Moscow: Iran has no long-range missiles, a Russian defence official said on Tuesday, in Moscow's first response to a series of tests conducted by Tehran near the vital Strait of Hormuz oil supply route.


"Iran does not have the technology to create intermediate or long-range inter-continental ballistic missiles," defence ministry spokesman Vadim Koval told the Interfax news agency. 

"And it will not get such missiles any time soon," he added. 

Iran reported testing three missiles close to the Gulf oil-transit waterway yesterday amid preparations by Western powers to impose more economic sanctions over Tehran's nuclear drive. 

Two of the missiles can fly a maximum 200 kilometres, generally considered short-range weapons, although the Iranian media and a navy spokesman described one of them as "long-range". 

The other, a Nasr anti-ship missile, had a shorter range of 35 kilometres.

Russia has relatively close ties with Iran and built its first nuclear power station in the southern city of Bushehr. Moscow has also delivered the nuclear fuel for the reactor. 

Moscow has echoed Western concerns about the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme but has stopped short of publicly accusing Tehran of seeking atomic weapons and always said that the standoff should be solved by diplomacy. 

Kabul: The Afghan Taliban say they have reached a preliminary deal with the Gulf state of Qatar to open a liaison office there that could have a key role in peace talks to end more than a decade of war. 

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Tuesday the liaison office will conduct negotiations with the international community. He did not say when it would open. 


Mujahid's statement says the Taliban held negotiations with Qatar's government and other "relevant parties" about the office's opening. 

For the US and its allies, the idea of a Taliban political office in Doha has become the central element in efforts to draw the insurgents into peace talks. 

This year, a familiar face will be missing at Dream Academy's annual year-end extravaganza, Crazy Christmas- A Little Bit of Naughty and A Whole Lot of Nice.

Established theater actress Emma Yong has suffered a relapse of stomach cancer and will not be performing in the musical comedy as one of the popular Dim Sum Dolly trio.

She will be replaced by radio deejay and actress Denise Tan. The other two dollies are actresses Pam Oei and Selena Tan.

Dream Academy announced on Tuesday that Yong will pull out of Crazy Christmas to undergo a new course of treatment due to the recurrence of her illness. She is not well enough to go on with the show.

Earlier this year, Yong, one of the most prominent faces in local musical theater, was diagnosed with stomach cancer but was given the all clear in the middle of the year.

News of her relapse comes after another shocker: the sudden death of another member of the Crazy Christmas cast, Filipino-Australian actor RJ Rosales, who was found dead in his Sydney apartment.

Dream Academy, which produces Dim Sum Dollies, Broadway Beng and the Hossan Leong Show among others, however, stressed that the show will go on.

On being Yong's replacement, Tan said in a press statement," When Selena asked me if I could step in and to play a Dim Sum Dolly, I was quite surprised but Emma's a very good friend and I am very happy to help out.

"So far, it's been exciting and challenging at rehearsals."

Yong expressed her gratitude towards Denise and the Dream Academy for being "so supportive at this challenging time".

Fans are praying for her full recovery.

Said Joleen Koh, 31, who has caught Emma in Dim Sum Dollies and Cabaret, "She is a wonderful singer and has fantastic stage presence. It is a shame given how I thought she has recovered fully. I hope she will rest well and make a smooth and swift recovery."

Crazy Christmas also stars drag queen diva Kumar, Sebastian Tan as Broadway
Beng, George Chan, Robin Goh, John Lee and a cappella group, Vocaluptuous.

The show will open 14 December at the Esplanade Theatres.

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It could be considered a bold move to strip down in the cold, but c'mon… Just look… The actress is heating up the beach.

A recent global survey shows S'pore rising to be the sixth most costly city in Asia

S’pore sixth most costly city in Asia: Survey

Regional director of ECA International Asia Lee Quane said rising prices in Singapore might erode the cost advantages it used to have over other cities in the region. (Yahoo! file photo)

Singapore has jumped two places to be the sixth most expensive city in Asia, according to a global survey.

