N Korea vows 'nuclear strikes' in latest threat

SEOUL: North Korea's military warned South Korea and the United States on Friday of ``unprecedented nuclear strikes'' as it expressed anger over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the country, a scenario it dismissed as a ``pipe dream.''

``Those who seek to bring down the system in the (North), whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army,'' North Korea's military said in comments carried by the official Korean news agency.

The North Korean statement Friday specifically referred to the March 19 newspaper report. A spokeswoman said the South Korean Defense Ministry had no information.

FM Qureshi, Biden hold one-on-one meeting

WASHINGTON: US Vice President Joe Biden, saluting courage of Pakistani army and people’s nerve in combating war on terrorism, said Pakistani people and army have put up excellent show in stamping out terrorism within last two years, Geo news reported.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and US VP Joe Biden held one-on-one meeting here in Washington on Thursday.

During the meeting, US VP, lauding Pakistan’s role in terror war, assured Pakistan of US’s all-out support and cooperation in further extending war to counter insurgency.

Earlier, FM Qureshi met with US National Security Adviser General James Jones.

The meeting was also attended by Pakistani envoy to United States Hussain Haqqani, Federal Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani.

Later, Qureshi and US VP Biden held one-on-one meeting, which lasted for 30 minutes.

UN body visits Karsaz blasts place in Karachi

KARACHI: A UN investigation team, probing into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, arrived late here and visited the Karasaz place where several blasts hit Benazir caravan when she returned home,

Strict security measures were adopted on the occasion with heavy contingents of police and rangers’ personnel deployed at Karsaz suicide blast place.

Senior officials of Karachi police assisted UN body in collecting information and evidences related to incident, sources said.

The UN team also recreated the crime scene and was brief on various aspects of incident by police officers.

Two-way traffic on Karsaz road was cornered on service road during investigation, witnesses said.

Asthma relief in Pakistan salt mine

KHEWRA: A centuries-old salt mine in Pakistan is offering experimental asthma therapy, attracting patients from all over the world.

Khewra, billed as the world's second largest salt mine, has for centuries extracted the crucial mineral for export and has become a tourist attraction complete with a salt mosque and an electric train.

Now, the mine is cashing in on salt therapy, already a draw in the salt mines of eastern Europe and a synthetic clinic in Britain.

Clinics claim that asthma patients and sufferers of other respiratory illnesses benefit from inhaling antibacterial salt particles in a sterile environment, helping loosen mucus and clear the lung passages.

"We don't use any medicine, because the asthmatic allergy patients recover through the air, so we provide them an environment in which their breathing can improve," said Akhlaq Bukhari, head doctor at the Khewra clinic.

Although there have been few clinical studies, salt caves are seen by some as a therapeutic alternative to drugs and there are natural and synthetic salt caves springing up all over the world.

While other clinics offer treatment for bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and even ear infections, Shah says the Khewra clinic only treats patients whose asthma is triggered by allergies.

"I have come here all the way from Canada. I could not recover there through medicine, but I am feeling better since my arrival here," said Naeem Shamsher, a civil engineer from Canada.

Shamsher had tried medicine doled out by doctors back home but felt little relief and struggled to walk far without becoming breathless, so relatives in Pakistan suggested he visit the Khewra Mines.

"Now I can run and even play soccer just after spending three days in the mine," said Shamsher, who says he feels 60 percent better after the treatment.

The mine, located 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was discovered in 320 BC by Alexander's troops and first developed by British colonial rulers in 1872, mine officials say.

Located deep underground in the mine, the asthma clinic resembles an upmarket guesthouse, with 12 beds covered in white sheets and red blankets in six independent cabins separated with salt bricks and softly lit by lamps.

There is a reception area decorated with salt lamps and a lounge complete with a fountain, sofas and a television set.

The walls and roof of the clinic are made from pure salt and a fan helps maintain the temperature and humidity, creating the so-called "micro-climate" that offers patients relief, Shah says.

A 10-day course at the Khewra Mines salt therapy centre costs 5,300 rupees (62 dollars), with 11 hours a day spent in the caves while nights are spent in a nearby hospital.

Since opening in 2007, the clinic has treated about 500 patients. Shah claims that 60 percent of patients experience some relief from their symptoms and says patients have come from as far as Britain and Saudi Arabia.

But Shahid Abbas, a doctor who runs the private Allergy and Asthma Centre in Islamabad, said that although an asthma or allergy sufferer may get temporary relief, there is no quick-fix cure.

"There is no scientific proof that a person can permanently get rid of asthma by breathing in a salt mine or in a particular environment," he said.

Khaled Sajjad Khokhar, managing director of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, a government body which owns the mine, says they will assess the success of the Khewra clinic before approving its expansion to 100 beds.

But some patients are returning, happy to get even temporary relief.

