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17 militants, 1 soldier killed in US missile strike in northwest Pakistan

AFP, Miranshah

A missile strike by a suspected US drone killed at least seventeen people including foreigners in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, security officials said Wednesday.

The attack marked the first US missile strike outside of the rugged tribal regions which have become safe havens for militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda, one Pakistani security official said. The house targeted was located in northwestern Bannu district, on the border of the tribal territory, he said.

According to local officials, at least seven people were also wounded in the missile strike. "The strike overnight destroyed the house of a tribesman Sakhi Mohammad in the Bannu district," a senior security official told AFP.

"At least two foreigners were among five killed."

Pakistani officials use the term "foreigners" to describe Al-Qaeda militants.

Bannu police officer Alam Sheerani confirmed the missile attack but did not give details of casualties.

The latest strike came five days after two missiles fired from a US drone aircraft killed 10 Islamist militants in the North Waziristan region, known as a hub of Al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels. The strike took place despite repeated warnings from Pakistan that such attacks are in violation of international law and could deepen resentment of the United States in the world's second-largest Islamic nation.

Washington has stepped up its strikes on the region since March, when a civilian government took over from General Pervez Musharraf, who turned Pakistan into a close US ally in the "war on terror."

The series of recent strikes against suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in Pakistan's tribal areas, all blamed on unmanned CIA drones, have appeared to raise tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

But the Washington Post newspaper reported early this week that the US and Pakistani governments have reached a tacit agreement on Predator strikes on Pakistani territory, under which Islamabad allows them while continuing to complain about them and Washington never acknowledges them.

President Asif Ali Zardari recently promised zero tolerance against violations of his country's sovereignty.

He told the new US commander for Iraq and Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, early this month President Asif Ali Zardari that the attacks were "counterproductive" and could harm the battle for hearts and minds here.

Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, who left for Brussels Tuesday to participate in a meeting of NATO defence chiefs, will also hold talks with senior alliance officials about US missile strikes on Pakistani soil.

Meanwhile, at least 17 militants and a soldier were killed in exchanges of fire in Pakistan's northwest on Tuesday, where the military is waging a bloody offensive against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the army said.

The fighting in the scenic Swat valley erupted a day after a suicide bomber killed at least three troops when he rammed an explosives-packed vehicle into an army check point in the area.

"Security forces pounded artillery on hideouts of rebels in the Kabal area of Swat, which triggered an exchange of fire, killing seven militants," an army said in a statement.

Troops also killed eight militants following an abortive attempt by them to ambush a convoy of security forces in Khwazakhela area, the statement added.

Separately, one soldier was killed in another gun fight in the region when a patrol of security forces came under attack by militants linked to Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Kanju area.

"Twenty seven suspected militants were also arrested during a search operation in Kanju area," the statement said.

It added that two more militants were killed and five others wounded during clashes with security forces in Mian Keley village bordering Mohmand tribal region.

The mountainous Swat valley was until last year a popular tourist destination, featuring Pakistan's only ski resort.

But the region has been turned into a battleground since Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan's Taliban movement, launched a violent campaign for the introduction of Islamic Sharia law.

Asia-Pacific leaders meet for free-trade appeal

AFP, Lima

Top officials from across the Pacific rim were set to open talks here Wednesday on the global economic crisis and to issue a joint appeal against protectionism.

Peru, where Maoist guerrillas have stepped up attacks in recent weeks, was on its highest state of alert for the summit, which is the last scheduled foreign trip for unpopular US President George W. Bush before he steps down.

Ministers of trade and foreign affairs from 21 countries including China, Japan, Russia and the United States will hold two days of talks to lay the groundwork for the leaders' summit on Saturday and Sunday.

An official of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum drafting the leaders' statement said they would defend free trade despite the sharp slowdown in the global economy.

"Everyone has been speaking with the same voice saying we need to keep markets open," said Elizabeth Chelliah, chair of a committee drafting the statement.

