Obama to unveil Afghan troop cut plan tomorrow

President Barack Obama is finalising his decision on how many US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan starting next month and will announce his plan tomorrow, a US official said yesterday.

Obama (picture) will lay out a blueprint for bringing home thousands of troops in the initial phase of a military drawdown and also unveil a broader withdrawal strategy for the remainder of the 30,000 extra “surge” troops he ordered deployed in late 2009, the official said.

US, Japan drop 2014 Okinawa base-transfer deadline

A US Air Force F-22 fighter jet (front) taxis past a C17 aircraft after landing at Kadena US Air Force Base on Japan’s island of Okinawa in this file photo of May 30, 2009. The US and Japan say they will drop the 2014 Okinawa base-transfer deadline


The United States and Japan today agreed to drop a 2014 deadline for building a new airstrip on Okinawa and transferring US Marines from that Japanese island to Guam, top officials said in a statement.

“Completion of the FRF (Futenma Replacement Facility) and the Marine relocation will not meet the previously targeted date of 2014,” the two allies said in a statement following Cabinet-level talks in Washington.

They vowed to complete the projects “at the earliest possible date after 2014.”

UK teenager arrested in global hacking probe

British police arrested a 19-year-old man in England on suspicions that he was linked to cyber attacks on the CIA, Britain’s anti-organised crime agency and Sony Corp.

As part of international efforts to catch the culprits behind a string of high-profile hacks, London’s Metropolitan Police, working with the US FBI, said they arrested the teenager in the town of Wickford, close to London.

The raid was linked to recent attacks on the websites of the US Central Intelligence Agency and the British police Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which targets organised crime in Britain and overseas, police said.

The suspect’s computer was being examined for data linked to Sony, whose websites have also been attacked.

US Senate confirms Panetta as Pentagon chief

CIA Director Leon Panetta testifies at his Senate confirmation hearings to become US Secretary of Defence on Capitol Hill Washington in this June 9, 2011 file photograph. The US Senate voted unanimously on June 21, 2011 to confirm Panetta as the new secretary of defence.


The US Senate voted unanimously yesterday to confirm outgoing Central Intelligence Agency chief Leon Panetta as the new secretary of defence, replacing the retiring Robert Gates.

Panetta, 72, who has held a variety of senior posts in Washington dating back decades, was nominated by President Barack Obama to head the Pentagon. Panetta is expected to start his new job on July 1.

The rare 100-0 vote followed a debate that saw praise for Panetta and anxiety about the challenges he will face to push defence budgets lower and oversee the start of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

The troop pullout is due to begin next month and Obama is expected to present a blueprint for it in a prime-time speech to Americans today.

“The next secretary of defence will have to struggle with the competing demands on our forces while Washington struggles with an extremely challenging fiscal environment,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said.

Death row inmate eats two burgers with bacon, fried pork chops, fried chicken, fried fish, chili cheese fries, regular fries... and a glass of fruit punch

Milton Mathis had IQ of just 62 and has problems dressing himself

A mentally handicapped murderer who fatally shot two people and paralysed a third in a Houston crack house in 1998, was executed last night by lethal injection - after eating a mammoth final meal.

Milton Mathis, 32, scoffed two burgers with bacon, fried pork chops, fried chicken, fried fish, chili cheese fries, regular fries, and fruit punch, officials said.

Lawyers for Mathis, who was the 23rd person put to death in the U.S. this year and the sixth executed in Texas, had spent yesterday morning pleading his case before the Supreme Court. He previously lobbied unsuccessfully to state and federal courts.

Meaty: Mathis requested two burgers with bacon, fried pork chops, fried chicken, fried fish, chili cheese fries, regular fries and fruit punch (file photo).Sad ending: Milton Mathis, 32, was executed in Texas on Tuesday, despite being mentally disabled

La Familia leader captured without a shot fired - Mexican claims major drug 'hit'

La Familia leader, Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, has been arrested and Mexican authorities contend that the group's reign in the state of Michoacán has come to an end. Federal police escort one of nearly 50 suspects of two major drug cartels to a news

UN assembly approves second term for UN chief Ban

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon smiles during a news conference after a meeting with Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica (not pictured) in Montevideo on June 14, 2011.

The 192-nation UN General Assembly yesterday unanimously approved a second five-year term for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who analysts and diplomats see as a solid ally of Washington.