This comes on the back of a stronger local dollar against major currencies and a 5.7 per cent rise in the average price of goods and services.

For the first time, Singapore also ranked ahead of its closest competitor Hong Kong, which slipped from sixth last year to ninth position in this year.

The annual Cost of Living survey, conducted by ECA International in September this year, used indicators comprising of day-to-day goods and services such as the price of groceries, clothing and electrical goods. It measured cost of living in more than 400 cities.

Regional director of ECA International Asia Lee Quane said, “When we look at the overall cost of ECA’s basket of goods and services in Singapore a year ago, these items were 1.7 per cent less expensive in Singapore than when purchased in Hong Kong.”

“Now those same items are 8.5 per cent more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong.”

With rising prices in the Lion City, Quane noted that this might erode some of the cost advantage that Singapore used to have over other destinations in the region.

For one, companies will now have to pay their staff a higher allowance when they send them to Singapore, she said. However, the rising prices are “unlikely” to deter companies from relocating their staff to the country, she added.

Compared to countries worldwide, Singapore rose from 42nd to 32nd position while Hong Kong, which saw an increase in the price of goods, dropped 26 places to 58th position – the largest fall among Asian cities.

"When we look at Hong Kong in a regional context, the weak dollar means that the city is now cheaper than a number of other locations including Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai, where not only has there been significant price inflation but also currencies have strengthened,” said Quane.

Meanwhile, Tokyo remains the most expensive city in Asia for the second consecutive year. It is followed by three other Japanese cities, Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe, as well as the Korean city of Seoul.

Rounding up the top ten after Singapore is Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Busan.

The Japanese capital also topped the global ranking for the second year running, due largely to the recent sharp rise of the country’s currency. Coming in second and third are Oslo and Geneva.

Islamabad: Pakistan, enraged by a NATO cross-border attack that killed 24 soldiers, could end support for the US-led war on militancy if its sovereignty is violated again, the Foreign Minister said, warning "enough is enough." 

The South Asian nation has already shown its anger over the weekend strike by pulling out of an international conference in Germany next week on Afghanistan, depriving the talks of a central player in efforts to bring peace to its neighbour.


 "Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier's blood," The News newspaper on Thursday quoted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar as telling a Senate committee on foreign affairs. 

"Pakistan's role in the war on terror must not be overlooked," Khar said, suggesting Pakistan could end its support for the US war on militancy. Despite opposition at home, Islamabad backed Washington after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. 

The US embassy released a video statement on YouTube by Ambassador Cameron Munter in which he expressed regret for the attack. 

"I would like to extend my most sincere condolences to the people and government of Pakistan, and especially to Pakistan's men and women in uniform, for the tragic incident that took place on Nov 26 in Mohmand Agency," he said, standing in front of US and Pakistani flags. 

"We regret it very much," he added in Urdu. 

He said the United States took the attack "very seriously" and pledged a "a full, in-depth investigation." 

"Pakistan and the US have stood together for over 60 years," he said. "We have weathered previous crises together. I'm certain we will weather this one too, and emerge, together, as stronger partners." 

But events seemed to be working against lowering tensions. Two Pakistani men were killed in Afghanistan early on Thursday and Pakistani border guards said NATO may have been responsible. 

The officials said the two men, who were from the town of Chagai in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, were gathering wood 30 km (18.6 miles) inside Afghanistan. They said NATO helicopters fired on their vehicle. 

"I can confirm that the bodies of two residents of Chagai have arrived from Afghanistan," said Chagai Assistant Commissioner Tufail Baloch. "But I do not have any information on how they were killed. It happened on Afghan soil so we don't have many details yet." 

NATO officials had no immediate comment. 

NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military border posts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday in the worst incident of its kind since 2001. 

The top US military officer denied allegations by a senior Pakistani army official that the NATO attack was a deliberate act of aggression. 

