Three people killed in El Salvador small plane crash

The pilot and two Chinese nationals were killed on Sunday in El Salvador when the plane they were traveling in crashed in the region of Changallo close to the capital of the tiny Central American country, the fire department said.

The Pilot Yaron Degani, a Salvadoran national of Israeli origin, was owner of the local company the Pulsar Group. The two Chinese nationals are Lee Yen and Yu Wen Kao, the National Civil Police said.

Degani had lived in San Salvador for over 20 years where he launched the Pulsar Group, a company specialized in the manufacture of airplanes.

Shortly after the accident, personal from the Salvadoran fire department closed of the zone of the accident and started investigating the accident.

The plane had a test flight before taking off at the air base of Ilopango, which is located about 10 kilometers east of the capital San Salvador.

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Russia opposes to foreign interference in Yemen

Russian ambassador to Yemen Sergei Kozlov on Sunday reaffirmed his country's stance against foreign meddling in Yemen's power-transition crisis between the ruling party and the opposition, official Saba news agency reported.

During a meeting in the capital Sanaa with Yemeni Chairman of Shura Council Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani, Kozlov expressed confidence of the Russian government that Yemen has the capability to resolve the ongoing political stalemate without any foreign interference, Saba said.

The Russian diplomat reaffirmed his government's support to stand by Yemenis against any unwelcome foreign meddling in their affairs, Saba said.

Kozlov urged all Yemeni sides to engage in the dialogue as the best way to solve the differences and maintain the country's security, stability and unity.

For his part, Abdul-Ghani briefed the Russian diplomat with the latest progress of a power-transition initiative mediated by the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to solve the deadlock between the ruling party and the opposition.

Mass protests have rattled Yemen since mid February demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh to relinquish power. No immediate compromise to settle the crisis between Saleh's ruling party and the opposition has reached yet.

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Guards arrest two terrorists in southern Tunisia

Border guards in the southern town of Remada arrested on Sunday morning two terrorists in the Djebel Nakrif area south of Remada, near the border with Algeria, the state-run press agency TAP reported.

During the arrest, one man managed to throw a manual bomb which did not explode. The other man who was wearing an explosives belt around him was prevented from detonating it, TAP said.

The two men, respectively a 32-year-old Algerian national and a 31-year-old Libyan were arrested in relation with the arrest, on May 11 in a hotel in Tataouine, of two young Libyans who were carrying hand grenades.

They all belong to a terrorist network which will be identified later, TAP said.

It is the first time the country is faced with such cases of terrorism. Recently, the Tunisian defense and interior ministries called for vigilance, asking the local population to report suspicious activities and give the names of foreigners staying in homes.

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Seven people killed in Iraq's violence

Seven people were killed and 17 wounded in separate bomb and gunfire attacks in Baghdad and the Iraqi province of Salahudin on Sunday, the police said.

In Salahudin province, director of Iraqi tax office and a female employee were killed when a sticky bomb attached to their government vehicle detonated in the afternoon in al-Qadsiyah district in northern the city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In northern the province, the police found a body of a beheaded woman in the town of al-Shirqat, some 250 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

In a separate incident, an explosives expert was wounded while defusing a roadside bomb near Tikrit University, in northern Tikrit, the source added.

Salahudin province, located in northern central of Iraq, is mainly Sunni province. Its capital city of Tikrit is the hometown of the former president Saddam Hussien.

Earlier in the day, an Interior Ministry source reported the killing of a man, his wife and their son in Baghdad's southwestern district of Baiyaa, when gunmen wearing police uniforms at dawn broke into their house and shot them dead.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off in Karrada district in central Baghdad, wounding three civilians, the source said.

Also earlier in the day, the source said that a civilian was killed and 13 others wounded in a barrage of eight Katyusha rockets targeted Baghdad's Green Zone that houses U.S. embassy and some Iraqi government offices, but four of the rockets missed the zone and hit surrounding civilian areas.

In his earlier reports, the source put the toll at 13 wounded by the barrage.

The heavily fortified Green Zone, have been frequently targeted by insurgents' mortar and rocket attacks. The roughly 10 square km zone is located on the west bank of the Tigris River which bisects the Iraqi capital.

Violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks continue in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease of violence over the last three years.

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NATO bombs Libyan town near Tunisian border

 NATO planes on Sunday morning bombed barracks and radar installations in the Libyan town of Boukamache, some 17 km from the Tunisian border, the official TAP press agency reported.

The bombings which could be heard at the Ras El Jedir border crossing point, provoked panic among a number of Tunisians on their way back to Tunisia, TAP said, adding following the bombings, a large number of Libyan refugees fled the region and crossed into Tunisia.

On Saturday night, a Tunisian army patrol managed to thwart an infiltration attempt into Tunisian territory by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, TAP reported.

More than 200 people tried to enter the Tunisian border, near Tataouine, in an attempt to take rebel forces by surprise. They were repelled back into Libya. No clashes were recorded. In the meantime, the Tunisian army deployed more military vehicles to protect the border area, TAP said.

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Iranian lawmaker says ministers' removal "illegal"

The senior Iranian lawmaker Mohammad- Reza Bahonar said Sunday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision to relieve three ministers of their responsibilities is illegal, the English language satellite Press TV reported.

Bahonar said he had informed Ahmadinejad in a letter that ending the ministers' mission by invoking the 53rd article of Iran 's Fifth Five-Year Development Plan is illegal, said the report.

"No new ministry can be established unless Majlis (Parliament) approves the mandate of the new ministries," he was quoted as saying.

Bahonar said he had also written to the three ministers and informed them that "you are ministers unless you are impeached by Majlis or dismissed by the president but if the president says we do not have a ministry and therefore you are no longer ministers this is illegal," according to Press TV.

In three separate decrees on Saturday, Ahmadinejad dismissed Welfare and Social Security Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian and Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi from their posts, according to the 53rd article of the country's Fifth Five-Year Development Plan.

According to the plan, the Iranian government is obliged to reduce its ministries form 21 to 17 to officially improve the efficiency of state administration.

Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani disagreed on Tuesday with the government plan to merge ministries and warned against "heavy costs" of the plan.

"If the Iranian government communicated an approval on the merger of eight ministries, it has acted against the law," said the speaker.

In response to Larijani's comments, Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddini said that the government acted legally and in accordance with the country's Fifth Five-Year Development Plan.

"The government decided based on the plan and communicated it to the ministers. It also sent the plan to the Majlis to ensure its conformity with law," Mir-Tajeddini was quoted as saying by Press TV.

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Palestinian refugees in Gaza never give up right of return

Bassam Diab, a Palestinian in his late 40s living in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, said he will one day return to the village where his parents grew up, together with other Palestinians who fled the Arab-Israeli war in 1948.

He said he doesn't know exactly or doesn't expect that he would be able to return soon to his parents' village "al-Masmeya", about 45 kilometers away from the Gaza Strip, but he still dreams of getting back there sooner or later. His family fled the village 63 years ago in a historic event that the Palestinians called Nakba, or Catastrophe.

Returning to the village now or in the future is completely illusive after the village had been ruined and erased from the map, and was changed to an Israeli village.

Diab's family lived in al-Masmeya until 1948 when they left their village together with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli war. Diab's family moved to the Gaza Strip and has been living in the Jabalia refugee camp since then.

Diab left the Jabalia refugee camp and lived in Jordan with his wife and children. He returned back to Jabalia in 1994 after Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed Oslo peace accords and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was established.

"I have lived as a refugee all my life and I know how the Palestinian refugees lived different stages of suffering in various refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank and other neighboring Arab countries. Despite decades of years, the refugees had never dropped from their minds their right of return," Diab said.

Diab, a former security officer in the PNA security apparatuses, said that the Palestinians believed that six years after signing Oslo accords between Israel and the PLO, "the Palestinians will be able to gain their freedom, independence and right of return, but so far, this goal hasn't been achieved yet."

"The refugees who live in Jabalia or any other refugee camps believe that one day they will be able to gain their right of return and get back to the towns and villages of their parents and ancestors," Diab said. "Return is our fate."

The Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip is the biggest one of the eight camps in the region, and is considered as one of the most densely populated refugee camp in the Middle East.

Following the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, around 35,000 refugees arrived in the Gaza Strip after they fled their home in Israel, according to United Nations figures.

Now, about 108,000 Palestinians live in the Jabalia refugee camp which is 1.4 square kilometer. Overpopulation is one of the crucial issues that the future of the Gaza Strip suffers from.

The Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip represent two thirds of the enclave's population which is 1.8 million. Life in all the refugee camps and in the Jabalia camp in particular get worse due to the Israeli blockade.

As'ad Abu Sharkh, a specialist in the refugee affairs, told Xinhua that the refugees in the Gaza Strip will never give up their right of return to their homes that their grandfathers and parents lived before 1948.

"The Palestinians refuse the idea of resettling them anywhere inside or aboard," Abu Sharkh said, adding that the culture of return is in the mind of every Palestinian refugee. "What the Israelis had earlier said that the eldest die and the youngest forget is totally unrealistic."

According to the international figures, the number of Palestinian refugees has reached 4.3 million, and they live in 52 refugee camps run by the United Nations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

UN Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) is in charge of offering services of education, health and sanitation to the refugees, according to Adnan Abu Hasna, UINRWA spokesman in Gaza. He told Xinhua that UNRWA is doing its best "to keep its commitments to the Palestinian refugees."

Husam Ahmed, an activist in the popular committee of the refugees in Gaza, said that although UNRWA is doing its best to offer the refugees the best services, "but still it is unable to compensate them their Nakba, or catastrophe and help them return to their homes."

Diab, like most of the Palestinian refugees, still keeps the documents that show their ownership of their homes and lands in the towns and villages they fled in 1948. Many old women even keep the keys of their houses, hoping that they will return one day.

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Tunisian coastguards rescue 222 migrants fleeing Libya

Tunisian coastguards rescued on Saturday some 222 African migrants fleeing Libya on a boat bound to Italy, the state-run press agency TAP reported on Sunday.

The boat which issued a distress signal after water started leaking was rescued off the Tunisian island of Djerba. The migrants were later sent to the Choucha refugee camp in southern Tunisia.

Since the eruption of the turmoil in Libya, thousands of Libyan and African refugees have fled the country. Last week some 600 migrants were killed in rough weather when their boat sank off the Libyan capital Tripoli.

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China police raid nearly 7,530 dens for IPR violations

Chinese police have raided nearly 7,530 dens as of April, since the Ministry of Public Security launched a campaign to halt the production and sale of counterfeit goods last November.

The Ministry said in a statement Sunday that it has solved more than 10,300 cases of intellectual property rights (IPR) violations during the period in which more than 2,600 wholesalers or groups were involved.

In a separate campaign to check bank card related crimes, the ministry has solved more than 5,600 cases of bank card crimes during the first four months this year. They have also retrieved 130 million yuan(20 million U.S. dollars) in funds.

The figure saw a year-on-year increase of 16.2 percent and 33.3 percent, respectively.

In campaigns to check bank card related crimes, police usually target crimes including fraud using fake cards, malicious overdrafts and illegal withdrawals using credit cards.

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Bombing incidents aiming at manipulating stock prices: S.Korean police

South Korean police said on Sunday that explosions took place at two major Seoul transportation hubs last week were planned to manipulate stock prices for monetary gain.

The explosions occurred about one hour apart on Thursday morning, with the first at the Seoul Station in down town and the second at the main express bus terminal in southern Seoul. But no casualties were reported in the incidents. Seoul police launched a terrorism probe into the two blasts and tracked the suspects, based on CCTVs in the hubs.

The police said Sunday that three suspects had been arrested. A 43-year-old man, known as Kim, was caught on suspicion of plotting the blasts and producing explosives, and two others on suspicion of preparing explosive materials and placing homemade explosives inside lockers.

According to the police, Kim has been awash in debt after failing to make profits from large investments in futures, and recently borrowed some 50 million won again to invest in put options Wednesday. He planed the blasts to seek benefit financially from confusion of the stock market on the expiration date Thursday.

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Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in Gaza: spokesman

A Palestinian teenager was killed Sunday in eastern Gaza City, a spokesman for the medical services said, adding that he was killed by Israeli forces.

The 18-year-old was evacuated to Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, said Adham Abu Selmia, spokesman for the medical services, adding that the teenager had approached the security fence separating between Israel and the Palestinian territories in eastern Gaza.

Palestinian Health Ministry said that 60 people were wounded in the Gaza Strip on Sunday during demonstrations marking the 63rd anniversary of Palestinian uprooting when Israel was created.

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Cast members of "Kid with a Bike" at 64th Cannes Film Festival

Belgian director Jean-Pierre Dardenne (L) and Luc Dardenne (R) kiss actress Cecile de France during the photocall of "the Kid with a Bike" at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2011. 

Belgian director Jean-Pierre Dardenne (L) and Luc Dardenne pose for the photocall of "the Kid with a Bike" at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2011.

(From L to R)Belgian directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, actor Thomas Doret as well as actress Cecile de France pose during the photocall of "the Kid with a Bike" at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2011.

