28 dead as fire engulfs plane in Sudan, officials say

A jetliner burst into flames Tuesday after landing in Sudan, killing at least 28 people, officials said.Khartoum Police Chief Mohammad Othman Mohammad Noor said "a defect" in the Sudan Airways plane caused it to catch fire as it touched down."The fire then led to an explosion on the airplane," he said. "There was a large number of passengers on the plane, some of whom survived. The number of casualties is still unconfirmed at this time."
Lighting up the night sky, flames consumed the plane as it sat on the runway at the airport, which is in the center of Khartoum near residential and business areas.
Mortuary officials said that 28 people had been confirmed dead, though initial reports said that more than 100 had been killed.
Police updated that information late Tuesday, saying 123 people survived. Dozens are unaccounted for. It's possible that some of those people may have simply gone home after escaping the burning plane, officials said.

Hospitals said they were treating 11 patients from the plane.Sudanese television reported that more than 200 people were on the plane when the incident occurred about 8:45 p.m. (1:45 p.m. ET). Sudan Airways Flight 109 was arriving from Amman, Jordan, and Damascus, Syria, airport security officials said.Abbas al-Fadini, a member of the Sudanese parliament who was on the plane, told Al-Jazeera that "fire was inside the plane."

"It started from the right engine and then spread to the inside of the plane," he said.
He was sitting in the front of the plane, he said, and was among those who got out first. Flight attendants and crew members were guiding passengers to the exit, he said.
Some passengers who had minor injuries remained at the airport, he said.
Journalist Andrew Heavens said relatives of those on the plane had gathered at the airport, talking on their cell phones and waiting for news as ambulances sped past.
John Ukec, the Sudanese ambassador to the United States, confirmed that the plane was a Sudan Airways flight carrying 203 passengers and 14 crew members.
Sudanese television said 13 of the crew members survived.
Jordanian officials said the plane carried 34 passengers when it left Amman and picked up 169 passengers in Damascus. It made an initial landing outside Khartoum, at Port Sudan on the Red Sea, the Jordanian officials said, but took off again and landed in the city.
Sources in Khartoum said the plane was an Airbus A310 with the capacity to carry 250 people.
The weather in Khartoum as the plane attempted to land was terrible, the sources said. Low visibility and heavy rain and wind followed a big sandstorm earlier in the day.
A pilot who landed a plane in Khartoum earlier in the evening reported a rough landing, the source said, and added that there was a lot of standing water on the runway. Sandstorms can cause crashes when sand gets into the engines and causes them to ignite, the pilot said.
Video from the scene showed wreckage engulfed in flames. Media reports said the initial landing of the Sudan Airways flight was delayed because of the weather, and the plane landed after the weather cleared.
CNN's Nic Robertson, who recently was in Sudan, said the nation is in its rainy season.
"It's the time of year where you get massive rainstorms ... just coming in very quickly," he said. "The problem in Khartoum is not just the rain, but it mixes with a lot of dust in the air. Khartoum is right on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The city is famous almost for these huge dust storms that blow in. So at this time of year, you get the dust, you get the rain coming together. It's bad conditions."
He said the Khartoum airport is very modern, with a large amount of air traffic passing through.
The last crash of a Sudan Airways plane was July 8, 2003, when a Boeing 737 reported engine trouble after takeoff from Port Sudan and missed its return approach to the airport, crashing about three miles away. A 3-year-old boy was the only survivor of the 117 people aboard. It was Sudan's worst air disaster.The airline has connected Sudan with cities in the Middle East and Africa since 1947.

Deposed Nepal king to leave palace

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Nepal's deposed king planned to move Wednesday from what was once his palace to a summer home the government has loaned him just west of the capital, officials said.

Nepal's Constituent Assembly, which abolished the monarchy last month and declared Nepal a republic, ordered former King Gyanendra to move out of the palace by this week.

Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said Gyanendra's aides told the government he would leave the Narayanhiti royal palace in Katmandu on Wednesday and move to the Nagarjung summer palace.

The main palace has been his home since he became king in 2001.

Nagarjung palace, situated on a forested hill on the northwestern edge of Katmandu, was previously used for vacations by the king. It, like many royal assets, was nationalized by the government when the monarchy was abolished.

Gyanendra had asked the government in Nepal to help find alternative accommodation after he was ordered to move out of the main palace. He said he could not move back to the house where he had lived before becoming king because his son and his family were already living there.

The government has said Gyanendra can temporarily live in the summer palace, but has not said for how long.

The monarchy's end was the culmination of a two-year peace process in which communist insurgents gave up their armed struggle, joined mainstream politics and won the most seats in April's election for the Constituent Assembly.

The assembly is tasked with rewriting the constitution, deciding the country's future political system and governing the nation.

Infectious Kiss

Infectious Kiss by Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway gave Steve Carell a pink eye when they kissed in Get Smart. Hathaway said she was suffering from itchy eyes when she filmed a particularly raunchy scene with Carell.

