Syrian planes pound Aleppo for fourth straight day

BEIRUT: Syrian warplanes dumped explosive-laden barrel bombs over opposition-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, the fourth day of a relentless offensive to drive rebels out of the contested city, activists said.

The assault has killed more than 165 people in the first three days, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.

The intensity of the campaign suggests that President Bashar Assad's government is trying to crush opposition in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once its commercial hub, ahead of an international peace conference scheduled for late January in Switzerland.

Aleppo has been a major front in Syria's civil war since the rebels launched an offensive there in mid-2012, and the city has since been carved into opposition- and government-held areas.

Some of the barrels dumped on Wednesday exploded near a school and a student dormitory said Aleppo-based activist Abu al-Hassan Marea. He said the military aircraft unloaded their volatile cargo over four Aleppo neighbourhoods.

Along with the Observatory, other activist groups such as the Local Coordinating Committees and the Aleppo Media Center also reported the bombing. No one had information on the number of casualties inflicted in Wednesday's bombing.

Marea told The Associated Press over Skype that one barrel struck near the Ahmad al-Qassar school, but that the bombing was so intense he couldn't go out to check for casualties.

War-weary activists in Aleppo say the four-day offensive has been the most intense they've seen in the city since the beginning of the uprising against Assad in March 2011.

The Syrian government frequently uses barrel bombs, which contain hundreds of kilograms (pounds) of explosives and cause massive damage on impact. They appear to be simply pushed from planes to fall randomly over residential areas, and activists describe them as ''barrels of blood'' because of their devastating effect.

The international aid group Doctors without Borders warned on Tuesday that Aleppo hospitals have been overwhelmed with casualties.

In a reflection of Aleppo's grim reality, Marea said some of the residents have gotten used to the bombing.

On Tuesday, some 100 meters (yards) from a bombing site, ''people were buying and selling like nothing had happened,'' he said.

Another Aleppo-based activist, Mohammed Hussein said residents used to flee from where they thought the bombs would land. ''Now they just watch. If it seems to be heading in their direction, they hide — if they have time,'' Hussein told the AP, also on Skype.

Syria's main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Council, accused the international community on Tuesday of ''failing to take any serious position that would guarantee a stop to the bloodbath'' in Aleppo ahead of the peace talks.

The country's conflict, now in its third year, appears to have escalated in recent weeks as both sides manoeuvre ahead of next month's planned peace talks and ignore calls for a ceasefire.

The US and Russian-brokered peace conference between Assad's government and the Syrian opposition is scheduled to begin in January in the Swiss city of Montreux. Plans are underway to organize a one-day meeting of foreign ministers in the city ahead of the Syrian talks.

The civil war has ripped Syria apart. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and nearly 9 million Syrians have been uprooted from their homes — some 40 per cent of the country's prewar population of 23 million. They include some 2.3 million who have fled to neighbouring countries, mostly Lebanon.

Underscoring the perilous conditions many refugees face, Lebanese state media and a municipal official said that a roof collapse in eastern Lebanon killed two Syrian refugee children early Wednesday.

The family of the children, aged nine and three, was renting a substandard home in the town of Hazarta, said official Hussein Abu Hamdan.

Many of the impoverished Syrians have crowded into shacks, tents and unfinished structures that offer meagre shelter from the bitter cold, with no running water or electricity.

Meanwhile, a Russian cargo plane landed in Beirut on Wednesday with emergency aid for Syrian refugees. Moscow said it was the fifth planeload of aid from the Russian government.

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In US, dog saves blind owner

NEW YORK: Gallant guide dog Orlando, a black Labrador retriever, bravely leapt on to the tracks at a Manhattan subway platform on Tuesday after his blind owner lost consciousness and tumbled in front of an oncoming train.

Cecil Williams, 61, and Orlando both escaped serious injury when the train passed over top of them — a miraculous end to a harrowing ordeal that began when Williams began to feel faint on his way to the dentist.

''He tried to hold me up,'' the emotional Williams told The Associated Press from his hospital bed, his voice breaking at times.