"We have to keep the door open to foreigners. You can't close the door," she told reporters.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia said that APEC, which accounts for 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product, also had more small private businesses than other parts of the world.

"It's thanks to this that the region is more active," Garcia told Asia-Pacific business leaders . "APEC is the greatest anti-crisis tool in the world."

Some 39,000 police were deployed in Lima and another 60,000 officers were on full alert across the rest of the country, which is still haunted by a bloody Maoist insurrection in the 1980s and 1990s.

Remnants of the Shining Path rebels on Saturday shot dead three police officers and injured another one in southeastern Peru.

The far-left movement was blamed for a car bomb outside the US Embassy in Lima in 2002 shortly before another visit by Bush, killing nine people.

Police on Sunday also arrested a Peruvian man hauling 36 grenades in central Lima. They were investigating his motives.

The APEC leaders will meet in one of Lima's most tightly guarded places-the sprawling headquarters of the army, which has been reinforced with steel railings.

21 killed in China subway accident

AFP, Beijing

The final death toll from the collapse of a subway tunnel that was under construction in eastern China has reached 21, with all hope gone of rescuing 13 missing workers, state media reported.

After more than three days of efforts, searchers were unable to find the 13 missing labourers in the silt-filled tunnel in Hangzhou city, the official Xinhua news agency said late on Tuesday. It cited rescuers as saying there was "no chance" of finding them alive. "If the workers are trapped in the middle of the mire, it may take two or three days for rescuers to reach them.

If they are at the bottom, it's hard to say when they can be reached," Xinhua quoted a local official as saying.

Eight people have already been confirmed dead in the accident, which happened on Saturday at a construction site for a subway in Hangzhou.

Altogether 75 metres (250 feet) of a tunnel collapsed, creating a huge crater that also trapped 11 vehicles, including at least one bus.

The victims were mostly rural migrant labourers from the poor eastern province of Anhui who had received little training before they started work on the subway project, according to Xinhua.

New Zealand government sworn in after election victory

AFP, Wellington

John Key took power as New Zealand's 38th prime minister Wednesday, saying it was a "wonderful" feeling to have achieved his boyhood ambition. Key and 27 ministers were sworn in by New Zealand's Governor-General Anand Satyanand at a ceremony at parliament in Wellington, as their centre-right party emerged from nine years in opposition after their November 8 election victory. The 47-year-old multi-millionaire former investment banker is one of New Zealand's youngest and politically least experienced prime ministers, entering parliament in 2002 and becoming party leader four years later. Later Key said it was "wonderful" to have achieved his boyhood ambition of becoming prime minister, and he urged other New Zealanders to follow their dreams. "I think if I had a message for young New Zealanders who want to be in my shoes in a few years to come, it would be that they should live their dream," Key told reporters.

But the celebrations were accompanied by a sober recognition of the challenges to come as the global economic crisis starts hurting the economy.

"Obviously there is the enormity of the task that stands in front of us but as I've said, I've never felt more confident that the group of individuals that form the executive are the right individuals to take New Zealand on a more prosperous and safer future."

Key says his priority will be tackling the fallout of the global financial crisis on the country of 4.3 million people, which sank into recession in the first half of this year.

The new government, which was due to hold its first cabinet meeting later Wednesday, was firmly focused on lifting New Zealand's economy out of its slump.

"What will change is our commitment to economic growth and lifting productivity growth in New Zealand," he said.

Obama picks first African-American attorney general

AFP, Washington

US president-elect Barack Obama has named longtime lawyer Eric Holder to be attorney general, which if confirmed would make him the first African-American ever to hold the post, US media said. Holder, who served as deputy attorney general under former president Bill Clinton, has accepted Obama's invitation to head the Justice Department, Newsweek magazine said, citing legal sources close to the presidential transition.

Obama's transition team did not immediately comment on the report, which was later confirmed by NBC news.

"Obama offered Holder the job and he accepted," Newsweek said, adding that "the announcement is not likely until after Obama announces his choices to lead the Treasury and State departments."