She says, a certain contact solution gave me conjunctivitis. I also had a sinus infection at the same time. So I had to go up to Steve with my eyes red, puffy and dripping green. I’m snotty and I’m just Luke “Come here”,

However, Hathaway revealed she was unaware she had pink eye and was forced to ring the film’s producer Alex Gartner to warm him. She added, I told Alex. You might want to call Steve & let him know I had pink eye and my tears kind of get in my mouth, so he might want to worry about that. But I’d do the kiss again in a heart beat

President, Congress offer no immediate help on gas prices

WASHINGTON-- Before departing the White House early Monday for a farewell tour of Europe, President Bush stole a page from his predecessor and suggested he feels American consumers' pain."A lot of Americans are concerned about our economy," Bush said. "I can understand why. Gasoline prices are high, energy prices are high. I do remind them that we have put a stimulus package forward that is expected to help boost the economy. And of course, we'll be monitoring the situation."
Americans are looking for more action, though, than monitoring the situation.
But while gas prices keep soaring, the chances of Washington finding a solution keep dropping because Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked over how to fix the problem.
Bush talks mostly about increasing supply through more oil drilling in places like Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"I've proposed to the Congress that they open up ANWR, open up the Continental Shelf, and give this country a chance to help us through this difficult period by finding more supplies of crude oil, which will take the pressure off the price of gasoline," Bush said Monday. more....

Brown in tribute to Afghan dead

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has paid tribute to the courage of British troops in Afghanistan, as the number to die there since 2001 reached 100.

His comments came after three soldiers were killed in a suicide attack.

The men, from 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, were on foot patrol in Helmand when the blast happened.

Defence Secretary Des Browne added no loss could be compensated for, but he remained convinced the campaign was "the noble cause of the 21st century".

"We are making significant progress in Afghanistan. It's slow, sometimes it's frustratingly slow," he told BBC Radio Four's Today programme.

"The reason we are making that progress is because those very brave and professional young men and women have gone about their job in such a way that they have created, in the most difficult of circumstances, a degree of security that many people a couple of years ago thought was impossible."

The prime minister said those who had died had "paid the ultimate price" but had "achieved something of lasting value."

He said: "My first thoughts and condolences are with the families of these soldiers, who died serving in Afghanistan with such distinction more:...

Iraqi PM assures Iran on security

Iraq will not allow its territory to be used to attack Iran, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said during a visit to Tehran.
Mr Maliki met the foreign minister and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who pledged to help with Iraq's security.
The role of the US in Iraq is high on the agenda, with Tehran concerned about a treaty under discussion on the terms of the US military's future in Iraq.
Iran's alleged backing for militants in Iraq was also expected to be discussed.
'Peace and security'
"We will not allow Iraq to become a platform for harming the security of Iran and neighbours," Iranian state-run media quoted Mr Maliki as saying after late-night talks with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
In his talks with Mr Ahmadinejad, Iranian media quoted Mr Maliki as saying: "A stable Iraq will be a benefit to the security of the region and the world."

Mr Ahmadinejad told Mr Maliki: "Iraq's neighbours have more responsibility to help the country to establish peace and security."
Without referring directly to the US-Iraqi deal, Mr Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying: "Iraq must reach a certain level of stability so that its enemies are not able to impose their influence."
A statement from Mr Maliki's office in Baghdad said economic and trade issues were high on the agenda.

"Iraq is looking forward to Iranian companies taking part in developing its infrastructure," Mr Maliki is quoted as saying.
The BBC's John Leyne, in Tehran, says Iran has made no secret of its opposition to the current negotiations going on between Iraq and the US, which are aimed at regulating the presence of US forces in the country after their UN mandate expires at the end of 2008.
The US-Iraqi talks, which are seeking to reach agreement by the end of July, have run into problems over issues related to Iraqi sovereignty.
The Iraqi prime minister was also expected to raise allegations of Iranian support for Shia militants in Iraq.
Shia militiamen fought bitter battles with US and Iraqi government forces between March and May.
Mr Maliki is on his third visit to Iran since taking office in June 2005.
Government sources say Iraqi security officials with the delegation will be showing the Iranians evidence of their alleged support for the militias, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad reports.
Iran has always denied any involvement, but officials say Mr Maliki will once again urge Tehran to support the Baghdad government and stop secretly backing militias.

Tokyo man goes on stabbing spree

A man armed with a knife has injured at least 14 people in central Tokyo, Japanese media say. State television says two of the victims have died.
The incident occurred in the Akihabara district, a shopping area known as Electric Town that is popular with young people and tourists.
Five of the victims suffered cardiac arrest, a spokesman for the Tokyo Fire Department told AP news agency.

A suspect, said to be a 25-year-old man, has been arrested at the scene.
Correspondents say such incidents are rare in Japan.
NHK television reported that the man drove a vehicle into a crowd in the early afternoon and then began stabbing people at random.

Hillary ends White House bid, backs Obama

Washington: Hillary Rodham Clinton ended her historic campaign for the presidency on Saturday and told supporters to unite behind rival Barack Obama, closing out a race that was as grueling as it was groundbreaking.
The former first lady, who as recently as Tuesday declared herself the strongest candidate, gave Obama an unqualified endorsement and pivoted from her role as determined foe to absolute ally. ''The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the US,'' she said in a speech before cheering supporters packed into the ornate National Building Museum, not far from the White House she longed to govern from.