(From L to R) Belgian directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne (L) and Luc Dardenne (R), as well as actor Thomas Doret pose during the photocall of "the Kid with a Bike" at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2011.

Actor Thomas Doret (L) and actress Cecile de France pose during the photocall of "the Kid with a Bike" at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2011.

Actress Cecile de France attends the photocall of "the Kid with a Bike" at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2011. 

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Afghan children look after their families

"I have no choice but to sell shopping bags to support our family. My elder brother also works on street because our father is disabled," an Afghan child who introduced himself as Shah Jan told Xinhua on Sunday.

Dressed in grubby clothes and shouting up "shopping bags, shopping bags" in a crowded downtown bazaar in the Afghan capital Kabul to attract buyers, the poor Shah Jan, 7, whispered that he could earn 50 to 80 Afghanis (1 U.S. dollars up to 1.80 U.S. dollars) a day.

When asked whether his father sends him to work, Jan shrugged and murmured, "Bomb blast handicapped him two years ago and since then the responsibility of the family had rested on me and my brother."

Jan's brother Khan Agha, 9, has also been shouldering the responsibility to support the seven-member family.

"Khan Agha often works as car washer alongside a stream in Kabul," Jan murmured, adding he (Khan Agha) earns up to 150 Afghanis (3 U.S. dollars) a day.

Jan and his brother Khan Agha are not alone in the war-ravaged Afghanistan bearing the brunt of endemic conflicts.

Killing, destruction, orphans and disabled people are the legacy of over three decades of war in Afghanistan.

There is no exact figure on how many people had lost their precious lives in Afghan violent incidents in 2010. According to UN report, 2,777 civilians had been killed in the militancy-ridden country last year.

Majority of the war victims in Afghanistan are the bread earners of their families.

Likewise Shah Jan, many children are seen in Afghan streets, bazaars and brick kilns working from dawn to dusk to earn meager income to support their families.

Nevertheless, Jan is among the luckiest ones, living in the capital city Kabul and attending school in the morning shift to build his future and working in the afternoon to support his war- shuttered family.

The number of Afghan innocent children that the war has forced them to give up childish sweet era and shoulder family responsibility is quite high.

Even though there is no official statistic about the number of street children in the war-torn Afghanistan, numerous of juveniles involved in child labor is seen in city streets elsewhere in the country.

"By polishing shoes I support my six-member family," said Zaman, 12, wandering on a street in Kabul.

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Chinese senior military official leaves for U.S. visit

China's Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Chen Bingde headed a high-ranking delegation Sunday for a week-long official visit to the United States.

Chen's visit, the first in seven years by a PLA chief of the general staff, is part of the efforts to implement the consensus reached by Chinese President Hu Jintao and his U.S. counterpart, President Barack Obama.

In addition to talks with Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chen will meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Tom Donilon.

Chen will also deliver a speech at the National Defense University.

China expects to promote the establishment of a new-type military relationship with the United States through Chen's visit, featuring mutual respect and reciprocal beneficial cooperation, Qian Lihua, director of the Foreign Affairs Office with the National Defense Ministry, said in an earlier interview.

Chen's entourage includes a political commissar of the Second Artillery Force, deputy commanders of Military Area Commands and an intelligence department chief of the General Staff Headquarters, among others.

Chen will visit Naval Station Norfolk, Fort Stewart, Nellis Air Force Base and the US Army's National Training Center -- some of which have not been opened to visiting military leaders for years -- as part of the U.S.high-profile reception.

"It demonstrates the importance Admiral Mullen attaches to Chen's visit and the positive attitude the United States has to developing relations between the two militaries," said Huang Xueping, an official with the National Defense Ministry.

Chen will address China's position on three major obstacles hindering China-U.S. military relations during his visit, said Qian.

The three obstacles refer to the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, frequent reconnaissance by U.S. naval ships and aircraft in the waters and airspace of China's exclusive economic zones, and the restrictions imposed by some U.S. domestic laws on exchanges and technical cooperation between the Chinese and U.S. armed forces.

"China hopes the U.S. will respect China's reasonable concern on the three issues and adopt feasible measures to resolve them," he said.

With regards to developing bilateral military ties, China has its bottom line, which features mutual respect, mutual trust, equality and reciprocity, said Qian.

So far, China and the U.S. have resumed military exchanges. Gates' visit to China in January helped mend bilateral military ties after several controversies last year. Also, the defense ministries of China and the United States held their seventh working-level meeting in April.

The just concluded China-U.S. Strategic Security Dialogue in Washington also included representatives from military departments of both countries.

U.S. military universities sent delegations to China in March and April.

The PLA Military Band is now making its first ever visit to the U.S. since the two countries forged diplomatic relations in 1979.

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Four dead in shooting incident along Israeli-Lebanon border: report

Four people are dead and around a dozen are wounded in a shooting incident Sunday afternoon near the Israeli-Lebanese border within Lebanese territory, local media reported.

The Israeli army declined to comment the incident at the moment.

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Palestinians mark 63rd anniversary of "catastrophe day"

A Palestinian child attends a demonstration near the border line between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2011. Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said.

Palestinians attend a demonstration near the border line between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2011. Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said. 

A Hamas security official guards as Palestinians attend a demonstration near the border line between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2011. Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said.

Hamas security officials fight against Palestinians during a demonstration near the border line between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2011. Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said. 

Palestinians attend a demonstration near the border line between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2011. Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said.

A Palestinian youth attends a demonstration near the border line between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, May 15, 2011. Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said.

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Iran's president says U.S. killed bin Laden as "election propaganda "

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as part of its propaganda to secure victory in the next U.S. presidential election, the English language satellite Press TV reported.

"The U.S. killed bin Laden not to fight terrorism and not to eradicate groups it claims as terrorist but as (a part of) its election propaganda to win people's votes," said Ahmadinejad in a meeting with participants in a conference on terrorism in Tehran.

He said that he had "precise information" that bin Laden was being held by U.S. military for a long time before his death, said the report.

Earlier this month, U.S. president Barack Obama announced that a U.S. operation killed bin Laden outside the Pakistani capital Islamabad and hailed the terrorist leader's death as the "most significant achievement" in U.S. efforts to defeat al-Qaida.

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Sudan's ruling party candidate wins South Kordofan State governor elections

Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) candidate Ahmed Haroun on Sunday won the governorship vote in South Kordofan State, located on the north-south border, with about 6,000 votes ahead of his rival from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The elections results announced by the National Elections Commission (NEC) at a press conference indicated that Haroun has scored 201,455 votes against 194,955 votes for the SPLM candidate Abdul-Aziz Al-Hilo.

The NCP meanwhile has won the majority of the seats of the national and state legislative councils which will supervise the state's popular consultation as stipulated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

The SPLM has earlier withdrawn from the vote sorting and counting process and threatened that it would not recognize its results.

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Russia to support shipbuilding industry

Russia will prepare a law to support shipbuilding industry by next week, Vice Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said Sunday while inspecting the construction of maritime terminal on Kunashir Island in Russia's Far East.

According to the RIA Novosti report, the document will include a number of measures aimed at economical support of the sector, among them interest rate subsidies and other financial measures.

Besides, the law will make provisions for measures aimed at ship owner's advantages in building ships at domestic shipyards.

Ivanov has visited Iturup and Kunashir Islands as a part of his working trip to Far Eastern Federal District.

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Turks stage nationwide march against internet filter system

Turkish people launched a nationwide march in more than 30 provinces on Sunday to protest government internet filter system which is expected to start on Aug. 22.

About 10,000 Turks, women and men, old and young, teachers and students, businessmen and engineers, gathered in the Taksim square, the center of Turkish largest city of Istanbul.

Shouting slogans against internet ban and filter system, they were marching through the Istiklal street, the most famous and important in the country.

The main banners and slogans are: "Get your nose out off my browse," "Let me surf," "We don't need protection," "Free banned links now," "Don't touch my internet."

Internet users have been organizing marches on different websites, since the filter application became focus of public debate in Turkey in late April.

About 600,000 people had stated they attend marches on May 15 for an event called "Do not touch my Internet" on the social networking website of Facebook.

Other Internet websites also include calls for their users to join the marches, including sansurekarsi.com, yasaklamakyasaktir. com, eksisozluk.com, sansuresansur.blogspot.com and others.

Protesters march simultaneously in 35 Turkish provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Antalya and Trabzon.

Marches are also organized in Germany's Koln, Netherlands' Amsterdam and Austria's Vienna cities to match with Turkey's, according to eksisozluk.com.

Under a decision on "Rules and Procedures of the Safety of Internet Use," approved by the Prime Ministry's Information Technologies Board in February, Internet users in Turkey will have to choose one from four Internet packages: family, children, domestic or standard.

