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June-05-2009 Veteran actor David Carradine died on Wednesday in Bangkok, where he was shooting a film. The 72-year-old's nude body was found by a hotel maid sitting in a wardrobe with a rope around his neck and genitals. Those details have lead to speculation that the death may have been autoerotic asphyxiation, and The Smoking Gun has unearthed divorce court filings that show that one of Carradine's ex-wives once accused the actor of "deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly." Carradine's manager, Chuck Binder, tells EW.com he doesn't think it suicide that killed the actor. "Knowing him, I can't imagine it was self-inflicted," Binder says. "I've worked with him for six years. There's no way. He was happy. It just doesn't make sense." Carradine was best known for starring in the '70s TV show Kung Fu and in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. He won a Best Actor award from the National Board of Review f...

Friday, June 05, 2009 BANGKOK: At least 17 people were killed when a bus hit a tree in southern Thailand Friday, police said, suggesting that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. About a dozen other passengers were injured when the bus, part of a convoy of 12 vehicles, ran off the road at dawn in southern Krabi province on its way from central Samut Prakarn to the southern province of Phang Nga, they said. 'As of now 12 people died at the scene and five more have died in hospital, but many of those who are wounded are in a serious condition,' said police commander Colonel Thakoon Netpukana. 'I'm sure that the accident was caused by the driver falling asleep. The road is flat and straight,' he said. More than 40 people had been travelling in the bus, which was completely destroyed by the crash, he said.

Friday, June 05, 2009, DRESDEN: US President Barack Obama Friday pressed Israel and the Arab states to make "hard choices" on the road to peace, in a vigorous follow-up to his landmark speech to the Muslim world.Obama said his government had created the "space, the atmosphere," to revive stalled peace moves, but warned that the United States could not force the parties to make historic compromises needed to defuse years of tensions.The president spoke after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dresden, and before making an poignant visit to honour Jews who perished in the Nazi Holocaust at the Buchenwald concentration camp."I think the moment is now for us to act on what we all know to be the truth, which is that each side is going to have to make some difficult compromises," Obama said."The United States can't solve this problem," Obama said, arguing that parties in the Middle East need to make their own decisions to embrace negoti...

Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: British Defence Secretary John Hutton has resigned, media reported Friday, the fourth cabinet minister to resign in a week as Prime Minister Gordon Brown reshuffled his government. Hutton is said to be stepping down as a minister and lawmaker for family reasons. The reports came hours after Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell stepped down and called for Brown to quit.

Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will reshuffle his government Friday, Downing Street said, following the resignation of five ministers and as poor local election results came in."We can confirm it's going to happen today," a Downing Street spokesman told, after Work And Pensions Secretary James Purnell called on Brown to go in his resignation letter Thursday.Purnell is one of three cabinet ministers who have resigned in the past week. Two other ministers outside the cabinet have also resigned. British news agency reported that finance minister Alistair Darling, who is leading Britain's response to the recession, would stay in his job, despite talk that Brown could replace him with his ally, Schools Secretary Ed Balls. Purnell said he was quitting because Brown's continued leadership made a victory at the next general election by the main opposition Conservatives "more, not less, likely."The first local election results w...

Friday, June 05, 2009 MANILA: Soldiers killed 13 Muslim rebels and wounded dozens in heavy fighting in the southern Philippines on Friday, an army spokesman said, and thwarted a plot by the guerrillas to attack a farming village.Fighting across oil and gas-rich marshlands and nearby hills on the southern island of Mindanao has escalated in the last six weeks and displaced more than 50,000 families, pushing back prospects for the resumption of peace talks stalled since August 2008. Five soldiers were also wounded when troops clashed for two hours with Muslim guerrillas from rogue factions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) near Guindulungan town in Maguindanao province.

MOSCOW, June 5 (Reuters) - Four suspected rebels and a member of the Russian security forces were killed early on Friday in a shootout in Russia's turbulent southern region of Ingushetia, Interfax news agency reported.Ingushetia has overtaken its neighbour Chechnya as the epicentre of violence along Russia's turbulent southern flank, challenging the Kremlin's fragile rule and, security forces say, providing a foothold for global networks of Islamist militants.The battle took place near the village of Muzhichi, 14 kms (9 miles) from the border with Chechnya, after Russian forces engaged a group of 12 gunmen during a reconnaissance operation, Interfax quoted the source as saying.The incident brings to 26 the number of suspected rebels killed in operations in the border region between Ingushetia and neighbouring Chechnya since May 16, Interfax reported, citing the Interior Ministry.

Friday, June 05, 2009 BAGHDAD: Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to resume diplomatic relations "very soon", 12 years after they were severed during the days of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, a senior Afghan diplomat said."We sent a message from our chief diplomat to his Iraqi counterpart about the resumption of diplomatic relations between our two countries and the reopening of our embassies in Kabul and Baghdad," Fazler Rahman Fazil, a senior Afghan consular official, told late on Thursday."We have been received very well here, and we will discuss it when we return (to Kabul), and take a joint decision very soon," said Abdul Raqeeb Salim, a senior official in the Afghan foreign ministry's Arab countries division.The Afghan embassy in Baghdad, in the western Amariyah district, is currently in poor condition and is in need of a great deal of renovation.

