More U.N. monitors heading to Syria as 13 people killed

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• More U.N. monitors heading to Syria as 13 people killed
• Pakistani plane crashes with 127 on board
• Analysis: Did U.S. fumble chance to peer inside China's secretive leadership?
• Afghan security intercepts insurgents with 10,000 kilograms of explosives
• China top military paper warns of armed confrontation over seas
• Vietnam seeks foreign help after skin disease kills 19
• Analysis: Assad foes doubt Syria truce but have few options
• Cherie Blair, England soccer star among new phone-hacking claimants
• Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia
• Japan to give Y600 billion in aid to Mekong nations over 3 years
• Myanmar activists say go slow on easing sanctions
• Pakistan moves against airline after crash
• In Gaza zoo, stuffed animals join live ones
• Iraq officials: Baghdad bomb blasts kill 4
• Norwegian gunman describes hunting down teenagers
• Syrian forces fire on anti-regime protesters
• UN council reaches tentative agreement on Syria
• SKorea asks China about NKorean missile carrier
• Powerful quake strikes off eastern Indonesia
• Sudan and S. Sudan claim control of oil town

More U.N. monitors heading to Syria as 13 people killed Posted: BEIRUT (Reuters) - An additional 30 United Nations monitors should arrive in Syria in the coming week to join an advance team of seven observing a fragile week-long ceasefire which has failed to end bloodshed in the country, a spokesman for envoy Kofi Annan said on Friday. At least 23 people were killed, 10 of them in a roadside bomb targeting security forces and most of the others in shelling by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on the city of Homs, further undermining the truce. ...

Pakistani plane crashes with 127 on board Posted: ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani airliner with 127 people on board crashed in bad weather as it came in to land in Islamabad on Friday, scattering wreckage and leaving no sign of survivors. The Boeing 737, operated by local airline Bhoja Air, was flying to the capital from Pakistan's biggest city and business hub Karachi. It crashed into wheat fields more than 5 miles from the airport. Rawal Khan Maitla, director general of Emergency Disaster Management for the Capital Development Authority, said there were no survivors. ...

Analysis: Did U.S. fumble chance to peer inside China's secretive leadership? Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Information about a Chinese policeman who implicated the wife of a top Chinese official in a British businessman's murder was not circulated widely in Washington as he was considered of marginal intelligence value, current and former U.S. officials said. In the weeks since Wang Lijun's visit to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and his subsequent detention, some critics of the Obama administration have accused it of fumbling what could have been one of the highest-level defectors ever from inside China's clannish leadership class. ...

Afghan security intercepts insurgents with 10,000 kilograms of explosives Posted: KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces have detained five insurgents in Kabul, with 10,000 kilograms (22,046 lbs) of explosives they intended to use in a massive attack on crowded areas in the capital, an Afghan intelligence spokesman said on Saturday. "If this amount of explosives had been used, it could have caused large-scale bloodshed," National Directorate of Security spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri told a news conference. The explosives were found stuffed into 400 bags and hidden under piles of potatoes in the back of a truck on the city outskirts. ...

China top military paper warns of armed confrontation over seas Posted: BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top military newspaper warned the United States on Saturday that U.S.-Philippine military exercises have fanned risks of armed confrontation over the disputed South China Sea. The commentary in China's Liberation Army Daily falls short of a formal government statement, but marks the harshest high-level warning yet from Beijing about tensions with the Philippines over disputed seas where both countries have recently sent ships to assert their claims. ...

Vietnam seeks foreign help after skin disease kills 19 Posted: HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's health authorities will seek foreign assistance to deal with a resurgence of a mystery skin infection that has already killed 19 people in the central region and terrified villagers, state-run media reported on Saturday. The disease was first reported between April and December last year, with doctors unable to identify the cause and it has re-emerged in a mountainous district of Quang Ngai province. One village was reported to be in a state of terror over the death of a resident, and altogether 171 people reported infections on palms and the soles of their feet. ...