''Today as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and I ask of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me,'' the New York senator said in her 28-minute address.
With that and 13 other mentions of his name, Clinton placed herself solidly behind her Senate colleague from Illinois, a political sensation and the first black to secure a major party presidential nomination in the US.
Obama, in a statement, declared himself ''thrilled and honored'' to have Clinton' support.
''I honor her today for the valiant and historic campaign she has run,'' he said. ''She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams. And she inspired millions with her strength, courage and unyielding commitment to the cause of working Americans.''
For Clinton and her supporters, it was a poignant moment, the end of an extraordinary run that began with an air of inevitability and certain victory. About 18 million people voted for her; it was the closest a woman has come to capturing a presidential nomination.
''Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it has about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through like never before,'' she said.
Indeed, her speech repeatedly returned to the milestone her candidacy represented for women. In primary after primary, her support among women was a solid bloc of her voting coalition. She noted that she had received the support of women who were 80 and 90 years old, born before women could even vote.
She acknowledged the unprecedented success of Obama's candidacy, as well.
''Children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States,'' she said.
Obama secured the 2,118 delegates needed to clinch the nomination Tuesday after primaries in South Dakota and Montana. He planned to spend the weekend at home in Chicago. more...

French Open - Ana Ivanovic won greate record

Ana Ivanovic confirmed her status as the new world number one with her first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
The 20-year-old second seed beat Russia's Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3 to become the first Serbian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.
In a tense opening set, Ivanovic got the better of five breaks of serve.
And two breaks in the second were enough for Ivanovic to make up for her heavy defeat by the now retired Justine Henin in last year's final.
Henin was on hand to give Ivanovic the trophy after she sealed victory.
"I'm just so happy I kept my composure until the end," said Ivanovic. "Last year's final was a great learning experience."
The Serbian also had the experience of playing in the Australian Open final in January, losing to Maria Sharapova, while 13th seed Safina was playing her first Grand Slam singles final. With both players looking for a first major title it was understandable that they began in nervous fashion, but it was Ivanovic who looked the calmer as she soon moved a double-break clear.
The fear for Ivanovic supporters before the match had been whether her nerve would hold, and when she let a 40-0 lead slip in game eight to be pegged back to 4-4, it looked a reasonable question.
However, just when Safina needed to heap on the pressure she faltered and a series of errors handed the break straight back, and then helped Ivanovic come through an edgy service game to take the set.

The new world number one - who replaces Sharapova at the top of the rankings on Monday - needed no further encouragement and broke again in game three of the second set with a thumping forehand winner down the line.
And despite lengthy scraps in games six and seven, Safina could not get back on terms before, at 4-3 down, her resolve finally broke.
The Russian had saved match points on her way to beating Sharapova and Elena Dementieva in earlier rounds but there was to be no miracle comeback this time.
"I didn't have any more the fire that I had those matches," said Safina afterwards. "I was tired."
Three unforced errors put Ivanovic 5-3 ahead and Safina then failed to put the second seed under any pressure as she served for the title.
Victory was wrapped up in one hour 38 minutes and Ivanovic immediately headed into the stands to celebrate with her supporters.
"This was amazing," she said. "I still don't realise what happened. As a kid, when I used to go by bike to practice, I used to dream of this."

Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic

Substitute Vaclav Sverkos gave the Czech Republic a winning start to Euro 2008 with a second-half strike that broke Switzerland's resistance.
Swiss skipper Alexander Frei was twice denied by Petr Cech before he was forced off injured and Hakan Yakin headed a chance wide after the break.
On 70 minutes Sverkos slotted in a low volley from 12 yards after latching on to a ball over the top of the defence.
The Swiss were denied an equaliser when Johan Vonlanthen's volley hit the bar. And it might prove that the width of the woodwork could be the end of the Swiss, with tough matches against Portugal and Turkey to come in Group A.
Realistically the tournament's co-hosts needed to get something out of their opening game, and they started as though they were absolutely determined to.
After three minutes, the Czechs gave the ball away cheaply in midfield but Frei dragged his shot wide and failed to capitalise.
That should have been a wake-up call to the Czechs, but they appeared in no rush to raise their tempo.
As a result, Switzerland - unfancied in the group - grew in confidence and stroked the ball around, but with little cutting edge.
A weak effort from Gokhan Inler was indicative of their toothless attacks up until that point.

Frei, though, looked the liveliest player on the pitch, and despite having no help from his struggling strike partner Marco Streller, he began to cause some problems.
It took a decent stop from Cech to deny him the opening goal of Euro 2008 after he had latched on to a long clearance from his own keeper.
Frei followed that up with a 30-yard shot that Cech opted to use his fists to clear, despite there being little sign of the any movement from ball.
Sadly for Frei it would prove to be virtually his last contribution to the match as he later hobbled off after a jarring challenge.
The Czech Republic had already started showing signs of waking from the slumber before then, and with crisp passing and better movement were dictating the play.
But their final ball was awful and up front, giant striker Jan Koller looked slow and cumbersome.
After the break the Swiss brought on Hakan Yakin for the injured Frei and they started the half positively.
As the Czechs found themselves pinned back, Yakin got himself into the action but was too high with an effort following a free-kick.
But it was clear Yakin was already having more of an impact than Koller and it was no surprise when the Czech's top scorer was replaced by Vaclav Sverkos.
And the Swiss substitute should have opened the scoring when he was presented with a free header, but he directed the ball wide the right-hand post.
It was to prove a costly miss when, on 70 minutes, Czech substitute Sverkos finished smartly into the bottom corner after latching on to a ball over the top of the Swiss defence.
Yet Switzerland almost snatched a draw when Tranquillo Barnetta's shot was superbly parried by Cech and Vonlanthen smashed the follow-up against the woodwork.

Turkish government attacks head scarf ruling

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's Islamic-oriented governing party on Friday accused the country's top court of overstepping its authority when it struck down a law that would have allowed Muslim head scarves to be worn at universities.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party campaigned for re-election last year on a promise to lift a ban on head scarves, claiming the prohibition violated religious and personal freedoms. Upon victory, the government passed constitutional amendments to lift the ban.
But the court threw out the amendments Thursday, saying they violated Turkey's secular principles. The decision, which is final, threw up a heavy legal barrier to any further attempts to lift the ban and has deepened the divide between the Islamic-leaning government and secular institutions.
"The decision is a direct interference with parliament's authority," said Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, the ruling party's deputy chairman. "It is a violation of the rule on the separation of powers."
Though most of Turkey's 70 million people are Muslim, many see the head scarf as an emblem of political Islam and consider any attempt to allow it in schools as an attack on modern Turkey's secular laws. Some also argue that lifting the ban would create pressure on all female students to cover themselves.
Turkey's fiercely secular military signaled satisfaction with the court's decision to uphold the ban, which has been vigorously enforced in public offices and universities since a 1980 military coup.The Constitutional Court's ruling does not bode well for Erdogan's party, which faces the threat of being dissolved under a separate case filed by a prosecutor on grounds it is "the focal point of anti-secular activities."
Erdogan has kept silent on the court decision. But Firat said the prime minister would discuss the ruling with his fellow lawmakers in parliament Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan was expected to hold a news conference Saturday on the issue.
Another top party member, Bulent Arinc, described the decision as "grave."
"It gives me goose pimples," said Arinc, a former parliament speaker. "The Constitutional Court has indirectly seized the power of parliament."Dozens of people, including some women wearing black chadors, protested the ruling Friday in Ankara. A placard left outside the court building read: "No one can go against God's order to wear head scarves."
Hundreds of people also protested the court ruling in Istanbul and in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, following Friday prayers

Turkish government attacks head scarf ruling

Story Highlights
1) Israeli, Palestinian officials are starting to draft elements for a proposed peace deal
2) Decision does not necessarily reflect agreement on major issues, official says
3) Announcement comes amid violence in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to start drafting elements of a proposed peace accord, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Friday.Ahmed Qureia, the veteran negotiator heading the Palestinian team, made it clear the decision did not necessarily reflect agreement on major issues. But this would be the first time since negotiations resumed more than six months ago that anything would be committed to paper.
"We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing the positions," Qureia told reporters late Friday.
Israeli government officials would not comment and Qureia did not explain why the two sides had agreed at this point to begin drafting a text.
However, the timing coincides with a corruption scandal in Israel that threatens to unseat Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Should Israel find itself going to early elections, polls show Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes major territorial concessions to the Palestinians, becoming Israel's next premier. However, drafting during previous rounds of peace talks has not always meant that those positions were then preserved for future negotiators.
Qureia did not say what issue the two sides would start with. If they reach agreement on any issue, then they will draft a single provision, he said. If not, they will lay out on paper their divergent views, he addedIsrael and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in late November under U.S. prodding. Continued Israeli settlement construction and Israeli security concerns have clouded negotiations, and both sides have expressed doubt about achieving the declared goal of clinching a final accord by the end of the year.
Qureia confirmed that Israeli peace negotiators have offered the Palestinians land in exchange for territory where major West Bank settlements lie, but he termed their offer "unacceptable."
Palestinians would like to incorporate all of the West Bank into a future state, but their moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas, has acknowledged that Israel, with U.S. backing, likely will hold on to blocs where tens of thousands of settlers live. In exchange, Abbas is prepared to relinquish some West Bank land for an equal amount of Israeli land.
Qureia would not say how much territory Israel offered, where it is located or how much West Bank land the Jewish state proposed to keep under a final peace accord with the Palestinians.
"The Israelis presented a land swap offer, but this offer is unacceptable to us," he said.
Other Palestinian officials have said Israel has presented maps giving it 10 percent of the West Bank in exchange for southern Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip.
Early Friday, one Palestinian militant was killed and two were injured in a gunbattle that erupted after Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed into central Gaza. The military said its forces entered to prevent rocket launches.
Fifteen Palestinians -- some Hamas militants, others civilians -- were wounded in a second aerial attack on a Hamas base in northern Gaza later Friday, doctors said. The missiles destroyed a building, witnesses said.
Hamas also fired four rockets toward Israel, the group said. One landed in the rocket-scarred town of Sderot, damaging six cars, the military said.
The latest flare-up in violence began Thursday when a Hamas mortar killed an Israeli and injured four others in southern Israel. Israel then sent aircraft after a rocket squad, the military said, but apparently missed their target, killing a 6-year-old Palestinian girl.
Olmert warned that Israel was close to abandoning efforts to bring a truce to the volatile area and was seriously considering a large-scale incursion.
"According to the information we have now, the pendulum is much closer to a decision on a harsh operation," Olmert said soon after returning from a brief visit to the U.S.
Egypt has been trying for months to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers.
But both sides have set tough conditions for a truce and Israeli leaders are under pressure at home to respond militarily because the weapons in the hands of Gaza militants have become more deadly.

Zimbabwe aid ban 'puts millions at risk'

Millions of people in Zimbabwe already facing economic hardship and hunger are being put at risk by a government ban on relief organizations, the United Nations warned Friday, saying it would urge a lifting of restrictions.Agostinho Zacarias, the U.N.'s top humanitarian coodinator in Zimbabwe, met senior government figures Friday to try to get the ban overturned and allow aid agencies resume providing food, clean water, medical care and other services.
"The government said they didn't take this measure to starve the people. They have their reasons. The officials we discussed this with were not prepared to advance any reasons," he said.
Zacarias said the ban was likely to affect millions of people.
He also met with church leaders to explore aid alternatives as they don't fall under the category of aid groups hit by the ban.
Bright Matonga, deputy information minister for Zimbabwe, accused several non-governmental organizations of telling people they would not receive food unless they voted for an opposition presidential candidate.
The U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee, said Zimbabwean authorities were using food as a weapon to intimidate the population and hold on to power.

