2017年11月13日 星期一

Capital of China's coal province bans coal sales

Capital of China's coal province bans coal sales

coal Photo: Xinhua
Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province known for coal production, has banned sales, transport and use of coal to tackle air pollution. From Sunday, companies and individuals other than major steel and power plants, are prohibited from selling, transporting or burning coal in the urban area of Taiyuan. Dou Lifen, head of the city's environmental protection bureau, said coal remains the most biggest source for air pollution in winter in the city. The ban is expected to cut coal use by over 2 million tonnes, or 90 percent of the city's total consumption. By winter, the city will renovate heating equipment for 134,000 households in rural and urban areas, replacing coal furnaces with electric or natural gas heaters. After a series of moves, including automobile exhaust and dust control, Taiyuan is expected to see reduction of PM 2.5 and sulfur dioxide by 45 percent, and days of heavy air pollution down 40 percent year on year to 22 days in 2017. 


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Care for elderly facing shortages as aging population continues to grow

Care for elderly facing shortages as aging population continues to grow

Although China's elderly care service industry has developed rapidly, it still faces several problems including a shortage of professional care workers and a lack of engagement of social forces, said an expert.Zheng Gongcheng, president of the China Social Maintenance Society, which was approved by the State Council and registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said at the Third China Elderly Care Service Industry Development Forum held in Guiyang, Guizhou Province on Saturday, that China has 240 million people aged 60 or above and the elderly population will increase by 10 million annually by 2035. The population of people aged 60 or above in China is expected to reach 400 million by 2035, with the number of people aged 80 and above increasing by 1 million annually, said Zheng.By international standards, a country or region is considered to be an "aging society" when the number of people aged 60 or above makes up 10 percent of the population or more.The Ministry of Civil Affairs released a report in August saying that China had more than 230.8 million people aged 60 or above at the end of 2016, 16.7 percent of the total population. According to Xinhua, the country had 140,000 nursing homes and more than 7.3 million beds at the end of 2016, with a year-on-year increase of 20.7 percent and 8.6 percent. Under China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, the country will provide better senior care services by improving the social security system and harnessing the market. 


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Canton Fair attracts 25,000 exhibitors

Canton Fair attracts 25,000 exhibitors

Traders attend the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 15, 2017. The 122nd China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, kicked off here Sunday. The China Import and Export Fair is held every spring and autumn and is seen as a barometer of the country's foreign trade. (Xinhua/Lu Hanxin)
The 122nd China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, opened in south China's Guangzhou city Sunday, drawing around 25,000 companies as exhibitors. More than 160,000 types of products are being exhibited at more than 60,000 booths in an area covering nearly 1.2 million square meters, organizers said. Held in Guangzhou every spring and autumn, the event is seen as a barometer of China's foreign trade. China's foreign trade has maintained its momentum to stabilize and improve, after with a continuous decline in the past couple of years, said Xu Bing, spokesperson for the fair. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed the country's foreign trade volume rose 16.6 percent to 20.29 trillion yuan (3.08 trillion US dollars) in the first three quarters of this year. Exports increased 12.4 percent to 11.16 trillion yuan, while imports surged 22.3 percent to 9.13 trillion yuan. The import exhibition zone of the fair has attracted 341 companies from 17 countries and regions participating the Belt and Road Initiative, which was proposed by China in 2013 to connect the vibrant Asian economic circle at one end and Europe at the other, and then extending it further to other regions. More than 2,000 domestic manufacturers with their own brands attended the event, featuring smart, high-end, low-carbon and customized products. Haier, a world-leading home appliance producer based in east China's Shandong Province, brought its state-of-the-art models to the fair, including a washing machine that can automatically distinguish fabric and colors and a self-cleaning air conditioner able to purify air. Zhang Qingfu, a senior executive of Haier's overseas operation, said the company's "revolutionary technology" has boosted export. From January to August, export of Haier's refrigerators grew by 54 percent year-on-year and that of its washing machines increased by 29 percent, while the sales of smart air conditioners doubled. Hisense, another home appliance producer, recorded year-on-year growth of 30 percent in the overseas revenues in the first nine months. In Japan, deemed as the most inaccessible market for foreign home appliances, its sales doubled compared with the same period last year. In order to help with China's anti-poverty battle, from this event to the 128th in 2020, domestic exhibitors from poor regions will be exempted from exhibition fees and a display zone will be dedicated to products from these areas. More than 500 companies from over 800 poor counties across the country attended the ongoing fair. 


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"Cane toad sausages" created to protect native Aussie species

"Cane toad sausages" created to protect native Aussie species

West Australians are being asked to collect as many cane toads as possible as part of a radical new plan to protect the state's native bird and animal species from the voracious reptile. Scientists from Western Australia (WA) Parks and Wildlife are asking residents to collect the toads - dead or alive - so they can mince them to make cane toad sausages. Corrin Everitt, leader of the State Cane Toad Initiative for WA Parks and Wildlife, said that the cane toad sausages would be fed to the species most at risk from the toads to create a "taste aversion" - meaning the foul taste of the toad causes them to want to avoid toads altogether. "The idea is that we feed toad sausages to animals like northern quolls, and their experience in eating that sausage causes vomiting and aversion to the taste of a toad, and the smell of the toad," Everitt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday. "The work that we have done so far is looking pretty effective ... at the moment, it's looking like between 50 and 70 per cent of the quolls that might be present in a population are taking the sausage and are learning to avoid toads." WA has remained largely unaffected by the cane-toad invasion which has devastated Queensland's wildlife, but the toad is moving west at a rate of 40 to 60 kilometers per year. Richard Shine, a biologist at the University of Sydney who helped develop the taste aversion project, said that native species were most vulnerable to the first toads they encountered. "Within a few months of cane toads arriving in an area, we get something like 95 per cent of the big goannas are dead, and similar numbers for the quolls, blue-tongue lizards and in some areas freshwater crocodiles," Shine told the ABC. "So it's really all about trying to get the sausages right in there at the front. "We can't do that across the entire landscape as the Kimberley (a national park in northern WA) is a very big space, but if we can create pockets where the native predators survive, then they can colonize surrounding areas after the toad front moves through." Researchers from the University of Melbourne are working to implement a waterless barrier on the eastern border of WA to prevent the toads, which are heavily reliant on plentiful water, from spreading in WA. 


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Canada's Ontario adopts motion designating Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day

Canada's Ontario adopts motion designating Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day

Photo taken on Oct. 26, 2017 shows the exterior of Canada's Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto, Canada. Canada's Ontario provincial parliament Thursday passed a motion designating Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day to commemorate the mass killing of 300,000 Chinese by Japanese troops in Nanjing during World War II. (Photo: Xinhua/Zou Zheng)
The legislature of Canada's east-central province of Ontario Thursday passed a motion recognizing Dec. 13th in each year as "Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day."The No. 66 motion, adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, was the first of its kind in a western country.It was introduced by Chinese-Canadian lawmaker Soo Wong in a bid to acknowledge and honor the over 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre, a heinous crime committed by the Japanese militarists during the World War II."The passing of this Motion is an important step in affirming Ontario's inclusive values. It recognizes the horrors of World War II in Asia, and shows humanity for victims, survivors, and families affected by the Nanjing Massacre, many of whom live in Ontario," said Wong in a press release Thursday afternoon."My motion is very similar to what I introduced last year Bill 79. It's no difference. If passed, the motion will recognize every December 13 Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in Ontario," Wong said in an earlier interview with Xinhua.It is important for the residents of Ontario, home to largest Asian community in Canada, to "reflect and educate" themselves about the enduring lessons of the Nanjing Massacre and other World War II atrocities in Asia as many are unfamiliar with this part of history, Wong said.This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese lives were taken by Japanese invaders when they occupied Nanjing, then China's capital, from Dec. 13, 1937.The Bill 79 Wong introduced in 2016 also called for the designation of December 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in Ontario. The bill passed the second reading last December, and will go through a third reading in December this year. If passed, Dec. 13 will become an official commemorative day in the province.However, the bill has encountered strong opposition from Tokyo. Japanese lawmakers reportedly have sent a letter to the Ontario government against the bill and lobbied against its third reading. Almost 100,000 signatures have been collected in Ontario Asian communities in petition to pass Wong's bill so far.Wong said she had received a postcard from Japan with no signature on it, which gives an alternative number of deaths killed in Nanjing during the World War II."We know the history, we also know the fact," Wong said.Moral obligation to tell future generations about WWII carnageThe motion the Ontario legislature adopted Thursday might be still steps away from becoming a law, it still carries great significance for Canada and for the world as a whole, as there is a "moral obligation" to tell future generations about the carnage, terror and tragedies that happened in World War II, Canadian experts said.This Motion is "of great importance" for the Chinese and other Asian communities in Ontario, said Dr. Joseph Wong, founder of Toronto Alpha (Association for Learning and Preserving the History of the Second World War in Asia)."It shows the provincial legislature for the first time recognizes that atrocities in Asia's WWII, symbolized by the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre, did occur and important enough to be remembered every year, and promoted in our education system," Joseph Wong said in a press release on Thursday."The motion does not replace Bill 79. This motion not only is important locally and in Canada as well, it is very important internationally," he said earlier, adding Bill 79 is still at the committee level in the provincial legislature.Remembering the Nanjing Massacre will not be "divisive" for Ontario's Japanese and Chinese communities as some Japanese lawmakers suggested, he said, instead it provides "a foundation" on which all Asian communities can build trust and reconciliation and peace.""As educators we have the responsibility to ensure our students understand the realities of World War II in Asia so we can have a more authentic dialogue about social justice, courage and humanity," said Gerry Connelly, an ALPHA education board member and former director of education at the Toronto district school board."This Motion for the 'Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day' is a big step in raising awareness to stimulate this dialogue," Connelly said.Karen Lin, an Associate at Solstice Public Affairs, couldn't agree more.Canadian students learn about the horrible tragedy that happened when the U.S. army dropped atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, unfortunately, Ontarians have not had the opportunity to learn and understand the series of events leading up to the military action conducted by the U.S. army in Japan, said Lin in an open letter to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne recently.Neither have Ontarians had the opportunity to learn about the tragedies of the killing of many innocent lives in China, Korea, the Philippines and many other East Asian countries by a brutal Japanese military occupation, Lin said.Lin's letter was widely endorsed by more than 100 registered Chinese Canadian Organizations, registered Chinese Canadian Cultural Groups and Associations, various associations from different ethnic communities as well as many labor unions across Ontario.Many prominent Japanese Canadians such as Joy Kogawa have spoken out in support of Bill 79.Joy Kogawa, who is Japanese Canadian and an author in Toronto, said that she fully supported the bill."The facts are the facts, and it is wrong to deny them," said Kogawa, who's been awarded the Order of Canada and Japan's Order of the Rising Sun.It's time for atrocities in Asia to be as well-known as those in Europe or Canada, Kogawa said, adding she has met and argued with many Japanese people who think the Rape of Nanking did not exist.In November 2007, the House of Commons, the lower house of Canadian federal legislature, unanimously passed a motion urging Japan to offer "formal and sincere" apologies to foreign women forced into sexual servitude during World War II. Canada played a vital role in defending Hong Kong against the Japanese military invasion as part of the commonwealth during the war. 


