Iraq to buy 18 U.S. F-16 fighters

WASHINGTON: Iraq has quietly started negotiations to buy U.S. fighter jets and air-defense systems worth billions of dollars, a purchase Washington hopes will help counter Iranian influences and cement long-term ties with Baghdad after American troops pull out.

Baghdad had frozen plans to buy 18 advanced U.S. F-16 fighters earlier this year after the Arab Spring protests in the region turned its attention to internal stability. Now, senior U.S. and Iraqi officials said Iraq is considering raising its purchase to as many as 36 of the jets.

The decision by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to renew the F-16 talks follows an unexpected surge in government oil revenue, and comes as a Dec. 31 deadline approaches for the departure of the 46,000 remaining U.S. troops from Iraq.

The complex intersection of U.S., Iraqi and Iranian interests has led the U.S. to bet that a strong Iraq will serve regional stability and keep Tehran's ambitions at bay. Mr. al-Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government have cordial relations with the theocratic Shiite regime in Tehran, even though the two nations fought bitterly during the 1980s.

U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about Tehran's growing influence in Iraqi politics, and any sale would require Baghdad to maintain tight security over any F-16s to prevent the transfer of sensitive U.S. technology.

Oman has likewise re-engaged with Washington in recent weeks about buying F-16s, which are manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Younger brother of Afghan president killed: officials

KANDAHAR: Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger brother of the Afghan president and a powerful figure in the deeply troubled southern province of Kandahar, was assassinated on Tuesday, officials said.

Initial details were sketchy, but a family friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, told that Wali Karzai had been killed by a bodyguard while entertaining guests at home.

"We can confirm he has been martyred," Kandahar provincial government spokesman Zalmay Ayubi told providing no further details.

A health official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said Wali Karzai had been shot dead.

The assassination came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai was to hold talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a surprise visit to Afghanistan where he announced that Paris would recall 1,000 soldiers by the end of next year.

Wali Karzai, head of Kandahar's provincial council, was long a deeply controversial figure in Afghanistan, dogged by allegations of unsavoury links to Afghanistan's lucrative opium trade and private security firms.

American documents leaked by Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks late last year also painted him as a corrupt drugs baron, but Western officials always kept quiet in public on the president's younger half brother's tainted record. (AFP)

South Sudan independence officially recognized

KHARTOUM, Sudan - The Sudanese government on Friday officially announced its recognition of South Sudan as an independent state with sovereignty as of Saturday based on the borders of January 1, 1956.

"The Republic of Sudan announces its recognition of the establishment of the Republic of South Sudan as an independent state with sovereignty, as of July 9, 2011, according to the borders of January 1, 1956 and according to the two sides' borders which were standing when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was inked on January 9, 2005," said a statement by the Sudanese Presidency, read by Sudanese Minister of the Presidency Affairs Bakri Hassan Salih here Friday.

South Sudan is expected to be officially declared independent on Saturday according to the results of a referendum on self-determination for southern Sudan. more

Murdoch to close tabloid 'News of the World' after hacking scandal

LONDON: The mass-circulation tabloid at the centre of the British phone hacking scandal is to be closed after a final, ad-free Sunday edition this weekend, according a statement by a top official at News Corp.

The move underscored the damage to News Corp, Rubert Murdoch's vast and powerful media company, from allegations that one of its papers, News of the World, was involved in hacking cellphones belonging to not only a 13-year-old murder victim but also relatives of fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Wednesday, a member of Parliament also raised allegations that nine years ago, News of the World had participated in efforts to disrupt a murder investigation. The announcement that News of the World would close was so sudden that it was still advertising a subscription deal on its Web site.

The new reports of stunning intrusions came a day after Britain's Parliament collectively turned on Rupert Murdoch, the head of the News Corporation, which owns The News of the World, and the tabloid culture he represents, using a debate about the widening phone hacking scandal to denounce reporting tactics by newspapers once seen as too politically influential to challenge.more

35 killed in Bolivia cold snap

LA PAZ: Freezing temperatures in Bolivia killed at least 35 people, and forecasts expect conditions to worsen in the coming days.

Fog and snow has descended on the Bolivian capital in a cold snap that has killed at least 35 people.

The poor area of El Alto, which sits at much higher elevation than the rest of La Paz at 4,000 metres above sea level (13,100 feet), has been the worst hit.

Authorities at the Fight Against Crime Special Forces said at least 33 people have died in El Alto's impoverished suburbs alone.

Residents in El Alto blame climate change for the harsh conditions, which buildings and heating systems in the area are not prepared for.

Homeless people who can't bundle up against the cold and have only blankets to protect themselves from the freezing temperatures are those most at risk from hypothermia.

The health ministry also reported 40,000 new cases of respiratory illnesses per week since the cold snap started.

Temperatures have dived to minus five degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) in La Paz and the local weather services says the mercury will continue to drop in the coming days.