McGee said people seeking food from the government are forced to give up their identity cards if they are not registered as supporters of the government, meaning they will be unable to vote.
In another development Friday, Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested for the second time this week, his spokesman said.
Tsvangirai was stopped at a roadblock and taken to a police station as he was on his way to a regularly scheduled rally, his spokesman George Sibotshiwe said. He was released after 2½ hours.
"We've noticed that it's going to be a common trend in this campaign, and obviously the government and Robert Mugabe are trying to prevent [Tsvangirai] from going about his campaign freely and peacefully," Sibotshiwe said.
He said that unless the African Union deploys peacekeepers to the country, "campaigning in Zimbabwe is now virtually impossible."
"What I can convey is that since this morning we have had 10 or 11 central intelligence organization vehicles following us everywhere. There was heavy intimidation, with armed military people following us everywhere as well, and they basically pushed the president up to this roadblock before arresting him."
Sibotshiwe said there were no grounds for the arrest. "The way they work here is they don't give you any reason," he said. "Obviously, there is no charge."
The aid ban was made public Thursday, but CNN has obtained a memo dated Wednesday in which Zimbabwe's social welfare minister, Nicholas Goche, told non-governmental organizations "to suspend all field operation until further notice."
It said "a number of NGOs involved in humanitarian operations are breaching the terms and conditions of their registration."
Zimbabwe accuses international aid groups of political meddling ahead of a June 27 runoff that opposition groups say longtime President Robert Mugabe is trying to rig through intimidation.
Matonga said agencies must re-register with the government and state their purpose clearly to continue working in Zimbabwe and the government hopes that happens soon.
Kenneth Walker, a spokesman for the aid agency CARE, said Friday that the government's action has sowed confusion.
"All the NGOs are in the dark. They have no idea what this letter means. They have no idea how long it's going to last," he said.
"There's some serious concern about the impact on the millions of Zimbabweans who now won't be receiving food aid, clean water and sanitation facilities, help with agriculture Henrietta Fore, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, urged the government of Zimbabwe Thursday to "lift the suspension on all international aid agencies involved in humanitarian work in the country."
Fore said the "suspension is a direct threat to the lives and well-being of tens of thousands of innocent people in Zimbabwe."

Dark day on Wall Street

The Dow's 395-point drubbing is its biggest one-day point loss in 15 months, after crude prices' largest one-day advance ever and a poor jobs report.
NEW YORK - Stocks tanked Friday, with the Dow industrials shedding 395 points, after oil prices spiked more than $11 a barrel and the May jobs report showed a big jump in the unemployment rate.
Bond prices surged, as investors sought safety in government debt, while the dollar tumbled versus the yen and euro.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 395 points, or 3.1%, its biggest one-day decline on both a point and percentage basis since February of 2007, at the start of the subprime mortgage crisis.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 3.1%, while the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 3%. Both saw their biggest one-day declines on both a point and a percentage basis in more than four months.
The unemployment rate shot up to 5.5% in May from 5.0% in April, the government reported, marking the biggest one-month surge in over 20 years. The report was a clear indication that the economy could be in a recession after all, despite some recent bets that one could be narrowly avoided.
As rattling as the unemployment number was, the stock market was even more spooked by the spike in oil prices, said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management.
"I think more than anything, it's the shock of oil prices being up this substantially two days in a row," Stone said.
Crude jumped more than $16 in two sessions, with prices settling up $10.75 to $138.54 a barrel Friday on the weak dollar and in response to a Morgan Stanley note that said oil could hit $150 a barrel by July 4.
The spike exacerbated worries about consumer spending, already stretched as gas prices near a national average of $4 a gallon.
"You're definitely seeing the fear trade today, with the dollar down, commodity prices up and bonds rallying," Stone said.
Stocks could be vulnerable to further declines in the week ahead, after the S&P 500 closed below a key technical level that has previously given a floor to the selling. Traders said stocks could be in danger of moving back to the lows of March and January, which were seen as something of a bottom after months of stock declines.
Jobs market deteriorates: The unemployment rate surged to 5.5% from 5.0%, beating forecasts for a rise to 5.1% and showing the biggest one-month jump since 1986.
The spike really caught people by surprise, said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group. He said the report makes it clear that at least for so-called Main Street and the labor market, "we are in a recession, regardless of how we economists define it."
He was referring to the fact that GDP has been limping higher and the economy has not been officially declared to be in a recession by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
However, with non-farm payrolls dropping for a fifth consecutive month, it feels to many people like it's a recession, he said. Employers cut 49,000 from their payrolls, the report showed, versus forecasts for a decline of 60,000.
Dollar falls, oil spikes: The dollar continued its slide versus the euro on the weak jobs report and comments Thursday that the European Central Bank could potentially raise interest rates. The dollar also tanked versus the yen.
The dollar's decline contributed to a rally in dollar-traded commodity prices, with U.S. light crude oil for July delivery settling at $138.54 a barrel, a jump of $10.75. The increase was the biggest single-day price gain since record-keeping began in 1983 - taking out the previous session's record.
Oil prices spiked to a record trading high of $139.12 after the close, before pulling back a bit.
Gold and other commodities rallied too. COMEX gold for August delivery rose $23.50 to settle at $899 an ounce.
Gas backs off record: The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas fell to $3.986 from the previous day's record of $3.989, AAA reported. Gas prices had set new records for 28 of the previous 29 days.
Other markets: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.93% from 4.05% late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
On the move: Stock declines were broad based, with all 30 Dow issues falling.
The Dow's financial components were hit the hardest, with American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) both down 5%, and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) down more than 4%.
AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) slumped more than 7% on reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether the insurer overstated the value of contracts connected to subprime markets, something AIG denies. Additionally, it was reported that federal prosecutors have asked the SEC for material related to the investigation.
Other big blue-chip losers included General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), down nearly 5%, and Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), down 5.4%.
Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500), Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) and Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500) were among the biggest technology decliners.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by over 4 to 1 on 1.48 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by nearly 4 to 1 on volume of 2.20 billion shares.
Stocks spiked Thursday on a surprise dip in weekly jobless claims, stronger-than-expected May retail sales and a merger in the telecom sector. But the advance was short-lived as Friday's barrage of discouraging economic news and spiking oil prices brought out the seller