Friday, June 05, 2009 BEIJING: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg met with top Chinese diplomats in Beijing on Friday, after reportedly telling South Korea it will impose its own financial sanctions on Pyongyang apart from those being considered by the United Nations.Steinberg met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Friday morning and had afternoon meetings scheduled with State Counselor Dai Binguo, a senior diplomatic adviser, and Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who is China's top North Korean envoy. Winning Chinese support for tough new sanctions is key because Beijing is one of five permanent veto-holding members of the United Nations Security Council, as well as North Korea's most important diplomatic ally and chief source of fuel and food aid.

Friday, June 05, 2009 BANGKOK: At least 17 people were killed when a bus hit a tree in southern Thailand Friday, police said, suggesting that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. About a dozen other passengers were injured when the bus, part of a convoy of 12 vehicles, ran off the road at dawn in southern Krabi province on its way from central Samut Prakarn to the southern province of Phang Nga, they said."As of now 12 people died at the scene and five more have died in hospital, but many of those who are wounded are in a serious condition," said police commander Colonel Thakoon Netpukana."I'm sure that the accident was caused by the driver falling asleep. The road is flat and straight," he said. More than 40 people had been travelling in the bus, which was completely destroyed by the crash, he said.

Friday, June 05, 2009 COLOMBO: Amnesty International on Friday urged the UN Security Council to probe war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka, ahead of a briefing to the world body by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.The London-based rights watchdog said the Security Council should also demand full humanitarian access to state-run camps where up to 300,000 people, who fled Sri Lanka's war zone, are being held. Ban was to brief the council later Friday on his recent visit to the island. Amnesty called for an international, independent inquiry into the allegations of war crimes that have been levelled against both the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels. "Alternatively, the UN secretary general should establish such an investigation under his own mandate," Amnesty said.

Friday, June 05, 2009 WASHINGTON: The humanitarian crisis involving millions of displaced people of Swat and adjacent valleys is getting worse every day and it is critical that the government of Pakistan and the Obama Administration undertake immediate joint relief operations modeled on the successful efforts following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, U.S. Senator John Kerry said.The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee suggested that the U.S. commit military assets, such as Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, combat engineers and uniformed medical personnel that the Pakistani government needs to facilitate these efforts without further delay. Kerry underscored the emergency for aid and said the two and three million displaced civilians need to have access to adequate shelter, food or medical care. “In a few weeks, the summer monsoons will turn ramshackle camps into fetid swamps, incubators for a host of preventable epidemics. History has already taught us that poorly-resourced r...

Friday, June 05, 2009 CYPRESS: A Southern California mosque was vandalized with graffiti including expletives and threats, shortly after President Barack Obama's address in Egypt to the Muslim world.A police officer on patrol at 4 a.m. spotted the hate messages painted on the front wall of the Islamic Center of Cypress, said an official. The paint was still wet, he said.He said the graffiti was about 4 feet or 5 feet tall and spread over up to 30 feet of the wall.In an e-mail to Muslim-American community leaders, Kennedy reported that the graffiti read in part: "We will kill you all" and "U.S. military is going to kill you all."Police said there were no witnesses and the incident was not caught on surveillance video. The graffiti was quickly removed or covered over.

BANGKOK (AP) — The body of American actor David Carradine, best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu," was found in a hotel room closet with a rope tied to his neck and genitals, and his death may have been caused by accidental suffocation, Thai police said Friday. The 72-year-old actor's body was discovered Thursday in his luxury suite at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Police initially said they suspected suicide, though Carradine's associates had questioned that theory and authorities later said no suicide note was found in his room. Police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha told reporters that Carradine was found with a rope tied around his genitals and another rope around his neck. "The two ropes were tied together," he said. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not or he died of suffocation or heart failure." Thai police completed an autopsy on Carradine on Friday. But Police Col. Somprasong Yenthuam, superintendent of the...

Friday, June 05, 2009 MUMBAI: India claimed to have arrested the associate of Hafiz Saeed, chief of Jama’atud Dawah, Geo News Friday reported quoting Indian television.The Indian TV said that Madni, Hafiz Saeed’s friend, has been arrested when he was trying to enter India from Nepal.Madni claimed to be a Nepal national.

Friday, June 05, 2009 TOKYO: A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Friday off Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido, the meteorological agency said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties.The quake was registered at 12:30 pm (0330 GMT) at a depth of 20 kilometres (12 miles) in Pacific waters around 70 kilometres off Hokkaido's Tokachi area, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.The epicentre was 800 kilometres north of Tokyo, it said. The agency warned of small fluctuations in sea levels but no tsunami risk. Around 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan.

Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown faced a battle to salvage his authority Friday after a minister insisted his continued leadership would spell disaster for Britain as he quit the government.In a shock move, James Purnell stepped down as work and pensions secretary, urging Brown to resign as the governing Labour Party braced for dire European Parliament and English local election results.Purnell left as the polls closed Thursday, with all eyes on whether other ministers would follow suit and turn against Brown. Brown now faces a difficult Cabinet reshuffle, which could take place later Friday if he decides not to hold off until Monday when the European election results will be known. Finance minister Alistair Darling and Foreign Secretary David Miliband are keen to stay in their heavyweight posts -- and could cause trouble if he ousts them.

Friday, June 05, 2009 BEIJING: A bus caught fire in the southwestern province of Sichuan on Friday, killing at least 24 people, local news agency said. Further details of the fire in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, were not immediately available.

Friday, June 05, 2009 THE HAGUE: A right-wing lawmaker called on Dutch voters worried about immigration to pick his party Thursday in European Parliament elections expected to bring successes for fringe and extremist groups.Geert Wilders, creator of a short film that criticizes the Quran as a "fascist book," urged voters to reject EU involvement in immigration policy and said Turkey should not join the 27-nation bloc."Turkey as (an) Islamic country should never be in the EU, not in 10 years, not in a million years," Wilders said.Voting was underway in Britain as well, where the far-right British National Party, which bars nonwhite members, was slated to win its first seat. The anti-European United Kingdom Independence Party was also expected to benefit from voter anger at the economic crisis and recent revelations that lawmakers sought public reimbursement for items ranging from horse manure to swimming-pool repairs.About 375 million voters across the 27-nation Eur...

Friday, June 05, 2009 LONDON: Another minister in Gordon Brown's cabinet resigned -- and also called for the U.K. prime minister himself to quit -- as the Labour Party braced for a poor showing in local and European elections.U.K. voters cast ballots Thursday for both local offices and spots in the European Parliament, with a focus on the question of how well -- or how poorly -- the ruling Labour Party, headed by Brown, will fare. It's the last U.K.-wide electoral test ahead of a general election which must be called before next June, and Brown's party has been forecast in some recent polls to finish third or even fourth in both elections. That would add to pressure for the prime minister to step aside amid frustrations with the U.K.'s recession and a series of scandals.As polls closed at 10 p.m. in London on Thursday, Brown received another rude shock, this one from a member of his own cabinet. U.K. Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell resigned from the post and ...

Friday, June 05, 2009 WASHINGTON: Twenty people in the United States have now been confirmed as having died from the H1N1 “swine flu” virus, the global pandemic which has infected as many as 100,000 people nationwide, health officials said. The U.S. death total rose sharply again yesterday, when New York officials confirmed two new deaths there and Connecticut authorities said one resident of their state also had died. While conservative estimates say there are more than 11,000 confirmed or probably cases of H1N1 virus nationwide, officials caution that the number is more likely closer to 100,000, since many cases of the flu are mild and not being reported. “Laboratory-confirmed cases represent only a fraction of the likely number of cases in the state because many persons with mild symptoms do not seek care from a doctor or hospital but recover at home,” the Connecticut Department of Public Health said in a statement. The H1N1 novel strain of the influenza virus first appeared in Mex...

Friday, June 05, 2009 BERLIN: U.S. President Barack Obama has arrived in Germany on the latest leg of his multi-country tour, after calling for "a new beginning" in relations between the United States and the world's one billion Muslims.While in Germany and later France, Obama plans to meet with European leaders and attend ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the allied forces' landing in Normandy that helped lead to victory in World War II. In a speech at Cairo University in Egypt Thursday, Obama said the cycle of "suspicion and discord" between the U.S. and Muslims must end.He said violent extremists have exploited tensions between Muslims and the West. Quoting from the Koran (the Muslim holy book), he said the United States and the Muslim world must work together to confront extremism in all its forms.Obama noted his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and to leave Iraq for Iraqis. He said the U.S. wants its troops in Afghanistan to retu...

Friday, June 05, 2009 NEW DELHI: India’s first female parliament speaker on Wednesday said the independence achieved in 1947 had remained ‘meaningless’ for a majority of the Indian population.Speaking shortly after being sworn-in, Meira Kumar, a Dalit leader, hit back at the ruling Congress, saying the independence had only been a political freedom, as it has provided nothing to the minorities and lower castes in India. She said the independence would be meaningful to the deprived only when “we raise their living standard, resolve poverty crisis, provide them food, clothing and housing, opportunities for all-round progress and free them from exploitation, injustice and torture”.Service: In her address after her unopposed election as speaker, Meira said she would rise above politics and serve the nation. Answering female parliamentarians’ on what initiative she would take to empower women in politics, she said she hoped that all parties arrive at a consensus on this issue, since it has ...