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2017年11月9日 星期四

Africans’ call for apology over ‘racism’ overreaction: Wuhan curator

Africans’ call for apology over ‘racism’ overreaction: Wuhan curator

Statement from Wang Yuejun, curator of the photography exhibition "This is Africa."
Members of the African community in Wuhan and in other parts of China are calling on a museum in Central China's Hubei Province to apologize for a photo exhibition that has the faces of Africans, including young children, next to wild animals.After receiving complaints about the offensive nature of the images, the Hubei Museum in Wuhan removed the photos on Wednesday.Wang Yuejun, curator in charge of the exhibit, called the complaints "overreactions" and declined to apologize, insisting that they had done nothing wrong. "We did not intend to discriminate against any culture," said Wang. "The Chinese have a tradition of association with animals, such as the 12 zodiac animals. The photos just call for harmony between humans and animals," he stressed. The exhibition titled "This is Africa" was scheduled to open from September 28 to October 17, with 150 photos from the African continent on display. It is 12 of them, titled Xiang you xin sheng (meaning "face comes from heart") that are at the heart of the uproar.Members of the African community in China said that juxtaposing the images of Africans with animals suggests that blacks are animals, saying it is a very offensive stereotype and encourages the perpetuation of racism."I saw it as disrespectful. I felt they really disrespected the African people and misrepresented Africa," said Samantha Sibanda, a Zimbabwean and founder of the Appreciate Africa Network.Wang said his team had spoken with some African students in Wuhan about the complaints and that some of them said "they could understand."Amid the outcry, the museum's deputy director surnamed Zeng said the photos and design came from the sponsors and they only provide the room.



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Airport opens near traditional ice-fishing lake

Airport opens near traditional ice-fishing lake

A new airport began service Sunday in Songyuan, a city well known for a centuries-old tradition of ice-fishing, in northeast China's Jilin Province. New air routes linking Songyuan with Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao were launched the same day, with more destinations to be added soon. Preparations for the airport began in 2008, and construction officially started in July 2015. Covering an area of 190 hectares, the airport is designed to handle 400,000 passengers and 2,000 tonnes of cargo and mails annually by 2020. The airport, only 27 kilometers from Chagan Lake Nature Reserve, is expected to help boost the local tourism industry. Every winter, tens of thousands of tourists come to the ice-covered lake, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the country, to watch fishermen use traditional ice-fishing techniques dating back nearly 2,000 years. 


