Asia News

Dhaka, Nov 22 (IANS) International human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged Bangladesh not to execute five former army officers who have been sentenced to death for the killing of country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Beijing, Nov 22 (DPA) The death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in north-eastern China rose overnight to 87, with 21 workers still trapped, local media reported Sunday.

Beijing, Nov 21 (IANS) At least 42 miners were killed in a gas explosion in a coal mine in northeast China Saturday, an official said.

Kathmandu, Nov 21 (IANS) As their week-long ultimatum to the coalition government of Nepal expired without an agreement with the ruling parties, the former Maoist guerrillas Saturday announced fresh turmoil and a three-day general strike that, their chief warned, could lead to an indefinite strike next month.

Islamabad, Nov 21 (DPA) At least 14 militants and six soldiers were killed Saturday in the latest fighting in the ongoing military operation in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region, the army said.

Islamabad, Nov 21 (IANS) Pakistan's interior minister has offered to quit if the presence of US security agency Blackwater in Pakistan is proved -- but he could be treading on thin ice for more than one reason.

Islamabad, Nov 21 (IANS) The names of prominent Pakistanis who have benefited from an ordinance granting immunity to politicians, army officers and bureaucrats charged with corruption will be made public, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday.

Beijing, Nov 21 (DPA) A gas explosion at a coal mine in north-eastern China killed at least 23 workers, and trapped 90 early Saturday, media reports said.

Islamabad, Nov 21 (DPA) Four Pakistani soldiers were killed in a Taliban rocket attack on their camp in the troubled northwestern borderlands, while the forces killed six militants in retaliatory fire, officials said Saturday.

Kathmandu, Nov 21 (IANS) The most controversial religious fair in Nepal's Terai plains, where thousands of birds and beasts are doomed to be slaughtered next week, has fallen into more disrepute with the death of four visitors, including an Indian.

A day after BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said she turned down an offer to become the next party chief, Venkaiah Naidu declared, ?I am neither in the race nor interested to become president once again as I had been the party chief once. The party has given me that opportunity at the age of 52.?

Sarath Fonseka who resigned last week as the chief of defence staff assured armed forces on Friday that he would standby democracy and always fight for their rights.

India bristles at closer Sino-US ties,? said the front page of a State-run Chinese newspaper on Friday.

Beijing, Nov 21 (DPA) A gas explosion at a coal mine in north-east China trapped 139 workers early Saturday, local media reported.

Report: ISI helped Mullah Omar flee Quetta
WASHINGTON: Fearing that Taliban leader Mullah Omar might be targeted by US drones, Pakistan's ISI has helped him escape from Quetta to Karachi, where he has established a new council.

Lahore, Nov 20 (IANS) The Human Rights Committee of the Lahore High Court Bar Association has condemned suicide attacks and the use of violence against innocent lives, saying there is no justification in Islam for terrorism.

Islamabad, Nov 20 (IANS) Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani Friday urged the US to fully share the contours of its road map on Afghanistan and incorporate Islamabad's input in it.

Beijing, Nov 20 (IANS) China has voiced strong dissatisfaction over Italian Chamber of Deputies speaker Gianfranco Fini's meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, a media report said Friday.

Retired General Sarath Fonseka?s candidature for presidency as a consensus Opposition contender from the newly United National Front (UNF) was subject to his accepting a 10-point policy statement of the Front, Opposition leader and former PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe has said.

Singapore is ready to roll out the red carpet to Indian professionals, include those from the field of medicine. Contact Singapore, promoted by the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Ministry of Manpower, is holding a programme for engineering students next month to visit the island nation and work for a week in manufacturing and financial services companies there.