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Wall anniversary celebrations kick off in Berlin

by Deborah Cole BERLIN (AFP) --

Berlin warmed up Sunday for the 20th anniversary of the Wall's fall with celebrations throughout the city, as crowds gathered to relive the ecstatic scenes that heralded the demise of European communism.

Leaders from across the continent were due in the German capital to join around 100,000 revellers Monday at the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of national unity since the peaceful revolution that tore down the Wall in 1989.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was flying to Berlin to give a speech late Sunday on the challenges facing the West two decades after the Cold War.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will also host leaders including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, recalled that the end of Europe's postwar division came as an utter surprise.

"The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall should remind us all what incredible luck we had with the reunification of Europe and Germany," Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, told the Bild newspaper in an interview to be published Monday.

On the night of November 9, 1989, following weeks of pro-democracy protests, the Stalinist state's authorities suddenly opened the border.

After 28 years as prisoners of their own country, euphoric East Germans streamed to checkpoints and rushed past bewildered guards, many falling tearfully into the arms of West Germans welcoming them on the other side.

On Sunday, Germans were already out in force along the former route of the barrier which had cleaved the city in half, inspecting 1,000 giant dominos that will be toppled as part of Monday's ceremony.

Mayor Klaus Wowereit said the project, in which schoolchildren were among those to decorate the huge foam tiles, had helped underline the day's importance for those too young to remember it.

"History is palpable and alive here," he said. "The peaceful revolution of the fall of the Wall 20 years ago paved the way to an unprecedented transformation of Berlin."

In the Wall Park in the eastern district of Prenzlauer Berg, Berliners were to form a chain of handkerchiefs along the former border decorated with slogans and scenes linked to the Wall.

"Handkerchiefs are a symbol of the many tears, the farewells, the joy, the dance, the exchange between East and West," said organiser Bernd Klippel.

In the run-up to the anniversary, Irish rockers U2 electrified a crowd of 10,000 at the Brandenburg Gate Thursday with a spectacular free concert that included the ballad "One", written in Berlin and partly inspired by the Wall's fall.

On Friday, artists unveiled restored murals on the longest-surviving stretch of the 155-kilometer-long (96-mile-long) Wall. Known as the East Side Gallery, the paintings were completed in 1990 and are now one of the city's biggest tourist attractions.

France was also preparing a big celebration Monday, which minister for Europe Pierre Lellouche called a gesture to make amends for misgivings about German reunification at the time the Wall fell.

A dazzling light-and-sound show will take place on the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, inspired by the impromptu concert given by Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich at Checkpoint Charlie two days after the Wall tumbled.

"I wanted to organise a celebration in Paris to chase away, once and for all, the fears that surrounded this period," Lellouche told Sunday's Le Parisien newspaper.

Meanwhile Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was posted as a KGB agent in Dresden under communism, said he felt nostalgic for the former East Germany.

Putin told channel NTV that he had fond memories of his 1985-1990 posting in the city that included learning German, excursions to the mountains and contacts with his East German counterparts.

"I still remember this warmth and cordiality," he said.

"I am very thankful for this. In this respect there is some feeling of nostalgia.

"But we see how the Federal Republic (post-reunification Germany) is developing and we are happy that we have good relations on a new basis," he said.

Pakistan suicide bombing kills 12

by Lehaz Ali PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

A suicide car bomber struck near a busy cattle market in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Sunday, killing 12 people including a former Taliban supporter turned anti-militant mayor, police said.

The bomber also wounded 36 people outside a property of Mayor Abdul Malik on the outskirts of the northwest city troubled by Islamist militancy. Malik, one of a number of city mayors, had raised a militia against Taliban rebels.

Pakistan is currently waging a military offensive against the insurgents in their northwest mountain hideouts, incurring the wrath of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, which has retaliated with a wave of deadly attacks.

"The suicide bomber came in a car and exploded it when the mayor was standing with some visitors outside his guesthouse near the local livestock market," district administration chief Sahibzada Anis told AFP.

Doctor Muslim Khan at Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital said that 12 people were killed and 36 wounded in the attack. Hospital officials said that two children were among the dead.

"Abdul Malik and a commander of the local anti-Taliban force are also among the dead," Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told AFP.

Malik, mayor of Adizai suburb on Peshawar's outskirts, once had close links to the hardline Taliban movement, but switched sides in 2008 and had raised a local force to battle the Islamist extremists on the fringes of the city.

The mayor had in the past survived a number of attempts on his life by his former allies, who are battling Pakistan's government and want to impose a harsh brand of Islamic law across swathes of the northwest.

The attacker detonated his explosives-packed car close to both Malik's guesthouse and the cattle market, littering the road with the corpses of cows and twisted metal from ruined vehicles, police and witnesses said.

Mahabat Khan, a 50-year-old livestock dealer, said he had just sold a buffalo and was talking to the buyer outside the market when a huge blast suddenly knocked him to the ground.

"It was a huge blast near us and my foot was injured," Khan told AFP from his hospital bed. "I heard gunshots after the blast."

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of blasts and attacks killing more than 350 people since early October. In the deadliest attack in two years, a car bombing killed 118 people on October 28 in Peshawar, the northwest capital.

Islamabad has blamed the attacks on TTP militants avenging both the military offensive against them and the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone missile strike in the rugged northwest tribal belt in August.

Pakistan launched a fierce, US-endorsed air and ground offensive into South Waziristan on October 17, with some 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships laying siege to the Pakistan Taliban's boltholes.

The semi-autonomous tribal belt has become a bastion for Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels after the 2001 US-led invasion drove them out of Afghanistan, and Washington says the region is one of the world's most dangerous zones.

The long-awaited assault into the tribal region came after a spring offensive in and around the northwestern Swat valley, which the government declared a success in July. However, sporadic outbreaks of violence continue.

Military officials have encouraged local officials and tribal elders to raise militias -- known locally as lashkars -- to keep the rebels at bay.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been plagued by Islamist militancy for years, with more that 2,425 people killed in attacks since July 2007.

Rebels 'down' Yemen warplane as fighting rages

by Paul Handley JIZAN, Saudi Arabia (AFP) --

Shiite rebels said on Sunday they shot down a Yemeni combat aircraft on the Saudi border nearly three months into a widening war between the insurgents and government forces.

Jet fighters from Saudi Arabia, which entered the fray on Tuesday after the rebels seized two of its villages and killed a border guard, stepped up bombing raids against rebel positions.

The kingdom said three of its soldiers have been killed and another four have gone missing since the fighting erupted on the rugged border, also claiming the lives of an unknown number of Yemenis.

The rebels said however that besides capturing several Saudi soldiers, they had also downed a Yemeni government aircraft.

"Our anti-aircraft batteries have shot down a military aircraft which was bombing the village of Razeh" close to the Saudi border, rebel spokesman Mohammad Abdessalam told AFP.

A military source in Sanaa acknowledged a Russian Sukhoi bomber had crashed because of "mechanical problems."

It is the third combat aircraft the Zaidi rebels claim to have downed since the launch of the government offensive against them on August 11. Yemen says all of the incidents were due to mechanical reasons.

The Zaidi rebels, who were forced towards the mountainous border with Saudi Arabia by Yemeni troops, told AFP "the Saudis are continuing their air and land shelling of Yemen territory near the border with Saudi Arabia."

An defiant statement on their website said earlier that "with Allah's help, the Saudi tyrannical advance into Yemen's territory has been defeated.

"A number of its troops have been captured and several military vehicles and supplies been seized."

Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan denied late on Saturday any of his soldiers had been taken.

But "there were five missing and one came back. They are missing and not prisoners" of the rebels, the prince said according to the official SPA news agency.

Speaking near the front in Jizan province, Prince Khaled also said Saudi forces had recaptured all territory seized by the rebels earlier in the week.

"The operation resulted in the death of three members of the security forces and the wounding of 15, most of whom have left the hospital."

If the rebel claim is true, it would add a new complexity to Riyadh's first overt entry into the Yemen domestic conflict.

On Wednesday Riyadh unleashed F-15 and Tornado jets against rebel positions around the massive Jebel al-Dukhan mountain, which soars 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) out of the coastal plain on the border in southern Jizan province.

Ground troops and heavy long-range artillery lined the sides of the main road to the frontier town of al-Khubah at the foot of the mountain on Saturday as soldiers patrolled fields and inspected vehicles for rebel fighters.

Saudis said some rebels had infiltrated into the country disguised as women in all-black abaya shrouds.

While officials from both countries said the Saudi attacks took place only inside Saudi Arabia, the rebels and a Saudi official admitted jets attacked rebels well inside their bastion of Yemen's Saada province adjacent Jizan.

The rebels accused Riyadh of permitting Yemeni troops to use Saudi territory to attack their flank.

The intensity of the Saudi attack has surprised some analysts who note Riyadh's close support of Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Prince Khaled called the Saudi response "a rebuke to intruders who had infiltrated the borders of the kingdom."

According to government and medical doctors in the region, seven Saudis have been killed in the fighting, including four women whose border home had been shelled, and three security personnel.

Doctors at the regional hospital said they had treated 126 people injured in the fighting, the largest part on Friday when a dozens of soldiers arrived with gunshot or shrapnel wounds.

Casualties on the Yemeni rebel side are unknown. The Saudi-controlled newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that 155 rebels had been captured by Saudi forces in the fighting.

Japan eyes solar station in space

by Karyn Poupee TOKYO (AFP) --

It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.

The government has just picked a group of companies and a team of researchers tasked with turning the ambitious, multi-billion-dollar dream of unlimited clean energy into reality in coming decades.

With few energy resources of its own and heavily reliant on oil imports, Japan has long been a leader in solar and other renewable energies and this year set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.

But Japan's boldest plan to date is the Space Solar Power System (SSPS), in which arrays of photovoltaic dishes several square kilometres (square miles) in size would hover in geostationary orbit outside the Earth's atmosphere.

"Since solar power is a clean and inexhaustible energy source, we believe that this system will be able to help solve the problems of energy shortage and global warming," researchers at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the project participants, wrote in a report.

"The sun's rays abound in space."

The solar cells would capture the solar energy, which is at least five times stronger in space than on Earth, and beam it down to the ground through clusters of lasers or microwaves.

These would be collected by gigantic parabolic antennae, likely to be located in restricted areas at sea or on dam reservoirs, said Tadashige Takiya, a spokesman at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The researchers are targeting a one gigawatt system, equivalent to a medium-sized atomic power plant, that would produce electricity at eight yen (cents) per kilowatt-hour, six times cheaper than its current cost in Japan.

The challenge -- including transporting the components to space -- may appear gigantic, but Japan has been pursuing the project since 1998, with some 130 researchers studying it under JAXA's oversight.

Last month Japan's Economy and Trade Ministry and the Science Ministry took another step toward making the project a reality, by selecting several Japanese high-tech giants as participants in the project.