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news agency Reuters in an interview: "The one thing I will say publicly and categorically is that this was not a deliberate attack. 

The incident has given the Army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history and sets security and foreign policy, some breathing room after facing strong criticism from both the Pakistani public and the United States after Osama bin Laden was killed in a secret raid by US special forces in May. 

The al Qaeda leader had apparently been living in a Pakistani garrison town for years. 

Pakistanis criticised the military for failing to protect their sovereignty and US officials wondered whether some members of military intelligence had sheltered him. Pakistan's government and military said they had no idea bin Laden was in the country. 

Protests have taken place in several cities every day since the NATO strike along the poorly-defined border, where militants often plan and stage attacks. 

Pakistan military sources said Islamabad had cancelled a visit by a 15-member delegation, led by the Director General of the Joint Staff, Lieutenant-General Mohammad Asif, to the United States that was to have taken place this week. 

In an apparently unrelated attack, a bomb blew out a wall of a government official's office in Peshawar, the last big city on the route to Afghanistan, early on Thursday, police said. There were no reports of casualties. 

Also in the eastern Afghan province of Logar, unknown gunmen abducted seven Pakistani engineers in Pul-e Alam, said provincial police chief Gulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai. 

The United States has long wanted Pakistan, whose military and economy depend heavily on billions of dollars in American aid, to crack down on militant groups that cross its unruly border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan. 

More recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Pakistan to bring all militant groups to the negotiating table in order to stabilize Afghanistan. 

The NATO attack makes Pakistani cooperation less likely. 

NATO hopes an investigation it promised will defuse the crisis and that confidence-building measures can repair ties. 

Critics say Pakistan has created a deadly regional mess by supporting militants like the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network to act as proxies in Afghanistan and other groups to fight Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region. 

Pakistan says it has paid the highest price in the war on militancy. Thousands of soldiers and police have been killed. 

"The sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war on terror are more than any other country," Khar was quoted as saying. "But that does not mean we will compromise on our sovereignty." 

Cairo (CNN) -- Reveling in their opportunity to vote in a post-Mubarak era, Egyptians headed to the polls Tuesday for the second day of the country's parliamentary elections.

The voting this week marks the first time some Egyptians -- young and old -- have ever cast ballots. Citizens are picking members of the lower house of Parliament, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution.

Egypt's stock exchange opened considerably higher Tuesday and saw an unprecedented wave of buying amid the elections.

The head of Egypt's election committee promised a smoother voting process Tuesday after logistical problems and illegal campaigning affected polling in some areas Monday. Voters decried the late opening of polling stations and a delay in the arrival of ballots.

State TV reported that 25 people were injured in election-related violence.

Election officials said they have received 964 complaints, 579 of which have been addressed, according to Egypt TV.