The former South Korean foreign minister, who took over from his predecessor Kofi Annan in 2007, was re-elected to the world body’s top job by acclamation starting January 1, 2012.

Ban, 67, was unopposed, making his re-election a virtual certainty after the Security Council last week recommended he continue at the helm of the United Nations. He thanked the UN member states for the “great honor” they bestowed on him.

“I am humbled by your trust and enlarged by our sense of common purpose,” he said.

Jumbo jet forced to make screeching halt at JFK to avoid Egypt Air plane which had taken wrong turn on runway

Controllers screamed: 'Cancel take-off, cancel take-off plan' as 747 accelerated down runway

A Jumbo jet, with 286 passengers on board, had a terrifying near miss when it was forced to screech to a halt to avoid colliding with another plane that had turned into its path.

The Lufthansa Boeing 747 was accelerating along a runway as it prepared to take off at Kennedy Airport, New York, when it narrowly avoided slamming into an EgyptAir Boeing 777.

An air traffic controller screamed: 'Cancel take-off, Cancel take off plans' when he noticed the Munich-bound Jumbo on a collision course.

Close call: The Jumbo jet was racing down the runway when it had to brake to avoid hitting an EgyptAir Boeing 777.A Lufthansa Boeing 747 screeched to a halt to avoid slamming into an EgyptAir plane which had turned into its path.Panic: Controllers at New York's JFK airport screamed into their radios when they saw the two planes about to collide

44 killed in Russian highway plane crash - Russian plane crash blamed on "pilot error"

A 9-year-old boy died of his injuries Wednesday, bringing the death toll in the crash of a Russian passenger plane that slammed into a highway in heavy fog to 45, officials said. The RusAir Tu-134 on a flight from Moscow crashed just ...

Ash cloud clears, Australia flights resume

A Virgin plane takes off at Sydney’s domestic airport June 22, 2011. Tens of thousands of air passengers faced more flight chaos in Australia on Wednesday caused by an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano, although grounded flights were starting to resume from some cities as the ash moved offshore


Australian airlines struggled to move a backlog of tens of thousands of passengers today after an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano, which had grounded flights across the country’s eastern and southern states, cleared .

The ash cloud has circled the earth twice to disrupt Australian airlines for a second time, costing Qantas an estimated A$20 million (RM64.20 million) before the latest disruptions and the tourism industry more than A$15 million in two weeks.

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology’s Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre said long-term modelling suggested the ash cloud would not pass over Australia for a third time and disrupt airlines.

Volcanic ash can be extremely dangerous to aircraft and cause engine failure or engine damage.

Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defence drill

Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker today as part of annual nationwide manoeuvres to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.

Officials said it was the first time that the security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had tested the bunker, dug deep in the western Jerusalem foothills over the past decade and dubbed the “Nation’s Tunnel” by local media.

Israel has held increasingly sweeping civil defence drills since the 2006 Lebanon war, during which Hezbollah guerrillas fired thousands of short-range rockets at its northern towns. There have been similar salvoes from Hamas and other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to the south, and Israeli officials say a future war could also involve non-conventional missile strikes by Syria and Iran.

US Navy intercepted North Korean ship sending missile material to Myanmar

The guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell transits the western Pacific Ocean during combat system ship qualification trials in this US Navy handout photo dated May 26, 2010.

The US Navy intercepted a North Korean ship suspected of carrying missile parts to Myanmar two weeks ago, media reports and a US official said yesterday.

The New York Times reported late on Sunday, citing senior American officials, that a North Korean cargo ship was forced to return home after a standoff at sea and several days of diplomatic pressure from Washington and Asian nations.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the interception, but declined to comment on the cargo or destination of the North Korean vessel.

“We talked directly with the North Koreans to stress the importance of not engaging in proliferation-related transfers,” he said.

“We learned that the ship, the vessel, changed course at sea, and we believe it returned to North Korea,” said Toner.

UN sanctions imposed on North Korea after it conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 include a ban on trade in nuclear and missile technology with North Korea. A UN resolution adopted last year authorised UN member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo.

According to the Times, the destroyer USS McCampbell caught up with the cargo ship M/V Light south of Shanghai on May 26 after American officials began tracking the vessel, which was believed to have been involved in previous illegal shipments.

The destroyer asked to board the vessel under authority given by Belize, but the North Koreans refused, Toner said.