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All 38 delegations arrive in Beijing for CPC congress

All 38 delegations arrive in Beijing for CPC congress

Delegates of Hunan Province to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) arrive in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2017. The congress will start on Oct. 18 in Beijing.Photo: Xinhua
Delegates of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) arrive at Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2017. The congress will start on Oct. 18 in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua
All 38 delegations to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) had arrived in Beijing by Monday evening for the upcoming political event.The delegations represent the Chinese mainland's 31 provincial regions, departments of the CPC Central Committee, central government organs, enterprises controlled by the central government, central financial system, the People's Liberation Army, the Armed Police, and CPC members of Taiwan origin.More than 2,200 delegates, chosen from more than 89 million CPC members across the nation, will attend the twice-a-decade congress, scheduled to open Wednesday.The delegates will deliberate an 18th CPC Central Committee report, a CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection work report and an amendment to the CPC Constitution at the congress.The congress is also expected to unveil new CPC leadership and set a blueprint for national development for the next five years and beyond. 


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Afghanistan becomes a member of the AIIB

Afghanistan becomes a member of the AIIB

Afghanistan has obtained permanent membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the country's finance ministry reported on its website on Sunday. Afghan Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi received the Certificate of Permanent Membership of the AIIB on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetinglast week in Washington, the US, the ministry said in a statement. Hakimi also met Jin Liqun, president of the AIIB, and discussed a number of topics including Afghanistan's membership of the bank, financial and technical facilities for Afghan solar energy, the railway connectivity of five countries (Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran and China), and financing for infrastructure projects, the statement noted. "Afghanistan's membership in the bank is very important and paves the way for the implementation of major national projects," the statement said. The AIIB, which was initiated by China and formally established in 2015, aims to provide financing to address the huge demand for infrastructure across Asia. 


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Aerospace expert named military equipment head

Aerospace expert named military equipment head

An aerospace expert has been appointed as head of a department in the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Military Commission (CMC) ahead of the 19th National Congress of the CPC.This is the seventh personnel change to be announced since the start of the military reform.The PLA Daily reported on Monday that Li Shangfu attended the opening ceremony of an event on military and civilian integration and high-tech equipment in Beijing.The report said that Li replaced Zhang Youxia as head of the CMC Equipment Development Department, and this was the first time Li used his new title in public. The report didn't say what Zhang's new role will be.Li was a senior official of China's space project. He used to be the director of China's main satellite launch sites in Xichang, Southwest China's Sichuan Province and has played a major role in lunar exploration missions. In February 2016, Li was appointed as vice commander of the PLA's Strategic Support Force.This marks the seventh major personnel change within the CMC (eight in all) since the military reform. Defense Minister Chang Wanquan remains as the only CMC official not to be reassigned. Zhou Yaning graced the event as commander of the PLA Rocket Force. This means Zhou replaced Wei Fenghe. Song Puxuan, the former commander of the Northern Theater Command, was appointed as the new head of the CMC Logistical Support Department, while his predecessor Zhao Keshi hosted the logistics meeting in Beijing as a member of the CMC last week.Other major personnel changes all happened in 2017. Shen Jinlong replaced Wu Shengli as PLA Navy commander in January; Li Zuocheng replaced Fang Fenghui as chief of the Joint Staff Department of the PLA in August; Ding Laihang replaced Ma Xiaotian as commander of the PLA Air Force, and Miao Hua replaced Zhang Yang as head of the Political Work Department of the PLA in September.Global Times 


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2017年11月3日 星期五

13 killed as army helicopter crashes in Indonesia

13 killed as army helicopter crashes in Indonesia
JAKARTA - An Indonesian army helicopter with 19 people on board crashed on Saturday in Malinau in North Kalimantan, killing 13 people and seriously injuring 6 others, an army spokesman said.
The helicopter MI-17 went down in deep forest in Malinau on the border between Indonesia and Malaysia at 10:30 am local time when it lost power, Sepri Jasodin, spokesman of Indonesian army, told Xinhua by phone.
"13 people were dead and 6 others seriously burned who are being treated in a hospital in Tarakan," he said.
"All the bodies will be evacuated to Tarakan," he added.
The helicopter departed from Tarakan to Malinau, carrying construction workers and materials for the building of a border checkpoint, said Jasodin.
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11 trapped miners rescued from S. African mine