"This hospital is a blessing, it gave me a second life. I never had problems breathing after spending 10 days over there in 2007," said Pakistani patient Adnan Khan, on his second visit to the clinic.

Hundreds of Palestinians riot in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM: Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with police in several east Jerusalem neighbourhoods early Tuesday amid heightened religious and political tension in the Holy City.

Police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at protesters in the Shuafat refugee camp who hurled rocks at security forces. The Palestinians dispersed after army troops moved in. Similar clashes broke out in other parts of east Jerusalem. Police said they deployed 3,000 policemen across the city.

The reopening of a landmark synagogue in Jerusalem's walled Old City on Monday further fuelled tension following several weeks of clashes.

Sri Lanka's ex-army chief faces court martial

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's ex-army chief faced a court martial Tuesday that could see the opposition leader jailed for up to five years if convicted on charges supporters say are politically motivated.

A three-member panel of two-star generals has been named to try Sarath Fonseka, who is charged making irregular procurements and engaging in politics while he was still the commander of the army.

"The members of the court martial assembled at the navy headquarters for the hearing," an official source told foreign news agency. "General Fonseka's lawyers are also there."

Fonseka faces two charges relating to politics and military procurement rules and they will be heard separately by the same panel, which will sit behind closed doors, a defence source said.

Fighting in Somalia kills 23 civilians

MOGADISHU: Intense fighting between Somali government forces and Islamist insurgents on Wednesday left 23 civilians dead in Mogadishu,

Shebab militants, linked to al-Qaeda, used heavy artillery to target government positions in the north of the capital.

Government troops counter-attacked later in the day, buttressed by armoured vehicles from African Union peacekeepers.

Both sides claimed victory.

"We have recovered the bodies of 17 other civilians as well as 65 wounded," the head of Mogadishu's ambulance service told media.

Three other civilians were killed in crossfire, witnesses said, while officials earlier said they had collected three bodies that morning.

Among the casualties, nine were killed by an exploding shell, witness Muhidin Adan Idris said.

"There were pieces of human flesh everywhere. It was horrible," he said.

Belligerent factions in Mogadishu have been locked in a tense stand-off for weeks, amid expectations of an imminent offensive by the government and its African Union backers to wrest Somalia back from the insurgency.

Four dead in Mansehra NGO office attack

MANSEHRA: At least four people including two women were killed when some armed men attacked the office of an NGO in Mansehra,

According to police sources, the armed men attacked with firearms and blasted the office of a US-based NGO, killing at least four people in Mansehra tehsil of Aughi.

According to media reports, the exchange of fire between police and militants is currently underway at the site of NGO Vision World, which was razed to ground in the blast.

Powerful car bomb kills 12 in Lahore

LAHORE: A car bomb slammed into Pakistani offices used to interrogate suspected militants on Monday, destroying the building and killing 12 people in the latest attack to strike Lahore.

At least 66 including 13 women were wounded with people trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings when a car packed with up to 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of explosives struck an investigations unit in city’s posh area.

There were scenes of panic as volunteers and rescue workers dug with bare hands under the collapsed two-storey building and a severely damaged seminary founded by Dr Israr Ahmed, searching for survivors and fearing the death toll could rise.

"It was around 8:15 (0315 GMT) when I heard a deafening blast which shook my house," said Nasim-ur-Rehman who lives about 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from the scene of attack in the upmarket neighbourhood Model Town.

"When I rushed out I saw thick smoke billowing out," he added.

The blast gouged a huge crater out of the ground, crumpled roofs and littered the streets with tree branches. Bulldozers and other heavy-lifting machinery worked to clear away the mounds of rubble, witnesses said.

Flying glass wounded passers-by. A woman and her daughter were among the dead in the city of eight million, and civilians who were wounded were mostly office workers or parents returning after dropping their children at school.

"It was a police special investigation unit that was targeted. A vehicle packed with explosives hit the building. The building was used to interrogate suspected terrorists," Lahore city police chief Pervez Rathore said.

Khusro Pervez, the top administration official in Lahore, said 11 people were killed and 61 wounded.

"I fear the death toll may rise. We believe there are still people trapped under the rubble," he said.

Police said 30 to 50 people were in the building, used by police and intelligence agents, at the time of attack, which blew out a crater three metres (10 feet) deep and four to six metres wide.

"The blast also severely damaged a nearby religious school and houses. All schools have been closed in the area in order to avoid further losses or to prevent the possibility of another attack," said Rathore.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik blamed "hired killers who want to destabilise Pakistan" and pointed the finger at the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction holed up in the northwest of the country along the border with Afghanistan.

"In almost every blast there has been TTP involvement and they themselves have also claimed responsibility for attacks," he added.

"The ammunition and weapons are coming from Afghanistan," he alleged.