“The ship’s master refusing us permission to board it, as well as the fact that it turned around and headed back to North Korea, speaks to ... some of our concerns about its cargo,” he said.

'Sex gang groomed girls of 13': Asian men accused of luring teens and turning them into prostitutes

A gang of Asian men went on trial yesterday accused of a sickening catalogue of child prostitution offences against vulnerable teenage girls as young as 13.

The nine – six are married and one is a grandfather – face 55 charges, including inciting child prostitution, grooming and rape between 2007 and 2009.

The girls – who cannot be named for legal reasons – were said to have received cash, alcohol, drugs, meals and mobile phone credit in exchange for sex with some of the defendants.

Three of the men – Ahdel Ali, 23, his brother Mubarek Ali, 28, and Tanveer Ahmed, 39 – allegedly acted as ‘pimps’, passing two of the young girls among their friends and using them as sexual commodities.

Mubarek Ali is also accused of trafficking one of the girls, while Abdul Rouf, 34, and Mohammed Younis, 59, are accused of using their homes as brothels for child prostitution.

Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said: ‘The Crown say that the men in the dock variously trafficked, raped or sexually abused girls both over and under the age of 16 years over a considerable period of time.

‘These men ensnared these girls. They had cars, jobs and money which gave them both freedom and power. They enticed the girls, groomed the girls and then exploited them either for their own sexual gratification or for money.’

 Accused: Mohammed Islam Choudhrey (L) and Noshad Hussain are among the defendants facing trial at Stafford Crown Court

 Also accused: Mohammed Ali Sultan, left, and Marhoof Khan are on trial for sex offences

 Brothels: Defendants Mohammed Yunis, left, and Abdul Rouf are accused of using their homes for child prostitution

'Pimp': Tanveer Ahmed Tanveer Ahmed, 39, allegedly passed two of the young girls among his friends

Clinton urges Africa to drop Gaddafi, embrace rebels

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today urged African leaders to abandon Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, saying it was time to live up to their pledges to promote democracy across the continent.

Clinton, the first US secretary of state ever to address the 53-member African Union, said unreformed African leaders were themselves at risk from the same tide of democracy sweeping the Middle East, proclaiming “the status quo is broken and the old ways of governing are no longer acceptable.”

“It is true that Gaddafi has played a major role in providing financial support for many African nations and institutions, including the AU,” Clinton said in her speech at the AU’s headquarters in Addis Ababa.

“But it has become clear that we are long past the time when he can remain in power.”

Tokyo launches large-scale radiation monitoring after Fukushima

A radiation monitor indicates 0.82 microsieverts per hour at a checkpoint to the restricted zone of a 20km radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, in Kawauchi village, about 20 km (12 miles) from the plant in Fukushima ...
China's nuclear regulators have given the country's reactors a clean bill of health following inspections ordered after the disaster at Japan's tsunami-struck Fukushima Dai-ichi facility. Inspections have been completed on all 13 of ...

Long Libya mission to stretch UK force, says navy chief

An extended military campaign in Libya will be challenging for British naval resources and the government may need to prioritise where its assets are focused, the UK’s navy chief said today.

British aircraft and navy ships are playing a leading role in striking at Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. Britain also has about 10,000 troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, the second most after the United States.

Admiral Mark Stanhope said he was “comfortable” within Nato’s new 90-day Libya mission mandate, which runs out at the end of September.

“Beyond that ... we might have to request the government to make some challenging decisions about what priorities they want,” he told reporters at a joint briefing with the head of the US navy in London.

“We have a small scale commitment in Libya ... if we do it for longer than 6 months then we have to reprioritise our forces across the piece — that does not mean we won’t be doing it.”

UK defence chiefs said in May extending the Libya campaign beyond six months would be a challenge for its armed forces.

Hackers break into US Senate computers

The US Sergeant at Arms Office confirmed yesterday that the Senate’s website had been hacked this past weekend and that it had ordered a review of all Senate computer sites.

“Although this intrusion is inconvenient, it does not compromise the security of the Senate’s network, its members or staff,” a Sergeant at Arms Office official said. “Specifically, there is no individual user account information on the server supporting senate.gov that could have been compromised.”

US House leader Boehner says Weiner should resign

A man holds a sign out of their car calling for representative Anthony Weiner to resign, outside Weiner's residency at the Queens borough of New York on June 12, 2011.


