kadhimiyah.
At least 14 people were killed in Sadr City on Friday, including three children, medics said, while 17 people were killed in Kadhimiyah and other parts of Baghdad.
Mortar bombs also struck Baghdad's Green Zone, hitting the offices of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi and parliament speaker Mahmud Mashhadani.
Two of Hashemi's guards were killed and two of Mashhadani's were wounded.
Since the Basra assault began, more than 180 people have been killed across Shiite areas.
Fighting has raged in other strongholds such as the central cities of Kut, Hilla and Nasiriyah, Iraqi and US military officials said.
In and around Nasiriyah more than 35 people were killed on Friday, a medical official said.
Police in Hilla said they arrested 60 gunmen.
A US soldier was killed south of Baghdad, taking the military's death toll in Iraq to 4,005.
8:08 PM
A press briefing was held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the returning STS-123 mission crew Thursday afternoon.
Endeavour Commander Dominic Gorie, talked about the storybook ending to an awesome mission and thanked his crew for the difficult work they accomplished.
"We've had one of the most remarkable missions I could have ever imagined," said Gorie.
"The weather last night wouldn't quite cooperate on the first opportunity, but I think it was destiny because we had trained for a night landing, and that's what we were going to do."
Gorie said the five spacewalks were an ambitious achievement and again praised his crew for their hard work.
Pilot Gregory H. Johnson was asked about his best memory of the mission and he said, "The thing that jumps out to me is the launch."
"After almost 10 years of training … I could have never imaged how it was going to be until we actually did it." This was Johnson's first spaceflight.
Mission Specialist Robert Behnken, also made his first flight into space on Endeavour. "The EVAs … I got to translate quite a bit around the space station," said Behnken. "I got to climb on the Columbus module to install an experiment on the end of it."
"The views I was able to see looking down into the shuttle, looking down on the Earth, was just remarkable for me."
After 16 days in space and 250 orbits of the Earth, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
With the STS-123 mission concluded, the crew of Endeavour flew back to Houston for a homecoming celebration at Ellington Field and reunion with their family and friends.
The next mission, STS-124, is slated to launch in May.
6:49 PM
6:39 PM
6:31 PM
6:20 PM
Followers of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr staged noisy protests on Thursday against a crackdown on Shiite fighters in Basra, as the southern oil hub was rocked by a third straight day of fighting.
Demonstrations were held in Sadr City and Kadhimiyah, two Baghdad bastions of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, even as preliminary contacts were held between the government and Sadrist officials in a bid to resolve the crisis.
An AFP correspondent in Basra said heavy fighting erupted early Thursday in the central Jumhuriyah neighbourhood, a Mahdi Army bastion, which was rocked by rocket propelled grenade, mortar and small arms fire.
Iraqi troops launched security operations on Tuesday in Basra neighbourhoods controlled by the Mahdi Army under orders from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to rid the city of "lawless gangs".
In Sadr City, an impoverished Shiite district of around two million people in east Baghdad, crowds gathered from 10:00 am (0700 GMT) outside the Sadr office to yell slogans against Maliki, who is in Basra overseeing the military operations.
"Maliki you are a coward! Maliki is an American agent! Leave the government, Maliki! How can you strike Basra?" the crowd chanted.
Under the picture were the words: "This isIn the Kadhimiyah neighbourhood of north Baghdad, followers of Sadr carried a coffin covered in red fabric with an attached photograph of Maliki set against the background of an American flag.
the new dictator."
Sheikh Ayad al-Kaabi, a Sadr official, told AFP that the demonstration was called "to demand the resignation of the Maliki government".
"We demand the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Basra and an end to the siege in Baghdad," he said.
The Sadr movement had announced on Wednesday it would hold protest rallies against Maliki in Baghdad and the southern city of Amara, while Sadr has threatened to launch a civil revolt if the attacks against the militiamen are not halted.
Police spokesman Colonel Karim al-Zaidi said the convoy of Basra police chief Major General Abdul Jalil Khalaf was hit by a suicide car bomber around 1:00 am on Thursday (2200 GMT Wednesday) as it passed through the streets of Basra.
