WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has signaled to Eric H. Holder Jr., a senior official in the Justice Department in the Clinton administration, that he will be chosen as attorney general, but no final decision has been made, people involved in the process said Tuesday. As a top adviser to Obama, he has long been considered the front-runner for the job of attorney general because of his extensive record as a prosecutor and a judge and a well-honed reputation inside Washington. Obama’s advisers appear to have overcome concerns that Holder’s involvement in a presidential pardon scandal as President Bill Clinton left office in 2001 might cloud his nomination for the job. Word that Holder was likely to be nominated as attorney general leaked out as Obama also began settling on other members of his team and signaling his policy priorities upon taking office. Obama is set to hire Peter R. Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, as the White House budget director, people involved in the transition said. They said the leading candidate at this point for another top post on the economic team, director of the National Economic Council, is Jacob Lew, who was Mr. Clinton’s budget director. While Obama has yet to name any of his cabinet secretaries, his early choices for White House staff positions and the names currently at the top of the list for staff and cabinet jobs suggest that his administration could be heavily stocked with Democrats who served under Clinton. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, under consideration to be secretary of state, was said by an adviser to be torn about giving up her Senate seat....more

MOGADISHU: An Indian warship destroyed a pirate "mother vessel" in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said Wednesday, as bandits demanded a ransom for a Saudi super-tanker seized in the most daring sea raid yet. The Indian frigate INS Tabar, one of dozens of warships from several countries protecting shipping lanes in the area, attacked the Somali pirate ship late Tuesday after coming under fire, navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said. The incident came as shipping groups reported a new surge in hijackings off Somalia and the International Maritime Bureau said pirates based in the lawless African nation were "out of control". "The INS Tabar closed in on the mother vessel and asked her to stop for investigation," the New Delhi navy spokesman said. "But on repeated calls, the vessel''s threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship if it approached." An exchange of fire ensued, causing explosions and the navy ship then used heavy guns. "From what we see in photographs the pirate vessel is completely destroyed," a senior officer said on condition he not be named. It was the first time a mother ship had been destroyed, in the most significant blow to pirates to date. The piracy crisis has grown since the weekend capture of the super-tanker Sirius Star. The huge vessel was carrying a full load of two million barrels of oil worth around 100 million dollars....more

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A noisy rumble sparked panic at a school outside the Haitian capital Wednesday, killing one student and wounding dozens as jitters remained nearly two weeks after a deadly school collapse, authorities said. "The accident occurred when a trailer passing by caused a panic. Schoolchildren then rushed towards the exit," civil protection director Alta Jean-Baptiste told the media. One schoolgirl died and 26 people were wounded, officials said. Witnesses told radio stations in Port-au-Prince that dozens of schoolchildren jumped from the upper floors of the building, fearing the school might collapse. Ninety-one people were killed and 162 were wounded when a school collapsed on November 7 in Haiti. Another school collapse wounded nine people several days later. On Tuesday, the Haitian government announced it had made a group of psychologists available to help school children affected by these recent events. School inspections by the authorities are also underway....more

WASHINGTON: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has offered to allow ethics reviews of future business and charitable activities should his wife be picked by President-elect Barack Obama as secretary of state, Democrats familiar with the issue said on Wednesday. The former president is working to address questions about whether his philanthropic and business work would create the appearance of a conflict of interest in the event his wife were to take over the top U.S. diplomatic post. "He is definitely helping. He is not an obstacle at all," a Democrat familiar with the deliberations said. Obama met former rival New York Sen. Hillary Clinton last Thursday to discuss the secretary of state job, a secret session that quickly leaked out. Clinton, who was defeated by Obama during a tough Democratic primary battle earlier this year, was described by the adviser as conflicted about whether she wants to be secretary of state or remain in the Senate. "That is true. The question is where she can be of best service," a Clinton adviser said. Obama''s transition team is believed to be looking at Bill Clinton''s post-White House work to review whether his international philanthropic and business dealings would pose a conflict of interest if his wife were secretary of state. He has amassed a fortune since leaving the White House in early 2001 and is believed to be worth about $100 million, much of it from writing books and giving speeches....more

WASHINGTON: US president-elect Barack Obama Wednesday telephoned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plus the presidents of Colombia, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, his office said. Obama returned their calls "and expressed his appreciation for their congratulations on his election," the Democrat''s transition office said in a statement, offering no further details. Obama has been pursuing a near-daily round of calls to foreign leaders since his election triumph over Republican John McCain on November 4. Apart from Ban, the latest calls were to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Nigerian President Umaru Yar''Adua, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and South African President Kgalema Motlanthe. A source close to Uribe told AFP that the pair spoke for about 10 minutes on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the trade pact Obama has indicated he is willing to re-negotiate when he takes office in January. Uribe had been open in his support for McCain and now faces increased scrutiny over human rights abuses in his nation from Obama, who opposes a US-Colombia free trade pact currently frozen in the Democratic-led Congress....more

