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Top Asian News at 1:30 a.m. GMT(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Pakistan extends crackdown on Mumbai suspectsISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) _ Under pressure to clamp down on extremists, Pakistan has shut down extremist Web sites and suspected militant training camps and detained 71 people in a deepening probe into the Mumbai attacks. Still, a top Pakistani official said authorities needed to further investigate information about the attacks provided by archrival India before it could be used to prosecute suspects in court. Filipino troops hunt for abducted ICRC workersMANILA, Philippines (AP) _ An army general said he hopes to rescue three kidnapped Red Cross workers in the southern Philippines before they are handed over to militants notorious for demanding ransoms. The gunmen on motorcycles intercepted a vehicle carrying the three representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross on their way to Jolo airport on the southern island where al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants are known to hide. The workers are from Italy, Switzerland and the Philippines. Former leader urges Obama to make NKorea prioritySEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ South Korea's former President Kim Dae-jung urged President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to make North Korea and the resolution of the nuclear impasse with Pyongyang a priority when he takes office. Kim, who won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize as architect of a "Sunshine Policy" that promoted reconciliation with the communist North, has been a vocal critic of Seoul and Washington's current hard-line North Korea policies. Miliband condemns war on terror as 'mistaken'MUMBAI, India (AP) _ Britain's foreign secretary suggested the U.S.-led war on terror may have "done more harm than good" as he issued a sharp rebuke Thursday to the outgoing Bush administration and it's approach to fighting extremism. David Miliband's speech at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai was among the first public remarks from a senior British official criticizing how the battle against terrorism has been conducted since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Taj was one of several sites in India's financial hub that was attacked by militants in a November siege that left 164 dead. Top Afghan army general killed in chopper crashKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ A top Afghan army general was killed Thursday in a helicopter crash in western Afghanistan, and two British troops died in a blast in the country's south, officials said. Gen. Fazaludin Sayar was one of the Afghan army's four regional commanders, in charge of the entire west of the country. Report: NKorea's Kim taps 3rd son as successorSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has named his youngest son to succeed him as head of the Stalinist nation, a South Korean news agency report said Thursday. But another report said his eldest son was poised to step in as a figurehead, reflecting uncertainty over who will succeed Kim, who turns 67 next month. Large quake hits South Pacific off New CaledoniaNOUMEA, New Caledonia (AP) _ A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Thursday in waters of the South Pacific off the French territory of New Caledonia, geological monitoring services said. No injuries or damage were immediately reported. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat of a widespread tsunami based on historical earthquake and tsunami data. Japan parties ready for annual conventionsTOKYO (AP) _ It's rally time in Tokyo. Japan's two biggest political parties hold their annual conventions this weekend and here's what's on the plate: The world's second-largest economy is tanking, the ruling bloc is struggling to avert a meltdown and Prime Minister Taro Aso is so unpopular that voters increasingly want his main rival to take over. The conventions of the opposition Democrats and the ruling Liberal Democrats, to be held on Sunday, are mainly for show. There will be lots of speeches, but no new leaders will be chosen and neither party plans to announce major policy changes. Sri Lanka says it captures rebel runwayCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lankan forces captured a fifth runway used by the Tamil Tigers' small air wing Thursday as troops pushed deeper into their shrinking enclave in the northeast, the military said. In recent weeks, government troops have forced the rebels to withdraw from wide swaths of their de-facto state in the north and boxed them into a corner of jungle along the coast. A glance at Philippine kidnappingsA look at major kidnappings in the southern Philippines attributed to the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and other armed groups. Three international Red Cross workers _ a Swiss, an Italian and a Filipino _ were abducted on Jolo island on Thursday. _ March 2000: More than 50 school children, teachers and a Roman Catholic priest are kidnapped on southern Basilan island. The priest is tortured and killed while two male teachers are beheaded. The others escaped or are rescued by troops. NZ police use Facebook images to solve burglaryWELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) _ Police in New Zealand nabbed a man who was trying to crack a bar's safe after posting security camera footage of the act on the Internet networking site Facebook. Police said it was New Zealand's first such arrest and said they would use the site again, part of a growing trend among law enforcement officials and lawyers who are turning to online networks to fight crime. Applications pour in for 'Best Job in the World'SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ One Greek woman promised to do all of Australia's laundry and pick up after the kangaroos. An Australian apparently had a tattoo advertising her love of the Great Barrier Reef etched onto her arm. And a few people just took off their clothes. Desperate to snag what's being billed as the "Best Job in the World," thousands of people from across the globe have submitted video applications to the tourism department of Australia's Queensland state for its latest advertised vacancy _ a 150,000 Australian dollar ($100,000) contract to relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef for six months while writing a blog to promote the island. More than 600 elephants found in Malaysian parkBANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Researchers said Thursday they have found a surprisingly large elephant population in Malaysia's biggest national park after new survey techniques revealed a community of more than 600 animals. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and Malaysia Department of Wildlife and National Parks estimated that there are 631 Asian elephants living in Taman Negara National Park in the center of peninsular Malaysia. US seeks Turkmen help to stabilize regionASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) _ The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan has arrived in Turkmenistan to discuss cooperation on increasing security across Central Asia. Gen. David Petraeus is on a tour of countries in the region to seek assistance in Afghanistan as the U.S. looks to secure supply lines for allied military forces fighting there. Worsening security on the Afghan border with Pakistan has forced NATO allies to seek safer transit routes. Kazakh lawmakers approve election law changeALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) _ Kazakh lawmakers approved legislation Thursday to guarantee at least two political parties are represented in parliament, a move designed to improve the Central Asian nation's tarnished democratic credentials. Oil-rich Kazakhstan has come under pressure to step up efforts to improve political freedoms in advance of its chairmanship of a trans-Atlantic rights organization next year. Copyright ? 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |