Mexican military finds drugs on commercial plane

AP, MEXICO CITY: Mexican soldiers seized nearly 200 pounds (90
kilograms) of drugs from the cargo area of an Aeromexico commercial
plane scheduled to fly to the northern border city of Tijuana, the
military said Saturday.

Agents discovered the shipment Friday at the airport in Guadalajara,
Mexico's second-largest city, the Defense Department said in a
statement.

They confiscated about 100 pounds (50 kilograms) of crystal
methamphetamine, 60 pounds (30 kilograms) of heroin and 20 pounds (10
kilograms) of methylphenidate, which is often used to cut heroin,
according to the statement. There were no arrests.

The Defense Department did not say how the drugs were discovered or
give further details on the shipment.

Phone calls to Aeromexico representatives rang unanswered Saturday.

Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, is a major staging point
for funneling drugs into the United States.

Jordanians rally against corruption and poverty

Reuters, AMMAN: Jordanian activists rallied outside government offices
Saturday as they tried to step up their campaign to force Prime
Minister Samir Rifai to step down.

Inspired by unrest in Tunisia and elsewhere in the region, about 200
Jordanians gathered outside the prime minister's office shouting "Our
government is a bunch of thieves" and holding banners reading "No to
poverty or hunger."

"We've come from distant, rural areas to Amman to ask Rifai to leave,"
said Mohammed Sunaid, a prominent labor activist.

"We call for the overthrow of this government that has destroyed the
poor. This government should be for all Jordanians not just the rich."

Jordan is struggling with its worst economic downturn in decades. The
government has announced measures to cut prices of essentials, create
jobs and raise salaries of civil servants.

Protesters say the moves do not go far enough and have staged rallies
calling for the reversal of free-market reforms which many blame for a
widening gap between rich and poor.

Protesters say the sale of state assets to foreign investors over the
past decade has enriched the country's business and political elite
but has done little to help the poor.

"We want a special court that will put on trial all those who sold the
property of the Jordanian people ...," Sunaid said.

Others have called for constitutional reforms to curb the extensive
power of the king who appoints cabinets, approves legislation and can
dissolve parliament.

"We hope that citizens will be able to chose the government that
represents them ...," said Ali Dalain, an activist and former deputy
from the southern city of Karak.

Unlike Tunis or Egypt, the Jordanian state has long focused its
economic drive and budget money on developing rural areas.

But discontent has grown nonetheless as the economic downturn weakened
the state's ability to create jobs in the public sector which has
traditionally absorbed poor tribesmen in rural areas.

Suicide bomber kills Kandahar deputy governor

Reuters, KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: A motorcycle suicide bomber killed the
deputy governor of Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Saturday, a blow
to U.S.-led forces trying to bolster governance and fight a robust
insurgency in the Taliban's heartland.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since U.S.-backed Afghan
forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001 with casualties on all sides
at record levels and militant attacks increasing in number and
spreading to almost every part of the country.

Deputy Governor Abdul Latif Ashna was killed as he left his home to
travel to work in Kandahar city, capital of Kandahar province, the
governor's spokesman Zalmay Ayoubi said.

At least five other civilians who were wounded in the blast had been
taken to hospital. No further details were immediately available about
the attack or about the condition of the wounded.

U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry who was visiting Kandahar on Saturday
condemned the attack but said it would not sap efforts to increase
security in the southern province.

"The loss of a great deputy governor like this is a setback. What
we've seen is consistently Afghan government leaders emerge and the
people continue to rally in an effort to establish security in this
province," he told journalists.

ASSASSINATION CAMPAIGN

Kandahar is the spiritual homeland of the Taliban and has been the
main focus of U.S. efforts over the past year to turn the tide of a
war now in its tenth year.

Tens of thousands of foreign and Afghan troops have run "clearing"
operations in some of the country's most volatile districts around
Kandahar city, while Afghan police, mentored by foreign trainers,
formed security perimeters inside the city.