Ambulances raced to the area and the city's Jinnah Hospital declared a state of emergency as casualties were rushed into wards and rescue workers used seismic sensors to search for survivors under the rubble.

Hospitals in the city are working under emergency condition following the mishap. At least 29 injured are in critical state.

The deceased include Constable Munawwar Hasan, Constable Abdul Aziz, Amjad, Shahid, Muhammed Naveed, Habibullah, Aziz Ahmed, Arif, 40-year Ghazala and 5-year Rahila.

The relief work is underway with heavy machinery and at least 6 people have been excavated from under the ruble.

The blast also severely hit ten to 12 nearby houses, as the affected building is situated in the residential area.

Israel OKs new settlement in West Bank: minister

JERUSALEM: Israel has given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on such construction, a minister said on Monday.

The houses will be built in the Beitar Ilit settlement near Bethlehem, Environment Minister Gilad Erdan told public radio.

Israel's continued expansion of settlements is one of the biggest obstacles to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, now suspended for more than a year.

The new project came to light the day after the Palestinians agreed to indirect peace talks with Israel but warned that the US-mediated negotiations could collapse if Israel continued expanding settlements.

The Palestinians insist they will only return to direct negotiations if Israel agrees to a complete freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

Israel announced a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for settler homes in the occupied West Bank in late November but it excludes east Jerusalem, public buildings and works already under way.

The international community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land illegal.

Robert Gates in Kabul, cautions tough fight ahead

KABUL: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates flew into Kabul on Monday on an unannounced visit, warning of "hard fighting" still ahead despite signs of progress in the NATO-led war against Taliban insurgents.

"There is no doubt there are positive developments going on, but I would say it's very early yet," Gates told reporters on his plane before landing in the Afghan capital.

He cautioned that there would be "some very hard fighting, very hard days ahead" as US, NATO and Afghan government forces step up pressure on Taliban militants in the south.

Gates acknowledged "bits and pieces of good news" when asked about the recent capture of senior Taliban leaders in neighboring Pakistan, but said it was probably too soon to say momentum had shifted to coalition forces.

"I think more needs to be done," he said, adding that a surge of US reinforcements was still in its initial stages.

Bridges hits right note to win best actor Oscar

HOLLYWOOD: Jeff Bridges won the Oscar for best actor at the Academy Awards here Sunday for his portrayal of an alcoholic country singer in the drama "Crazy Heart.

The 60-year-old veteran -- who had been nominated four times but never won -- was the heavy favorite to end his losing streak after winning a string of pre-Oscars awards shows.

A clearly delighted Bridges beat out competition from George Clooney for his performance as a corporate downsizer in "Up In the Air" and Jeremy Renner, a maverick bomb disposal expert in "The Hurt Locker."

Two-time Oscar winner Morgan Freeman was also nominated for his performance as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus" along with British actor Colin Firth for "A Single Man."

Lahore blast kills 5, injures 45

LAHORE: At least five people were killed and 45 injured in a powerful blast in Lahore area of Model Town, which targeted a government office,

The deceased include two women and three men.

Talking to media, Dr Javed Ikram Principal Allama Iqbal Medical College said at least 45 injured were brought to Jinnah Hospital.

Talking to media, DCO Sajjad Bhutta said the blast may be a suicide car attack, adding at least 600-kilogram explosives have been used in the blast.

Talking to media, Punjab police chief Tariq Salim Dogar said the secret agency was working in a residential area as there is shortage of offices; the targeted office was to be shifted to its proper working place.

The police chief said the blast targeted the special investigation unit of the secret agency.

It should be mentioned that the secret agency’s investigation and research office was working at a house situated in K Block of Model Town.

According to police sources, the security guard intercepted a man entering the building of a secret agency, who blew him up destroying the entire building.

The blast sound was heard far and wide. The blast was so powerful that it created a huge crater on the blast site and the nearby buildings were harmed.

A secret agency office was targeted at 815am near the seminary of Dr Israr Ahmed in K Block of Model town.

The blast razed the building to ground. The injured are being taken out from under the rubble. Of the 45 injured, nine are in critical state.

There are 13 women among the injured.

Ambulances, police and other rescue teams are busy with rescue work. Also, heavy machinery have arrived on the spot to retrieve the bodies and the injured people from under the rubble.

The blast site has been cordoned off, so that the rescue work could head smoothly.

An eyewitness, standing on his rooftop near the blast area, said he could watch the smokes billowing from the blast site.

Pentagon concerned over Blackwater's work in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is concerned about possible misconduct in Afghanistan by the private security firm formerly known as Black water and has promised to review the issue, the Pentagon said Friday.

Gates made the pledge to lawmakers after receiving a letter from Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who urged the defense secretary to reconsider awarding a possible one billion dollar contract to the firm, now known as Xe, due to allegations of wrongdoing.

