Canberra warns of danger in E. Timor
Canberra warns of danger in E. Timor
AUSTRALIA: Canberra warned on Wednesday about an increased threat
of terrorist attacks in East Timor targeting Australian, U.S. and
Portuguese interests.
The foreign ministry said security had been stepped up at its
embassy in Dili and it told Australian nationals to "exercise
extreme caution" in the country in light of "terrorist threats".
The alert was issued after Portuguese military intelligence
reportedly issued a warning that militants linked to the outlawed
Indonesian Islamic group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) were planning
attacks in East Timor, which gained its independence from
Indonesia earlier this year.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) carried details of the
Portuguese report on Wednesday saying foreigners and business
interests would be targeted in a series of attacks designed to
coincide with significant dates, meetings and celebrations in
East Timor between November and May. --AFP
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ATW-Russia-space-launch
Russo-Belgian space team blasts off for ISS amid security concern
JP/11/ATW
Russo-Belgian space team blasts off
KAZAKHSTAN: A Soyuz rocket carrying a Russo-Belgian team of
cosmonauts to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS)
blasted off from Kazakhstan on Wednesday amid heightened security
following the hostage standoff in Moscow.
The Soyuz-TMA rocket blasted off at 3:11 GMT (10:11 a.m.
Jakarta time) from the Baikonur cosmodrome and reached Earth's
orbit within nine minutes, to the applause of the space officials
and reporters who watched the lift-off at the fog-wrapped
cosmodrome.
Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne and his Russian companions
Sergei Zalyotin and Yury Lonchakov are due to spend 10 days
aboard the ISS.
The launch was originally scheduled for Oct. 28, but the
mission was delayed by two days after a rocket similar to the one
that was to blast the three astronauts into space blew up and
crashed last week. --AFP
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ATW-China-mine
dead in China coal mine blaze
JP/11/ATW
Thirty dead in China coal mine blaze
CHINA: Thirty miners have died in a fire at a coal mine in south
China, officials said on Wednesday, just a week after an
explosion at another coal mine killed at least 36 people.
The miners had been confirmed as dead after a fire broke out
at the Ertang Coal Mine in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi
region, said an official with the Nanning city Production Safety
Bureau.
Five miners survived the blaze which began in the early hours
of Tuesday, said the official, who gave his name as Zhou.
The state-run Xinhua news agency said faulty equipment
appeared to be to blame for the fire.
The news comes just a day after it was announced that almost
100,000 people had died in China so far this year in work-related
accidents, 5 percent up on the same period of 2001. --AFP