But many voters expressed jubilation at their chance to help build a new Egypt after a popular revolt toppled President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year regime in February."Before, there was always cheating. Now -- I could be wrong -- but I think my vote will count," Mohamed Rida'a Mohamed Abdulla said as he left a Cairo polling station.Some polling areas were segregated by gender. Lines at both men's and women's stations snaked around buildings for hours."It's an awakening," one woman said, beaming, at a Cairo polling station. "I'm very happy, and I feel that even when I see old ladies hardly walking, it makes me feel that really Egypt is reviving."The stakes are high for Egyptian women who worry that if Islamists gain a majority in the lower house of Parliament, their hopes for a more liberal life will be quashed.In Alexandria, the Al Noor Salafi Muslim party and the Freedom and Justice Party accused one another of breaking an "honorable agreement" aimed at cooperation. The Freedom and Justice Party is part of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, one of the nation's largest organizations.Yousri Hamad, a spokesman for the Al Noor Salafi party, said the Muslim Brotherhood spread false rumors and launched a "smear campaign" against the party."We were not as prepared for the elections as we should have been and did not spend enough money on the campaigning," Hamad said.But Esam El Erian, spokesman for the Freedom and Justice Party, said the Salafis had breached the agreement by making such accusations without evidence.Ali Al Dali, an official monitor for the Egyptian Association of Human Rights, said eight cases of vote-buying had been documented in Alexandria, and police had been notified. About 45% of eligible voters in the city had cast ballots, he said.Elections for the lower house are scheduled to take place in three stages, based on geography. The last of the three stages is set to take place January.Upper house elections will run between January and March.Egyptians have dozens of political parties and thousands of independent candidates to choose from. The Muslim Brotherhood is expected to perform well in the election.Presidential elections will be held by June, according to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Egypt's acting ruling body. Military leaders have said they will hand over power to a new government when one is elected, but many Egyptians say they don't trust the council and fear the military will cling to power.Over the past two weeks, at least 42 people have been killed in clashes as protesters called for an immediate end to military rule. An additional 3,250 have been wounded, according to the Health Ministry.Some Egyptians expressed skepticism or even boycotted the voting on Monday."There is no inclination that the judiciary is independent, so there is no way to prove the election will be free and fair," said Amr Hamzawy, a 32-year-old shopkeeper.Despite the masses who flocked to polling stations Monday, some remained cautious about how much Egypt could evolve after one election cycle."We're not changing in one month, or a year, or five years. It will take a long time to change from one system to the other," one woman said on the streets of Cairo. "We've been going with this system for the past 30 years, and it's not like a button we push to change everything."

Pakistan's government has ordered the U.S. to "vacate" an air base used for suspected drone attacks, in retaliation for a NATO strike that allegedly killed two-dozen Pakistani soldiers, Fox News has confirmed. 

The demand marked the latest reprisal out of Pakistan, as the U.S. and NATO allies scramble to investigate the incident. Islamabad had already ordered the country's border crossings into Afghanistan closed, blocking off NATO supply lines, after the strike. The government issued the air base demand, and pledged a "complete review" of its relationship with the U.S. and NATO, following an emergency military meeting chaired by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

Pakistan's Defense Committee condemned the attack in a written statement, saying the strike was "violative of international law and had gravely dented the fundamental basis of Pakistan's cooperation" with NATO against terrorists. 

"The attack on Pakistan Army border posts is totally unacceptable and warrants an effective national response," the statement said. 

The government urged the U.S. to leave the Shamsi Air Base within 15 days. The U.S. is suspected of using the facility in the past to launch armed drones and observation aircraft. Pakistan made a similar demand over the summer, though officials reportedly claimed the CIA had already suspended its use of the base as a staging ground for armed drones months earlier. 

"Senior U.S. civilian and military officials have been in touch with their Pakistani counterparts from Islamabad, Kabul and Washington to express our condolences, our desire to work together to determine what took place, and our commitment to the U.S.-Pakistan partnership which advances our shared interests, including fighting terrorism in the region," the White House said in a statement Saturday. 

Still, the tone of the Pakistani government's statement Saturday underscored the depth of the potential fallout after Pakistan accused NATO aircraft of firing on two army checkpoints and killing 24 soldiers. The incident early Saturday quickly exacerbated tensions between the two countries and threatened to escalate into a standoff more severe than one last year after a similar but less deadly strike. 

Last year, Pakistan closed the Torkham border crossing to NATO supplies for 10 days after U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistanis. On Saturday, Pakistan went further, closing both of the country's border crossings into landlocked Afghanistan. 

A short stoppage may have little effect on the war effort, but could have deadly consequences. During last year's dispute, militants took advantage of the impasse to launch attacks against stranded or rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies. 

With 24 dead in the pre-dawn incident Saturday, U.S. officials expressed regret and vowed to launch an investigation. If confirmed, it would be the deadliest friendly fire incident by NATO against Pakistani troops since the Afghan war began a decade ago.

"This incident has my highest personal attention and my commitment to thoroughly investigate it to determine the facts," said Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. 