Analysis: Assad foes doubt Syria truce but have few options Posted: BEIRUT (Reuters) - Barely had the first U.N. ceasefire monitors set foot on Syrian soil this week than Bashar al-Assad's enemies were discussing the likelihood of the mission failing and warning of punitive measures against the Syrian president. The emir of Qatar gave Syria's flawed truce a three percent chance of holding while U.S. officials, pointing to continued army shelling of rebel strongholds, questioned whether there was any point adding to the handful of international monitors in place. France said it put no faith in the ceasefire because Assad was not sincere and even U.N. ...

Cherie Blair, England soccer star among new phone-hacking claimants Posted: LONDON (Reuters) - England soccer star Wayne Rooney and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie are among a new group of 46 people suing over alleged phone-hacking by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper, court documents showed on Friday. Other celebrities listed included singer James Blunt, soccer players Ryan Giggs and Peter Crouch and former England rugby union player Matt Dawson. ...

Strong quake hits eastern Indonesia Posted: JAKARTA (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday off Irian Jaya, the United States Geological Survey said, and the Indonesian disaster mitigation agency said the quake has no tsunami potential. The USGS said the quake was recorded offshore, 51 miles south-southeast of the town of Manokwari, at a depth of 18.5 miles. It had initially estimated the magnitude of the tremor at 6.9 and 7.0. At least one major aftershock was recorded. ...

Japan to give Y600 billion in aid to Mekong nations over 3 years Posted: TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will provide 600 billion yen ($7.35 billion) in official development aid to Mekong region countries in three years from April 2013 to help improve the region's infrastructure and boost the area's economy, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday. Noda made the announcement following a meeting with leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar - countries with strong growth prospects. "There is no development in east Asia without the stability and growth in the Mekong region," Noda told reporters. ...

Myanmar activists say go slow on easing sanctions Posted: The increasingly enthusiastic love affair between Myanmar and the West is about to heat up further with the European Union's expected announcement that it is easing sanctions on the Southeast Asian nation. But not everyone is caught up in the euphoria.

Pakistan moves against airline after crash Posted: Pakistan blocked the head of an airline whose jet crashed near the capital from leaving the country and ordered him into protective custody on Saturday as it began an investigation into its second major air disaster in less then two years.

In Gaza zoo, stuffed animals join live ones Posted: There is an afterlife for animals at the Khan Younis zoo in the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Iraq officials: Baghdad bomb blasts kill 4 Posted: Iraqi officials say two blasts have killed four people in northwestern Baghdad, two days after a series of attacks claimed the lives of 30 in the capital and across the country.

Norwegian gunman describes hunting down teenagers Posted: Norwegians who lost loved ones on Utoya island relived the horror Friday as far-right fanatic Anders Behring Breivik described in harrowing detail how he gunned down teenagers as they fled in panic or froze before him, paralyzed with fear.

Syrian forces fire on anti-regime protesters Posted: Syrian troops fired tear gas and bullets on thousands of protesters who spilled out of mosques after noon prayers Friday, activists said. State media reported that bombs and shootings killed 17 soldiers as the latest diplomatic efforts failed to halt more than 13 months of bloodshed in the country.

UN council reaches tentative agreement on Syria Posted: The U.N. Security Council reached a tentative agreement Friday night on a resolution that would expand the number of U.N. cease-fire observers in Syria from 30 to 300 and let Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon decide on their deployment based on conditions on the ground and consolidation of a cease-fire.

SKorea asks China about NKorean missile carrier Posted: South Korea has asked China whether it is the source of a sophisticated missile carrier displayed by North Korea during a military parade last weekend, a Seoul official said.

Powerful quake strikes off eastern Indonesia Posted: A powerful earthquake hit waters off eastern Indonesia early Saturday, sending residents and schoolchildren running into the streets in panic. Authorities said the temblor did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami and there were no reports of serious damage or injuries.

Sudan and S. Sudan claim control of oil town Posted: Sudan and South Sudan both claimed to be in control of a contested oil town near the countries' ill-defined border on Friday after the south said it was withdrawing its troops to avert a return to war.

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