Holder would face Senate confirmation hearings in order to officially take on the post, which would put him at the head of the Justice Department as the US government's chief law enforcement officer.

Holder was co-chief along with Caroline Kennedy of Obama's vice-presidential selection process and, like Obama, is a fellow alumnus of Columbia University in New York.

"He was on the short list from the beginning and obvious choice," Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff told CNN.

"Also, a symbolic choice. This will be the first, he will be the first African-American to head the Justice Department, and that's a pretty big deal in its own right."

'Britain resumes high-level intelligence links with Syria’

AFP, London

Britain re-established high-level intelligence links with the Syrian authorities as Foreign Secretary David Miliband visited Damascus, the Times newspaper said Wednesday citing senior Syrian officials.

The newspaper said the move could be hugely beneficial for Britain, as Syria has one of the best intelligence-gathering systems in the Middle East, particularly in tracking the movements of Islamic extremists in Iraq.

It cited a Syrian official as saying that Miliband asked his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, during a meeting in New York earlier this year "whether he could re-establish intelligence links at a senior level", following lower level contacts. Muallem reportedly invited Miliband to take intelligence officials with him on the trip to Damascus, the first to Syria by a top British diplomat since 2001.

After talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, Miliband said Syria could play a "constructive role" in bringing stability to the Middle East.

He told the BBC on Monday that the country could be a "force for stability or it can be a force for instability".

Communist allies China, Cuba hold landmark summit

AFP, Havana

China's President Hu Jintao made a landmark visit to Cuba, bearing millions of dollars in aid and promises of closer future trade ties. The Chinese leader brought 4.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid for victims of three hurricanes that battered Cuba this year, which was handed over late Monday after Hu's arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport. Receiving the gift, Cuba's Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Rodrigo Malmierca said that Cuba "deeply appreciates the visit of President Hu Jintao, at the exact moment the country is struggling to recover and continue its development." It was the third donation China has made to assist Cuba in its recovery from hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma, which caused 10 billion dollars worth of damages in the space of two months. Hurricane aid from the Chinese government and businesses has totalled more than 2.5 million dollars.

China also extended Cuba a 70-million dollar loan to repair damaged hospitals and another 10 million for social projects, as part of the second tranche of a 350 million dollar line of credit approved in 2004

Later Hu accompanied President Raul Castro on a visit to a school for Chinese students, where the Cuban leader sang a refrain from a Chinese song praising late Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong.

"I learned to be a student like you, young like you and will remain so all my life," Castro told Hu and 300 Chinese students in the town of Tarara, east of Havana.

Vietnam president in Venezuela to boost energy ties

AFP, Caracas

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet arrived in Venezuela where he was set to promote oil and gas cooperation during a two-day official visit, the first by a head of state from the communist nation. Triet was set to meet President Hugo Chavez on Thursday before traveling to Lima, Peru, for an Asia-Pacific summit.

The two leaders planned to discuss a joint development fund similar to deals Venezuela has with China and Iran, according to officials in Caracas. Since Chavez toured Vietnam in 2006, his government has stepped up bilateral relations with the Southeast Asian nation, whose Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh visited Caracas early last year. During his Vietnam trip, Chavez, one of Washington's fiercest critics, praised Vietnam's revolutionary history and attacked the United States for its "imperialist" crimes in the Vietnam War and other conflicts. State-run energy companies Petroleos de Venezuela and PetroVietnam have announced a number of joint projects since the Chavez visit.

PetroVietnam has a concession in the oil-rich Orinoco basin in eastern Venezuela.

Following a meeting of officials last August, Venezuela's Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said both companies had agreed to deals for transporting Venezuelan oil to Vietnam, where they would also build a joint oil refinery.

Rich in offshore oil reserves, Vietnam lacks refining capacity, forcing the country of 86 million to import refined petroleum products.

Vietnam and Venezuela set up diplomatic ties in 1989, but bilateral trade reached only 11.7 million dollars last year, according to the Vietnam News Agency.