Missile practice for Moon mission

Tests on a UK-led technology at the heart of a planned Moon mission have been a spectacular success according to the scientists involved in the project.
Three penetrator missiles were fired into a sand bunker in Wales, designed to mimic the lunar surface.
Professor Alan Smith, of Mullard Space Science Laboratory, told BBC News the results had exceeded expectations.
He is a leading figure in the Moonlite mission, which hopes to fire instruments into the Moon in 2013.
A BBC team witnessed the final day of the tests at the Ministry of Defence test site at Pendine, near Tenby.
The site has been open since 1940 but is now operated by Qinetiq, the privatised MoD spin-off company which developed the penetrator technology. Three projectiles were tested on three consecutive days at the end of May.
They look like missiles but rather than exploding on impact, they are designed to stay intact to protect the scientific instruments inside.
The Moonlite mission plans to fire four penetrators into the lunar surface from an orbiting spacecraft. They will come to rest three metres (10ft) underground.
The onboard instruments will send back a mass of information, everything from seismic activity and mineral composition to the underground temperature.
Sand blasted
Security at Pendine was tight - we had to show passports to gain entry. The high-speed test track is set in a large area of sand dunes paradoxically full of birds and flowers. It’s a hard hat site; during the firing itself, all staff must take cover. We were actually confined to the control centre.
Earlier, we saw scientists loading instruments into the third and final penetrator to be tested.
The purpose of the test firings was to check how well the penetrators would withstand being slammed into several tonnes of sand at 1,100km/h (700mph) and whether the instruments inside would survive.
The difference between the penetrators that had already been fired and the one that had yet to be tested was striking.
The blue paint on the fired ones was scraped off and the steel nose cones were distorted.
But despite their battered appearance, Peter Truss of Qinetiq confirmed that they had done their job and protected the instruments inside: "our confidence is growing with every test".
Qinetiq not only contributed to the missile derived design of the penetrators themselves, but to the batteries and communication systems they will carry.
Ultimately, the plan will be to apply this technology to other rocky planets and moons in the solar system, particularly to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which may have oceans below its frozen surface.
Other candidates include Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus.
Deep space
Until now, previous missions have only been able to scrape the surface of other planets.
"We're developing the technologies now to enable a much more in depth analysis of these planetary bodies and with the increase in technology that we can apply to these problems, all sorts of possibilities open up," explained Peter Truss.

The other advantage of penetrators is that it’s easier to fire into a rocky planet than to land gently on the surface.
Loading and safety checks complete, the penetrator was driven out to the test track. This stretches 1,500m through the sand dunes but the penetrator and its rockets were strapped to a firing sled 300m from the target.
We retired to the control room and looked on as scientists waited anxiously for the final countdown. When it came, the firing shattered the quiet with a reverberating bang. There were cheers from the scientists at the completion of the last test.
Then it was time to break cover and head down to the sand bunker with a metal detector and some shovels to locate the penetrator and dig it out. Researchers measured how far it had pushed into the sand and collected samples.
In each test, the penetrators described a curved trajectory upwards through the sand, ending up only slightly below the surface.
Intruigingly, they also turned the sand they touched black, possibly as a result of its high coal content reacting to the heat.
Speaking later, back at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Professor Smith said Nasa and the European Space Agency were showing interest.
"The results have been spectacular and the space agencies are sitting up and taking notice," he said.
"Before now it had all been on paper. Now we have real hardware to show them."

US unemployment rate reaches 5.5%

The US unemployment rate rose at its fastest pace in more than two decades in May, stoking fears of recession in the world's biggest economy.
The surprise jump in May's jobless rate to 5.5% from 5% is the most recent signal yet that US growth is stalling.
It shows US companies are more reluctant to hire as profits are squeezed by a consumer slowdown and soaring oil and raw material costs.
The US Labor Department said the economy lost 49,000 non-farm jobs.

It follows a 28,000 decline in April, and will fuel fears the US economy is sliding towards recession, analysts said.
The worry is that a weak labour market will see consumers rein in their spending, hurting corporate profits.
The poor data rattled the stock market, with the blue-chip Dow Jones index sliding 1.79%, or 225.70 points, to 12378.75 in afternoon trade in New York.
Cost of living
In recent months, the US Federal Reserve has been slashing interest rates in an attempt to stoke growth.
But analysts believe the rising cost of living, rather than interest rates, should be the US central bank's chief concern now.
"If you want to avoid a protracted recession, you have to make sure inflation doesn't get out of control," said Gilles Moec, an analyst at Bank of America.
"Otherwise, you're going to have a loss of purchasing power meaning consumer spending is going to slow down even more."
Consumer spending is the engine of the US economy, and the latest jobless data is another set-back for Americans who are struggling with falling house prices, a credit squeeze and rising fuel bills.
Analysts said the figures came as a surprise:
"The unemployment rate is the shocker," said Bert Macintosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance Management.
"The unemployment rate gives you a much weaker economic outlook than the payrolls number," he added.
Analysts had expected between 30,000 and 58,000 jobs to go.
In April, 28,000 non-farm jobs were lost, fewer than than expected

Medvedev warns against Nato entry

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned Georgia and Ukraine of serious consequences if they press ahead with plans to join Nato.
Mr Medvedev and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Georgia's president that joining the alliance would lead to a "spiral of confrontation".
Mr Medvedev said Ukraine would be in breach of a friendship treaty if it joined Nato, Mr Lavrov said.
The leaders are at a summit of 12 ex-Soviet states in St Petersburg.
Conflicts
Georgia has been pushing for entry to Nato and the European Union, straining relations with Russia.
Tensions have also grown over Russia's support for separatists in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Both Russia and Georgia have accused each other of preparing for war in Abkhazia.
"We reiterated our strong interest in seeing those conflicts resolved," Mr Lavrov said, following the meeting with Mr Saakashvili at the Commonwealth of Independent States informal summit.
"We stated this could not be achieved by moving Georgia artificially into Nato because this would lead to another spiral of confrontation in the area."
The Georgian president played down talk of confrontation, saying the problem could be resolved with "goodwill".
'Security risks'
Analysts had been waiting to see if Mr Medvedev's relations with Ukraine and Georgia would be warmer than those under his predecessor, Vladimir Putin. But the new president stuck to the same line as Mr Putin when he met President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine on Friday.
He pointed to a 1997 friendship treaty between Russia and Ukraine.
"The treaty... contains the obligation on the two parties not to do anything which would create threats or risks for the security of the other party," Mr Lavrov told reporters.
"This was reiterated by President Medvedev, that we do not believe Nato membership for Ukraine would serve... the interests of the two countries."
Mr Medvedev also warned Mr Yushchenko not to expel the Russian navy from the base it leases at Sevastopol on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, as it has threatened to do.
And he said Russia would almost double the price it charges neighbouring Ukraine for gas from 1 January, 2009.
Mr Lavrov denied the move was political, saying it was forced by increasing costs in Central Asia. The two countries have had several recent disputes over gas, with Russia cutting supplies and Ukraine alleging Moscow uses gas as a political weapon.

Zimbabwe halts opposition rallies

Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning for the 27 June election.
The order banning "several future rallies" came after police briefly detained Mr Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second-largest city of Bulawayo.
The length or extent of the ban, which cites security fears, is not yet clear.
It comes soon after the government banned food aid distribution, saying agencies were helping the opposition.
Relief organisations reject the charges, warning that Zimbabwe's "desperate" situation could get even worse. They had been hoping to feed around 600,000 people this month, as the country has just had its harvest.
But when that food runs out early next year, they say between two and four million people - up to a third of the population - will need food aid.

See map of food shortages in Zimbabwe
The restrictions on aid agencies - making the government the sole provider of food aid - have drawn widespread condemnation.
The US ambassador to Zimbabwe said Mr Mugabe's government was using food as a weapon to get votes, distributing food only to its own supporters. Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning for the 27 June election.
The order banning "several future rallies" came after police briefly detained Mr Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second-largest city of Bulawayo.
The length or extent of the ban, which cites security fears, is not yet clear.
It comes soon after the government banned food aid distribution, saying agencies were helping the opposition.
Relief organisations reject the charges, warning that Zimbabwe's "desperate" situation could get even worse. They had been hoping to feed around 600,000 people this month, as the country has just had its harvest.
But when that food runs out early next year, they say between two and four million people - up to a third of the population - will need food aid.
The restrictions on aid agencies - making the government the sole provider of food aid - have drawn widespread condemnation.
The US ambassador to Zimbabwe said Mr Mugabe's government was using food as a weapon to get votes, distributing food only to its own supporters.

He said the government was also confiscating the identification cards of opposition supporters which means they cannot get government food aid and will not be able to vote in the presidential run-off.
"We are dealing with a desperate regime here which will do anything to stay in power," said Ambassador James McGee.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, said the decision to prevent the agencies carrying out their work was "a true perversion of democracy".
Zimbabwe's National Organisation of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango) said the ban on field operations was illegal and would have an "immediate, critical and negative impact especially on children, people living with HIV/Aids, the elderly, pregnant mothers and the disabled".
Safety fears
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says gatherings planned for Harare's high density townships of Glen Norah, Kambuzuma and Mufakose and the city of Chitungwiza were also banned by police.
The party says the ban is "rank madness" as the meetings are its only way to communicate with supporters because it is denied access to public media.
In a statement, the party quoted a letter from the police saying that "because the MDC had complained that its leaders were targets for assassination the authorities could not guarantee their safety and were therefore banning several future public rallies".
The government has previously dismissed MDC concerns of a possible assassination threat as fantasy.
The MDC accuses President Mugabe's supporters of leading a campaign of intimidation which has forced thousands from their homes and left at least 65 dead.
Mr Tsvangirai was detained by police for several hours on Friday - the second such incident in three days. On Wednesday, he was stopped and held for eight hours before being released without charge.
Zimbabwe's information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu declined to comment.

UK home prices 'fell 2.4% in May'

UK house prices dropped by 2.4% in May, according to a report by the Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender.

That pushed prices 3.8% lower than a year ago and means that the price of the average home fell to £184,111.
The Bank of England said on Thursday it was leaving interest rates unchanged at 5%, despite calls from estate agents and construction firms for a cut.
Many mortgages have been withdrawn and available rates have risen in spite of three rate cuts since December.

Spending squeeze
The Halifax said the annual fall in prices was the biggest it had seen since 1993.
If prices continue falling at the rate seen since the start of the year then they will fall by 16% over the course of 2008.
The Halifax's survey echoed the results of the latest study from the Nationwide building society, which reported a 2.5% fall in house prices during May.
And earlier this week, figures from the Bank of England showed the number of new mortgages being approved for house purchases in April hit the lowest level since the Bank began reporting the figures in 1993.
"The decline in prices is caused by the difficulties created for potential house purchasers by the rapid rise in house prices in the last few years, a squeeze on spending power and the reduction in credit availability," said Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis.
He pointed out that average earnings rose by 4% in the year to March, much less than fuel prices, which rose 9%, and food prices, which rose 7%.

Tougher times?
The Halifax has already predicted that house prices will probably fall next year as well as in 2008.
Over past weeks there has been increasing evidence that the UK economy is heading for a longer and sharper economic slowdown than many people first thought.
On Wednesday, the international think tank the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said the UK faced a significant downturn.
The OECD forecast that UK growth would slow to 1.8% this year, and to 1.4% in 2009.
It added that three factors were hurting the UK and global economy; weakening property markets, a global credit crisis and high commodity costs.
"The latest data on the housing market are undeniably alarming," said Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight."Clearly, the downward pressure on house prices coming from stretched buyer affordability and tight lending conditions is now biting hard."

Todays top world news3-june

Man held over schoolgirl stabbing

Police are continuing to question a man over the stabbing of a 15-year-old girl whose body was found in a lift at a block of flats in south-east London.

The girl is believed to have been returning home from school when she was attacked at Matheson Lang House, in Lambeth, at 1545 BST on Monday.
A mother and her eight-year-old daughter found the girl, who had suffered multiple stab wounds.
A man in his 30s was arrested nearby and is being questioned by detectives.
Paramedics arrived at the scene in Baylis Road within four minutes but were unable to revive the teenager, a London Ambulance Service spokesman said.
The girl, who died at the scene, is the 16th teenager to have died violently in London since January.
Police are keeping an open mind about the motive for the killing, but they do not believe it to be gang-related.
A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out.

'I'm scared'
Sharon Moore, who lives in the block of flats, said residents had been given security fobs on Friday as part of measures to tighten security.
"I feel very insecure and afraid for my children and for the other children in the block," she said.
Hermance Deh, who lives opposite the block of flats, said she refused to let her children out after school because of fears over their safety.
"I'm scared for my children," she said. "I'm shocked because it's a young girl.
"My children don't go out after school, they don't hang around here."

Gujjar women block rail routes -

Protesting Gujjar women have blocked the Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Agra rail routes, leaving almost 40,000 passengers stranded.

More than 20 trains on that route have been cancelled and this stand-off could continue for the next 24 hours.

The Rajasthan government is refraining from taking any action against the protesters, as there are signs of the stand-off with Gujjars winding down.

Railway tracks at Bandikuian near Dausa are occupied and all trains from Ahmedabad to Delhi been cancelled. This rail route via Jaipur is the main link between North India, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

''We have a huge force squatting on the tracks and they have put their women in front, nobody wants to use force against them as this may complicate and aggravate the situation. Twenty trains are not running, even major trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi and losses of Rs 1 crore in Jaipur itself,'' said Jayant Singh, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Jaipur. more...

6 Asian workers feared killed in UAE mishap

Six Asian construction workers are feared killed in an accident at a hotel building site in the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) early Monday.

It has not been officially confirmed whether any of the workers was Indian.
According to local reports, an excess amount of concrete was poured on the ground floor of the under-construction Laguna Beach Hotel around 3 a.m. Monday, resulting in the collapse of the floor on to the basement.

All six workers got trapped in the rubble.
The reports said rescue personnel from Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman Civil Defence were continuing their efforts to extricate the bodies even as the spilled concrete was rapidly hardening.
The Khaleej Times reported that all officials of Sidco Construction Company, which employed the workers, have been detained for interrogation.
Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, member of the UAE Supreme Council and ruler of Ajman, expressed his grief over the incident.
He gave instructions to officials to speed up the rescue operation, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) said.
A large number of the 1.5 million Indians in the UAE work as contract labour in the booming construction industry.

Summit targets global food crisis

A key UN-sponsored summit is set to open in Rome aimed at addressing the problem of soaring global food prices.

Food costs are the highest in 30 years, causing riots in dozens of countries.

UN officials said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would call for the immediate suspension or elimination of price controls or other trade restrictions.

But many observers have so far focused on Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, whose presence at the summit has been called "obscene" by the UK and Australia.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the Zimbabwean president was "the person who has presided over the starvation of his people". more...