KABUL Afghanistan : At least 35 people were killed Wednesday when a bus crashed into a truck and then burst into flames on a treacherous pass in northern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said.

The bus was travelling north from Kabul along the narrow Salang pass when it “had an accident with a truck, as a result of which 35 passengers, including women, men and children, were killed,” a ministry statement said.

The Salang pass connecting north and south Afghanistan is a notoriously dangerous stretch of road and the scene of avalanches in February that killed 170 people.

The interior ministry said Wednesday’s accident appeared to have been caused by the “narrow width of the road and the carelessness of the driver”.

“In the first moments after the incident police and first aid health workers arrived on the site and transferred a number of people to the provincial hospital,” it said.

It did not give details of the number injured.

The bus was a Mercedes Benz 303, it said, which can accommodate more than 50 passengers.

MELBOURNE: A 23-year-old Indian man was today charged over the death of an Indian toddler, whose body was found three days ago in a Melbourne suburb.

Dhillon Gursewak has been charged with manslaughter due to criminal negligence and is appearing in an out-of-sessions hearing at St Kilda Road Police complex, local media reports said.

He is not expected to apply for bail. The man, who has been charged with murdering the three-year-old Gurshan Singh Channa from Punjab who was in Australia on a vacation with his parents, is not a relative, but did live in the same house in David Street, Lalor as Gurshan, the reports said.

Channa’s body was found by a council worker on Thursday night, six hours after he disappeared from a rented property shared by his parents with friends and family here. A total of 12 people lived in the house.

BAGHDAD: As many as 16 people were killed while 8 injured in 10 mortar attacks and four bomb blasts in Iraq, while polling is continued for parliamentary elections.
Mortar rounds were fired at voting centers in Baghdad and in Salahuddin province. At least two mortar rounds struck near polling stations in a mixed Sunni-Shi’ite area of western Baghdad and there were unconfirmed reports of rounds landing in the heavily-fortified Green Zone neighborhood, an Interior Ministry source said. Two roadside bombs also exploded in Baghdad, the source said. There were no reports of casualties in the capital. In Salahuddin, three people were wounded by mortar impacts in the town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Voting across the ethnically and religiously divided country began at 7 am.
The election, Iraq’s second for a full-term parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion, is viewed as pivotal as the country tries to end sectarian violence and set the stage for stability and economic growth ahead of a US withdrawal by end-2011.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan News: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has welcomed the Indian Home Minister’s statement with regard to dialogues with Pakistan would also include Kashmir issue.

According to the details, Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram assured that the confidence-building measures on Kashmir will be taken up in the Indo-Pakistan foreign secretaries meeting, to be held on February 25.

Karachi, Pakistan News: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has confirmed the, Broke the other day, regarding the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud today.
The minister said that Hakeemullah has reached his logical end. He ruled out any plans vis-a-vis talks with the Taliban, saying that talks could be initiated if they lay down arms and surrender. Talking to media after attending the AD&SJ court in Peshawar, Rehman said that he also has the news about the death of Qari Hussain. He noted, “Fazaullah is not in our custody, nor anything has been concealed from media”. Replying to a question, the minister said that he respected the judiciary, but parried the question regarding his cases. He assured that targeted killing would not occur in Karachi any more.

KABUL: Three U.S. service members were killed Monday in fighting in southern Afghanistan, underscoring the unrelenting violence in the Taliban heartland as the Obama administration steps up efforts to rout the insurgents.

NATO said the Americans were killed in an engagement with enemy forces but gave no more details.

The deaths raised to at least 10 the number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan so far this year, according to a tally.

Officials said earlier Monday that bombs killed another American service member and two Afghan road construction workers in separate attacks Sunday in southern Afghanistan.

The southern half of the country has frequently been hit by attacks as the U.S. military builds up its presence in the area. Most of the 30,000 additional American troops that President Barack Obama has ordered to Afghanistan will be deployed there.

A vehicle carrying the road crew hit a roadside bomb Sunday in the Nawa district in Helmand province, according to the Interior Ministry. It said two workers were killed, and two were wounded.

The attack occurred a day after a British correspondent and a U.S. Marine were killed by a roadside bomb in the same area.

Sunday Mirror journalist Rupert Hamer, 39, was the first British journalist killed in the conflict.

Hamer and photographer Philip Coburn, 43, were accompanying a U.S. Marine patrol Saturday when their vehicle was hit by a makeshift bomb near the village of Nawa, the British Defense Ministry said. Coburn was seriously wounded.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday expressed condolences to Hamer’s family as well as to the British media. Karzai said he appreciated the “brave journalists” who risk their lives in Helmand.

Obama has said U.S. troops will start withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2011, and American and Afghan officials already are preparing for the transition.

The Afghan government has announced plans to take over the U.S.-run prison at the Bagram air base. No date has been set for the handover, but officials have said it could occur by the end of the year.

KARACHI, Pakistan News: Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik said Friday that conspiracies are being hatched to trigger confrontation among Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). He said enemies of the country have moved to Karachi after Waziristan.
Talking to media after having meetings with DG Rangers and Police officials in Karachi, Malik said PPP and MQM will jointly foil such conspiracies. He told that there are many illegal immigrants residing in Karachi. Malik warned illegal immigrants to register themselves according to law within 30 days or leave the country. “We can’t ignore firing incidents taking place in Lyari and will take stern action against the perpetrators including Lyari gangs. However, recent incidents are result of someone’s relations with a girl.” Malik opined that no political party was behind Karachi incidents on Yaum-e-Ashur.

KARACHI, Pakistan News: A delegation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) met with President Asif Ali Zardari here at Bilawal House.

The MQM delegation comprised of Deputy Conveyer MQM Dr. Farooq Sattar, Governor Sindh Dr. Ishratul Ibad, Provincial IT Minister Raza Haroon, Adil Siddique,Wasim Aftab, Health Minister Dr.Saghir, Sardar Ahmad and City Nazim Mustafa Kamal while Interior Minister Rehman Malik assisted President Zardari.

Federal Ministers Farooq Sattar and Rehman Malik talked to media after the meeting. Farooq Sattar said MQM expressed solidarity with President Zardari on the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto and praised her services for the country. The decision about local bodies system will be taken in upcoming meetings, he added.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said corruption will be rooted out from the country and decision on local bodies system will be taken according to nation wishes. He said an internal meeting of PPP and MQM will be held in this connection and PPP and MQM will continue work together to strengthen democracy.

Lahore, Pakistan News :- Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, as a humanitarian gesture, has decided to unilaterally release 100 Indian fishermen who have been in Pakistani custody.

The Prime Minister has instructed the Interior Ministry to make necessary arrangements for their repatriation to India on December 24.To resolve the issue of prisoners and fishermen in each other’s custody, Pakistan has also proposed to India the revival of the Judicial Committee on Prisoners between the two countries.

KARACHI, Pakistan News: The Accountability court has issued arrest warrants of Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday.

Accountability court judge Mir Muhammad Shaikh has issued the warrants in NAB reference. Earlier, NAB had filed a petition in Rawalpindi accountability court for the restoration of references against 19 persons including Rehman Malik.