PAKISTAN BLAST: Police in Pakistan say a suicide bomber has set off a blast at the
World Food Program office in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, killing
at least four people. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the bomber was apparently
wearing a security guard uniform and used about eight kilograms of
explosives. Malek said the attack was meant to deter the Pakistani government from
fighting the militants, but he added that operations in Swat and
Waziristan will continue. WFP officials say three Pakistanis and one Iraqi national are among the
dead. They say several others were wounded, some in critical condition.
Hours after the attack the United Nations said it is temporarily closing all its offices in the capital. While there has been no immediate claim of responsibility, the bombing
comes just one day after the new Pakistan Taliban leadership vowed to
avenge the killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a missile
strike.
NOBEL PRIZE-MEDICINE: Americans Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak have won this year's prestigious Nobel Prize for medicine.
The Karolinska Institute says the Nobel Committee honored the three
Monday in Sweden. They received the award for their research on cancer
and aging.
The institute said the trio solved a "major problem in biology" when
they discovered how chromosomes are copied and protected against
degradation. The Nobel Committee traditionally awards the prize for medicine first each year.
IRAN-NUCLEAR: The United Nations nuclear chief says Iran will allow inspectors to
visit its newly revealed nuclear facility near Qom on October 25. Mohamed ElBaradei announced the plan Sunday after meeting Iranian officials in Tehran. During the talks, Tehran agreed to meet again with six world powers in
Vienna on October 19. When the parties met in Geneva last Thursday,
Iran said it would allow inspections at the Qom facility.
ElBaradei said Sunday the International Atomic Energy Agency has no
concrete proof that Tehran has an ongoing weapon program. But he said
it is still investigating allegations that Iran has studied nuclear
weapons.
NOKOR-CHINA: Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met Monday with the president of North Korea's legislature, Kim Yong Nam, on the second day of his visit to Pyongyang. China's official Xinhua news agency did not give details of the meeting. Mr. Wen arrived in North Korea Sunday and was greeted at Pyongyang's airport by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
INDONESIA-EARTHQUAKE: Indonesian officials said Monday they had called off the search for earthquake survivors in the devastated city of Padang. Rescue teams in Indonesia's earthquake-shattered West Sumatra region
say they are switching their focus to retrieving bodies buried under
the rubble.
Meanwhile, some children were allowed to return to school for classes,
counseling or to meet with teachers. Others were turned away because of
the danger of possible building collapses. Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari says the death toll
from Wednesday's 7.6 magnitude quake off Sumatra island could reach
3,000. The United Nations says at least 1,100 people were killed.