"My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan Security Forces who may have been killed or injured." 

A statement said NATO leadership remains "committed" to improving security ties with Pakistan. 

In a statement by the Department of Defense and Department of State Secretaries Clinton and Panetta  said they hae both been monitoring the reports of the cross-border incident and offered their condolences. 

They also offered their full support of NATO's intention to investigate immediately. 

The statement also said that Secretary Clinton, Gen. Dempsey and Gen. Allen each called their Pakistani counterparts and that Ambassador Munter met with Pakistani government officials in Islamabad. 

The statement stressed that the U.S. diplomatic and military leaders made clear the importance of the U.S.-Pakistani partnership, "which serves the mutual interests of our people."

The leaders  "pledged to remain in close contact with their Pakistani counterparts going forward as we work through this challenging time."

Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, told Fox News that the air support was called in by ground forces near the border consisting of Afghan and coalition troops. Jacobson said the air support "highly likely caused the Pakistani casualties," and said it is in everybody's interest to quickly investigate the incident. 

"This is an incident that obviously has implications that reach far beyond the military side, so an investigation was started straight away," he told Fox News on Saturday. He said insurgents are the only ones who would benefit from a potential conflict. 

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter also acknowledged the claims that Pakistani soldiers had been killed. 

"I regret the loss of life of any Pakistani servicemen, and pledge that the United States will work closely with Pakistan to investigate this incident," Munter said.
U.S.-Pakistani relations have lurched from one diplomatic standoff to the next since the U.S. raid that killed Usama bin Laden in May in a Pakistani military town. 

Before retiring, outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen in September publicly accused elements of Pakistan's spy agency of helping the militant Haqqani network in attacks against the U.S. and its allies. 

Most recently, the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. resigned amid claims he engineered a memo to Washington asking for its help in reining in the military in exchange for a raft of pro-American policies. He has denied any connection to the memo, but was replaced earlier this week by democracy activist Sherry Rehman. 

The latest incident triggered a new round of problems between the two countries. 

Gilani told reporters he summoned Munter to protest the alleged NATO attack, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. It said the attack was a "grave infringement of Pakistan's sovereignty" and could have serious repercussions on Islamabad's cooperation with NATO. Pakistan has also lodged protests in Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels, it said. 

A Pakistani customs official told The Associated Press that he received verbal orders Saturday to stop all NATO supplies from crossing the border through Torkham in either direction. The operator of a terminal at the border where NATO trucks park before they cross confirmed the closure.
Saeed Ahmad, a spokesman for security forces at the other crossing in Chaman in southwest Pakistan, said that his crossing was also blocked following orders "from higher-ups." 

The U.S., Pakistani, and Afghan militaries have long wrestled with the technical difficulties of patrolling a border that in many places is disputed or poorly marked.
Saturday's incident took place a day after a meeting between NATO's Gen. Allen and Pakistan army chief Gen. Kayani in Islamabad to discuss border operations. 

The checkpoints that were attacked had been recently set up and were intended to stop Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan from crossing the border and staging attacks, said two local government administrators. 

The Pakistani military has blamed Pakistani Taliban militants and their allies for killing dozens of security forces in such cross-border attacks since the summer. Pakistan has criticized Afghan and foreign forces for not doing enough to stop the attacks, which it says have originated from the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. The U.S. has largely pulled out of these provinces, leaving the militants in effective control of many areas along the border. 

The U.S. helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers on Sept. 30 of last year took place south of Mohmand in the Kurram tribal area. A joint U.S.-Pakistan investigation found that Pakistani soldiers fired at the two U.S. helicopters prior to the attack, a move the investigation team said was likely meant to notify the aircraft of their presence after they passed into Pakistani airspace several times. 

Senior U.S. diplomatic and military officials eventually apologized for the attack, saying it could have been prevented with greater coordination between the U.S. and Pakistan. Pakistan responded by reopening the border crossing.