The consortium, named the Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer, also includes Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Fujitsu and Sharp.

The project's roadmap outlined several steps that would need to be taken before a full-blown launch in 2030.

Within several years, "a satellite designed to test the transmission by microwave should be put into low orbit with a Japanese rocket," said Tatsuhito Fujita, one of the JAXA researchers heading the project.

The next step, expected around 2020, would be to launch and test a large flexible photovoltaic structure with 10 megawatt power capacity, to be followed by a 250 megawatt prototype.

This would help evaluate the project's financial viability, say officials. The final aim is to produce electricity cheap enough to compete with other alternative energy sources.

JAXA says the transmission technology would be safe but concedes it would have to convince the public, which may harbour images of laser beams shooting down from the sky, roasting birds or slicing up aircraft in mid-air.

According to a 2004 study by JAXA, the words 'laser' and 'microwave' caused the most concern among the 1,000 people questioned.

Ancelotti confident ahead of United test

by Steve Griffiths LONDON (AFP) --

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti knows his first Premier League clash with Manchester United will provide the acid test of his title credentials, but he believes the champions have weaknesses that can be exploited in Sunday's summit meeting.

Ancelotti's side have become the top pick to win the English crown after an impressive start under the Italian suggested he has recaptured the magic missing from Stamford Bridge since Jose Mourinho's departure.

But Ancelotti is well aware that only when he has emerged unscathed from a head to head duel with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will he truely be able to feel like a major player in the Premier League. Related article: Ferguson snubbed overseas offers

The likes of Mourinho and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger earned their stripes - and Ferguson's grudging admiration - by defeating United in individual matches and then the title race.

Now Ancelotti, whose side are two points clear of second placed United, must do the same.

While most of Ferguson's managerial opponents will inevitably suffer from an inferiority complex when they compare their achievements with the Scot's, Ancelotti can draw inspiration from his previous battles with United.

He has knocked Ferguson out of the Champions League twice during his time with AC Milan, with the 2007 semi-final rout at the San Siro a particularly fond memory, and has won a Community Shield penalty shoot-out against United in August.

The Blues chief believes Sunday's match will go his way as well if Chelsea take advantage of the flaws in Ferguson's defence and midfield.

United, who haven't won at the Bridge since 2002, were unusually timid in their 2-0 defeat at Liverpool two weeks ago and their porous defence has conceded 11 goals already in the league this season.

And, with England defender Rio Ferdinand ruled out with a back injury, Ancelotti suspects Chelsea maybe able to expose United's soft centre in the same way as Liverpool.

"Liverpool played a fantastic match (against United), a strong match and put a lot of pressure on. That's why they won," Ancelotti said.

"They didn't give United any possibility to play like they want to play. It was a good lesson for us because Manchester can suffer when there's pressure on their midfielders.

"I think Ferdinand is a very good defender. Without Ferdinand they lose something.

"But I don't want to work just against other team's weaknesses. We want to put our own qualities on the pitch.

"The best thing is to maintain a balance. They have fantastic strikers. Wayne Rooney is one of the most intelligent strikers in the world."

Ferguson will hope the return to fitness of Serbia centre-back Nemanja Vidic shores up a defence that conceded three times against CSKA Moscow in midweek, while Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov could feature after a knee injury.

The United manager, who can point to a famous 1999 Champions League victory over Ancelotti's Juventus as proof that he doesn't need to fear the Italian, has seen Chelsea bosses Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink fail to overthrow United in recent years.

But he admits Ancelotti could pose the biggest threat to his supremacy since Mourinho's departure.

"I thought Ancelotti would do well," he said. "He was a great coach at AC Milan. He won the European Cup twice and brought a wealth of experience with him to Chelsea.

"He was also a great player so he has a lot of knowledge. He brought a different system to the ones Chelsea have used in the past.

"It has maybe been easier to adapt tactics because they have very experienced players, who have more tactical knowledge than the younger ones. It seems to have worked well."

Even though there is plenty at stake on Sunday, Ancelotti has no intention of being an unwelcoming host and will share a bottle of red wine with Ferguson whatever the result.

"We drank red wine after we drew in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Juventus against United," he said. "United equalised in the last minute and I was a bit angry. But after the red wine it was better!"

Obama wins big as House approves health care bill

by Olivier Knox WASHINGTON (AFP) --

The US House of Representatives has approved the broadest overhaul of US health care in four decades, handing President Barack Obama a hard-fought victory for his top domestic priority.

Heeding Obama's appeal to "answer the call of history," lawmakers late Saturday capped 12 hours of bitter debate with a 220-215 vote.

The bill amounts to a 10-year, trillion-dollar plan to extend health coverage to some 36 million Americans who lack it now.

"Tonight, in an historic vote, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people," Obama said in a statement.

The fight to remake health care in the world's richest country shifted to the US Senate, where its fate remained unclear amid a tense intra-party dispute among Democrats anchored on what role the US government should play.

Obama said he was "absolutely confident" the Senate would pass its own bill, stressing: "I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has faced tough criticism from Republicans over the proposal, said the health care bill "improves quality, lowers cost, expands coverage to 36 million more people and retains choice."

If, as expected, the House and Senate pass rival versions of health care legislation, they will need to thrash out a compromise version and approve it in order to send it to Obama to sign into law, a frequently tough process.

Obama and Democratic House leaders had invested heavy political capital in what they knew would be a close contest sure to shape his legacy and the fate of his ambitious plan to remake US health care if the bill went down to defeat.