US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said today he thought Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner, who has been snared in an Internet sex scandal, should resign.

Boehner, a Republican, simply said “yes” when asked by reporters if he thought Weiner should step down.

The House granted Weiner, who has admitted to sending lewd photos and messages to half a dozen women, a two week leave of absence for treatment. The lawmaker has refused calls by Democrats and Republicans to resign but instead said he wanted to get medical treatment to get back on track.

China warns outside nations to stay out of sea dispute-paper

A militant group warned Wednesday that the Philippine government's proposed oil and gas exploration activities off Palawan, particularly in areas near the Spratlys, may trigger a shooting war between the Philippines ...China vehemently opposes external powers meddling in territorial disputes over the South China Sea, the main military newspaper said on Tuesday, after Vietnam asked for international help to defuse tensions ...

Libyan rebels face setback after refinery hit

Workers inspect a damaged power generator of the oil refinery which was hit by a grad rocket of the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi at western Libyan city of Misrata on June 13, 2011.


Libyan rebels faced new obstacles in their campaign to march on Tripoli after shelling from Muammar Gaddafi’s forces damaged an oil refinery in the insurgent stronghold of Misrata, disrupting fuel supply lines.

A Reuters photographer in Misrata joined rebel units as they pushed their front several kilometres west yesterday to the outskirts of Zlitan, a town controlled by Gaddafi’s forces.

Any fighting over Zlitan would bring the rebellion closer to the capital Tripoli, the Libyan leader’s stronghold which lies 200km west of Misrata.

A doctor in a field hospital to the west of Libya’s third largest city said two rebels had been killed and a dozen wounded after the two sides traded heavy artillery fire.

Rebels from Misrata say tribal sensitivities prevent them from attacking Zlitan, and they are instead waiting for local inhabitants to rise up.

Late yesterday, six rockets hit generators at the refinery near Misrata port leaving them heavily damaged. An engineer on site said it was unclear how long it would take to repair.

Nato said it struck an armoured vehicle armed with anti-aircraft guns east of Tripoli today as well as a multiple rocket launcher and another anti-aircraft system.

Tanks deploy in east, Syrians flee assault on north

People dig out bodies of 10 security men killed and buried by armed groups in Jisr al-Shughour, according to the Syrian news agency, in this still image taken from video June 12, 2011


Thousands of Syrians fled the historic town of Maarat al-Numaan to escape tank forces thrusting into the country’s north in a widening military campaign to crush protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

In the tribal east, where all of Syria’s 380,000 barrels per day of oil is produced, tanks and armoured vehicles deployed in the city of Deir al-Zor and around Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, a week after tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding an end to Assad’s autocratic rule.

“The army is coming, find safety for yourselves and your families!” residents said mosque loudspeakers announced on Tuesday in Maarat al-Numaan, a town of 100,000 that straddles the main north-south highway linking Damascus with Syria’s second largest city, the merchant hub of Aleppo.

Syrian forces pushed toward Maarat al-Numaan after arresting hundreds of people in nearby villages close to Jisr al-Shughour, residents said.

HMS Invincible, pride of the Falklands, is broken up in knacker's yard

As senior Naval officers back First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope's criticisms of the ability of the Navy to fight in Libya, Commander John Muxworthy, who sailed to the Falklands with the Royal Navy Task Force, looks at the ignominious end of a symbol of the once-mighty British fleet.

The image is a poignant symbol of Britain’s rapid decline as a maritime power. With her metallic carcass exposed, the once mighty aircraft carrier HMS Invincible languishes in a Turkish port, being broken up for scrap.

The ship was once the pride of the Royal Navy, a hero of the Falklands War and a veteran of other conflicts from Iraq to Yugoslavia.

But now, as Britain’s naval heritage is obliterated by an irresponsible Coalition Government, she faces an utterly degrading end.

HMS Invincible sits in the Port of Aliaga, Turkey, earlier this year, waiting to be scrapped and recycled

Unseemly death of a courageous veteran: Like a tired but noble beast brought down by jackals, HMS Invincible's carcass is picked clean in a Turkish scrapyard

Chilean ash cloud problems continue - Ash from Chilean volcano continues to disrupt flights

Peru's president-elect, Ollanta Humala, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are among those forced to take other modes of transport to reach Argentina. The ash cloud has also led Argentina to declare a state of emergency for farmers. ...