The list of websites filtered by each package will be decided by the board but will not be made public. The change will be implemented starting Aug. 22.

Experts noted that the Prime Ministry's Information Technologies Board approving the filtering regulation is inconsistent with Turkish laws and with the country's Constitution.

But Turkish authorities claim the decision will only serve to protect children from pornographic websites.

Experts also said that the application is expected to slow down the speed of access to websites. Tayfun Acarer, chairman of the Information Technologies Board said earlier this week that the filter application aimed to address the concerns of conservative parents who are unable to police their children's Internet use themselves.

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13 wounded in Baghdad rocket barrage

Thirteen people were wounded in a rocket barrage on Baghdad Green Zone on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

Eight Katyusha rockets targeted Baghdad's Green Zone that houses U.S. embassy and some Iraqi government offices, but four of the rockets missed the zone and hit surrounding civilian areas, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

One of the rockets struck a parking lot in Bab al-Sharji area in downtown Baghdad, wounding six civilians, the source said.

Another rocket landed on a marketplace in al-Gailani neighborhood in downtown Baghdad, wounding four people, the source added.

Three more people were wounded by a third rocket in al-Jadriyah district in southern Baghdad, while the fourth one landed on the side of the Tigris River near the Green Zone without causing casualties, he said.

Another four rockets landed inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, while it was still unclear whether they caused any casualty, he added.

The heavily fortified Green Zone has been frequently targeted by insurgents' mortar and rocket attacks. The roughly 10 square km zone is located on the west bank of the Tigris River which bisects the Iraqi capital.

The U.S. military did not confirm the attack on the Green Zone yet.

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Two Kuwaiti lawmakers file grilling motion against economic minister

Two Kuwaiti lawmakers on Sunday presented a grilling motion against the country's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah over squandering public funds and financial violations in housing tenders.

Lawmakers Adel Al-Saraawi and Marzouq Al-Ghanem had presented a similar interpellation against Sheikh Fahad in March, which later went into vain following the cabinet resignation.

Sheikh Fahad doubles the oil-rich Gulf emirate's minister for housing and development. He also serves as president of the Olympic Council of Asia.

Another two lawmakers last Tuesday submitted a grilling motion against Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, marking a fresh round of tensions between the government and parliament.

The new cabinet led by Sheikh Nasser swore in on May 8, but opposition lawmakers said the new lineup fell short of their expectations and vowed grilling ministers they thought did not honor responsibilities.

Kuwait, the fourth largest exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was no stranger to strained relations between the parliament and government.

Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has dissolved parliament three times in the past to put an end to the political crisis.

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2 policemen injured in roadside bomb attack in Quetta

A policeman inspects a vehicle damaged in a blast in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on May 15, 2011. At least two policemen were injured in a roadside bomb attack in Pakistan's Quetta on Sunday. 

A security officer inspects the blast site in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on May 15, 2011. At least two policemen were injured in a roadside bomb attack in Pakistan's Quetta on Sunday.

Security officers guard the blast site in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on May 15, 2011. At least two policemen were injured in a roadside bomb attack in Pakistan's Quetta on Sunday. 

People gather around a vehicle damaged in a blast in southwest Pakistan's Quetta on May 15, 2011. At least two policemen were injured in a roadside bomb attack in Pakistan's Quetta on Sunday.

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Israel fire wounds 45 Gazans on border : Medics

Forty-five Palestinians were wounded with three seriously injured in the border area between Gaza and Israel on Sunday as Israeli troops opened fire on a massive Palestinian march towards the Erez border crossing, Palestinian medics said.

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Indian border guard killed at India-Pakistan border

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir,  An Indian border guard of India's Border Security Force (BSF) was killed in an exchange of fire on India-Pakistan International Border at the Kashmir region, officials said Sunday.

The ceasefire violation took place Saturday evening in Budhwar area of Suchetgarh sub-sector in R. S. Pora, around 45-km south of Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, the officials said.

According to the available details, Pakistani Rangers Saturday resorted to heavy firing at 19:15 p.m. local time targeting forward BSF posts at Budhwar in Arnia sub sector killing a BSF personal.

"Firing from Pakistan side continued for about 40 minutes. The BSF personal guarding the border retaliated, triggering an exchange of fire between two sides," said an official.

The slain BSF personal was identified as Jai Kishan. The BSF officials are going to convene a flag meeting with Pakistani Rangers Sunday to discuss the issue.