SAO PAULO: Police will indict 10 former government, airline and airport officials, and seek sanctions for Airbus employees, in Brazil''s worst plane crash that killed 199 people in Sao Paulo in 2007, a top investigator said Wednesday. The indictments include the former heads of the National Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA) and of Infraero airport management company, as well as the security chief of TAM airline, police commissioner Antonio Carlos Menezes told reporters. The announcement follows a 16-month, 2,500-page report on the accident by the Public Safety Ministry''s Criminal Investigation unit, which, according to Friday media reports, blamed the accident on the pilots, Airbus, the airline and the airport authorities. The investigators concluded the NCAA, which did not close Sao Paulo''s Congonhas airport on the night of July 17, 2007 despite heavy rains, was primarily to blame for allowing flights to land despite the bad weather. The TAM airline Airbus 320 carrying 186 people overran the runway while landing, crossed a road and slammed into an airport building. All plane occupants and 13 people on the ground perished in the fireball. The probe faulted airport authorities for failing to ensure that the runway was properly constructed with grooves to drain away excess water....more

BANGKOK: At least one Thai anti-government protester was killed and 21 were wounded in a pre-dawn bomb blast Thursday inside a demonstration site in Bangkok, emergency services said. The bomb went off at 3:28 am (2028 GMT) in front of a stage at the Government House compound, which protesters from the so-called People''s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) occupied in late August. Twenty-two demonstrators wounded by the explosion were taken to four nearby hospitals, emergency services said. One later died and 11 were still in a serious condition, they said. "It''s a powerful bomb, so far one has died. We are still waiting for forensic officials and for PAD permission to go into Government House," local police commander Colonel Somchai Chueyklin told media. An emergency medical official speaking on condition of anonymity also confirmed that one man had died. "Ten are in critical condition at (army-run) King Mongkut hospital, one serious at Ramathibodi hospital. The man died at Ramathibodi hospital," the official said. The protesters have vowed not to leave Government House until the government, which they accuse of being corrupt and a proxy for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, steps down. There was no immediate comment from the anti-government alliance....more

WASHINGTON: The United States has no information that Osama bin Laden has died despite his continuing silence, the White House said Wednesday after the broadcast of a new message from al-Qaeda''s number two. "I''d have to refer you to the intelligence community for that. I don''t believe that we have any intelligence that suggests that he is not living," said spokeswoman Dana Perino. She had been asked whether the new message from Ayman Zawahiri raised any new questions about the fate of the terrorist network''s number one. Perino dismissed Zawahiri''s verbal broadside against US president-elect Barack Obama as "more despicable and pathetic comments by al-Qaeda terrorists." Zawahiri, in an Internet audio message released on Wednesday, ridiculed Obama as a "house negro" and warned him against sending more troops to Afghanistan. "I think that the comments that al-Qaeda makes are totally irrational. They attack everything and anything that is American. And so they just look for targets of opportunity, both verbally and physically, and that''s why we have to stop them," said Perino....more

KABUL: Al-Qaida delivered its first response to America''s election today in a video that used racial abuse against Barack Obama, and said the president-elect did not represent a genuine force for change. The message from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two to Osama bin Laden, appeared to be aimed at persuading its own followers that the election of an African-American president whose middle name is Hussein does not really represent a break with the George Bush presidency. "America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," Zawahari said. He resorted to racial slurs to make his point, calling Obama a "house slave" in Arabic who just did the bidding of his white masters. Subtitles supplied by al-Qaida translated the term as "house negro". The video, which ran more than 11 minutes, called Obama the "direct opposite of honourable black Americans" such as Malcolm X. It showed footage of Malcolm X using the term "house negroes" to describe people who did the bidding of whites. There was also footage of Malcolm X kneeling in prayer at a mosque. The pictures of Obama showed him in a skullcap at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Zawahari accused Obama of betraying his father, who was born a Muslim, and of cultivating ties with Jewish organisations to further his political ambitions. "You have reached the position of president, and a heavy legacy of failure and crimes awaits you. A failure in Iraq to which you have admitted, and a failure in Afghanistan to which the commanders of your army have admitted," the message said. Zawahiri issued no specific threats, and US officials said there was no indication of a heightened threat against Obama or American interests. The al-Qaida leader criticised Obama''s plan to move more forces into Afghanistan. "Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them," he said. Despite his argument that Obama did not represent a force for change, he said the elections showed that Americans now believed the policies of George Bush had failed. The video referred to US air strikes on Afghanistan on November 5, which suggested it was produced after that date....more

TEHRAN: Iran said it has no further obligation to the International Atomic Energy Agency even after the UN watchdog said in a report on Wednesday it needs more cooperation on Tehran''s disputed nuclear drive. "This report shows that Iran -- has fulfilled its legal obligation completely. Therefore having further expectation (from Iran) is illogical and can not be carried out," Iran''s IAEA ambassador told media. "The message of (IAEA chief Mohamed) ElBaradei is that inspections have completely returned to normal and are continuing without impediment," Ali Asghar Solnanieh said. The Vienna-based IAEA in a restricted report, a copy of which was obtained by media, said: "Contrary to the decisions of the (UN) Security Council, Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities." And "as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues of serious concern, the agency has not been able to make substantive progress," it added. "Iran needs to provide the agency with substantive information to support its statements and provide access to relevant documentation and individuals in this regard," ElBaradei said in the report. A senior UN official said: "There''s been no progress or no communication whatsoever on possible military dimension." The "studies" refer to documents collected from a wide range of intelligence sources that appear to suggest Iran may have been trying to develop a nuclear warhead, convert uranium and test high explosives and a missile re-entry vehicle. Iran has repeatedly dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and the evidence used to back up the charges as "fabricated."...more