Witnesses said Orlando began barking frantically and tried to stop Williams from falling from the platform. Matthew Martin told the New York Post that Orlando jumped down and tried to rouse Williams even as a train approached.

''He was kissing him, trying to get him to move,'' Martin said.

Witnesses called for help and the train's motorman slowed his approach as Williams and Orlando lay in the trench between the rails.

''The dog saved my life,'' Williams said.

As Williams regained consciousness, he said he heard someone telling him to be still. Emergency workers put him on a stretcher and pulled him from the subway, and made sure Orlando was not badly injured.

''I'm feeling amazed,'' Williams said. ''I feel that God, the powers that be, have something in store for me. They didn't take me away this time. I'm here for a reason.''

Williams was taken to a hospital where he is expected to recover, with Orlando at his bedside. Williams, a large bandage on his head, said he is not sure why he lost consciousness, but he is on insulin and other medications.

Orlando, described by Williams as serious but laid-back, was making new friends at the hospital. He will be rewarded with some kind of special treat, Williams said, along with plenty of affection and scratches behind the ears.

''(He) gets me around and saves my life on a daily basis,'' Williams said.

Williams, of Brooklyn, has been blind since 1995, and Orlando is his second dog. The lab will be 11 on January 5, and will be retiring soon, Williams said. His health insurance will not cover the cost of a non-working dog, so he will be looking for a good home for him.

If he had the money, Williams said, ''I would definitely keep him.''

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$4.5m seized from bank chief's home: Report

ANKARA, Turkey: Istanbul police leading a major corruption and bribery investigation targeting allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have seized shoe boxes stashed with money totaling some $4.5 million in the home of the chief executive of a state-owned bank, a Turkish news agency reported Wednesday.

The Dogan news agency said the shoe boxes were discovered on bookshelves in the home of Halk Bank's CEO, Suleyman Aslan, who is among dozens of people - including the sons of government ministers - detained for questioning as part of the corruption and bribery investigation.

Dogan, a reliable news source, cited unidentified judicial officials for its report. A national police official said he could not immediately confirm the report, while officials at the interior ministry refused comment.

In a sign that Erdogan was fighting back against the probe, five senior police officials were removed from duty on Wednesday, Turkish media reports said. They included commissioners in charge of combatting organized crime, smuggling and criminal financial activity and oversaw the corruption detentions, according to Dogan.

Erdogan has suggested the probe is a politically motivated "dirty trap" to harm his government. The investigation comes ahead of local elections in March that are largely seen as a vote of confidence in Erdogan's 11-year tenure. He is expected to be a candidate in the presidential election in August.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said more than 50 people are in police custody as part of the investigation. Other reports said as many as 84 people were detained.

Police confirmed to The Associated Press that the sons of three government ministers have been held for questioning: the sons of economy minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and environment and urban planning minister Erdogan Bayraktar.

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6 Nato soldiers killed in plane crash in Afghanistan

KABUL: Six NATO soldiers were killed in a plane crash in southern Afghanistan, Nato said on Tuesday, the largest death toll in a single incident to hit the international force in months.

"The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time," a Nato statement said.

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Sarkozy allies detained in French corruption probe

PARIS: A top aide to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been detained in an investigation into alleged misuse of public funds.

The Paris prosecutor's office said Claude Gueant is under questioning on Tuesday along with the former national police chief, Michel Gaudin.

According to French media reports, the probe centers on envelopes full of 10,000 euros in cash delivered to Gueant every month from 2002-2004, when Sarkozy was interior minister and Gueant was his right-hand man. Gueant went on to serve as presidential chief of staff.

Sarkozy has not been publicly targeted in the case. But it could be one more potential problem for the former president if he seeks another term in 2017. Sarkozy has been investigated in a case involving illegal campaign financing and misuse of public funds.

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Air raids kill 18 in Syria's Aleppo: NGO

BEIRUT: Two children were among at least 18 people killed in new air strikes on a rebel-held district of Syria's main northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, a watchdog said.

It was the third straight day of air raids on the city, Syria's commercial hub before a rebel offensive in July last year made it a key battleground in the conflict that erupted in March 2011, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A woman was also among the dead, which killed 15 people in the Shaar district and three in Maadi, the Britain-based watchdog said.

The raids follow air strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo Sunday and Monday that killed 86 people, including 32 children.

The air force has been dropping barrels of explosives in a bombing campaign using both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, activists and the Observatory say.

A security official said the military prefers the TNT-packed barrels because they are cheaper than regular bombs, which need to be imported from Russia.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said there was a "marked escalation" in attacks, and that "this type of intensive bombing over several days demonstrates the desire of the army to advance" on rebel-held areas.

He said the focus of the bombing has been on eastern districts of Aleppo neighbouring regime-held areas. In the past two months, loyalists forces have captured numerous cities and towns to the east of Aleppo.

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Nepal extends date to submit candidates' names

KATHMANDU: Nepal's election commission on Monday extended the deadline for submission of a list of candidates to be elected to the Constituent Assembly under the proportionate voting system.

Political parties can submit the names of the proportionate representation candidates by December 25, according to a notice issued by the spokesman of the election commission (EC), Bir Bahadur Rai.

The EC earlier extended the deadline for submission of the names till December 18.

It decided to extend the deadline for the second time for submitting the name list as per the request made by the major political parties.

Out of a total of 601 seats, 335 seats have been allotted under the proportionate voting system and the political parties will get the number of seats in proportion with the votes they receive during the November 19 Constituent Assembly elections.

The Nepali Congress has emerged the largest party in the elections with 196 seats under both direct and proportionate voting systems.

The CPN-UML with 175 seats secured second position followed by the UCPN-Maoist with 80 seats.

The political parties will have three more weeks for forming a new government after the deadline to submit the names of the members of the Constituent Assembly ends.

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Ex-Chinese security czar faces probe: NYT

BEIJING: Pressing his anti-graft crusade to new levels, Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered a corruption probe against Zhou Yongkang, the powerful former security czar, according to a media report.

Citing "sources with elite political ties", New York Times said the decision to open the inquiry into 70-year-old Zhou was made early this month by the ruling Communist Party, also headed by Xi.

It is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that an official who has held such high office has been the focus of a formal corruption probe, the report said.

Zhou was once a member of the CPC's most powerful body, the Politburo Standing Committee, and even retired members of that body have always been spared such scrutiny.

The main allegations against Zhou emerged from probes over the past year into accusations of abuse of power and corruption by officials and oil company executives associated with him. Those inquiries have already encircled his son, Zhou Bin, and other family members, Times quoted sources as saying.

Xi, also the general secretary of the CPC and other leaders agreed by early December to put the elder Zhou directly under formal investigation by the party's commission for rooting out corruption and abuses of power, the sources said.

A senior official went to Zhou's home in Beijing to inform him about the inquiry, and Zhou and his wife, Jia Xiaoye, have since been held under constant guard, the paper reported.

Quoting sources, the paper said Zhou was under probe by a special unit of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC. Senior police officers were also helping, they said.

Xi has amassed power since taking leadership of the party in November 2012, and appears to be pressing the case to bolster his leverage over possible challengers.

After Xi took leadership of the Communist Party, he has vowed to take on corruption both low and high in party ranks — both "flies and tigers."

An expert in oil-field exploration, Zhou spent much of his career in the state oil industry and wielded considerable influence over the sector.

Later, while a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, he oversaw the party's sprawling security apparatus, with control over the police, prosecutors, courts and the main intelligence service.

Until now, the highest-ranking politicians subjected to corruption inquiries were serving members of the Politburo, a rung lower than the standing committee in the party hierarchy. They included Bo Xilai, an ally of Zhou's who was sentenced to life in prison in September for taking bribes, embezzlement and abuse of power.

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Bangladesh commemorates 1971 war victory

DHAKA: Five more people were killed in Bangladesh on Monday in continuing violence triggered by the execution of a senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader, even as the country commemorated its victory in the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Police said five "terrorists" were killed overnight in shootouts with law enforcement agencies in southwestern Satkhira. However, media reports described them as Jamaat activists.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from across the country but patrols by paramilitary Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) troops and aerial vigil by elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) helicopters prevented the rioters from coming out on the streets in major cities.