Obama 2012 — it’s all about jobs

President Barack Obama walks out to speak about jobs to employees after touring a North Carolina energy efficient LED lights manufacturing facility, Cree Inc., in Raleigh-Durham, June 13, 2011.


If President Barack Obama wants to convince Americans he can right the struggling US economy and deserves four more years in office, he needs to come up — quickly — with a convincing plan to generate jobs.

Recent disappointing economic data has raised fears of a double-dip recession, particularly a weaker-than-expected unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent in May. And with polls showing voters are deeply concerned, Republicans vying for their party’s nomination to oppose Obama in 2012 have been hammering the incumbent on the issue.

“The pressure to come up with something is getting stronger all the time, because the numbers in the last two months have not been good,” said Jeremy Mayer, an associate professor at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University.

Pakistan arrests CIA’s bin Laden informants

Members of the anti-terrorism squad are seen surrounding the compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad May 4, 2011.


Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested five CIA informants who fed information to the US spy agency before the raid last month which killed Osama bin Laden, The New York Times reported today.

One of the detainees was reported to be a Pakistani Army major whom officials said copied license plates of cars visiting the al Qaeda leader’s compound 30 miles northwest of Islamabad.

The fate of the CIA informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the newspaper reported, citing American officials.

Outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta raised the issue of the informants’ detention during a trip to Islamabad last week where he met with Pakistani military and intelligence officers, the newspaper said.

Some in Washington see the arrest as another sign of the deep disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the Times reported.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the May 2 raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan’s armed forces and putting US military and intelligence ties under serious strain.

the brave pilot who saved three passengers before perishing in a ball of flames

* Passengers jumped to safety but sudden change of weight sent blimp soaring skywards
* Investigators piecing together last moments of doomed flight
* Wife of Australian pilot pays tribute to 'hero' who stayed at controls

Investigators were today piecing together the last moments before a a Goodyear blimp burst into flames and plunged to earth in a weekend crash in Germany.

The pilot, Michael Nerandzic, 53, was killed but three passengers managed to jump to safety when the airship caught fire as it was coming in to land at the Reichelsheim aerodrome near Friedberg.

When the airship was just two metres from the floor, Mr Nerandzic told his passengers, all journalists, to jump to the ground while he tried to land safely.

But once the three had leapt clear, the sudden loss of weight caused the blimp to soar skywards and burst into flames before crashing to the earth in a chilling echo of the Hindenburg disaster.

 

A coffin is carried away from the accident site late on Sunday evening

The pilot managed to get near enough the ground for passengers to escape before climbing back up.The burning wreckage of the airship. The pilot was killed in the accident, but he managed to save his passengers.Pilot Mike Nerandzic, pictured in Goodyear Blimp 'Spirit of Safety I', died in the crash.Plunge: The Goodyear blimp falls to the ground after the incident in Friedberg, Germany on Sunday night

Libyan rebels make fresh gains, Nato drops leaflets

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A Libyan rebel fighter distributes pizzas to his comrades inside a mosque taken from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, after rebels pushed several kilometres in the direction of Zlitan, west of the rebel-held port city of Misrata, June 13, 2011.

fresh gains on the western front yesterday, pushing back forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi in a string of clashes that brought them closer to the capital Tripoli.

Late yesterday, Nato resumed bombing the Libyan capital with strikes hitting the east of the city.

A Reuters correspondent in the capital heard at least three loud explosions and saw smoke in the sky and a fire. He could hear planes flying above.

Nursery worker, 20, admits horrifying rape of toddler in his care and 45 other sex charges

A paedophile nursery worker pleaded guilty today to raping a toddler in his care and a string of offences linked to the online grooming of more than 20 other girls.

Paul Wilson admitted two counts of oral rape of a girl aged two or three years old.

He also pleaded guilty to a further 45 charges of making and distributing indecent images and inciting youngsters to engage in sexual activity on the internet.

The 20-year-old, of Newbold Croft, Nechells, Birmingham, was charged with rape in January after his arrest on suspicion of child abuse prompted an investigation into his employment at the nearby Little Stars Nursery.

During an earlier hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on April 7, a district judge was told the grooming charges related to a total of 22 girls aged between 12 and 15.