The president telephoned wavering members on Friday and paid a rare visit to Congress on Saturday, buttressed with a speech from the White House Rose Garden, but still 39 Democrats joined 176 Republicans to oppose the plan.

One Republican -- Joseph Cao of Louisiana -- broke ranks, nominally fulfilling, in the barest terms, Obama's vow to secure bipartisan support.

The chamber's Democrats erupted in loud cheers and triumphant applause the moment the bill had the 218 votes needed for passage, about 11:07 pm (0407 GMT).

Final House passage came after a flurry of votes, including a 240-194 vote to sharply tighten restrictions on government funds for abortions, vital to cementing support from a platoon of anti-abortion Democrats.

The House then voted 176-258 to defeat the Republican alternative to the overall plan -- with one lone Republican, Representative Timothy Johnson of Illinois, joining the Democrats in opposition.

Republicans appealed to swing-vote Democrats from battleground districts to reject what they warned would end up being a costly government takeover of health care, stoking traditionally American suspicions of the public sector.

"This bill bulldozes individual liberty and puts the government just where it doesn't belong," said Republican Representative Sam Johnson.

The United States is the only industrialized democracy that does not ensure that all of its citizens have health care coverage, with an estimated 36 million Americans uninsured.

Washington spends vastly more on health care -- both per person and as a share of national income as measured by Gross Domestic Product -- than other industrialized democracies, but with no meaningful edge in quality of care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The bill would create a government-backed insurance plan, popularly known as a "public option," to compete with private firms and would end denial of coverage based on preexisting medical problems.

Under the White House-backed bill, Americans would have to buy insurance and most employers would have to offer coverage to their workers -- though some small businesses would be exempt and the government would offer subsidies.

Mickelson holds off Els to win HSBC golf Champions

by Martin Parry SHANGHAI (AFP) --

Phil Mickelson held off a resurgent Ernie Els in a tense finale to win both the WGC-HSBC Champions on Sunday and a personal battle with fellow American Tiger Woods, who faded to finish sixth.

The world number two showed nerves of steel to claim the 1.2-million-dollar winner's cheque by a stroke from the South African after hitting 69 for a 17-under-par total of 271.

USPGA Tour stalwart Ryan Moore came third after his 68 left him on 15 under, while Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy powered himself up the leaderboard with a 63 to come fourth a stroke further back.

American Nick Watney was fifth on 275.

Woods, who started two behind Mickelson, faded with an error-strewn front nine. He recovered on the way home but a bogey at the last summed up a frustrating day for the world number one.

He ended with a 72 in joint sixth, five off the pace alongside Germany's Martin Kaymer.

Mickelson's victory means he is the first person to win the tournament -- upgraded this year to a World Golf Championship event -- twice, after his triumph in 2007.

And it was the best possible way to finish a difficult season interrupted by a break to care for his wife and mother, who were both diagnosed with breast cancer.

"It feels terrific. It's my last event of the year and to finish the year like this is just wonderful," he said.

"Everyone had been expecting Tiger and myself to shoot in the mid-60s and pull away but it was the groups ahead of us (...) making the putts.

"Ernie, and Rory McIlroy, played one of the greatest rounds and I was fortunate to come out on top. It feels good because I had to fight very hard."

Els, desperate to win his first tournament this year and keep intact his commendable record of taking a title every year since he turned professional in 1989, had only himself to blame for finishing second.

He went to the 18th with a one-stroke lead but found the water after botching his approach to the green and finished with a bogey, spoiling an otherwise immaculate round of 63, which matched the course record.

But he was happy to finally find some form again.

"Today was a wonderful day. I mean, I had a really good time," he said.

"For me to come back, to actually share the lead, was quite nice. I'm disappointed about the 18th but I'm going to really think about the 63 I shot today."

The left-handed Mickelson is hugely popular in China and massive crowds followed him and Woods, who were paired together, on a hot and humid day.

Mickelson picked up a shot on the third but slipped up with bogeys on the fourth and fifth after fluffing easy putts.

He compensated by gaining a shot on the seventh and with Els running hot in front of him, picked up consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th to set up a tense finish.

He missed the green on the crucial 16th but sank an under-pressure 18-foot putt to save par and a birdie on the 17th put him back in the lead.

Mickelson held his nerve coming down the last with a par to win only his second World Golf Championship event in his 29th appearance.

In contrast, Woods self-destructed with a double bogey on the fourth, when he drove his ball into an adjacent canal and had to take a drop. Woods has an off day

It didn't get any better with another bogey on the sixth and he was clearly frustrated.

When a camera clicked as he was teeing off at the seventh and his shot found a bunker he shouted "I just can't get a swing" and started swearing under his breath.

"Today was anything that could go wrong went wrong for me," he said. "Just one of those days where I didn't put it together at the right time."

Pakistan bomb kills 12

by Lehaz Ali PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

A suicide car bomber struck near a busy cattle market in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Sunday, killing 12 people including a former Taliban supporter turned anti-militant mayor, police said.

Doctor Muslim Khan at Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital said that 12 people were killed and 36 wounded in the attack. Hospital officials said that two children were among the dead.

"Abdul Malik and a commander of the local anti-Taliban force are also among the dead," Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told AFP.

Mahabat Khan, a 50-year-old livestock dealer, said he had just sold a buffalo and was talking to the buyer outside the market when a huge blast suddenly knocked him to the ground.

"It was a huge blast near us and my foot was injured," Khan told AFP from his hospital bed. "I heard gunshots after the blast."

Military officials have encouraged local officials and tribal elders to raise militias -- known locally as lashkars -- to keep the rebels at bay.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been plagued by Islamist militancy for years, with more that 2,425 people killed in attacks since July 2007.

Four Saudi soldiers missing in Yemen rebels fight

by Paul Handley JIZAN, Saudi Arabia (AFP) --

Four Saudi soldiers are missing after clashes on the southeastern border with Yemen-based Shiite rebels, Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan said in remarks published on Sunday.

He rejected rebel claims to have captured several soldiers after seven Saudis and an unknown number of Yemenis were killed in five days of fighting in the rugged terrain.

Speaking to troops near the front in Jizan province late on Saturday, Prince Khaled also said Saudi forces had recaptured all territory seized by the rebels earlier in the week.

"There were five missing and one came back. They are missing and not prisoners" of the rebels, he was reported by the official SPA news agency as saying.

Prince Khaled, who was inspecting Saudi forces in the border area, also confirmed the deaths of three Saudi soldiers.

"The operation resulted in the death of three members of the security forces and the wounding of 15, most of whom have left the hospital," he said, adding that the Saudi military was in control of the situation.

"The situation is reassuring," he said. "All (the areas) they have seized, especially Jebel Dukhan, are under complete control, though there is (still) infiltration in some areas."

The 2,000-metre (6,600-foot) Jebel al-Dukhan mountain straddles the border.

Saudi-controlled newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that 155 rebels had been captured by Saudi forces in the fighting.

Prince Khaled visited the area after the three-month-old war between the rebels and Yemen government forces spilled over the border into Saudi territory.

On Tuesday the rebels killed a Saudi border guard and seized at least two small villages in area of the 2,000-metre (6,600-foot) Jebel al-Dukhan mountain straddling the border.

A day later Saudis launched a huge counter-offensive, sending warplanes to bomb and rocket rebel positions.

While officials from both countries say the Saudi attacks are taking place only inside Saudi Arabia, the rebels and a Saudi government adviser have said jets attacked rebels well inside their bastion of Yemen's Saada province.

As heavy fighting continued on Friday, doctors at the regional hospital in Samtah told AFP that they had received scores of casualties, mostly soldiers with gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

In all medics had treated 126 wounded during the week, they said.

Sporadic shelling and bombing by Saudi aircraft continued on Saturday in the Jebel al-Dukhan region, a day after the rebel claim to have captured Saudi soldiers.

"With Allah's help, the Saudi tyrannical advance into Yemen's territory has been defeated," the rebels said in a statement on their website.

"A number of its troops have been captured and several military vehicles and supplies been seized."

12 killed in Pakistan bomb, anti-Taliban head dies

by Lehaz Ali PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

A suicide car bomber struck near a busy cattle market in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Sunday, killing 12 people including a former Taliban supporter turned anti-militant mayor, police said.

Doctor Muslim Khan at Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital said that 12 people were killed and 36 wounded in the attack. Hospital officials said that two children were among the dead.

"Abdul Malik and a commander of the local anti-Taliban force are also among the dead," Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told AFP.

Mahabat Khan, a 50-year-old livestock dealer, said he had just sold a buffalo and was talking to the buyer outside the market when a huge blast suddenly knocked him to the ground.

"It was a huge blast near us and my foot was injured," Khan told AFP from his hospital bed. "I heard gunshots after the blast."

Military officials have encouraged local officials and tribal elders to raise militias -- known locally as lashkars -- to keep the rebels at bay.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been plagued by Islamist militancy for years, with more that 2,425 people killed in attacks since July 2007.

Mickelson holds off Els to win HSBC golf Champions

by Martin Parry SHANGHAI (AFP) --

Phil Mickelson held off a resurgent Ernie Els in a tense finale to win both the WGC-HSBC Champions on Sunday and a personal battle with fellow American Tiger Woods, who faded to finish sixth.

The world number two showed nerves of steel to claim the 1.2-million-dollar winner's cheque by a stroke from the South African after hitting 69 for a 17-under-par total of 271.

USPGA Tour stalwart Ryan Moore came third after his 68 left him on 15 under, while Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy powered himself up the leaderboard with a 63 to come fourth a stroke further back.

American Nick Watney was fifth on 275.

Woods, who started two behind Mickelson, faded with an error-strewn front nine. He recovered on the way home but a bogey at the last summed up a frustrating day for the world number one.

He ended with a 72 in joint sixth, five off the pace alongside Germany's Martin Kaymer.

Mickelson's victory means he is the first person to win the tournament -- upgraded this year to a World Golf Championship event -- twice, after his triumph in 2007.

And it was the best possible way to finish a difficult season interrupted by a break to care for his wife and mother, who were both diagnosed with breast cancer.

"It feels terrific. It's my last event of the year and to finish the year like this is just wonderful," he said.

"Everyone had been expecting Tiger and myself to shoot in the mid-60s and pull away but it was the groups ahead of us (...) making the putts.

"Ernie, and Rory McIlroy, played one of the greatest rounds and I was fortunate to come out on top. It feels good because I had to fight very hard."

But he was happy to finally find some form again.

"Today was a wonderful day. I mean, I had a really good time," he said.

"For me to come back, to actually share the lead, was quite nice. I'm disappointed about the 18th but I'm going to really think about the 63 I shot today."

The left-handed Mickelson is hugely popular in China and massive crowds followed him and Woods, who were paired together, on a hot and humid day.

