theSun | FRIDAY JANUARY 30 2009  11

news without borders

Violence threatens Gaza

truce as US envoy visits
GAZA: Palestinian rocket attacks planned to meet Palestinian and consolidated”. Two Hamas
and Israeli air strikes threatened President Mahmoud Abbas in But with election approach- security men
yesterday to undermine efforts the occupied West Bank follow- ing on Feb 10, Israeli leaders stand guard
by US President Barack Obama’s ing talks on Wednesday in Egypt, have been talking tough on next to the
Middle East envoy to reinforce a which has been trying to broker security, a main voter concern. destroyed
fragile Gaza ceasefire. a long-term truce, and Israel. They have pledged a forceful bulding
Militants in the Hamas-ruled Mitchell, repeating Obama’s response to an explosion that of the
Gaza Strip launched one rocket call for a return to peace talks, killed a soldier on the Gaza Palestinian
into Israel late on Wednesday said it was “of critical impor- border on Tuesday. – Reuters parliament
– the first since the Jan 18 tance that the Gaza ceasefire which was
ceasefire – and another yester- be extended hit by Israeli
day. No one was hurt. missiles
Israeli aircraft then during Israeli
struck in the southern operation in
Gaza Strip, attacking a Gaza City on
metal workshop that the Wednesday.
military called a weapons
factory, causing no casu-
alties, and a motorcycle,
wounding two militants
and 10 youths passing by,
medical workers said.
The surge of violence
over the past two days
threatened to reignite a war
that Israel launched on Dec
27 with the declared aim of
ending cross-border rocket
fire.
Former US senator George
Mitchell, Obama’s envoy,
EPAPIX

Parents to get advice on

children drinking at home
LONDON: Parents are
to be given advice on
how much their children
should drink at home in a
government consultation
launched yesterday.
The Chief Medical Of-
ficer Liam Donaldson will
set out his guidance as part
of government efforts to
reduce the levels of youth
drinking.
The government is
concerned at an increase
in binge drinking among
teenagers and its detri-
mental effect on health,
anti-social behaviour and
crime. Media reports have
said Donaldson will rec-
ommend that parents not
allow children under 15 to
consume alcohol.
The law leaves control
of drinking at home to a
parent’s discretion and
only bars the consump-
tion of alcohol by children
under five.
Young people cannot
legally buy alcohol in a
bar or shop till they are 18
but many parents allow
teenagers a glass of wine
or beer with a meal as a
way of introducing them
to drinking. Last year
Children’s Secretary Ed
Balls and Health Secretary
Alan Johnson published a
Youth Alcohol Action Plan
which promised to provide
parents with guidance on
their children’s drinking.
They said the advice
would cover:
» the age at which children
and young people could
start to drink alcohol;
» how much it is sensible
for them to drink; and
» how far parents or carers
should supervise youth
drinking.
Government research
has found a decline in the
number of young drinkers
over recent years. But it
showed that those who do
drink are consuming more
alcohol and more often.
Britain has one of the
highest rates in the Euro-
pean Union of hospital ad-
mission due to alcohol use
by 15-16 year olds. Official
figures released this week
showed there had been
an increase in the number
of alcohol-related deaths
among people aged 15-34
since 2005. – Reuters

Advisers. The three-member council Somali pirates seize

briefs
Senate confirms retired
admiral as spy chief
WASHINGTON: The US Senate con-
firmed retired Admiral Dennis Blair
to be the country’s top intelligence
official on Wednesday.
As director of national intelligence,
Blair will oversee all 16 US spy agen-
cies, including the CIA. He will also be
responsible for delivering the presi-
dent’s daily intelligence briefing.
During his confirmation hear-
ing last week, Blair, declined to call
waterboarding torture. His cautious
response reflected a public debate
over whether to prosecute CIA
employees who used the simulated
drowning technique.
The Senate also confirmed Chris-
tina Romer, a professor at the Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley, to head
the White House Council of Economic
makes recommendations to the presi-
dent on policy options. – Reuters
Australian girl, four,
thrown from bridge
MELBOURNE: A four-year-old Aus-
tralian girl died yesterday after
she was thrown off a bridge in
Melbourne and landed in the Yarra
River, 58m below, police said.
A man stopped his 4WD car on
the West Gate Bridge during peak
hour, stepped out of the car carry-
ing the girl and dropped her over
the edge, a police spokesman told
local media.
“The child suffered fairly exten-
sive injuries and the paramedics
spent some time trying to resus-
citate the child,” said ambulance
spokesman Paul Bentley.
The girl’s 35-year-old father was
arrested just an hour later outside
Melbourne’s Federal Court, which
hears family case matters, with
two other children in his car, po-
lice said. The father was charged
with murder. – Reuters
German gas tanker
NAIROBI: Somali pirates yesterday
hijacked a German gas tanker with
13 Filipino and Indonesian crew in
the Gulf of Aden, a Kenyan maritime
official said.
“There was a heavy exchange of
gunfire (but) the crew is believed to
be safe,” said Andrew Mwangura who
runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafar-
ers Assistance Programme.
He added that it was still unclear
whether the exchange was between
different groups of hijackers or with
foreign navies patrolling the pirate-
infested waters.
The MV Longchamp, with a crew
of 12 Filipinos and one Indonesian,
was transporting liquefied petroleum
gas “from Europe to the Far East”,
Mwangura said, without giving exact
locations.
The pirates took control of the
Bahamas-flagged vessel and headed
for the Somali coast, he said.
The seizure brings to 16 the number
of ships currently in the hands of pi-
rates. – AFP