Other world news in brief
Taliban blamed for bomb attempt
WASHINGTON – Attorney general Eric Holder yesterday said evidence shows a Pakistan Taliban group closely allied with al-Qaeda was behind the attempted bombing in New York’s Times Square.
Mr Holder, in an interview on ABC television's This Week, said there was nothing to suggest the Pakistani government was aware of the plot. "We've now developed evidence that shows the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack. We know that they helped facilitate it. We know that they probably helped finance it. And that he was working at their direction," he said, referring to Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistan-born naturalised American who is under arrest. – (Reuters)
12 dead, 83 missing in coal mine blasts
MOSCOW– Two blasts at a big Siberian coal mine killed at least 12 people and a search for 83 missing was suspended yesterday after a damaged ventilation shaft choked the area with smoke and gas, Russian officials said.
Another 41 people were injured in the explosions at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia’s coal-rich Kemerovo region 3,000km (1,850 miles) east of Moscow, the emergencies ministry said.
Sixty-four miners and 19 rescuers were unaccounted for underground nearly 20 hours after the first explosion late on Saturday. Both explosions were caused by methane gas build-up, the ministry said. – (Reuters)