"Three policemen were killed in the attack," Zaidi said, adding that Khalaf was unharmed.
Residents said the streets of the oil-rich city of 1.5 million people, the economic nerve centre of Iraq, were deserted on Thursday and that shops and businesses were shut.
On Wednesday Maliki gave militiamen battling his forces in Basra 72 hours to lay down their arms and warned that those failing to do so would face the full brunt of the law.
Basra has become the theatre of a bitter turf war between the Mahdi Army and two rival Shiite factions -- the powerful Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and the smaller Fadhila party.
The three factions are fighting to control the huge oil revenues generated in the province, which was transferred to Iraqi control by the British military in December.
An aide to Sadr said representatives of the Iraqi government and a Sadrist official held preliminary talks by telephone Thursday in a bid to end the crisis in Basra.
Liqa ali-Yassin, a member of Sadr's 32-member parliamentary bloc, said Liwa Sumaysim, head of Sadr's political bureau in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, spoke by telephone with Shiite MP Ali al-Adib from Maliki's Dawa party.
The two were planning to hold face to face talks in Basra but Yassin was unable to say exactly when the meeting would take place.
US military spokesman Major General Kevin Bergner told a news conference on Wednesday that 2,000 extra Iraqi security forces had been sent to Basra for the operation.
He said it was aimed at improving security in the city ahead of provincial elections in October.
"The prime minister's assessment is that without this operation there will not be any hopeful prospect of improving security in Basra," Bergner said.
6:17 PM
Thursday, March 27As of Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at least 4,003 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,257 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is seven more than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 176 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
___
The latest deaths reported by the military:
_ A soldier was killed Wednesday by small-arms fire in Baghdad.
_ A soldier was killed Wednesday by hostile fire in eastern Baghdad.
___
The latest identifications reported by the military:
_ No identifications reported
3:29 PM
INFORMATION ON NASA SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR TOUCH DOWN
Landed: Wed., March 26, 8:39 p.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Mission Elapsed Time:
15 days, 18 hours, 11 minutes, 3 secs
Official Landing Times
Main gear touchdown: 8:39:08 p.m. EDT
Nose gear touchdown: 8:39:17 p.m. EDT
Wheels stop: 8:40:41 p.m. EDT
Total miles: 6.6 million
NEWS REPORT ON SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR TOUCH DOWN
Endeavour Lands at Kennedy Space Center
Image above: Space shuttle Endeavour lands at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, capping the STS-123 mission. Credit: NASA/Tom Joseph
› View High-res Image
After 16 days in space and 250 orbits of the Earth, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. EST Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bringing the STS-123 mission to a flawless end.
But for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), whose Kibo laboratory module is finally taking shape aboard the International Space Station, this flight was merely the beginning.
"We are quite honored that Mr. Doi contributed to the construction of the space station," said JAXA vice president Kaoru Mamiya, referring to STS-123 Mission Specialist Takao Doi. "It's the first step for our Kibo construction, and we hope that next time, the main module will be added to the station."
Endeavour and crew are in excellent shape after a safe and successful landing, according to NASA managers.
"I got to talk to the crew, and the crew was just having a fantastic time reflecting on their mission and looking up at their vehicle that just landed," said Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. "They were glad to be home, very proud of the work they did, and we're very proud of the work they did, too."
The STS-123 crew began its mission March 11 and arrived at the International Space Station March 12. The astronauts delivered the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (JLP), the first pressurized component of the Kibo laboratory to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station's Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.
Astronaut Garrett Reisman officially joined the Expedition 16 crew, trading places with European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts, who returned to Earth aboard Endeavour after almost 50 days in space.
STS-123 is the 122nd shuttle mission and the 25th station assembly mission. The next mission, STS-124, is slated to launch in May.
2:58 PM
The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth on Wednesday, capping a milestone flight that brought Japan fully into the International Space Station partnership with the delivery of the first part of its research laboratory.
