ONE NEWS

Sunday, February 21, 2010 DUBAI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met members of a hit squad at Mossad headquarters shortly before they went to Dubai to kill a Hamas commander, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reports. Netanyahu was welcomed to Mossad by its chief Meir Dagan and briefed on plans to kill Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a top commander of the Islamist movement that rules Gaza, the paper said, quoting unnamed sources with knowledge of Mossad. The prime minister reportedly authorised the mission, which was not seen as complicated or risky. "Typically on such occasions, the prime minister intones: 'The people of Israel trust you. Good luck,'" the paper added. It also quoted a source saying burns from a stun gun were found on the body of Mabhuh, a founder of Hamas's armed wing who was killed on a visit to Dubai, and that there were traces of a nose bleed, possibly from being smothered. The high-profile killing has caused diplomatic tensions b...

Sunday, February 21, 2010 PESHAWAR: Rejecting President Hamid Karzai’s peace offer, the Taliban on Saturday said they would not lay down weapons unless the foreign forces leave Afghanistan. “The entire world knows that foreign forces have invaded Afghanistan and occupied this country. They have also started the fighting. Taliban will neither lay down weapons nor will hold talks with Karzai administration even in the presence of a single foreign soldier in Afghanistan,” Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for Taliban, told Afghan Islamic Press. He termed the ongoing fighting as a war between the Afghans and foreigners, saying, “The ongoing war in Afghanistan is between Afghans and foreigners. The responsibility of the war lies on the foreigners and their slaves. They continue fighting in the populated areas and have sent 15000 troops to small area like Marja; and are killing civilians and trying to impose infidels on Afghans.” Declaring Karzai as powerless ruler, ...

Sunday, February 21, 2010 LISBON: The death toll in flash floods on the Portuguese island of Madeira rose Sunday to 38 with over 100 injured, authorities said, warning that the number was likely to rise. "We have 38 dead but the figure is not completely definitive," regional government social affairs secretary Francisco Ramos told reporters. Earlier, authorities said 32 people had lost their lives with 68 injured. "We are going to continue to search for bodies, we are waiting for the teams which are due to arrive... in order to continue working one the ground," he added. Around 250 people had been left homeless, the Civil Protection authorities said on their website. Torrential rains caused flooding and landslides on Saturday, particularly in the south of Madeira, which is 900 kilometres (560 miles) southwest of the Portuguese mainland.