Marni Chimba, prosecuting, told the lower court Wilson used multiple identities to befriend the girls on chatlogs and social networking sites, even pretending sometimes to be a previous victim.

The prosecutor said: 'Some of the aliases were female names and he also pretended to be the complainants, encouraging others to send their movies to him.'

Miss Chimba said some of the victims were directed to expose themselves using webcams. Others were filmed and recorded performing and taking part in sexual acts.

Wilson also distributed indecent images and threatened some of the children that he would show images he had already captured to their friends or parents.

Worker: Wilson worked at the Little Stars Nursery in Birmingham where he admitted orally raping the youngster.Rapist: Male nursery worker Paul Wilson admitted attacking a toddler in his care

Scene of the abuse: Little Stars Nursery in Nechells, Birmingham, where Wilson worked as an assistant

Two counts of oral rape: Paedophile Paul Wilson

NATO deploys helicopters to raise pressure on Gaddafi

A French military attack helicopter takes off from the deck of the French Navy helicopter carrier Tonnerre, to participate in their first military operation in Libya, in this June 3, 2011 photograph released by the French military on June 4, 2011. NATO employed attack helicopters to hit targets in Libya for the first time on Saturday, an alliance statement said.


British and French attack helicopters were used to strike inside Libya for the first time overnight today, hitting targets in the oil port of Brega as NATO forces stepped up their air war against Muammar Gaddafi.

A NATO-led military alliance extended its mission to protect civilians in Libya for a further 90 days this week, and France said it was stepping up military pressure as well as working with those close to Gaddafi to try to persuade him to quit.

“This was the first operational mission flown by British Army Apaches at sea,” British Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox said.

“The additional capabilities now being employed by NATO further reinforces the UK’s enduring commitment and NATO’s determination to... ensure that the people of Libya are free to determine their own future.”

Chile volcano erupts, spits towering ash column

Residents walk on streets covered with ash from Chile’s Puyehue volcano 160km to the west, in the Argentine resort city of Bariloche on June 4, 2011. The volcano dormant for decades erupted in south-central Chile yesterday, belching ash over 10km into the sky,

A volcano dormant for decades erupted in south-central Chile yesterday, belching ash over 10km into the sky and prompting the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said.

Winds fanned the ash toward neighboring Argentina, darkening the sky in the ski resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, a government official there said, adding the city’s airport had been closed.

The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 920km south of the capital, Santiago, also prompted Chilean authorities to shut a heavily traveled border crossing into Argentina.

'From now, embarrassment will end': Saudi King bans men from selling lingerie

Unlikely hero: King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia issued a decree banning men from working in lingerie shops

He's probably not the first person you would have on your mind as being the face of lingerie, but King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has become something of a hero to women in his home country.

He has issued a decree banning all men from working in lingerie shops to end 'embarrassment' suffered by women who don't want to give men their measurements.

Saudi women working in the outlets got embroiled in a dispute three years ago with the labour ministry and the powerful religious authority, which issued a fatwa banning such jobs.

The decree from the king was part of a push to reduce the amount of female unemployment in the conservative kingdom, currently at around 30 per cent.

Saudi women say they have been uncomfortable buying lingerie from men and would prefer female sales assistants.

Trump force one: Inside Donald Trump's $100 million 'presidential' 757 jet

He has already declared himself out of the 2012 presidential race.

But new photos show Donald Trump's latest $100 million acquisition is essentially a presidential suite flying the skies - complete with suede ceilings and gold-leaf seatbelts.

Trump's Boeing 757 - decked out in his trademark black and gold livery - took off for from New York to Washington, D.C. on Friday.

 Campaigner: Trump has previously hinted at running for president, but finally put the idea to bed last month. His new presidential jet however hints at loftier ambitions than hosting TV reality shows and running his property empire

 Up in the air: Trump, seen here in 1987, also uses his fleet of branded helicopters to travel around in

 Trump air: The Donald showed off his new jet on Friday. The $100 million 757 will replace his older 727

 Monster: The 757 dwarfs other private jets at LaGuardia

 The former Trump Force One sits on the tarmac in Palm Beach

 Ultimate comfort: The jet, which features wood panelling and large oval windows, can accommodate up to 230 passengers

Luxury in the sky: Its bathroom features a circular shower and gold faucets

What jetlag? A bedroom dressed in cream with gold accents features a flat-screen television, wooden desk and electric shades for a peaceful slumber