Mickelson picked up a shot on the third but slipped up with bogeys on the fourth and fifth after fluffing easy putts.

He compensated by gaining a shot on the seventh and with Els running hot in front of him, picked up consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th to set up a tense finish.

He missed the green on the crucial 16th but sank an under-pressure 18-foot putt to save par and a birdie on the 17th put him back in the lead.

Mickelson held his nerve coming down the last with a par to win only his second World Golf Championship event in his 29th appearance.

In contrast, Woods self-destructed with a double bogey on the fourth, when he drove his ball into an adjacent canal and had to take a drop.

It didn't get any better with another bogey on the sixth and he was clearly frustrated.

When a camera clicked as he was teeing off at the seventh and his shot found a bunker he shouted "I just can't get a swing" and started swearing under his breath.

"Today was anything that could go wrong went wrong for me," he said. "Just one of those days where I didn't put it together at the right time."

Dalai Lama visits monastery despite China protest

by Zarir Hussain TAWANG, India (AFP) --

The Dalai Lama visited a remote Tibetan monastery in northeast India on Sunday at the start of a trip that has infuriated China, which claims the surrounding Himalayan region as its own.

Thousands of Buddhists gave the Tibetan spiritual leader, who has lived in exile in India for 50 years, a rousing welcome as he arrived at the Tawang monastery, perched at 3,500 metres (11,400 feet) in Arunachal Pradesh state.

"We are very pleased and blessed to have His Holiness here," said Sarwang Lama, a monk attired in a new maroon robe, as Tibetan prayer flags fluttered in the air and posters of the Dalai Lama adorned streets and rooftops.

"The Dalai Lama is very happy and is excited to be in Arunachal Pradesh," T.G. Rinpoche, a senior Buddhist and former state minister, told AFP.

Sandwiched between Myanmar, Bhutan and Tibet, the lush, forested state of Arunachal is governed by India but claimed by China. Beijing has slammed the visit as a provocation aimed at harming relations between China and India.

Tawang -- 400 years old and the second largest Tibetan monastery in India -- holds strong memories for the Dalai Lama.

When he fled Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, Arunachal was his point of entry to India and he took refuge in Tawang at the start of his decades in exile.

Preparations for his week-long tour of Arunachal have been underway for two months, with many buildings receiving a fresh coat of paint and regular prayers being held for his safe journey.

On Sunday he smiled and waved to devotees as he entered the monastery, where he was due to inaugurate a museum and a library and then address monks and priests.

It was not his first visit to Tawang, but the timing has caused Beijing to protest in far stronger fashion than in the past.

Indo-Chinese tensions over their disputed Himalayan border -- the cause of a brief but bloody war in 1962 -- have risen in recent months, with reports of troop movements and minor incursions on both sides.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toured the region last month during an election campaign, prompting warnings from Beijing about harming bilateral ties.

The presence of the Dalai Lama, whom China regards as a "splittist" intent on fomenting separatist unrest in his homeland, is seen as a double provocation.

China accused the Dalai Lama and his exiled "clique" of helping to organise fierce anti-China protests that erupted in Lhasa in March last year and spread across the region.

The Indian government has defended the Dalai Lama's right to travel where he wishes in India, and Arunachal Pradesh's chief minister, Dorjee Khandu said that China had "no right to interfere in India?s internal matters."

But economic ties have strengthened between the two booming Asian giants, and New Delhi acknowledged Beijing's sensitivities over the visit by barring foreign journalists from covering it.

Phuntso Wangchuk, an 80-year-old retired government employee who lives near Tawang and remembers the excitement that greeted the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet in 1959, said Chinese criticism was misplaced.

"His Holiness' only purpose is to bless us and nothing else. A mentor can visit anywhere to bless his disciples," Wangchuk said.

A similar stance was taken by US Undersecretary of State Maria Otero when she visited New Delhi last week.

"He is visiting a monastery, a holy place. And from our perspective, this is one of the roles he plays," Otero said.

The Dalai Lama's office has also taken pains to stress the "spiritual" nature of the visit, which will include three days of religious teachings at Tawang.

But China will see a possible ulterior motive.

The Dalai Lama is 74 and has had several recent health scares, fuelling speculation over the eventual recognition of his reincarnation and successor.

China is almost sure to make its own selection. The Dalai Lama, however, has stated that his reincarnation may be found outside Chinese Tibet, and Arunachal, with its historically rich Tibetan culture, is an obvious contender.

He will hold a prayer meeting on Monday, and visit other towns in the region before departing next Sunday.

12 killed in Pakistan bomb, anti-Taliab head dies

by Lehaz Ali PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

A suicide car bomber struck near a busy cattle market in Pakistan's Peshawar city on Sunday, killing 12 people including a former Taliban supporter turned anti-militant mayor, police said.

Doctor Muslim Khan at Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital said that 12 people were killed and 36 wounded in the attack. Hospital officials said that two children were among the dead.

"Abdul Malik and a commander of the local anti-Taliban force are also among the dead," Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told AFP.

Mahabat Khan, a 50-year-old livestock dealer, said he had just sold a buffalo and was talking to the buyer outside the market when a huge blast suddenly knocked him to the ground.

"It was a huge blast near us and my foot was injured," Khan told AFP from his hospital bed. "I heard gunshots after the blast."

Military officials have encouraged local officials and tribal elders to raise militias -- known locally as lashkars -- to keep the rebels at bay.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has been plagued by Islamist militancy for years, with more that 2,425 people killed in attacks since July 2007.