Clouds at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida prompted NASA to bypass Endeavour's first landing opportunity and nearly the second, but conditions stabilized and the wheels touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT , ending NASA's 122nd shuttle mission in darkness, just as it began 16 days ago.
With commander Dominic Gorie in control, Endeavour crossed Florida from the west, heading toward the Atlantic coast. Double sonic booms shattered the evening silence as the ship's speed dipped beneath the sound barrier for the first time since it blasted off in the predawn hours of March 11.
Gorie looped over the ocean and then nosed the 100-ton ship onto a concrete runway between canals in the Florida marshland.
"Welcome home Endeavour," said astronaut Jim Dutton from Mission Control in Houston. "Congrats to the entire crew .... on a very successful mission."
"Thanks Jim," replied Gorie. "It was a super rewarding mission, exciting from the start to the ending."
Endeavour dropped off at the space station a storage room for Japan's Kibo lab, as well as a Canadian robot to help astronauts maintain the $100 billion outpost.
In the crew cabin upon its return was space station flight engineer Leopold Eyharts, a French astronaut who spent seven weeks aloft to set up a European lab, called Columbus, which was delivered during the last shuttle mission in February.
NASA hopes to complete three more missions to the space station this year and a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope as it whittles down an 11-flight manifest that must be finished by the time the shuttles are retired in 2010.
The Endeavour astronauts stayed at the station for 12 days, longer than any previous crew, and conducted five spacewalks to install Kibo's storage room, assemble the massive Dextre maintenance robot and prepare the complex for the next wave of construction.
NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman replaced Eyharts during the mission and will stay aboard until shuttle Discovery reaches the station in late May with the main part of Kibo.
Endeavour's departure cleared the way for the space station's next visitor.
Europe's debut cargo carrier, the Jules Verne, is scheduled to undertake two days of practice rendezvous manoeuvres before berthing April 3. A Russian Soyuz rocket with two more new crew members is due to arrive the following week.
2:57 PM
The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, after a record-setting mission to the International Space Station to install a Japanese laboratory and a Canadian repair robot, NASA said.
Endeavour landed at 8:39 pm (0039 GMT, Thursday) after a 16-day mission that included a record 12-day docking at the ISS and five spacewalks -- the most ever embarked upon in a single mission.
The shuttle touched down after an initially scheduled landing 90 minutes earlier was postponed due to poor weather conditions.
The Endeavour's mission, which went by practically without a hitch, was greeted with enthusiasm by everybody at NASA.
"This has been a two-week adventure and it's been a pleasure and honor to be on it," shuttle co-pilot Greg Johnson told NASA mission control at Houston, Texas, after the crew got their wake-up call Wednesday at around 1500 GMT.
Endeavour commander Dominic Gorie late Sunday described the mission as an all-around success.
"We've done awesome," Gorie said. "Every spacewalk was a win, every robotic op (operation) was a win."
His comments came after mission specialists Robert Behnken and Mike Foreman attached a 50-foot sensory boom to the outside of the space station.
ISS flight director Dana Weigel said the spacewalk, often referred to by NASA officials as an EVA, or an extra-vehicular activity, had set a new record.
"This was five EVAs ... more than we've done on any station mission," he said.
The spacewalkers also successfully installed an experiment on the outside of the European Space Agency's laboratory, which the astronauts had failed to complete during the third spacewalk on March 17.
Endeavour launched on March 11. Its mission's main tasks were to install the first part of the Japanese Kibo lab, a micro-gravity research facility that will be the station's largest module when completed in March 2009.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takao Doi, who is returning on the Endeavour, said Kibo "is going to open up a new era for Japan in the space program."
Astronauts also tested new repair techniques for the shuttle's heat shield. NASA has been testing different in-space repair techniques on the shuttle's protective layer since a crack in Columbia's heat shield caused it to explode while re-entering Earth's atmosphere in 2003, killing its seven-member crew.
Astronauts also assembled the Canadian-made Dextre robot, which is designed to undertake maintenance operations on the space station that until now required a human touch, and reduce the need for risky spacewalks.
The robot's human-like upper torso swivels at the waist, and its arms were designed with seven joints to provide it with maximum versatility. Umbilical connectors provide power and data connectivity.
Manipulated by joysticks inside the ISS or from ground control on Earth, the 1.56-tonne Dextre will conduct operations such as replacing small components on the station's exterior.
NASA wants to complete construction of the ISS by 2010, when its three-shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired.
2:57 PM
The space shuttle Endeavour landed at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday after a record-setting mission at the International Space Station, NASA said.
The shuttle landed at 8:39 pm (0039 GMT, Thursday) after a 16-day mission that included a record 12-day docking at the ISS and five spacewalks -- more than on any other shuttle mission in history.
The Endeavour delivered to the orbiting station Japan's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian robot Dextre for future maintenance operations on the ISS
2:56 PM
The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth on Wednesday, capping a milestone flight that brought Japan fully into the International Space Station partnership with the delivery of the first part of its research laboratory.
Clouds at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida prompted NASA to bypass Endeavour's first landing opportunity and nearly the second, but conditions stabilized and the wheels touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT , ending NASA's 122nd shuttle mission in darkness, just as it began 16 days ago.
With commander Dominic Gorie in control, Endeavour crossed Florida from the west, heading toward the Atlantic coast. Double sonic booms shattered the evening silence as the ship's speed dipped beneath the sound barrier for the first time since it blasted off in the predawn hours of March 11.
Gorie looped over the ocean and then nosed the 100-ton ship onto a concrete runway between canals in the Florida marshland.
"Welcome home Endeavour," said astronaut Jim Dutton from Mission Control in Houston. "Congrats to the entire crew .... on a very successful mission."
"Thanks Jim," replied Gorie. "It was a super rewarding mission, exciting from the start to the ending."
Endeavour dropped off at the space station a storage room for Japan's Kibo lab, as well as a Canadian robot to help astronauts maintain the $100 billion outpost.
In the crew cabin upon its return was space station flight engineer Leopold Eyharts, a French astronaut who spent seven weeks aloft to set up a European lab, called Columbus, which was delivered during the last shuttle mission in February.
NASA hopes to complete three more missions to the space station this year and a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope as it whittles down an 11-flight manifest that must be finished by the time the shuttles are retired in 2010.
The Endeavour astronauts stayed at the station for 12 days, longer than any previous crew, and conducted five spacewalks to install Kibo's storage room, assemble the massive Dextre maintenance robot and prepare the complex for the next wave of construction.
NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman replaced Eyharts during the mission and will stay aboard until shuttle Discovery reaches the station in late May with the main part of Kibo.
Endeavour's departure cleared the way for the space station's next visitor.
Europe's debut cargo carrier, the Jules Verne, is scheduled to undertake two days of practice rendezvous manoeuvres before berthing April 3. A Russian Soyuz rocket with two more new crew members is due to arrive the following week.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
6:57 PM
- - Antarctica's massive Wilkins Ice Shelf has begun disintegrating under the effects of global warming, satellite images by the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center showed.
The collapse of a substantial section of the shelf was triggered February 28 when an iceberg measuring 41 by 2.4 kilometers (25.5 by 1.5 miles) broke off its southwestern front.
That movement led to disintegration of the shelf's interior, of which 414 square kilometers (160 square miles) have already disappeared, scientists say.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a broad plate of permanent floating ice 1,609 kilometers (1,000 miles) south of South America, on the southwest Antarctic Peninsula.
Now, as a result of recent losses, a large part of the 12,950-square-kilometer (5,000-square-mile) shelf is supported by a narrow 5.6-kilometer (3.5-mile) strip of ice between two islands, scientists said.
"If there is a little bit more retreat, this last 'ice buttress' could collapse and we'd likely lose about half the total ice shelf area in the next few years," NSIDC lead scientist Ted Scambos said in a statement.
"Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on West Antarctica yet to be threatened. This shelf is hanging by a thread," echoed David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey, which contributed data on the break-up.
Jim Elliott, who was onboard a British Antarctic Survey Twin Otter aircraft sent to video the extent of the damage, said the scene looked like a bomb site.
"I've never seen anything like this before -- it was awesome," he said in a BAS statement.
"We flew along the main crack and observed the sheer scale of movement from the breakage.
"Big hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble -- it's like an explosion."
Antarctica has suffered unprecedented warming in the last 50 years -- with several ice shelves retreating and six of them collapsing since the 1970s.
"Climate warming in the Antarctic Peninsula has pushed the limit of viability for ice shelves further south, setting some of them that used to be stable on a course of retreat and eventual loss," Vaughan said.
Vaughan said the Wilkins breakout would not affect sea levels because it was already floating when it broke off.
"But it is another indication of the impact that climate change is having on the region."
Over the past half century, the western Antarctic Peninsula has experienced the steepest temperature increase on Earth, 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 Farenheit) per decade.
"We believe the Wilkins has been in place for at least a few hundred years, but warm air and exposure to ocean waves are causing a breakup," said Scambos, who first spotted the disintegration in March.
With the Antarctic summer drawing to a close, scientists do not expect the ice shelf to further disintegrate in the next several months.
"This unusual show is over for this season," said Scambos. "But come January, we'll be watching to see if the Wilkins continues to fall apart."
Ultimately, ice shelf breakup in the Antarctic -- more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) have been lost over the past 50 years -- could significantly increase ocean levels around the world.
In 1995 the Larsen A Ice Shelf -- 75 kilometers (47 miles) long and 35 kilometers (22 miles) wide -- disintegrated, fragmenting into icebergs in the Weddell Sea.
In March 2002, a NASA satellite captured the collapse of Larsen B, which had a surface area of 3,850 square kilometers (1,486 square miles), was 200 meters (656 feet) high, and packed in 720 billion tonnes of ice. It took just 30 days to break apart.
According to some calculations based on the present sea level rise of three millimeters per year (0.11 inches), ocean levels could rise by 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) by the end of the century
6:55 PM
- - Fighters loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with Iraqi and US forces in their Baghdad bastion of Sadr City on Wednesday, killing four civilians, a medic and security officials said.
"Four civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded in the firefight," Qassim al-Sueidi, head of the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City told AFP.
Iraqi security officials said the fighting broke out at 1:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday) and was continuing sporadically during the day in the sprawling impoverished northeastern Baghdad neighbourhood
6:50 PM
- - Protests against China's human rights record and crackdown in Tibet disrupted ceremonies on Monday to light the Olympic flame for the Beijing Games.
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Three men from a media rights group breached tight security around Ancient Olympia to unfurl a flag demanding a boycott of the Olympics. Later 10 Tibetan activists staged a protest in the town's main street before they were detained or chased by police.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said there was no "momentum" for a boycott of the Games which start in the Chinese capital on August 8.
"I think it's always sad when there are protests, but they were not violent and that's the most important thing," Rogge told reporters.
The three members of the Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reports Without Borders -- RSF) group, staged their first protest as the chief Beijing Olympics organiser, Liu Qi, who is also the capital's municipal communist party chief, made a speech.
One man unfurled a flag declaring "Boycott the country that tramples on human rights." Another tried to grab the microphone from Liu and shouted "Freedom! Freedom!" in front of Rogge and other officials.
Security officers quickly dragged all three away. The RSF secretary general Robert Menard and two other activists were taken to the nearby city of Pyrgos, where they were later charged with an "offensive act."
"Our trial has been set for May 29. We will be there to denounce again the corruption of Olympianism" at the Beijing Games, Menard told AFP on his release.
The charge against them of "an offensive act is not the same as a provocation," he said, and is subject to a maximum one year prison term and/or a fine.
"We will continue similar protests until August 8," Menard had told AFP earlier by telephone from a Pyrgos police station.
"We have nothing against the Olympic Games or the athletes. We want to draw attention to the fact that China is the world's biggest prison," added Menard, who was presented with the Legion of Honour, France's top civilian award, by President Nicolas Sarkozy, on Sunday.
Greek police had imposed heavy security, including armed police watching down on the site from nearby hills. Greek state television cut its live broadcast away from the protesters. China's state broadcaster also quickly changed and did not mention the demonstrators.
Actors in ancient Greek costume carried out the traditional ceremony unhindered, using a parabolic mirror to focus the sun's rays and kindle a flame on the torch.
As dignitaries dispersed, about 10 Tibetan activists, covered in red paint, marched out of an Olympia hotel and lay down in the town's central street, shouting slogans against China's rule in Tibet.
Police detained at least two of the activists and chased the others.
A Tibetan woman involved in the street protest, who is a Swiss passport holder, was also held in Pyrgos, but a number of other people were released, police said.
They included a German companion of the Tibetan girl, a Japanese man found carrying a small knife at the entrance of the Olympia ceremony site, a Greek photographer and a Tibetan student protest leader who was part of an anti-Chinese protest at Olympia on March 10, police said.
Speaking before the ceremony, Rogge said "the major political leaders don't want a boycott." He added: "There is no momentum for a boycott."
"Bush doesn't want a boycott, Sarkozy doesn't want a boycott, Brown doesn't want a boycott," Rogge said, referring to US President George W. Bush, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
But he acknowledged that the torch relay across 20 countries - and Mount Everest and Tibet - might be hijacked. "Of course it's a concern," he said.
In his speech at the ceremony, Rogge said the Beijing Games should be an opportunity for China and the world "to learn, discover and respect each other."
A crackdown on anti-Chinese protests in Tibet, which exiled Tibetans say has left at least 130 dead, has overshadowed the build-up to the Games.
Various rights groups have drawn up plans aiming to galvanise opposition to China's record on Tibet, Darfur, human rights, religious freedom and other issues in the run-up to the Beijing Games.
The torch's journey to Beijing is the longest ever, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometres (85,000 miles) worldwide. Most of it will be on Chinese soil.
Aside from Athens, the flame will only stop in London and Paris among European capitals. It will stop in San Francisco and Buenos Aires in the Americas and just Dar es Salaam in Africa.
Upon arrival in Beijing, one flame will be separated from the torch and kept in a special lantern to be taken to the summit of Mount Everest
6:49 PM
Australia - Australia's senior Olympic official is urging political demonstrators not to target the Beijing Games amid global moves to bolster security for the torch relay following protests in Ancient Olympia.
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A protester evaded tight security, ran behind Beijing Olympic chief Liu Qi, and held up a black banner showing the Olympic rings as handcuffs at the traditional lighting of the flame in Greece on Monday.
In other statements against China's human rights policies and crackdown in Tibet, three men advocating press freedom evaded massive security and ran onto the field at the ceremony in Ancient Olympia before they were seized by police.
And a Tibetan woman covered in fake blood briefly blocked the path of the torch relay.
"I think the Olympic Games are a cause and an agent for good, not a panacea for ills," former International Olympic Committee vice president Kevan Gosper, vice chairman of the IOC's Coordination Commission for the Beijing Games, said.
The Australian Capital Territory's chief minister John Stanhope is proposing high security when the flame arrives in Canberra on April 24 on its 130-day journey to the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies in Beijing.
"The ACT government has been liaising with the Chinese Embassy ... and the Australian Federal Police on security arrangements from the time Canberra was invited to participate in the torch relay," Stanhope said. "These arrangements are well-advanced and, of course, will remain subject to whatever change or augmentation might be needed."
Falun Gong practitioners and Tibet supporters have already staged protests outside China's embassy in Canberra.
"The ACT government respects the right of anyone to air their opinions or make their sentiments known, so long as they do so in a peaceful manner and so long as they respect the laws of the ACT," Stanhope said. "Canberra has the advantage of hosting the torch later in the global tour, and will be able to learn from the experience of other cities along the way."
China's communist leadership has faced a public relations disaster since protests of its rule turned violent March 14 in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, sparking waves of unrest in surrounding provinces. China reported a death toll of 22 from the violence, but Tibet's exiled government says 80 Tibetans were killed. Nineteen died in subsequent violence in Gansu province, it said.
A rising chorus of international criticism and floated calls for a boycott have unnerved the Chinese leadership, which has turned up efforts to put its own version of the unrest before the international public.
"Everybody's very sensitive to what's been happening in Tibet in recent days and we hope that the Chinese will bring peace very quickly," Gosper said in an Australian TV interview Tuesday. The Olympics "is not a nasty event, this is an event of celebration.
"I think that detractors who try and draw attention to their own issues ... are only doing their own causes harm."
Gosper, who won a silver medal for Australia at the 1956 Olympics, said the spirit of the Olympics was at stake.
"It's symbolic of sport at its best, it's symbolic of peace and good will," he said. "And whilst there are detractors, we're hopeful the torch will come through as it should as an ideal of the Olympic and what it represents
6:31 PM
China says Olympic torch protests 'shameful'
BEIJING (AFP) - China said Tuesday attempts to disrupt the Olympic torch relay were "shameful" after protests at the ceremony to light the flame added to pressure over its handling of ongoing unrest in Tibet.
Amid reports of new bloodshed during a major crackdown by Chinese forces, the demonstrations in Greece on Monday underlined world anger over Tibet and a determination to keep harassing China's communist leaders on the issue.
But China's foreign ministry had only sharp words for the protests and urged countries on the relay route to ensure its smooth progress.
"Any act to disrupt the Olympic torch relay is shameful and unpopular," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters in Beijing in China's first official reaction to the incidents.
"We also believe that competent authorities in countries through which the torch relay will pass have the obligation to ensure a smooth relay."
With Tibetan exiles putting the death toll from 10 days of unrest at around 140, protesters condemning China's human rights record briefly disrupted the flame ceremony as it was broadcast live around the world -- with Chinese officials on hand.
Later, 10 Tibetan activists staged a protest in the town's main street.
Chinese media largely ignored it in their accounts of the lighting of the flame, which kicked off a five-month world tour of the Olympic torch in the run-up to the August 8-24 Games, which China hopes will be a showpiece for the nation.
The China Daily instead called the flame ceremony "a perfect start."
The Global Times, a specialised newspaper focusing on international news, carried a short reference to the protests at the end of a lengthy report.
The incidents helped renew international attention on China's crackdown on the two weeks of protest over its rule of Tibet, which Beijing has blamed on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
State-run Xinhua news agency reported a policeman was killed, and other officers injured, in fresh clashes Monday in Garze, a southwest region in Sichuan province with a large proportion of ethnic Tibetans.
The India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported one Tibetan protester was shot dead and another left in critical condition following "indiscriminate firing" at a group of about 200 demonstrators.
Protests began in Tibet on March 10 to mark the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule in the region.
The unrest has since turned deadly and spread to other parts of the country.
Thirteen people who took part in the March 10 demonstration are now under arrest, the state-controlled Tibet Daily reported Tuesday.
"This repression is not tolerable," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday on the Europe 1 radio network, referring to the Chinese crackdown.
By contrast, Singapore said Tuesday it "supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force."
Xinhua on Tuesday reported a visit to Tibet by Meng Jianzhu, the head of the public security ministry and China's top police official, covering several areas in Lhasa impacted by the clashes.
"Every religion should carry out their activities according to the law and should never undermine national solidarity," Meng said, according to the agency.
"Participating in the riot essentially violated the doctrines of Tibetan Buddhism."
Independent confirmation of reports from the region and areas populated by Tibetans has been extremely difficult due to curbs China has placed on foreign media.
The foreign ministry said Tuesday it would organise a three-day trip to Lhasa by about a dozen selected foreign journalists.
Tibet, a mountainous region that straddles Mount Everest and is more than twice the size of France, has been a flashpoint issue for China's Communist leadership ever since it came to power in 1949.
Tibet has taken on greater importance in the run-up to the Olympics in August, which the country's leaders hope will be a chance to show off China's rapid transformation into a modern economic power.
Despite the protests, calls for a boycott of the Games have been muted.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said Monday that there was "deep concern" over events in Tibet but has dismissed talk of boycotting the event.