At least 30 people have been killed in clashes since Thursday night, when fundamentalist Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah, known as the "Butcher of Mirpur", was hanged for atrocities committed during the liberation war.

Mollah, who was executed after the Supreme Court rejected his review petition, became the first politician to be put to death for war crimes.

Violence erupted at several places soon after his execution, which the Jamaat described as a "political murder" even as it vowed to take revenge.

Molla was one of five condemned to death by the International Crimes Tribunal; sentences which the opposition says are aimed at eradicating its leaders.

The sentences have triggered riots and plunged the country into its worst violence since independence. Some 255 people have been killed in street protests since January, when the first verdicts were handed down.

The BNP-led alliance, that includes the Jamaat, is also leading a parallel protest campaign demanding a non-party caretaker government for oversight during the January 5 national polls.

Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a predawn ceremony paid homage to the martyrs of the liberation war at the National Memorial in Savar.

Thousands of people also paid tributes with flowers and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia too joined in to celebrate the anniversary of the war victory.

An estimated three million people were killed during the war when Pakistani troops invaded Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan.

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10 more dead in Bangladesh protests

DHAKA: Ten more people were killed in Bangladesh on Sunday after the execution of a top Islamist leader sparked riots and other protests, as the prime minister warned of a crackdown on the violence.

Police said they opened fire after Islamist supporters torched houses and fought street battles with officers during a third day of unrest over the hanging of Abdul Quader Molla for mass murder during the 1971 war of independence.

Three people were killed on Sunday in the northern town of Patgram and another seven died elsewhere overnight, police said, as Islamist supporters enforced a nationwide strike over the execution of Molla, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

"Police fired rifles after Jamaat protesters torched at least 20 houses belonging to ruling party supporters," government administrator Habibur Rahman told AFP of the violence in Patgram.

"We have banned protests and gatherings in the area to prevent further violence," he added.

Molla's execution on Thursday night triggered fresh violence in the impoverished country, already reeling from political unrest in the build-up to a deeply divisive national election scheduled for January 5.

Twenty-two people are now known to have died and dozens more have been injured in the clashes since Thursday between outraged Jamaat activists and police and between the activists and supporters of the ruling Awami League (AL).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of strong action against the rioters, saying "We have shown enough patience. We will not tolerate anymore."

"People of the country know how to reply to these atrocities (the latest violence), we (government) also know how to respond to, control you (the rioters)," she told a rally late on Saturday to commemorate those killed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Molla, 65, became the first person to be executed for his role in that war. Jamaat called the hanging a "political murder" and said it would avenge it.

Molla had been found guilty in February by a much-criticised domestic tribunal of having been a leader of a pro-Pakistan militia that fought against the country's independence and killed some of Bangladesh's top professors, doctors, writers and journalists.

He was convicted of rape, murder and mass murder, including the killing of more than 350 unarmed civilians. Prosecutors called him the "Butcher of Mirpur", a Dhaka suburb where he committed most of the atrocities.

Molla was one of five Islamists and other politicians sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, which the opposition says is aimed at eradicating its leaders.

The sentences have triggered riots and plunged the country into its worst violence since independence. Some 250 people have been killed in street protests since January, when the first verdicts were handed down.

During Sunday's violence in Patgram, two Jamaat protesters were shot dead while protesters hacked to death a ruling party supporter, Rahman said, adding that the condition of two more AL supporters was "very critical".

Of the seven killed overnight, police said three died in the southern town of Companyganj, two in the northern town of Ramganj and one each in Narayanganj, outside the capital, and in the coastal town of Laxmipur.

At Companyganj, an opposition bastion, police fired rifles to disperse at least 8,000 rampaging Jamaat supporters who torched four government offices and attacked officers with crude bombs and guns, a senior police officer said.

In Ramganj, activists of Jamaat and its main ally, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, attacked a convoy of ruling party lawmakers, leaving two people dead, sub-inspector Ershadul Alam told AFP.

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