Communist consumer goods make comeback

by Mihaela Rodina BUCHAREST (AFP) --

Once the butt of jokes the world over, communist-era East European goods from sweets, to rustic washing machines and clunky cars are all the rage again.

As the world prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, souvenirs such as portraits of Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu are now avidly sought at markets. In Belgrade, cafes are named after Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito or even the Soviet KGB secret police.

Two decades on, many who then welcomed change now want to turn the clock back by eating Szerencsi chocolate, driving Trabant two-stroke cars or using Frania washing machines to wash carrots.

Nothing is too tacky, the quality never too questionable. For older people there is the nostalgia of the bad old days. Among younger people there is a curiosity to find out how their parents lived.

Many food brands have made a comeback on supermarket shelves using the same packaging that made them look so old fashioned and unwanted between 1945 and 1990.

"For a few years now there has been a tendency to bring back brands from the communist era. It makes us feel nostalgic, reminds us of our youth," said Romanian sociologist Mircea Kivu.

"These products remind me of my childhood. I would much rather eat a Szerencsi chocolate bar than a Mars," said Tamas Pickarczyk, a 27-year-old car salesman in Budapest.

"In my opinion Szerencsi tastes better. It is better quality but most of all it brings back good memories."

Bulgarian student Ivan Petrov said packaging gave totalitarian-era products their charm. "I love Detska-Zakouska biscuits for their flavour and their communist packaging."

In Croatia, the savoury spread Vegeta is still a staple across all the countries of the former Yugoslavia.

Soviet bloc machinery had a reputation worse than the food, but it is also kept alive by die-hard fans, even making a profit in some cases.

In Poland the Rotor Frania washing machine was a communist housewife's dream from the 1950s to the 1970s. The user had to pour water in and drain it manually but it had it is own rotor mechanism to clean the clothes.

"Although the manual machines have been replaced by automatic ones, the Frania still continues to sell at a rate of about 40,000 units per year," according to Magda Kwiatkowska, a sales manager for the Emalia Olkusz company which makes them.

Many farmers still use the 100 euro (dollar) machine to turn butter, clean carrots and even produce home-made alcohol, as well as wash their clothes.

Many car brands also date from the communist era.

The old joke ran that the best way to increase the value of a Skoda, made in the old Czechoslovakia, was to fill up the petrol tank. Now it is thriving as part of the Volkswagen empire.

In Romania, 42 years after its launch the Dacia car remains the best known make. Even though the company has been taken over by French maker Renault, market studies indicated that Romanians wanted to keep the Dacia name from the era of Nicolae Ceausecu's dictatorship, said Kivu, the sociologist.

The Trabant used to be the most popular car in East Germany where now several associations keep the remaining models alive for future generations.

In Poland, loyal users of the Polski Fiat 126 organise several rallies a year to tell mythical stories of how they used to get four people plus bags into the tiny cars.

Among other Polski Fiat myths, a pair of tights could easily replace a broken fan belt, if you were lucky enough to have a spare pair of tights in such austere times.

Mickelson holds off Els to win HSBC Golf Champions

SHANGHAI (AFP) --

Phil Mickelson held off a resurgent Ernie Els in a thrilling finale to win both the WGC-HSBC Champions on Sunday and a personal battle with fellow American Tiger Woods, who faded to finish sixth.

The world number two showed nerves of steel to claim the 1.2-million-dollar winner's cheque by a stroke from the South African after hitting 69 for a 17-under-par total of 271.

Mickelson becomes the first person to win the tournament -- upgraded this year to a World Golf Championship event -- twice, after his triumph in 2007.

He went to the 18th with a one-stroke lead but found the water after botching his approach to the green and finished with a bogey, spoiling an otherwise immaculate course record-matching round of 63.

USPGA Tour stalwart Ryan Moore came third after his 68 left him on 15 under, while Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy powered himself up the leaderboard with a 63 to come fourth a stroke further back.

American Nick Watney was fifth on 275.

Woods, who started two behind Mickelson, faded with an error-strewn front nine.

He recovered on the way home but a bogey at the last summed up a frustrating day for the world number one and he ended with a 72 in joint sixth, five off the pace alongside Germany's Martin Kaymer.

The victory was another personal triumph for Mickelson, who has had a difficult season interrupted by a break to care for his wife and mother who were both diagnosed with breast cancer.

The win also marks his second in a row over Woods, after narrowly beating him at the last tournament they played together, the Tour Championships in September.

The 37-year-old left-hander is hugely popular in China and massive crowds followed him and Woods, who were paired together, on a hot and humid day.

Mickelson picked up a shot on the third but slipped up with bogeys on the fourth and fifth after fluffing easy putts.

He compensated by gaining a shot on the seventh and with Els running hot in front of him, picked up consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th to set up a thrilling finale.

He missed the green on the crucial 16th but sank an under-pressure 18-foot putt to save par and a birdie on the 17th put him back in the lead after Els hit the water.

Mickelson held his nerve coming down the last with a par to win only his second World Golf Championship event in his 29th appearance.

11 killed in Pakistan bomb, anti-Taliban head dies

by Lehaz Ali PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

A suicide car bomber struck near a local mayor's house in Pakistan's Peshawar city Sunday, killing 11 people including the one-time rebel backer turned anti-Taliban crusader, police said.

Pakistan is currently waging an offensive against insurgents in their northwest mountain hideouts, incurring the wrath of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, which has retaliated with a wave of deadly attacks.

"Eleven people have been killed and 36 others wounded. Nine of them are in a critical condition," Anis added.

Hospital officials said that two children were among the dead.

Malik, mayor of Adizai suburb on Peshawar's outskirts since 2006, once had close links to the hardline Taliban movement, but switched sides and had raised a local force to battle the Islamist extremists on the fringes of the city.

"Abdul Malik and a commander of the local anti-Taliban force are also among the dead," Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told AFP.

"Malik passed away on the way to hospital."

An AFP reporter at the scene described the roads littered with the wreckage of cars and the corpses of cattle killed at the livestock market.

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of suicide blasts killing more than 350 people since early October. In the deadliest attack in two years, a car bombing killed 118 people on October 28 in Peshawar, the northwest capital.

Pakistan launched a fierce air and ground offensive into South Waziristan on October 17, with some 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships laying siege to the Pakistan Taliban's bolt-holes.

Military officials have encouraged local officials and tribal elders to raise militias -- known locally as lashkars -- to keep the rebels at bay.

SKorean woman passes driving test on 950th attempt

SEOUL (AFP) --

A 68-year-old woman in South Korea has passed the written test for her driving licence after 950 attempts.

Cha Sa-Soon finally scored the 60 percent required after sitting the exam nearly every day since April 2005, said officials at the drivers' licensing agency in Jeonju, 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of Seoul.

Yonhap news agency said she had spent more than five million won (4,200 dollars) in the process.

But it's not over yet for Cha, who now has to take the road driving part of the test before she can be given a licence.

"I felt so ashamed of myself for failing so many times but I simply could not give it up," Cha told Yonhap.

"My four children were overjoyed at the news that I finally passed it," she said.

"I still have to pass the real driving test but I think it will be easier for me to pass than the paper test," she said, adding that she needed a driver's licence for her vegetable-selling business.

Dalai Lama visits region despite China protest

by Zarir Hussain TAWANG, India (AFP) --

The Dalai Lama arrived in northeast India on Sunday to visit a remote, high-altitude Tibetan monastery on a trip that has infuriated China, which claims the surrounding Himalayan region as its own.

Thousands of Buddhists gave the Tibetan spiritual leader, who has lived in exile in India for 50 years, a rousing welcome as he landed by helicopter near the Tawang monastery, perched at 3,500 metres (11,400 feet) in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tawang -- 400 years old and the second largest Tibetan monastery in India -- holds personal history for the Dalai Lama.

When he fled Tibet in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, Arunachal was his point of entry to India and he took refuge in Tawang at the start of his decades in exile.

Preparations for the week-long tour have been underway for two months, with the monastery receiving a facelift and regular prayers being held across Arunachal for the Dalai Lama's safe journey.

It was not his first visit to Tawang, but the timing has caused Beijing to protest in far stronger fashion than in the past.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh toured the region last month during an election campaign, prompting warnings from Beijing about harming bilateral ties.

The arrival of the Dalai Lama, whom China regards as a "splittist" intent on fomenting separatist unrest in his homeland, is seen as a double provocation.

China accused the Dalai Lama and his exiled "clique" of helping to organise fierce anti-China protests that erupted in Lhasa in March last year and spread across the region.

The Indian government has defended the Dalai Lama's right to travel where he wishes in India, but acknowledged the sensitivity of the visit by barring foreign journalists from covering it.

"His Holiness' only purpose is to bless us and nothing else. A mentor can visit anywhere to bless his disciples," Wangchuk said.

A similar stance was taken by US Undersecretary of State Maria Otero when she visited New Delhi last week.

"He is visiting a monastery, a holy place. And from our perspective, this is one of the roles he plays," Otero said.

The Dalai Lama's office has also taken pains to stress the "spiritual" nature of the visit, which will include three days of religious teachings at Tawang.

But China will see a possible ulterior motive.

The Dalai Lama is 74 and has had several recent health scares, fuelling speculation over the eventual recognition of his reincarnation and successor.

Buddhist devotees had begun arriving in Tawang two days ahead of the visit, and Arunachal Pradesh officials have insisted that the controversy surrounding the trip will not be allowed to spoil the occasion.

"China has no right to interfere in India?s internal matters. We are ready to give him a warm reception and make the visit successful," said the state's chief minister, Dorjee Khandu.

10 people killed in Pakistan car bomb: official

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

At least 10 people were killed and 20 others wounded Sunday when a suicide bomber blew up a car outside the home of a local mayor in Pakistan's northwest Peshawar city, an official said.

"The toll is 10 dead and 20 injured," Peshawar district administration chief Sahibzada Anis told AFP.

"The suicide bomber came in a car and exploded it when the mayor was standing with some visitors outside his guesthouse near the local livestock market," Anis said.

The attack seriously wounded local politician Abdul Malik, who had raised a militia against Taliban rebels, police said earlier.

Suicide bomber kills ten in NW Pakistan: police

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) --

A suicide bomber blew himself up Sunday outside the home of a local politician in Pakistan's northwest Peshawar city, killing ten people, a local official said.

The bomber struck outside the home of local mayor Abdul Malik on the outskirts of the city troubled by Islamist militancy. Malik, one of a number of city mayors, has raised a local militia against Taliban rebels.

Senior police official Mohammad Alim Shinwari told AFP that Malik was "seriously wounded" in the attack.

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of suicide blasts since early October, blamed on Taliban militants avenging both a fierce offensive against them in the northwest and the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud.