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
;AFP;KOD; ANPAi..r.. 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
;AFP;KOD; ANPAu..r.. 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