Official: Suspect in custody in NY car bomb attack

Official: Suspect in custody in NY car bomb attack

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A law enforcement official says a suspect has been taken into custody in the failed Times Square car bomb attack.

The official spoke to The Associated Press early Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

The propane-and-gasoline bomb was found Saturday in an SUV parked near a Broadway theater showing "The Lion King."

A bomb squad dismantled it. The area was evacuated for 10 hours. No one was hurt.

The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was taken into custody late Monday by FBI agents and New York Police Department detectives while trying to leave the country, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and other officials. He was identified by customs agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport and was stopped before boarding a flight to Dubai, Holder said early Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Shahzad is a naturalized U.S. citizen and had recently returned from a five-month trip to Pakistan, where he had a wife, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation into the failed car bombing.

Shahzad was being held in New York overnight and couldn't be contacted. He has a Shelton, Conn., address; a phone number listed there wasn't in service.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan was handling the case and said Shahzad would appear in court Tuesday, but the charges were not made public.

Law enforcement officials say Shahzad bought the SUV, a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder, from a Connecticut man about three weeks ago and paid cash. The officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.

The vehicle identification number had been removed from the Pathfinder's dashboard, but it was stamped on the engine, and investigators used it to find the owner of record, who told them he had sold the vehicle to a stranger.

As the SUV buyer came into focus, investigators backed off other leads, although Holder said U.S. authorities "will not rest until we have brought everyone responsible to justice," suggesting additional suspects are being sought.

Nukes, trade underpin Kim Jong Il's China visit

Nukes, trade underpin Kim Jong Il's China visit

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with China's president and was expected to meet with its premier Thursday for talks aimed at securing economic aid in exchange for his country's return to international nuclear negotiations, reports said.

Kim's visit has been shrouded in secrecy, with Chinese officials refusing to confirm for a third day that he was in the country. He has been seen by journalists several times since arriving in China on Monday aboard a special armored train.

On Wednesday evening, a fleet of North Korean-flagged limousines escorted by police was seen outside the Great Hall of the People, where Korean news agencies said Kim met with President Hu Jintao that evening and would meet with Premier Wen Jiabao and other leaders Thursday. Another meeting with Hu was possible, the agencies said. Kim was then expected to watch a North Korean remake of the Chinese opera "A Dream of Red Mansions" with Chinese officials.

Security was also very high around the Diaoyutai State Guest House in western Beijing where foreign leaders often stay on official visits. Police, soldiers and plainclothes agents surrounded the compound of lakes and villas. Police closed the road in front and parked a bus at the main gate to block journalists' view.

Thursday's discussions are expected to center on further financial help from China, which already is the biggest source of food and fuel aid for impoverished North Korea and its main bulwark against tougher international sanctions.

China told North Korea it would provide "sufficient" economic aid after the North promised not to stoke regional tension during the six-month Shanghai World Expo which opened last weekend, a Seoul-based activist said Wednesday, citing unidentified informants in Pyongyang.

"China needs to soothe North Korea," said Ha Tae-keung, who runs Open Radio for North Korea, a Seoul-based radio station specializing in North Korea affairs.

Kim decided to visit China to obtain a reconfirmation of aid shipments urgently needed by his country because of deepening food shortages, Ha said.

China is widely seen as having the most clout with Kim's hard-line communist government. Kim has visited China five times since succeeding his father as ruler in 1994, the last time in 2006.

Chinese investment in North Korea has been growing, especially in natural resources, although economic chaos - most recently a botched currency reform effort - limits such opportunities.

Fearing the regime's implosion and mass unrest on its border, China is expected to accede to new aid requests, said Cai Jian, deputy director of the Center for Korean Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University. The sides may also start implementing economic agreements signed during the Chinese premier's trip to North Korea last year, Cai said.

While Beijing won't link the issues explicitly, it will expect Kim to show new willingness to rejoin long-stalled six-nation talks sponsored by China under which North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs in return for aid, Cai said.

An announcement during Kim's visit of a return to the negotiations could bring new talks by June, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. The participants also include South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.

North Korea quit the talks a year ago and then conducted a nuclear test that drew tightened U.N. sanctions.

On Tuesday, a Chinese official at a U.N. conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty underscored Beijing's hopes for a new round of talks.

"China has been committed to promoting diplomatic solutions of the Korean peninsula nuclear issue and the Iranian nuclear issue," said Li Baodong, China's main delegate to the monthlong conference.

Kim's trip also comes amid increasing speculation in South Korea that North Korea may have torpedoed a South Korean warship in disputed waters in March, killing 46 sailors. On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak stopped just short of blaming the North.

North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking, accusing Seoul of spreading false rumors to shore up sanctions against the North and muster conservative votes ahead of mayoral and gubernatorial elections.

Golkar favors Anggito, Darmin to replace Mulyani

Golkar favors Anggito, Darmin to replace Mulyani

The Golkar Party has tipped either Anggito Abimanyu or Darmin Nasution as a replacement for Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is set to begin her tenure as one of the World Bank’s managing directors in June.