Earlier Pakistan's Urdu TV channel Express reported that at least one Pakistani was killed and 13 others including three Pakistani Rangers were injured on Sunday morning as Indian army fired across the border near the Pakistani city of Sialkot.

According to the local media reports, the clash broke out at about 9:30 a.m. local time in the Bajra Ghari area of Sialkot, a city located in eastern part of Pakistan, which borders India.

Local media reports said that the firing stopped following the retaliation by the Pakistani Rangers, a special armed force in Pakistan.

New Delhi and Islamabad in 2003 agreed to observe a ceasefire along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.

Though some violations have been reported on both sides, the ceasefire remains in effect. A guerrilla war is also going on between militants and the Indian troops stationed in Indian- controlled Kashmir over the past two decades.

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78 injured in new sectarian clash in Egypt

Egypt's Health Ministry said on Sunday that 78 people were wounded during violent clashes that took place on Saturday in downtown Cairo.

The clashes occurred at the Egyptian TV building when a group of unidentified men attacked Christians staging a sit-in in front of the entrance of the building, official MENA news agency said, adding the attackers threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the protesters.

In one of the latest sectarian clashes, 15 people were killed and more than 200 injured in clashes that erupted outside a Coptic church in Cairo on May 6. Coptic Christians have since then holding protests against violence.

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf decided on Wednesday to form a national justice committee to stand against sectarian sedition. The committee will study a law regarding the building of worship houses, including churches and mosques.

Minority Copts account for about 10 percent of Egypt's total population. Copts and Muslims in Egypt generally live in peace, but sporadic violence between them occur due to the construction of churches or romantic affairs between worshippers of the two groups.

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U.S. sanctions "ineffective" on Iran's army: commander

A top Iranian army commander said that the U.S.-sponsored sanctions against Islamic Republic have proved "ineffective" on Iran's army, the English language satellite Press TV reported on Sunday.

"The sanctions have had no impact on Iran's military technology, because our military knowledge is based on the experiences of the eight-year sacred defense (Iran-Iraq war in 1980's) and other wars that took place in neighboring countries," Brigadier General Hossein Valivand-Zamani was quoted as saying.

Before Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country was dependent on the U.S. military training and the educational materials were mostly translations of Western military sciences, Valivand-Zamani said on Sunday, adding that after the Revolution, however, Iran's military know-how became "localized" and the country's army uses no Western military training material.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems, he said according to the report.

Iran is under sanction pressures by the United States, European Union and other Western countries over its controversial nuclear program, which the West believe is moving to the atomic weaponry developments. However, Tehran denied the allegations, claiming that its nuclear program is for civilian and peaceful purpose.

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Israeli fire wounds 15 Palestinians in Gaza rallies

 Israeli fire wounded 15 Palestinians during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip Sunday as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of their uprooting when Israel was being created, witnesses and security sources said.

Israeli forces fired two shells and a volley of shots to distance dozens of youths who broke from a larger demonstration near Gaza's northern borders with Israel, the witnesses said.

In another incident, the Israeli forces, guarding Israel's borders in eastern Gaza City, also fired at demonstrators who approached security fence separating the Palestinian and Israeli territories.

At least 15 people were wounded in the two incidents, according to medical sources. The wounded were taken to hospitals where doctors said their injuries were slight to moderate.

In the West Bank, meanwhile, clashes erupted between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli forces on Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Early reports said that several Palestinians were wounded.

Demonstrations started across the Palestinian territories Sunday to mark the Nakba (Catastrophe), the name they use to refer to Israel's creation in 1948 and the subsequent mass evictions of Palestinians from their home towns and villages.

Speaking on the occasion, Ismail Haneya, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said that Palestinians can win the battle against Israel "only when they fight under the flag of Islam." He also called for supporting armed resistance against Israel.

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Israel under U.S. pressure to release Palestinian money

The United States puts pressure on Israel to release Palestinian tax revenues, sources said Sunday.

The U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, Daniel Rubinstein, met Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad earlier this week and told him about the U.S. pressures on Israel to resume transferring the money to the Palestinian National Authority, the sources told Xinhua.

According to the sources, Israel may transfer the cash, which it collects every month in tax on behalf of the PNA, within the coming two days.

The Israeli decision to halt the transfer of nearly 100 million U.S. dollars to the PNA prevented it from paying April salaries for Palestinian employees.

Israel suspended the money transfer earlier this month after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, holding sway in the West Bank, agreed to reconcile with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza.

Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesman for Fayyad's government, said the Palestinians were not officially informed about imminent resumption of cash transfer.

Israel Radio, meanwhile, reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded him that Israel release the Palestinian money.

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Norway denies helping Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers

The Norwegian embassy here on Sunday dismissed media reports that they had helped the members of the Sri Lankan rebel group Tamil Tigers to escape Sri Lanka.

Aftenposten, a Norwegian newspaper had reported that "staff members in the Norwegian embassy in Colombo have helped approximately 12 people so far, purchasing flight tickets, driving some to the airport and issuing visas at short notice."

This was reacted by Sri Lankan authorities saying that their embassy in Oslo was asked to verify the story.

However the Norwegian embassy here on Sunday said in a statement, "The Norwegian embassy notes that the translation and representation of the article in local media contain some inaccuracies such as referring to the refugees as members of the Tamil Tigers."

The embassy said they had assisted a limited number of people for asylum in Norway but the embassy had not purchased tickets nor had its diplomatic staff escorting them to the airport.

Norway brokered peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels leading to the February 2002 ceasefire accord between the warring parties.

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Suspected left-wing rebels kill 5 at marriage party in central India

Suspected left-wing rebels Sunday killed five people allegedly belonging to a rival rebel group in the central Indian state of Jharkhand, reported the Indo-Asian News Service on Sunday.

The murders took place in the state's Gumla district, when around 25 members of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist ( CPI-Maoist) late Saturday night raided a village around 140 km from the state capital Ranchi.

The rebels went to a marriage party in the village and killed five people suspecting them to be members of the rival People's Liberation Front of India, according to the report.

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Gov't revenue collection from liquor sale surges in Indian capital

Indian capital New Delhi government's revenue collection from sales of liquor has surged by an impressive 23 percent in the 2010-11 financial year compared to what it earned in 2009-10, according to a report by Press Trust of India on Sunday.

The government collected 20.27 billion rupees (74 million U.S. dollars) as excise tax between April 2010 and March 2011 as against its collection of 16.44 billion rupees (37 million U.S. dollars) in the same period in the preceding fiscal, said the report.

Government officials said they have taken "many initiatives to plug the loopholes in revenue collection system" of one of the most booming business of the capital, where alcohol consumption is on the rise, according to the report.

In India, most liquor shops, also known as Wine and Beer Shop, is government-owned assets.

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Indian left parties condemn petrol prices hike

India's four main left parties Sunday condemned the hike in petrol prices and demanded a reversal of the policy of de-regulation of petrol pricing, reported the Indo-Asian News Service.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) said the increase in petrol price by five rupees (0.1 U.S. dollar) a litre was "another cruel blow".

The decision immediately after the elections "shows that the hike in the price of petrol is politically manipulated", they said in a statement.

It is referring to the local legislative elections in five Indian states, including Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala, held in April and May.

The Left lost in both West Bengal and Kerala in the elections to Congress and its allies.

"The government refuses to restructure the ad valorem tax structure on import of petro products. If the cess revenues earned by the government due to rise in international prices is returned to oil companies, then there would be no need to hike prices and burden the aam admi," it said.

The statement urged protests to "demand a reversal of the deregulation policy".

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Wildfire spreads in Russia's Siberia

Wildfire areas in Russia's Siberia region have expanded by 560 hectares to 1,500 hectares in the past 24 hours, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Sunday.

So far, areas of some 15,246 hectares have been affected by wildfires across Russia, the ministry said on its official website.

In Siberia, the ministry registered 106 spots of wildfires on a total area of 1492.6 hectares, while in past 24 hours firefighters have localized 52 wildfires on an area of 988 hectares in the region.

"Overall, 2,300 people and 534 pieces of equipment have been involved in the fire-fighting effort in the past twenty-four hours," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, activities of local residents were the main causes of forest fires.

In summer 2010, fires severely damaged regions in central Russia, destroying thousands of homes. Statistics showed that the summer wildfires have cost Russia 15 billion U.S. dollars.

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4.3-magnitude quake hits Sichuan-Gansu juncture area

 An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale jolted the juncture area of China's western provinces of Sichuan and Gansu at 15:05 Beijing Time on Sunday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of 12 km, was initially determined to be at 32.6 degrees north latitude and 105.4 degrees east longitude.

The epicenter is located at the juncture region of Qingchuan County in Sichuan Province and Wenxian County in Gansu. No further information are available.

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