More violence grips Kyrgyzstan

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123851§ionid=351020406


Five people have been reported killed and 13 injured as hundreds of angry protesters clash with landowners just outside Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.

Amid mystery over the whereabouts of the country's ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, more violence gripped Kyrgyzstan on Monday.

Ethnic Kyrgyz rioters seized plots of land from Russians and Turks in Mayevka, a village outside Bishkek, prompting the country's interim government to send in hundreds of police to quell the unrest.

"The police and internal forces have established order in the village. Forty instigators of the riots have been arrested," the head of the interim government, Roza Otunbayeva, told reporters.

The violence was the latest challenge to the interim government which seized power in Kyrgyzstan this month in the wake of a popular uprising that ousted the president.

So far, the interim government has failed to establish full control over the country, a mountainous former Soviet republic which is home to a US air base used to supply operations in nearby Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, officials in neighboring Kazakhstan say the deposed Kyrgyz president has left for an unknown destination. Bakiyev had sought refuge in Kazakhstan in the aftermath of a bloody uprising in his country last month.

He is wanted by the interim Kyrgyz government in connection with the deaths in the revolt that unseated him on April 7. More than 80 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in the unrest.

New seismic trend to generate more quakes: Report

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120638§ionid=3510208


Earth has entered a 'long' period of increased seismic activities that will likely trigger more violent quakes in the coming years, a report says.

The report, published by Russian news agency RIA Novosti, has identified regions around the Pacific Ocean as hotspots that might experience earthquakes and tsunamis in the years ahead.

According to the March 12 report, the Pacific seismic zone, including Russia's Far Eastern territories of Kamchatka and Chukotka, the US state of Alaska and coastal regions along South American countries are going through rising seismic activities as the globe enters another period of tectonic activity.

"Seismic activity in the Pacific belt has increased in the recent years... which means that the Earth entered another period of tectonic activity. It is a long process, which is likely to take years," said Vladimir Bormotov, a scientist at the Far Eastern Institute of Tectonics Geophysics in southeastern Russian city of Khabarovsk, quoted by RIA Novosti.

To support his claim, the scientist has pointed to the recent violent earthquakes around the world.

The report comes as another 7.2-magnitude aftershock tremor hit Chile on Thursday.

UK joins Taliban peace plan strategy

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117055§ionid=351020403


Britain is pushing for peace talks with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan while attempting to map out an exit strategy, as its ally, the US, prepares to deploy more troops to the country.

The British army chief, General David Richards, said on Monday that negotiations with the Taliban could be considered but must be done from a position of strength. "So it's a matter of timing, not the principle," he noted.

He added that a deal should be reached with the Taliban on condition that the group cuts its ties with Al-Qaeda.

The remarks come ahead of this week's international conference on Afghanistan in London, which is set to debate the implementation of more effective strategies in the Central Asian country.

Ways to increase pressure on the Afghan government to give firm commitments on the training of security forces will also be discussed.

General Richards' comments echo the remarks made earlier by General David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, and General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, who held out the possibility of striking a peace deal with Taliban leaders.

Earlier, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates also recognized the Taliban as part of the political fabric of Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has offered money and jobs to Taliban members in order to persuade them to lay down their arms.

However, US President Barack Obama's new war strategy envisages deploying 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan.