Deaths as heavy rain hits Thailand

The flooding has deluged the homes and businesses of around a million people [AFP]

Severe flooding and mudslides in southern Thailand have killed at least 21 people, and stranded thousands of tourists, authorities said on Wednesday.

Deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said the government had sent its only aircraft carrier to rescue around 1,000 people stuck on Koh Tao island.

"There are roughly one million people affected in many provinces. At first we thought the flood would last a day or two, but now it has already been one week," he told reporters.

Victims were either swept away by the rising waters, or buried in mudslides as the unseasonably wet weather deluged the homes and businesses of around a million people in what should be one of the hottest months of the year.

Residents were left without electricity in many areas as the waters rose, while road, rail and air links to the southern region remain closed.

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Suicide bomber kills 13 in Pakistan

A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle has attacked a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, killing 13 people and wounding 12.

The bomber attacked a crowd on Wednesday that was gathered along the road to greet Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a prominent hardline Islamist politician, said Saeed Khan, a police official at the main communications center in Peshawar city.

The attack occurred in Swabi town, located 70km outside the capital, Islamabad. "Rehman, the leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, passed through the checkpoint only minutes before the bomber struck and was unharmed," said Khan.

"The bomber detonated his explosives just outside the checkpoint when a policeman told him to halt," Khan added.

It was unclear if the bomber specifically targeted the supporters of Rehman or if they just happened to be there when the bomber hit the checkpoint.

Rehman has been an outspoken supporter of the Afghan Taliban, but some militants in Pakistan have shown a willingness to attack anyone connected to the government.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

NATO decision body to consider Libya air strikes

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO's top decision-making body is likely to expand its air mission over Libya on Sunday to take over command of U.S.-led air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi's military.

After nearly a week of deliberations, the North Atlantic Council agreed Friday that NATO should enforce a no-fly zone in keeping with a U.N. Security Council mandate. But the decision to also take command of air strikes — which the United States-led international force has been conducting since last week — was postponed until Sunday's meeting to allow the 28 national envoys to consult with their capitals.

Washington has been eager to hand off responsibility for air strikes to the alliance, whose military staff have already drawn up the necessary operational plans. An official who on condition of anonymity because the details were not public said the council may issue an order to execute those plans late Sunday or during a follow-on meeting on Monday.

The air strikes are intended to protect civilians from Gadhafi's forces. However, they have also tipped the balance away from his regular military to the lightly armed rebels, although the two sides remain at stalemate in key cities.

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Pakistan PM accepts cricket invite

India defeated Australia to make their way into the semi-final

Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani has accepted an invitation from his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, to attend the Cricket World Cup semi-final between the countries on Wednesday.

The match, in the northern Indian city of Mohali, has created huge interest on both sides of the border.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been badly strained since the Mumbai attacks of 2008.

Then, more than 170 people were killed by Pakistan-based militants.

The nuclear-armed rivals have met a number of times over the past year and Pakistan's foreign minister is scheduled to visit India by July to discuss the resumption of peace talks.

Heavy security is already in place for the match but this was stepped up after police said on Thursday they had arrested a man they believed was planning an attack during the World Cup.

Across India and Pakistan there is a scramble for tickets for next week's match, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says.

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Libya revolt: French jets strike Gaddafi aircraft

French jets were the first coalition aircraft to launch
attacks against Col Gaddafi's forces last week

French fighter aircraft have destroyed five Libyan air force planes and two helicopters in an attack on the forces of Col Muammar Gaddafi.

A French spokesman said the aircraft were caught on the ground at Misrata air base preparing to launch attacks in the area of the rebel-held town.

France is one of the coalition countries enforcing a UN no-fly zone aimed at protecting civilians.

Rebels have captured the eastern town of Ajdabiya and have pushed westwards.

Libyan TV reported more air strikes overnight at Sabha in central Libya.

Libyan state television said military and civilian areas had been hit, but there was no independent confirmation.

The TV also said there had been air strikes near Col Gaddafi's power base of Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli.

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Afghanistan: Nato air strike kills civilians in Helmand

Coalition air strikes have infuriated Afghans at a crucial time for the foreign forces' mission

Western forces have accidentally killed seven civilians in an air attack in the Afghan province of Helmand, the governor's office there has said.

