KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Saturday he was convinced that civilians, in addition to militants, were among those killed in a NATO airstrike that killed at least 90 people in northern Afghanistan.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal toured the site of the massive explosion that occurred early Friday as Afghans tried to siphon fuel from two tankers that were hijacked late Thursday by the Taliban in Kunduz province.

The fuel was earmarked for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, known as ISAF.

ISAF Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said Friday the military believed there were no civilians near the trucks at the time of the attack. NATO learned afterward that this was not the case. Video Watch more about the airstrikes »

McChrystal visited the hospital Saturday where the injured were being treated.

"It's important to me that we be as honest with the Afghan people and with people around the world as possible," he said.


"Of course, you don't know all the facts until an investigation's complete. And I clearly don't know all the facts now, and would not want to affect a potential investigation by making some conclusion that might be inappropriate.

"But from what I have seen today in going to the hospital, it's clear to me that there were some civilians that were harmed at that site."

The total death toll has varied depending on the source, but local Afghan officials have said at least half of those killed were civilians. Photo See images of the strike aftermath »

NATO and Afghan authorities were investigating.

The Taliban gave villagers the go-ahead to drain the tankers after they became stuck in the mud when the militants tried to drive them through the Kunduz River.

With the trucks stuck on the riverbank, the German commander of the NATO forces in the area called in the airstrike, the German military said. No German soldiers or planes were involved in the attack.
fghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths and reiterated that no civilians should be killed or injured in anti-terrorist military operations.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay released a statement saying, "ISAF will do whatever is necessary to help the community, including medical assistance and evacuation as requested. ISAF regrets any unnecessary loss of human life

U.S. general sure Afghan civilians killed in airstrike

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Saturday he was convinced that civilians, in addition to militants, were among those killed in a NATO airstrike that killed at least 90 people in northern Afghanistan.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal toured the site of the massive explosion that occurred early Friday as Afghans tried to siphon fuel from two tankers that were hijacked late Thursday by the Taliban in Kunduz province.

The fuel was earmarked for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, known as ISAF.

ISAF Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said Friday the military believed there were no civilians near the trucks at the time of the attack. NATO learned afterward that this was not the case. Video Watch more about the airstrikes »

McChrystal visited the hospital Saturday where the injured were being treated.

"It's important to me that we be as honest with the Afghan people and with people around the world as possible," he said.

"Of course, you don't know all the facts until an investigation's complete. And I clearly don't know all the facts now, and would not want to affect a potential investigation by making some conclusion that might be inappropriate.

"But from what I have seen today in going to the hospital, it's clear to me that there were some civilians that were harmed at that site."

The total death toll has varied depending on the source, but local Afghan officials have said at least half of those killed were civilians. Photo See images of the strike aftermath »

NATO and Afghan authorities were investigating.

The Taliban gave villagers the go-ahead to drain the tankers after they became stuck in the mud when the militants tried to drive them through the Kunduz River.

With the trucks stuck on the riverbank, the German commander of the NATO forces in the area called in the airstrike, the German military said. No German soldiers or planes were involved in the attack.
fghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths and reiterated that no civilians should be killed or injured in anti-terrorist military operations.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay released a statement saying, "ISAF will do whatever is necessary to help the community, including medical assistance and evacuation as requested. ISAF regrets any unnecessary loss of human life

Turkish PM told to take back Xinjiang genocide remark

Straits Times

BEIJING (Reuters) - An official Chinese newspaper urged Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to take back remarks that genocide was being committed in China's Muslim region of Xinjiang, where rioting left at least 184 dead.

In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighurs attacked Han Chinese, the country's predominant ethnic group, in regional capital Urumqi on July 5 after police tried to break up a protest against fatal attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China.

Han Chinese launched revenge attacks two days later.

In an editorial headlined "Don't twist facts," the English-language China Daily said the fact that 137 of the 184 victims were Han Chinese "speaks volumes for the nature of the event."

The death toll included 46 Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia.

The newspaper urged Erdogan to "take back his remarks ... which constitute interference in China's internal affairs."

