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ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: US Central Command chief General John Abizaid is expected to to visit earthquake-hit areas of Pakistan on Sunday, a Pakistani defence ministry official said. General Abizaid will visit the affected region in the north of the country, where US military helicopters have been playing a vital role delivering aid to cut-off survivors of the October 8 disaster, the official said--AFP.
Israel resigned to Hamas participation in elections
JERUASALEM, Oct 23: Israel was increasingly resigned Sunday to Hamas standing in January's Palestinian elections after US President George W. Bush failed to voice opposition to the Islamic militant movement's participation. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom had said last week that it would be "madness" for Hamas to be allowed to take part but the government now appears to have backed down from threats to disrupt January's ballot in the absence of support from its chief ally--AFP.
Six-month toll nears 300 in south Thailand: senior army chief
NARATHIWAT, (Thailand), Oct 23: Nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 500 others injured in Thailand's restive southern provinces bordering Malaysia in the past six months, a senior army officer said Sunday. Lieutenant General Kwanchart Klaharn, the fourth army commander, said 298 people had been killed and 564 others injured in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla provinces between April 1 and September 30--AFP.
Four rescued as chopper joins search for climbers in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Oct 23 (AFP): A helicopter crew, taking advantage of a break in the weather, Sunday rescued four members of an 18-strong climbing team stranded for four days by heavy snowfall in the mountains of northwest Nepal, a rescue official said. The search was continuing for the other mountaineers -- seven French nationals and seven Nepalese -- said Bikram Neupane, president of the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA)--AFP.
Afghan magazine editor sentenced
to two years for blasphemy
KABUL, Oct 23 (AFP) - A court in Afghanistan has convicted the editor of a women's magazine of blasphemy after complaints his articles questioned Islam, and sentenced him to two years in jail, a media rights group said Sunday. The Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association said it would complain to President Hamid Karzai about the sentencing of editor Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, who has been in jail since his arrest two weeks ago--AFP.
Thai FM 'optimistic' for frayed ties with Malaysia
BANGKOK, Oct 23: Thailand's foreign minister said in remarks published on Sunday he was hopeful of an improvement in relations with neighbouring Malaysia, strained over an insurgency raging near their border. "I look forward to good cooperation. I am optimistic," Kantathi Suphamongkhon was quoted by the Nation newspaper as saying--AFP.
Koizumi's war shrine visit makes Japanese diplomacy tougher: FM
TOKYO, Oct 23: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's latest visit to a controversial war shrine has made the job of being Tokyo's top diplomat a difficult one, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Sunday. "Frankly speaking, the objective situation has become tougher this year" with Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni shrine, Machimura said on a talk show broadcast on the private Asahi network--AFP.
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