"He is looking into it and he takes it seriously," press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

Gates has told the senator that "he shares his (Levin's) concerns," Morrell said.

The letter dated February 25 and released publicly on Thursday notes that the Defense Department is reportedly preparing to give a contract to Xe for "highly sensitive work" to train Afghan national police, despite its controversial record in Iraq and amid fresh allegations of misconduct.

The letter cites a recent Senate hearing on a contract given to a Black water affiliate to provide weapons training in Afghanistan.

Levin's committee heard evidence that alleged that Black water may have used a front company for the contract, lied to Pentagon officials in its proposal documents, "misappropriated" government weapons, carried weapons without approval and hired staff with serious criminal records including larceny and substance abuse.

Black water's conduct may have "contributed to a shooting incident that has undermined our mission in Afghanistan," it added.

Brazil, US clash over Iran

Brazil and the US clashed on Wednesday over how to rein in Tehran’s suspect nuclear ambitions as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned the world not to “push Iran into a corner.” In talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Lula and his Foreign Minister Celso Amorim backed continued international negotiations to ensure Iran does not enrich uranium to the point it can build a nuclear bomb.

Lula set a tough tone for his and Amorim’s talks with Clinton when he said it is “not prudent to push Iran into a corner. It is prudent to make it so that Iran continues to negotiate.”

In a combative press conference with Amorim, a stern-faced Clinton retorted that the US-led drive to impose a fourth set of UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic was the only way to bring it back to the negotiating table.

“Only after we pass sanctions in the Security Council will Iran negotiate in good faith,” Clinton said in a foreign ministry briefing room where she was continually pressed by local journalists on Washington’s hard stand.

Clinton echoed Amorim when she said both shared the goal of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons country, but said the two differed in how to attain it.

A shooting at the metro entrance to the Pentagon

A shooting at the metro entrance to the Pentagon left two police officers and a civilian suspect wounded and forced the US military headquarters to be put under security lockdown.
Pentagon police spokesman Chris layman said the alleged gunman was also wounded. All three were taken to hospital but injuries were not life-threatening. A security lockdown was imposed on the building for a while. Layman said, the suspect had approached the subway entrance and opened fire. Officials say an investigation is under way. It is unclear why the alleged gunman opened fire at the pentagon police officers. Besides serving the pentagon, the station is a major transportation hub for bus service into suburban northern Virginia and is crowded during the evening rush hour.

Tainted liquor kills 15 Indians

LUCKNOW: At least 15 people have been killed and six others blinded after drinking toxic home-brewed liquor in northern India, police said on Wednesday.

Eight people died in a village near Ghaziabad, 250 miles southwest of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, Brij Lal, a senior police official. Seven people died in the nearby town of Bulandshahar, according to police official Neelesh Kumar.

Another six people were blinded and 15 others in the area sickened by the liquor. Police said the demand for alcohol had risen sharply over the last week because of the Hindu festival of colours, Holi, which was celebrated on Monday.

On Feb 27, six people died from drinking tainted liquor in the same area, according to local police.

Most of the victims who drank the tainted brew on Tuesday night were poor farmers and labourers, looking for a cheap means of intoxication.

Deaths from drinking illegally brewed liquor are common in Uttar Pradesh because few poor people can afford legally sold alcohol. The illicit liquor is often spiked with pesticides or chemicals to increase its potency.

Last week, police seized more than 25,000 liters of illegal liquor in the state, according to Brij Lal, a senior police official.

Arabs give Palestinian-Israeli talks ‘final’ chance

Arab foreign ministers agreed on Wednesday to back one last round of indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks despite scepticism over Israel’s readiness to revive peace efforts, Arab League chief Amr Mussa said.

The move, which came after months of US-led shuttle diplomacy, was swiftly welcomed by Israel but was slammed by the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza as an “excuse” for Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to rejoin negotiations that would “only lead to failure.”

Arab ministers had called for a four-month deadline for the indirect talks. “Despite a lack of conviction over Israel’s seriousness, (Arab foreign ministers) will give indirect talks a chance, for the final time, in order to facilitate US efforts, within four months,” he said.

“There was a consensus that Israel is not interested in peace, the proof being what is taking place on occupied land... acts which are meant to provoke the Arab and American sides,” he added. Negotiations have been on ice since Israel launched a devastating attack on the Gaza Strip in December 2008.

The Palestinians have said they will only return to the negotiating table if Israel first halts all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. But Israel has agreed only to a 10-month freeze that excludes public buildings and annexed Arab east Jerusalem, failing to satisfy the Palestinians.

US Middle East envoy George Mitchell proposed US-brokered indirect talks as a way of getting around the deadlock. Israel welcomed the Arab ministers’ endorsement of indirect talks.