11 trapped miners rescued from S. African mine
Rescue officials move a rock removed from an abandoned gold shaft as they work to rescue trapped suspected illegal miners in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, Feb 16, 2014. South African rescuers started bringing to the surface at least 30 illegal miners on Sunday who had been trapped by debris in the abandoned gold shaft near Johannesburg, emergency services ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. Vermaak later told Reuters that some of the miners still underground were refusing to come up, saying they did not want to be arrested. [Photo/Agencies]
JOHANNESBURG - Eleven of the more than 200 illegal miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine near Johannesburg have been brought to surface, rescuers said on Sunday.
The miners were trapped after allegedly being robbed of their gold by rival miners on Saturday afternoon at the Gold One shaft in Benoni east of Johannesburg.
The rescued miners were going through a medical assessment, said Werner Vermaak, spokesman of emergency agency ER24.
So far no injuries have been reported, according to Vermaak.
Disaster management and emergency officers were still at the scene as the rescue operation continued.
The miners were found on Sunday while emergency services were conducting operations around illegal mining in the area.
Vermaak said earlier that about 30 people were trapped towards the top of the old shaft and the rest down a steep tunnel.
He said rescue workers were able to speak to the miners trapped near the top. The miners reportedly told rescuers that no one was injured.
However, the conditions underground were unknown, Vermaak said.
Water was lowered down to the miners who are believed to be about five metres underground.
The incident highlighted the growing concern about illegal mining in the country. In March 2012, at least 20 illegal miners were buried alive after a rockfall hit a closed gold mine in the eastern South African province of Gauteng.
Early last month, 40 illegal miners were rescued after being trapped at a mine shaft, west of Johannesburg.
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13 killed at Russian train station

13 killed at Russian train station
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TV footage showed emergency services carrying out victims.[Photo/Xinhua]?MOSCOW - A female suicide bomber killed at least 13 people at a train station in the Russian city of Volgograd on Sunday, authorities said, in the deadliest such blast outside the volatile North Caucasus region in nearly three years.The second deadly attack in southern Russia in three days will bolster fears of attacks by Islamist militants as Russia prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea city of Sochi in less than six weeks' time.
The suicide bomber detonated her explosives in front of a metal detector just inside the main entrance of the train station, the federal Investigative Committee said. It said at least 13 people were killed and the number of wounded was not yet known.
As many as 50 people were wounded in the blast that blew out the windows of the lower floors of the imposing columned building, a health ministry spokesman told Rossiya-24 television.
TV footage showed emergency services carrying out victims, with at least one body lying motionless on the ground.
"I heard the blast and ran toward it," a witness, Vladimir, told Rossiya-24. "I saw melted, twisted bits of metal, broken glass and bodies lying on the street."
Volgograd is a city of around 1 million people, about 430 miles (690 km) northeast of Sochi, where the Winter Olympics - a major prestige project for President Vladimir Putin - will open on Feb 7.
It lies close to Russia's North Caucasus, a strip of mostly Muslim provinces plagued by near-daily violence in a long-running ?Islamist insurgency. Insurgent leader Doku Umarov, a Chechen warlord, urged militants in a video posted online in July to use "maximum force" to prevent Putin staging the Olympics.
An attack by a female suicide bomber killed seven people in Volgograd on October 21.
On Friday, a car bomb killed three people in the southern Russian city of Pyatigorsk, 270 km (170 miles) east of Sochi.


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12 Zika cases registered in Germany in May

12 Zika cases registered in Germany in May
BERLIN -- One month after the introduction of an official reporting requirement for Zika virus, authorities have registered 12 cases of the disease in Germany, local media reported on Wednesday.Newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung reported the number of officially registered Zika cases in Germany has risen to 56 since October. However, a reporting requirement has been only in force since May 1.
A spokeswoman of the Robert Koch Institute, an organization responsible for disease control and prevention, was quoted as saying: "We believe that each of these patients has been infected while traveling."
There may be a significant number of unreported cases in Germany, since the course of the infection can run mildly and affected persons often do not go to the doctor, she said.
Zika has so far been detected in about 60 countries. Particularly affected are countries in Central and South America.
Zika is mainly spread by mosquito bites. The World Health Organization, however, pointed out that Zika is also sexually transferable.
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11 militants killed in Afghan raids within day

11 militants killed in Afghan raids within day
KABUL - Eleven militants killed in operations in different Afghan provinces since early Saturday, said the country's Interior Ministry Sunday morning.
"In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several cleanup operations with the cooperation of army, National Directorate for Security (NDS) and Coalition Forces, killing 11 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining six others," the ministry said in a statement.
The ANP also seized weapons during the raids which were carried out in Farah, Wardak, Uruzgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Badakhshan, Kunduz and Nangarhar provinces, it added.
The ANP also recovered and defused seven landmines in Kunar, Sar-e-Pul and Logar provinces, the statement noted.
The Taliban, which has been waging an insurgency since its regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in late 2001, has not made comments yet.
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