More than 1,600 people were wounded and more than 1,000 detained in an ensuing crackdown.

In comments broadcast live on NTV television last Friday, Erdogan told reporters: "The incidents in China are, simply put, a genocide. There's no point in interpreting this otherwise."

He called Chinese authorities to intervene to prevent more deaths.

Turkish nationalists see Xinjiang as the easternmost frontier of Turkic ethnicity. Thousands of Uighurs live in Turkey.

Turkey has sought to boost ties with China, the world's third-biggest economy. President Abdullah Gul last month became the first Turkish president to visit China in 15 years, signing $1.5 billion worth of trade deals, according to Turkish media.

Gul also visited Xinjiang during his trip.

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Xinjiang has long been a tightly controlled hotbed of ethnic tensions, fostered by an economic gap between Uighurs and Han, government controls on religion and culture and an influx of Han migrants. Uighurs make up almost half of Xinjiang's 20 million people, but are a minority in regional capital Urumqi.

Beijing does not want to lose its grip on Xinjiang, a vast desert territory that borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.

On Thursday, Erdogan said Turkey would grant a visa to exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who is based in the United States. Kadeer told Turkish television that Turkish authorities had twice denied her visa application to visit the country.

In India's Financial Hub, Mumbai, 'Sea Bridge' Aims to Ease Congestion

umbai "Sea Bridge" is inaugurated with fireworks

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi

In India's financial hub Mumbai, a bridge has been built over the sea to ease chronic traffic congestion in one of the worlds' most crowded cities. Updating inadequate infrastructure in Indian cities has become critical as its economy expands.

After a brief inauguration ceremony, ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi drove on the eight-lane bridge that extends over the Arabian Sea across Mahim Bay.

The 5.6-kilometer bridge is the first to be built over the sea in India, and links the western suburb of Bandra with Worli in south Mumbai. It will cut travel time along this route from nearly 45 minutes to about eight minutes. A one-way trip in a car will cost about $1.



The bridge is expected to ease Mumbai's unending traffic snarls. But it will only make a partial difference in a city where an overburdened transport network makes commuting a nightmare.

Bidisha Ganguly at the Confederation of Indian Industry calls Mumbai's sea bridge a "landmark project" where infrastructure is concerned. "A great beginning has been made with this sea link, and there are opportunities for many more of such projects. Public transport is a major concern, and now with the congestion on the roads, its time to look for alternatives," Ganguly said.

The government says new flyovers, an underground railway, and an expansion of the sea bridge have been planned to cater to the city of 18 million people, and 1.5 million vehicles.

But experts are calling for faster implementation of these projects. In the past, many infrastructure projects have been delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles, lack of funding or litigation over land. For example, the construction of the sea bridge took nearly a decade as protests and litigation from the fishing community held up work until 2004.

The protests were triggered by concerns over the bridge's impact on the sea bed and its implication for the livelihood of fishermen.

It is not just in Mumbai where the transport infrastructure needs to be overhauled. In nearly all Indian cities, roads and mass transit systems have become inadequate as an expanding economy attracts millions of people from rural areas to cities, and the middle class snaps up more cars.

The government acknowledges that infrastructure needs investment of billions of dollars, and has commissioned several projects to build new highways, airports and rail networks. Experts say infrastructure is a key factor in holding back the economy from its full potential.

North Korean Freighter Said to Be Returning to Port

MSN Philippines News

By CHOE SANG-HUN

EOUL, South Korea — South Korea said Monday that a North Korean freighter suspected of carrying banned cargo was expected to return to home port, as U.S. officials claimed that international sanctions had forced the ship to turn back.

The 2,000-ton Kang Nam 1 left North Korea in mid-June, and was believed to be heading for Myanmar only days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution that banned the North from nuclear and ballistic missile tests and called for a global embargo on its trade in weapons.


The American Navy tracked the ship amid suspicions that the North was using the voyage to test Washington’s will to enforce the sanctions. Late last month, the ship turned around and began sailing homeward. On Sunday, Vice President Joseph Biden said the ship turned back because the U.N. sanctions prevented it from entering any port.

The ship was sailing in international waters between China and the Korean Peninsula on Monday and was likely to enter North Korean waters within the day, Won Tae-jae, a spokesman of the South Korean Defense Ministry, said Monday.

North Korea has not explained why the ship appeared to have canceled its voyage.

American authorities monitored the ship on the high seas but did not stop and search it — _ a move the North said it would interpret as an act of war _ while working with regional governments to inspect the ship under the U.N. mandate if it entered their ports.

The South Korean authorities suspect the Kang Nam 1 was carrying a cargo of rifles and rocket launchers for Myanmar, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, quoting an unnamed government source. If the ship indeed was carrying weapons, aborting its voyage would be seen as a victory for the sanctions regime.

The Security Council imposed the sanctions after the North tested a nuclear weapon on May 25.

In a gesture of defiance, meanwhile, North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles Saturday during the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the United States.

South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Monday that the missiles fired on Saturday included three Scud-ER missiles, which have a range of up to 620 miles and can hit Japan.

The Defense Ministry here said it could not confirm the report. But South Korean officials have told reporters that the North appeared to have fired five Scuds and two Rodong missiles.

Five of them plunged into the same zone in the sea between the North and Japan, indicating that the North was improving its firing accuracy, they said.

“Some of it seems like almost attention-seeking behavior,” Mr. Biden told the American television network ABC on Sunday, referring to the North’s latest missile tests. “ I don’t want to give the attention.”

The North Korean cargo ship turned around because the United States has “succeeded in uniting the most important and critical countries to North Korea on a common path of further isolating North Korea,” Mr. Biden said. “There was no place they could go with certitude that they would not be, in fact, at that point boarded and searched.”

Philip S. Goldberg, the American diplomat coordinating enforcement of the U.N. sanctions, visited Malaysia on Monday for talks with officials there. Unconfirmed press reports in South Korean said that Washington has found bank accounts in Malaysia used by North Korea for its illicit trading and sought to shut them down. Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman could not confirm the reports but pledged that his government will work with the United States.

“If they have evidence, we’ll be most willing to work together to solve this problem,” he said, according to The Associated Press.

Mr. Goldberg was in Beijing last week to discuss sanctions enforcement with officials in China, the North’s largest trade partner and aid provider.

UN Chief Arrives in Burma

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (file)

By VOA News
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Burma to press the ruling military government to release its political prisoners.
Mr. Ban arrived in the main city of Rangoon Friday, and was scheduled to fly to the remote administrative capital of Naypyitaw. His arrival occurred on the same day the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was set to resume. But the court hearing the case issued another postponement, this time until July 10.


Her lawyer, Nyan Win, says the judge postponed Friday's hearing because the Supreme Court did not send the case files to the lower court.

Aung San Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest and is facing a five-year prison term.

The international community has condemned the trial as a sham intended to keep her in prison through next year's election.

Ban Ki-moon is expected to meet with the country's top military leaders, including Senior General Than Shwe, during his mission. It is not clear if he will meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.

The U.N. chief said he would push for the release of all political prisoners in Burma, an estimated 2,000, and urge the country's leaders to include all parties in the political process ahead of the 2010 elections.

Amnesty International's representative in Bangkok Benjamin Zawacki says opposition members are sentenced to extraordinarily long prison terms and sent to the furthest borders of the country to be silenced.

Human Rights Watch has said that U.N. envoys have had very little influence over Burmese leaders so far. The New York-based group warned Thursday that Burma's military leaders could use the U.N. chief's visit to legitimize next year's elections.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters

North Korea Fires Short Range Missiles as Talks With South Sputter

S. Korean chief delegate Kim Young-tak, before leaving Kaesong at transit office in Paju, near border village of the Panmunjom, 02 Jul 2009

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
A third round of talks over an embattled joint industrial zone between North and South Korea has produced no progress. The North apparently launched several short range missiles into the ocean even as South Korean delegates were making their journey back from the North's territory.


Reports of the latest North Korean missile launches came Thursday via South Korea's Yonhap news agency. The report said North Korea fired two short range missiles off its east coast between 5:20 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time.

That is about when North and South Korean delegates were wrapping up another round of unsuccessful talks about the Kaesong Industrial complex, located near the North Korean border city of the same name.

Military analysts say such short-range launches pose no serious regional threat, and are fairly routine for North Korea. However, Pyongyang's long-range missile test in April, nuclear weapons test in May, and almost daily stream of hostile rhetoric have raised tension in the northeast Asia.

North and South Korean delegates met in Kaesong to discuss the five-year-old joint industrial complex, where South Korean enterprises employ about 40,000 North Korean factory workers.

Kim Yong-tak, head of the South Korean delegation, says he revisited the issue of a detained South Korean executive known by his surname, Yu.

He says the South called on North Korea to provide information about Yu's health and his location. The North, he says, did not provide any response.
Yu, a manager in the Kaesong zone, has been detained for three months, isolated from other South Koreans. He is accused of making inflammatory comments about the North's political leaders, and possibly encouraging a female North Korean worker to defect.

Kim says the North Korean side simply repeated demands it made after canceling contracts for the zone in May.

Pyongyang is demanding the South more than triple workers' pay, and raise rental payments by a factor of 30. South Korean business operators say those kinds costs would make Kaesong a bad investment, compared with setting up factories in Vietnam or China.

Indian Court Decriminalizes Gay Sex in New Delhi

Gay rights activists cheer and celebrate after court passed ruling decriminalizing homosexuality in New Delhi, 02

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
An Indian court has ruled that gay sex is not a crime, overriding a 19th century law dating back to the days when the British ruled India. Gay activists have welcomed the ruling, but several religious leaders have opposed it, saying homosexual relationships violate Indian culture.
Gay activists in the Indian capital erupted in joy when the Delhi High Court ruled sex among consenting adults of the same gender is not a crime in India's capital city.


The ruling came after a nine-year legal battle waged by gay advocacy groups, who had challenged an 1861 law that called homosexual sex "against the order of nature", and made it punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Homosexuals have long complained the colonial-era law exposes them to harassment from the police.

The High Court ruling says the existing law is discriminatory and a violation of fundamental rights under the constitution. It emphasized the need for equality, dignity and inclusiveness of all individuals.

Anjali Goplan is executive director of the Naz Foundation, a sexual health organization, which filed the petition. She says they could not have asked for more.

"I think it is historic," she said. "I think we have finally taken baby steps into the 21st century."

While the ruling is a gigantic step forward for the gay community, the battle may be far from over.

The ruling is only applies to the Indian capital, although gay activists hope it will set a precedent for the rest of the country.

Activists are also bracing for a possible appeal to the Supreme Court either by the government or religious groups.

Several leaders of the Muslim and Christian communities have staunchly opposed any changes to the old law, saying homosexual relationships violate Indian culture.

The government says it needs to study the ruling. It has firmly rejected petitions to change the law, but in recent weeks some officials have indicated the government may be prepared to discuss the subject.

A lawyer for the Naz Foundation, Tripti Tandon, says gay activists are prepared to fight on for their rights.

"We hope that they will not go in appeal, but if they do, then it means another long drawn legal battle which we certainly do not want, but we will be up for if the need arises," said Tandon.

Gay sex has long been a taboo subject in a country where even kissing and hugging between men and women in public is frowned upon. But in recent years, hundreds of activists have come out in the open to lead the battle for the rights of the gay community, and homosexuality has slowly gained acceptance in big cities.

Thailand Takes Tougher Line on Copyright Piracy

Thailand's Commerce Ministry launches public awareness program

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
Thailand's Commerce Ministry launches public awareness program
The Thai government is cracking down on sales of illegally copied goods, such as movies and clothes, but its campaign has met resistance. Piracy across the Asia-Pacific region is a multi-billion-dollar business fueled by demand for the latest and cheapest entertainment and software.


Deep in Bangkok's high-profile Patpong night club district, a thriving night market draws in tourists and residents alike.

A staple of Thailand's markets has long been cheap copies of everything from popular music to designer clothes.

But the government has come under increasing pressure, in particular from the United States, to curb copyright violations.

Among worst offenders: China, Russia

United States Trade Representative's office says that in the Asia-Pacific region, China, Russia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan are the worst offenders for intellectual copyright piracy.

But this year, the USTR put Thailand on its special watch list of countries failing to curb violations. Countries that do not address the problem could face U.S. trade sanctions.

The Intellectual Property Alliance says its members lost more than $400 million in Thailand in 2007, because of sales of illegally copied business software, video games, music and movies.

In May, the Thai government began cracking down.

One of the first targets was Patpong. When officials seized suspected goods, a riot erupted as vendors fought back with sticks, bottles and stones. Several people were injured. Some vendors say soldiers were involved in the raid.

One vendor, who asked not to be named, says most goods seized in the raid did not violate copyright laws.

"Police come, he take everything," he said. "You saw, you saw in the market we have a problem [of counterfeit goods] about 10 to 20 percent - 80 percent no problem. But he's not police, he is soldier. He takes everything you know, everything from my shop."

Piracy causes billions in losses

Sales of illegally copied software, movies and music across the Asia-Pacific region continue to rise. The Business Software Alliance, an international group, estimates software piracy alone caused losses of over $15 billion last year in the region.

Many governments, however, are taking a harder line on the trade.

Jeffery J. Hardee is the BSA's Asia-Pacific regional director. He says there are good economic reasons for doing so.

"In a place like Thailand, a 10 point drop in the piracy level could have an additional $1 billion to the gross domestic product of the country," said Hardee. "About half of that would remain in the country and it could create several thousand new jobs and add $55 million of additional tax revenues."

Government vows to continue crackdown

The government vows to continue the crackdown. Raids through June targeted other well known venues selling pirated software and entertainment.

Deputy Commerce Ministry Alongkorn Ponlaboot leads the effort. He dismisses vendors' complaints that authorities have been heavy handed, but says his agency will try to avoid problems such as the riot in Patpong, as it builds community support the crackdown. And he says the government hopes to show the USTR that it is serious about curtailing piracy.

"Hopefully, because of the Patpong crackdown, will be the reason for us to improve our program to promote what is intellectual property, that the public should know," said Alongkorn. "I think we get more understanding at least - the Commerce Ministry and USTR can say that they support our policy and our seriousness of our policy implementation."

New legislation envisioned

The government is drafting new legislation on intellectual property, which, among other things, would impose tough penalties on landlords if their tenants sell illegally copied goods.

But vendors are fighting back. They lodged a complaint against the government with the Thai Law Society. The president of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, Dej-Udom Krairit, says the government acted improperly in Patpong.

He says that affected companies must begin legal action against vendors for violating trade marks, not the government.

"You must have the complainer to lodge the complaint - you need to bring along those who are representatives of the interested parties - i.e. the owner of the copyright to identify which part of the good is pirated. Not send the troops to take charge, grab all those vendors or property without identifying the pirated one. You can't do that," said Dej-Udom.

The Thai government says its tactics are proper, and are important not only to meet international law, but also to protect Thailand's entertainment industry, which also loses money to pirates at home and abroad.

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Spokeswoman says military is withholding information on soldier's identity circumstances of capture, for his protection

By VOA News
U.S. military officials in Afghanistan say a soldier who has been missing since Tuesday is now believed to have been captured by insurgents.

Military spokeswoman Captain Elizabeth Mathias declined to provide details on the soldier's identity or the circumstances of his apparent capture. She said the military is withholding information for his protection.



U.S. officials later said the soldier had left his base camp with three Afghans when he was captured. Locals in eastern Paktika province reported that a U.S. soldier went missing in the area on Tuesday.

The Taliban-allied Haqqani network, considered to be one of the deadliest militant factions in Afghanistan, operates in the region.

The U.S. military says it is using all of its resources to find the soldier and provide for his safe return.

The news came as 4,000 U.S. Marines began a major anti-Taliban offensive early Thursday in southern Afghanistan. Officials said the missing soldier was not part of that operation.