“We welcome this decision. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been continually calling for peace talks, and we hope that now the talks can move forward,” government spokesman Mark Regev told AFP. Netanyahu said conditions were ripe for talks. “It seems the conditions are ripening for a renewal of talks between us and the Palestinians,” he told MPs.

“In general, the world understands that this government is on the path to negotiations and has taken difficult steps to advance the negotiations,” he said. The Arab ministers said the talks should be based on the principles of a 2002 Arab peace initiative, which calls for full normalisation with Israel in exchange for a complete withdrawal by Israel from Arab land, the creation of a Palestinian state and an “equitable” solution for Palestinian refugees.

They stressed that any direct negotiations could only take place if there is a “complete halt of settlement activity on all occupied land, including Jerusalem.”

“US-proposed indirect talks will not bear fruit if Israeli violations continue, which would lead to the failure of talks,” they said. There has been no let-up in Israeli settlement construction outside the limited 10-month moratorium Netanyahu announced in November.

On Friday, Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the government had given the green light for 600 new homes in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem, drawing US criticism. Hamas slammed the Arab endorsement of indirect negotiations as a figleaf to cover a retreat by Abbas on his demand for a freeze on settlement expansion.

Forces kill 30 extremists in Mohmand Agency

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed up to 30 Taliban fighters on Thursday in a counter-offensive after coming under attack in a volatile tribal area on the Afghan border, military officials said.

According to the FC sources, the extremists attacked Marjan-1 Check Post in Lakro tehsil of Mohmand Agency at 4am today, which was duly retaliated by the forces.

Militants killed one soldier and wounded four in an early morning attack on a military checkpost in Mohmand tribal region.

"During fighting, 25 to 30 terrorists were killed," a military official told talking to a UK-based news agency.

There are at least ten bodies with the forces. The FC sources told that a group of ten extremists came from Bajaur; however, they were forced to flee as a result of forces’ action.

Another official said the bodies of five militants were in the custody of the security forces.

The clash erupted two days after Pakistan said it had cleared the Taliban and al Qaeda from nearby Bajaur region after nearly two years of fighting in the area.

Separately, the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary said it had killed 38 militants and arrested 18 in a week-long operation near the northwestern garrison town of Kohat.

Movie milestone 'Avatar' eyes Oscars gold

LOS ANGELES: Win or lose at the Oscars this weekend, "Avatar" is already assured of its place in Hollywood history, a 3-D milestone to rank alongside the arrival of sound in the 1920s or color in the 1930s.

Director James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster has already redefined the art of special effects on its way to becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, raking in more than two billion dollars worldwide since its release.

James Cameron had to wait more than a decade for technology to catch up with his imagination, but when it did the results were spectacular, a visually stunning masterpiece which has been nominated for nine Academy Awards.

The American Film Institute has lauded "Avatar" as a "pioneering effort to unleash the human imagination... a film that has firmly established itself as a landmark in the way stories are told."

Set in the year 2154, "Avatar" tells the story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former Marine who is sent to live among the Na'vi, a humanoid race of blue aliens living on the exotic Earth-like moon, Pandora.

When Sully falls in love with a Na'vi native he rebels against his human controllers, leading them in a rebellion to save their way of life.

The film's pro-environment, anti-imperialist storyline has attracted criticism from conservatives but Cameron remains unapologetic.

"It's not an Oliver Stone-style bludgeon-you-over-the-head political film but it does have a political subtext," said Cameron, who is nominated for best director 12 years after he won the award for "Titanic."

Cameron was able to bring the world of Pandora and the Na'vi to life courtesy of experimental, state-of-the-art, "performance capture" cameras which the film-maker had helped to invent.

Working under blanket secrecy out of a giant converted warehouse in the Los Angeles suburb of Playa Vista, the cast of "Avatar" were rigged in bodysuits covered with small sensors, allowing 140 cameras to capture every movement.

Additionally, a tiny camera fixed to each actor's head allowed Cameron to record every muscle movement or expression in their faces. That information was then passed to animators who helped transform actors into Na'vi.

After this painstaking process was complete, animators then examined video of the actors in each scene to ensure that their Na'vi doubles accurately reflected every nuance of their performance.

Cameron barely took a day off for five years after production on his masterpiece got underway.

"It turned out to be more labor-intensive than expected," Cameron has said. "I took a day off about once every seven weeks, when I started slurring my words. I got the swine flu -- I took half day off for that."

Cameron's reputation for attention to detail is reflected in the research which went into creating the world of Pandora and the Na'vi.

University of Southern California linguistics expert Paul Frommer was hired to invent an entire language, a process which took months just to settle on rules for a basic grammatical structure.

"He didn't just tell me to build a language from scratch. He actually wanted to discuss points of grammar," said Frommer, who drafted an instruction manual -- "Speak Na'vi" -- used to teach actors.

Meanwhile every animal on Pandora were given Na'vi, Latin and common names, while an expert in botany from the University of California was hired to provide detailed scientific descriptions of plants created in the film.

Other experts hired for the film included an astrophysicist, a music professor, and an archaeologist.

Finally a team of writers and editors helped distill all this information -- most of which is never mentioned in the film -- into a 350-page manual dubbed the Pandorapedia, explaining the culture and science of the planet.

Suicide blast near Sarwar Chowke in Muzaffargarh Pakistan

MUZAFFARGARH: A suicide explosion occurred near Sarwar Shaheed Chowke in Muzaffargarh,

The explosion was reportedly took place late on Wednesday night, which was initially taken for an electricity transformer blast, sources suspected.

According to sources, police contingents have cordoned off the area while the dead body of an unknown person was also found from the blast site.

Police have launched investigation into incident, saying they suspect the explosion happened while the suspected militant was preparing a suicide jacket, sources told media.

The deceased person was reportedly hailing from Dera Ismael Khan (DIK), sources said further.

A National Identity Card (NIC) reading as Hashim Khan was also seized from the blast place, witnesses and security forces said.

US to share laser-guiding bomb kits with Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The US will deliver this month to Pakistan 1,000 sophisticated laser-guided bomb kits that would enable the government there to strike insurgent targets with more precision.

The arms sale suggests that US officials are trying to deepen America's relationship with Pakistan and increase military cooperation. The US has been trying to encourage Pakistan to take a tougher stand against Taliban forces operating within its borders.

Lt. Col. Jeffry Glenn, an Air Force spokesman, said Tuesday the US had delivered 1,000 MK-82 bombs to Pakistan last month. This month's shipment of kits would enable Pakistan to use sophisticated laser technology to guide the bombs to specific targets.

Glenn said the US also plans to provide Pakistan 18 new F-16 fighter jets by June.

Obesity hits New York's poorest neighborhoods hardest

NEW YORK: New York City's obesity rate has climbed in recent years, but with lower income neighborhoods hit hardest while wealthier areas like Manhattan's Upper East Side and Chelsea remain slim, a new study found.

Researchers from New York University and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, found between 2003 and 2007, the prevalence of obesity citywide increased to 22 percent from 20 percent but with large variations in neighborhoods.

That was still lower than national and statewide rates, which stood at roughly 27 percent and 25 percent around the same time.

In more affluent areas, like the Upper East Side, Chelsea and the West Village, obesity rates hovered around 8 percent across the period of the study that is published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

In contrast, obesity was a more common and growing problem in other city neighborhoods, many of which are lower-income.

In 2003, only one neighborhood -- East Harlem -- had an obesity rate higher than 30 percent. By 2007, six neighborhoods had joined it -- three in the Bronx, the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Rockaway in Queens and northern Staten Island.

Researcher Dr. Jennifer Black from the University of British Columbia said understanding neighborhood-by-neighborhood variations could help in efforts to combat obesity as obesity rates balloon across the United States.

"If we can figure out what types of neighborhood characteristics make it easier for people to make healthy choices, and what kinds of factors are barriers to good health, we will be able to come up with more effective interventions," Black said.

"(This may) help people maintain a healthy body weight and reduce their risks of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease."

Black and colleague James Macinko, of New York University, found that neighborhoods with a wider variety of food stores and more fitness centers were associated with lower obesity rates. The finding does not prove that better food selections and gyms prevent obesity.

"But what this study does tell us is that substantial differences (in obesity) exist between neighborhoods with different levels of access to food and fitness amenities," said Black.

She said such neighborhood features remained linked to obesity even when the researchers accounted for factors like residents' age, race and education levels, which were gathered from an annual health survey that covered more than 48,000 New Yorkers in 34 city neighborhoods.

The researchers noted that New York City recently launched a "Green Cart" program designed to offer lower income residents a better selection of fresh produce.

The city made available 1,000 new permits for mobile carts selling raw fruits and vegetables to be set up in specified "underserved" neighborhoods in the city's five boroughs.

19 confirmed dead in Yemen building collapse

Up to 19 people are believed to have died following the collapse of three buildings in Taiz, Yemen's second-largest city.

The buildings collapsed following an explosion in a dynamite warehouse under one of them, sources told Al Jazeera's correspondent in south Yemen.

At least nine bodies were pulled from the rubble on Tuesday and rescue workers were looking for 10 more believed buried and feared dead.

Fifteen people were also reported injured and taken to hospitals. Initial findings gave no indication the explosion was anything other than an accident, an official said.

The explosives were stored in the basement of a four-storey building that was reduced to rubble in the residential al-Masbah area of Taiz.

Witnesses told the German Press Agency DPA that the pre-dawn explosion left eight families homeless.

They said the warehouse was owned by an arms dealer and was used for road construction in the mountainous Taiz province.

"The explosion tore apart three buildings," Muhammad Saeed, a witness said by phone. "Many people are still under the wreckage."

Security officials said search-and-rescue operations were continuing.

Chile toll feared to soar past present 800 mark

CONCEPCION: Thousands more troops deployed across Chile as armed vigilantes patrolled neighborhoods to ward off looters and protect residents already traumatized by a devastating earthquake.

"The thugs have taken over the city. Now we are not afraid of the earthquakes, we're afraid of the criminals," Marcelo Rivera, the mayor of Hualpen, told a Chilean radio station.

President Michelle Bachelet doubled the number of troops patrolling the worst-hit areas to 14,000, as people in the second largest city of Concepcion were slapped with an 18-hour curfew.

"Military personnel will be present in the streets of Concepcion until midday to maintain public order, and they will not waver in carrying out their duties," warned General Guillermo Ramirez.

A similar curfew was also imposed on three other towns badly damaged by Saturday's 8.8-magnitude quake, which was so strong it triggered a Pacific-wide tsunami and according to a NASA scientist probably shifted the Earth's axis.

Bachelet defended her government's handling of the crisis as the first aid supplies began trickling into the quake-hit areas.

"We understand your urgent suffering, but we also know that these are criminal acts that will not be tolerated," Bachelet said.

Bachelet said troops now had fanned out with water and food in the hard-hit Maule and Bio Bio river regions, where destruction was vast and looting rampant after Saturday's temblor, one of the worst on record.

Officially, the quake killed almost 800 people, but the death toll looks set to rise sharply as relief teams reach more isolated areas.

"The tsunami affected 200 kilometers of coastline, at places sweeping 2,000 meters inland," General Bosco Pesse, who is running emergency operations in the Maule region of a quarter million people, said.

"Some 600 people died in this area, but the toll could climb to 1,000."

In Concepcion, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Santiago, hungry, desperate residents roamed the streets looking for food and water.

Across many neighbourhoods, people were taking matters into their own hands, organizing self-defense groups, barricading streets and preventing strangers from entering.

Bachelet, outraged at the vandalism after stores were looted and torched, said it was not acceptable that "people have to organize mechanisms for their self-defense, just to hold onto the few possessions that they still have after the earthquake."

Hualpen mayor Rivera urged the government to send in a contingent of troops, and grimly warned: "If they have to kill, then let them kill."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Santiago Tuesday carrying communications equipment and said the United States stood ready to help.

Obama Backs Rewarding Districts That Police Failing Schools

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Monday that he favored federal rewards for local school districts that fire underperforming teachers and close failing schools, saying educators needed to be held accountable when they failed to fix chronically troubled classrooms and curb the student dropout rate.

The president outlined his proposal to offer $900 million in federal grants, which would be made available to states and school districts willing to take aggressive steps to turn around struggling institutions or close them.

The president’s proposal, which was included in his 2011 budget request to Congress, is his latest criticism of America’s failing public schools. In a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Obama said federal aid would be available for the districts that are home to the 2,000 schools that produce more than half of the nation’s dropouts.

He spoke alongside former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife, Alma, who lead America’s Promise Alliance, an advocacy group dedicated to combating the school dropout rate.

“We know that the success of every American will be tied more closely than ever before to the level of education that they achieve,” Mr. Obama said. “The jobs will go to the people with the knowledge and the skills to do them. It’s that simple.”

He singled out Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, where last week the school board voted to dismiss the entire faculty as part of a turnaround plan for the school, which has a 48 percent graduation rate.

At Central Falls High, he said, just 7 percent of 11th graders passed state math tests. Mr. Obama said he supported the school board’s decision to dismiss the faculty and staff members. “Our kids get only one chance at an education and we need to get it right,” he said.

The president’s comments incensed the leadership of the American Federation of Teachers, which criticized Mr. Obama for “condoning the mass firing” of teachers at the Rhode Island school.

“We know it is tempting for people in Washington to score political points by scapegoating teachers, but it does nothing to give our students and teachers the tools they need to succeed,” the president of the union, Randi Weingarten, said in a statement.

In their efforts to overhaul failing public schools, Mr. Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, have frequently drawn the ire of teachers’ unions.

In his speech on Monday, Mr. Obama said states would be asked to identify schools that perform at persistently low levels, with graduation rates of 60 percent or less.

To qualify for the federal money, known as School Turnaround Grants, he said, the school districts must agree to take at least one of the steps: firing the principal and at least half the staff of a troubled school; reopening it as a charter school; or closing the school altogether and transferring students to better schools in the district.

“If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year,” Mr. Obama said, “if it doesn’t show signs of improvement, then there’s got to be a sense of accountability.”

The $900 million grant program, which would be subject to Congressional approval, follows $3.5 billion included in last year’s economic stimulus plan that also was aimed at improving school performance and lowering the dropout rate. The program would support interventions at 5,000 of the nation’s lowest-performing schools over the next five years.

Mr. Obama is seeking to use federal money as an incentive for local schools to improve their standards. The initiatives his administration is pursuing are similar to those of the Bush administration. At the event on Monday, Mr. Obama recognized Margaret Spellings, a secretary of education under President George W. Bush, who was seated in the front row.

Mr. Obama said he was particularly troubled by the dropout rate. He said 1.2 million students left school each year before graduating from high school, at a cost to the nation of $319 billion annually in potential earning losses.

“Now it’s true that not long ago you could drop out of high school and reasonably expect to find a blue-collar job that would pay the bills and help support your family,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s just not the case anymore.”

The Powells, who founded America’s Promise Alliance in 1997, announced on Monday a 10-year campaign called “Grad Nation” directed at the lowest performing high schools in the country and focusing on improving graduation rates and preparations for college.

“We’ve got to catch our kids long before they drop out,” Mr. Powell said.

Paterson Is Said to Have Ordered Calls in Abuse Case

ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson personally directed two state employees to contact the woman who had accused his close aide of assaulting her, according to two people with direct knowledge of the governor’s actions.

Mr. Paterson instructed his press secretary, Marissa Shorenstein, to ask the woman to publicly describe the episode as nonviolent, according to a third person, who was briefed on the matter. That description would contradict the woman’s accounts to the police and in court.

Mr. Paterson also enlisted another state employee, Deneane Brown, a friend of both the governor and the accuser, to make contact with the woman before she was due in court to finalize an order of protection against the aide, David W. Johnson, the two people with direct knowledge said. Ms. Brown, an employee of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, reached out to the woman on more than one occasion over a period of several days and arranged a phone call between the governor and the woman, Mr. Johnson’s companion.

After the calls from Ms. Brown and the conversation with the governor, the woman failed to appear for the court hearing on Feb. 8, and the case was dropped.

These accounts provide the first evidence that Mr. Paterson helped direct an effort to influence the accuser.

Of Ms. Shorenstein’s call, the person briefed on the matter described it as an effort to “reconfirm what the governor had said before, that it was not an acrimonious — it was not a friendly breakup but it wasn’t acrimonious, that the allegation itself was not true.”

The governor had characterized the fight as being “like breakups you hear about all the time.”

The call from Ms. Shorenstein to the woman came on the evening The Times was preparing to publish an article about Mr. Johnson, his past episodes with women and the police, and his ascent to the top ranks of the Paterson administration.

The person briefed on the matter said that at the time of the call, Ms. Shorenstein was not aware of the severity of the alleged assault, and that she did not believe that Mr. Paterson was aware of it either. Ms. Shorenstein failed to reach the woman, who has never spoken publicly about the episode.

Last Friday, Mr. Paterson ended his campaign for election, after The Times first disclosed that he and his State Police detail had intervened in a domestic abuse case involving Mr. Johnson, one of his closest aides.

Mr. Johnson’s girlfriend had accused him of choking her, smashing her into a mirrored dresser and preventing her from calling for help during a Halloween altercation in the Bronx apartment they shared.

Mr. Paterson has stated that he was unaware of the details of the case until The Times reported them, and has said he did nothing improper. After the news reports, he suspended Mr. Johnson and asked Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo to begin an investigation.

Mr. Paterson’s office declined to comment on Monday, citing the pending investigation. John Milgrim, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, also declined to comment.

The descriptions of the governor’s actions come from two people close to him.

The latest revelations came as Mr. Paterson spent much of Monday vowing to remain in office despite pressure on him to resign and distancing himself from the controversy over the domestic violence case.

“This is a separate issue that really involves the problems of someone that worked for us and not me,” Mr. Paterson said at a Midtown breakfast forum.

To date, the administration has conceded that the State Police contacted the woman in the hours and days after the Oct. 31 alleged assault in the Bronx, and she has said under oath in family court that they harassed and pressured her not to pursue charges.

But the governor’s state of knowledge about the alleged assault and personal involvement in the administration’s handling of it have remained murky.

He has acknowledged having a conversation with the woman on Feb. 7, the day before she was due back in court to seek the final order. But the two people close to the governor also described a more concerted effort to contact the woman before the court date, one involving Ms. Brown.

The nature of those contacts and what Ms. Brown was seeking to achieve remain unclear. She has not responded to numerous phone calls and visits to her home. Her husband, in a brief telephone interview on Monday, said he knew nothing about the events and would not comment.

A lawyer for the alleged victim has confirmed the conversation with the governor on Feb. 7 and said that Mr. Paterson had asked if the woman was all right and reassured her that “if you need me, I’m there for you.”