But while the city has seen a drop in large-scale attacks over the
past year, militants have managed to step up a campaign of targeted
killings, particularly against government figures, which makes it hard
to recruit officials.

Between mid-June and mid-September, 21 people were reported to have
been assassinated each week across Afghanistan, up from seven a week
for the previous three months, the United Nations said. Most killings
took place in the south and east.

Alongside the military campaign, the United States has also ramped up
its civilian presence in Kandahar to try and strengthen local
governance and improve public services to encourage residents to
support their government and reject the insurgency.

But in May, Frank Ruggiero, then the U.S. State Department's top
official in southern Afghanistan and now acting top envoy to
Afghanistan and Pakistan, said it was increasingly hard for civilians
to work in Kandahar because of the assassinations.

Last year was the bloodiest for foreign troops in Afghanistan with 711
killed. But civilians bear the brunt of the war with 2,400 killed in
the first ten months of 2010, U.N. figures show.

A war review by U.S. President Barack Obama last month said "notable
operational gains" had been made and the Taliban's momentum arrested
in much of the country.

But many critics dispute those assessments, pointing out that
statistics show insurgent attacks are at their highest since the war
started and some say optimistic messages about security are simply
aimed at preparing for an eventual withdrawal.

Afghans are to begin taking over security in some provinces of the
country in March, ahead of a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops -- now
numbering around 100,000 -- beginning in July.

This is part of a larger plan to have Afghan forces take the lead in
securing the entire country by the end of 2014.

Looters smash treasures and mummies in Egyptian Museum

Reuters, CAIRO: Looters broke into the Cairo museum housing the
world's greatest collection of Pharaonic treasures, smashing several
statues and damaging two mummies, while police battled anti-government
protesters on the streets.

Arabiya television showed soldiers, armed and in battle fatigues,
patrolling the museum that houses tens of thousands of objects in its
galleries and storerooms, including most of the King Tutankhamen
collection. Display cases were shattered and several broken statues
and porcelain figures lay on the floor.

A number of display cases appeared to have been emptied of some of
their contents during Friday night's break-in.

Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, told state television
Egyptians on the street had tried to protect the building, but that
the looters had entered from above. Two mummies on display had been
damaged.

"I felt deeply sorry...when I came this morning to the Egyptian Museum
and found that some had tried to raid the museum by force last night,"
Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said.

The museum is adjacent to the headquarters of the ruling National
Democratic Party that protesters torched ad earlier set ablaze in
protests demanding the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Some
was still rising from the building on Saturday morning.

Source: Sheen 911 caller said actor 'intoxicated'

AP, LOS ANGELES: The production of Charlie Sheen's hit TV show is on
hold because of his return to rehab, which came after a 911 caller
said the actor was intoxicated and in pain.

One of Sheen's neighbors told an emergency operator Thursday that the
actor was "intoxicated" and complaining of abdominal and chest pains,
according to a person familiar with the call. The person was not
authorized to publicly discuss details and spoke Friday on condition
of anonymity.

Copies of the call probably won't be ready for release by the Los
Angeles Fire Department until Monday, a department spokesman said.

Sheen, 45, was taken to a Los Angeles area hospital and was there
until around midnight Thursday, said his publicist, Stan Rosenfield,
who cited the actor's history of hernia problems.

Rosenfield said Friday that Sheen was in rehab, but he did not say why.

"Charlie Sheen has voluntarily entered an undisclosed rehabilitation
center today," the spokesman said. "He is most grateful to all who
have expressed their concern."

The terse statement noted that no additional information will be
provided and asked that Sheen's privacy be respected.

CBS, production company Warner Bros. Television and executive producer
Chuck Lorre said in a joint statement that Sheen's rehab has prompted
a halt on production of "Two and a Half Men."

"We are profoundly concerned for his health and well-being, and
support his decision," the companies and Lorre said.

Sixteen of the show's 24-episode order have been taped, with 14 aired so far.

