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ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - Makeshift bombs striked a Roman Catholic church and a commercial building from the southern Philippines early Sunday, causing fear and damage but no injuries, the local authorities said. The first explosion hit the gate of a two-storey church in downtown Zamboanga as people were arriving for the dawn Sunday mass, shattering glass doors and causing part of the ceiling to collapse, police said. Terrified churchgoers stampeded out of the prayer hall but there were no reported injuries, police investigators added. A parked truck on the church courtyard was also damaged by the blast. About 10 minutes later a similar bomb exploded outside a closed Internet cafe at a commercial building near the church, causing minor damage but no casualties. Police said good thing the establishment was closed at the time. Zamboanga mayor Celso Lobregat told reporters the authorities have not yet identified any suspects up to this time and the motive of the attacks were still unknown.
Archive for March, 2008.
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ROME (AFP) - Conservative billionaire Silvio Berlusconi won Italy’s general elections by an unexpectedly wide margin on Monday, securing a third term as prime minister but warning of tough times ahead for the country in the grip of an economic downturn.Berlusconi will return to the prime minister’s office for the third time since 1994, the year after he burst onto the political stage with his party of the time, Forza Italia! (Go Italy!). The Piepoli polling institute predicted Berlusconi’s coalition would win 162 of the Senate’s 315 seats, giving him six more than the minimum needed for an absolute majority.
HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) - Investors jostled for position on Tuesday as stockmarkets braced for a slew of earnings from U.S. banks, with some heading for the refuge of bonds and gold and others betting that the worst is already priced in. Oil prices hit a record high, helped by a weak dollar, which has given up gains made on supportive remarks from the Group of Seven nations at the weekend. The dollar dithered in a narrow range in cautious Asian trade, standing at 101.23 yen by 0410 GMT, while the euro traded at $1.583, barely changed from Monday’s close.
(Source:Yahoo News)
An official from former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s party says Parliament has passed a resolution seeking a U.N. probe into her case. Izhar Amrohvi says Pakistani lawmakers were unanimous in adopting the resolution late Monday. It urges the government to request the U.N. to investigate Bhutto’s assassination in December. President Pervez Musharraf has blamed a Taliban militant leader, Baitullah Mehsud, for the attack, although Mehsud denies it. Musharraf had opposed a U.N. probe but had allowed the Scotland Yard to look into what caused her death. Pakistan’s new government and parliament is dominated by a coalition led by Bhutto’s party. (Source:Yahoo News)
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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia’s struggling leader faced a new and serious challenge Tuesday after opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim’s dramatic claim that he is supported by enough government defectors to seize power. Analysts said turmoil in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s ruling coalition could hasten an exodus of lawmakers and propel Anwar to power after last month’s stunning general election gains by the opposition alliance. Anwar, the former deputy prime minister who was sacked and jailed a decade ago, said at a rally late Monday that he had enough support to form a government but would not act until he had a more comfortable majority.
Myanmar’s Junta Chief Than Shwe revealed in his 15-minute speech in front of 13,000 soldiers in a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day that civilians will take over the government after the elections in 2010, as soon as the constitution is approved. The said constitution will give broad powers to the military. However, neither the date as to when the proposed constitution will be presented to the public nor the schedule for a referendum to approve it was yet to be disclosed.
Chief Than Shwe made this announcement in Naypyidaw, the new capital of Myanmar, where foreign journalist were not allowed to cover the event. In fact, these media men were not denied visas, six months after the crackdown on Buddhist monks who led the pro-democracy protests.
Syria is holding its first Arab Summit this weekend amidst the boycott that plagues this event. Prime leaders from several countries refuse to attend the summit to express their anger over Damascus’ supposed role in the political crisis that Lebanon is currently facing. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco will all be sending lower level officials to represent their respective countries in the summit. The political crisis in Lebanon has left the country with no successor since November of last year.
The Arab Summit that is taking place this weekend is expected to be attended by the 55 members of the Arab League.
United Nations Chief Ban Ki-moon advises the Israelis, Palestinians and the whole international community to increase efforts on peace settlement in these two nations this year. Ban is optimistic in reaching what he quoted as an ambitious goal. “If not now, when?” he said in the opening of the United Nations Security Council’s monthly debate on the Middle East. Ban furthered that it is very important to push for the peace process despite the violence that takes place and that it should lose the momentum. Israeli and Palestinian leaders who were present at the US-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland to revive peace negotiations in November last year pledged to seek efforts to finally end the conflict that already spans six decades.