Nato said it ordered the attack on Friday after hearing that a Taliban leader and several of his subordinates were travelling in two vehicles.

The car that was targeted had exploded next to another carrying the civilians. Three children were among those killed.

The air strike took place in the Naw Zad district.

Two men, two women and three children were killed in the attack, the office of the provincial governor said.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said it was targeting a Taliban leader and other militants, but Isaf spokesman Major Tim James could not confirm whether the Taliban chief was present.

Helmand is one of the biggest flashpoints in the Taliban insurgency, which began after a US-led invasion brought down their regime in 2001.

Nine children died in another Nato air strike in eastern Kunar province earlier this month.

That led the US troop commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, to make a public apology.

The issue of civilian deaths has severely strained relations with Afghan authorities.

President Hamid Karzai told Gen Petraeus his apology for the deaths of the nine children was "not enough".

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Radioactive levels in sea by nuclear plant much higher

Searches continue with 17,440 people still missing

Levels of radioactive iodine in the sea near the Fukushima nuclear plant are eight times higher than a week ago.

Although officials say the radiation will no longer be a risk after eight days, it is a cause for a concern because it is unclear where the leak is coming from.

There are areas of radioactive water in four of the reactors at the plant, and two workers are in hospital.

The plant's operator says the core of a reactor may have been damaged.

It has announced that fresh water rather than sea water will now be used to cool the damaged reactors, in the hope that this will be more effective.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the situation was "very unpredictable".

The official death toll from the 11 March earthquake and tsunami has passed 10,000, and more than 17,440 people are missing.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been made homeless; an estimated 250,000 people are living in emergency shelters. Food, water and fuel are in short supply.

The Japanese government has put the rebuilding cost at $309bn (£191.8bn).

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Gaddafi's forces hit with Tomahawks, air strikes

Two Italian Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon planes are ready to take off from Gioia del Colle NATO airbase in southern Italy March 22, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Giampiero Sposito

WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:45am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The coalition enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya fired 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 air sorties in the past 24 hours targeting Muammar Gaddafi's artillery, mechanized forces and command and control infrastructure, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Friday.

In addition to the Tomahawks, the coalition air forces used four JDAMs -- GPS-guided bombs -- against the Libyan leader's military forces, said Nicole Dalrymple, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Africa Command based in Germany.

Of the air sorties, the U.S. aircraft flew 67 and other coalition air forces flew the remaining 86. The figures were for the 24-hour period up to 2 a.m. EST/0600 GMT, Dalrymple said.

Nuclear situation 'grave' Japan PM warns

Japan's prime minister has warned the situation at the country's quake-hit nuclear power plant remains "unpredictable" after officials said they suspected a breach in the reactor core of a unit at the complex. "The current situation is still very unpredictable. We're working to stop the situation from worsening. We need to continue to be extremely vigilant," Naoto Kan said on Friday. He also praised emergency workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan, which was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago, for "risking their lives" in the battle to control the situation. Earlier, officials from the plant's operator said there was possible damage at reactor number three at the complex, meaning more radioactive contamination may have leaked into the environment. "It is possible that the pressure vessel containing the fuel rods in the reactor is damaged," a spokesman from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) told the AFP news agency. Read more...

Thousands in Yemen march against Saleh

Tens of thousands of protesters are on the streets of Sanaa, Yemen's capital, to call for an end to Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule, as the embattled president said he would only hand over power "to capable, responsible hands". Addressing a large rally of his own supporters in a speech carried on state TV earlier on Friday, Saleh said he was ready to meet with protesters, but warned that those demanding his resignation had been influenced by the Houthis - an armed Shia Zaidi group demanding autonomy in the country's north - and "drug dealers". Saleh was president of North Yemen until its 1990 unification with the south - and has ruled the country since. But Al Jazeera's special correspondent, reporting from the capital's Change (Taghyir) Square - where 52 protesters were killed last Friday - said little new was offered in the speech; on one hand, warning and threatening those standing against him, and on the other, promising reforms and saying he would listen to the demands of the people. Soldiers who have abandoned the president and were deployed to protect protesters in the square shot in the air to disperse groups of Saleh supporters who were attempting to reach the protest after the president's speech. Read more...