The latest fallout from Sheen's chaotic life came two weeks after CBS'
top entertainment executive said the actor's off-camera actions
haven't affected his work as the star of TV's most popular comedy, the
centerpiece of CBS' Monday comedy lineup.

Sheen's program has increased its audience by 2 percent over last
season, the Nielsen Co. said. He signed a new two-year contract at the
end of last season that makes him one of the highest-paid actors on
prime-time television.

Sheen's headline-making behavior has included a wild night that left a
New York hotel room in shambles and sent him to a hospital, and a
guilty plea last summer to assaulting his wife in Aspen, Colo. Sheen
filled gossip pages again this month by spending a weekend partying in
Las Vegas.

His latest hospitalization was his third in as many months. It came
after a 911 call made on Sheen's behalf by neighbor Dr. Paul Nassif.
The plastic and reconstructive surgeon, along with his wife, Adrienne
Maloof-Nassif, are in the reality show "The Real Housewives of Beverly
Hills."

"We are so glad that Charlie made the decision to seek the assistance
of a rehabilitation center today," Nassif and his wife said in a
statement. "This is something that his friends and family have pushed
for, and we wish him all the love and support he will need in the
coming days."

Last February, Sheen entered rehab for an unspecified problem, forcing
his sitcom to temporarily suspend production.

Earlier this month, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler was asked
about Sheen at a news conference with TV reporters.

"We have a high level of concern. How can we not?" she said, adding
the situation can't be viewed simplistically. The actor does his job
on "Two and a Half Men" reliably well, she said.

Palmyra trees may shelter our coastal people

IN AN article titled 'Lifebuoy for each home in coastal areas' that I wrote in December 2007 after cyclone Sidr had hit the coastal areas of Barisal and Khulna, I gave an idea about how Palmyra trees could work miracles in sheltering our coastal people. Amazingly, I received dozens of messages from the readers from various corners of the world appreciating my inventive idea, though I myself was not a disaster management expert in any way. But the idea perhaps fell on the deaf ears of our policy makers.

Read the full story on the daily New Age

Bourses keep regaining ground

Dhaka and Chittagong bourses continued with the rebound for the second day on Wednesday as share prices of most of the issues soared further following a two-week nosedive in share prices.

The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 458.93 points, or 6.72 per cent, to close the day at 7,280.01 points preceded by a 7.82 per cent rise on Tuesday as investors' confidence continued to consolidate, market operators said.

With this the DSE general index has gained 494.73 points since trading resumed on Tuesday after the government-imposed suspension of share trading on Sunday and Monday.

Read the full story on the daily New Age

Wildcat strike at DMCH burn unit hampers treatment

A wildcat strike by undocumented employees demanding their job regularisation disrupted treatment at the burn and plastic surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for three hours on Wednesday.

The sudden work stoppage during peak hours by 47 temporary employees caused imminence sufferings for some 300 patients admitted at the ward and more than 150 outdoor patients who failed to get treatment, the hospital sources said.

Al Amin, a burn injured patient, who came to the hospital at 11:00am, said he had to wait until 2:30pm to receive treatment as hospital staff said there was a shortage of manpower on the day.

Read the full story on the daily New Age

Indian govt working on river-linking project: CSE director general

The Indian government is working to 'transfer water from rivers by digging canals', Sunita Narain, director general of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said on January 20.

'The reasons behind the (Indian) government's initial move for river interlinking were to transfer a large amount of water from northern India to southern India. But the government has realised that it is a Herculean task, which were always done,' she said when talking to New Age at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

Read the full story on the daily New Age

30 hurt as locals, JL men, police lock in Munshiganj clash

Around 30 people, including at least five police, were injured on Wednesday in a clash between residents of the Arial Beel area, Jubo League activists, and the police on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway at Shologhar under Srinagar upazila of Munshiganj district.

Locals alleged a group of Jubo League activists attacked a procession of them heading for Muktangan in the capital city to attend a public meeting called by the Arial Beel Raksha Committee to protest against the government's move to build an airport in the Arial Beel area.

Read the full story on the daily New Age