Anggito is the current head of the finance ministry fiscal policy department and has been appointed the deputy finance minister, while Darmin is the interim Bank Indonesia governor.

"We need a credible replacement. Anggito Abimanyu and Darmin Nasution ... these two names have the needed credibility," Golkar senior politician Priyo Budi Santoso told reporters at the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Priyo added that Golkar had yet to propose any name to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono concerning Mulyani’s successor.

SBY approves Mulyani’s new assignment

SBY approves Mulyani’s new assignment

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has approved Finance Minister Sri Mulyani’s resignation that will allow her to take the World Bank managing director post.

Speaking in a televised media conference at the State Palace on Wednesday, Yudhoyono said Mulyani’s departure was “a big loss” but ensured that her successor would carry on the financial and tax reforms she had initiated during her tenure.

“As a finance minister Ibu Sri Mulyani has worked very hard to develop an appropriate fiscal policy and reform our financial system to discipline the use of the state budget and improve accountability. She kick-started tax reform which has resulted in a steady increase in state revenue from taxes over the last few years.

“She has been our vanguard of diplomacy in international forums, particularly the G20 and during a time of global crisis she worked hard along with the government to shield Indonesia from the adverse impacts of the crisis,” Yudhoyono said.

The President said he received a letter of request from World Bank president Robert Zoellick on Mulyani’s appointment on Friday last week and met with him to discuss the matter further.

Yudhoyono said he had received Mulyani’s resignation earlier on Wednesday.

The World Bank’s move came on the heels of a political crisis which centers on the House of Representatives’ demand for legal measures against Mulyani and Vice President Boediono in connection with the Bank Century bailout in November 2008.

UK's top 2 parties locked in election standoff

UK's top 2 parties locked in election standoff

Britain's two main parties were locked in a power struggle Friday after an inconclusive election - with Labour's Gordon Brown suggesting he would try to form a coalition and Conservative leader David Cameron insisting the prime minister no longer had a mandate to govern.

Cameron - whose Conservatives outpolled Labour but fell short of winning a majority in Parliament, according to TV projections - claimed that voters had rejected Labour in Britain's national election Thursday.

"Our country wants change. That change is going to require new leadership," Cameron said early Friday, acknowledging negotiations may be needed to determine who will form the next government. "What will guide me will be our national interest."

Speaking earlier in Scotland, Brown vowed to "play my part in Britain having a strong, stable" government - the clearest sign yet that he would try to cling to power and seek an alliance with the third-place Liberal Democrats. He also pledged action on election reform - a key demand of his would-be partners.

Both men seemed relatively subdued, reflecting not just a tiring campaign but also a political culture that prizes strong government and views ambiguous election outcomes as unfortunate.

Political wrangling and a period of uncertainty appear ahead for one of the world's largest economies - a prospect that could unsettle global markets already reeling from the Greek debt crisis and fears of wider debt contagion in Europe. Britain's budget deficit is set to eclipse even that of Greece next year, and whoever winds up in power faces the daunting challenge of introducing big cuts to slash the country's huge deficit.

In London, bond trading started in the middle of the night - six hours earlier than normal - as traders tried to capitalize on early forecasts. UK government bonds rallied in the hope that the Conservatives might manage to form a government.

Official results early Friday showed the Conservatives overtaking Labour in the number of seats won, 226-175, according to broadcaster ITN, with the Liberal Democrats capturing 36 seats.

An analysis by Britain's main television stations suggested the Conservatives will win 305 of the 650 House of Commons seats, short of the 326 seats needed for a majority. Labour was expected to win 255 seats and the Liberal Democrats 61, far less than had been expected after their support surged during the campaign.

The biggest Labour scalp to be lost in the election was former British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who earlier quit her Cabinet post after a widespread expenses scandal. Smith was caught attempting to bill the public for porn movies watched by her husband.

But Labour won the northern England seat of Rochdale - where Brown last week made the biggest gaffe of the campaign, caught on an open microphone referring to an elderly voter as a "bigoted woman" after she buttonholed him on immigration. Brown later visited her home to apologize.

Turnout for Thursday's vote appeared to be high but hundreds of people across the country were prevented from voting when polls closed at 10 p.m. The head of Britain's Electoral Commission said legal challenges to some ballot results were likely from those turned away.

Police had to go to one polling station in east London after 50 angry residents denied the chance to vote staged a sit-in protest. Voters in Sheffield, Newcastle and elsewhere in London also complained that they had been blocked from voting.

The biggest surprise of the night was the poor performance of the Liberal Democrats, whose telegenic leader Nick Clegg had shot to prominence due to stellar TV debate performances and had been expected to play the role of kingmaker. Instead, the party appeared doomed to keep its perennial third-party status.

Robert Worcester, an analyst for pollster IPSOS Mori, said the Liberal Democrats' poor showing could be attributed to a low turnout by their supporters. "They said they would vote and they didn't," he said.

Still, projecting elections based on exit polls is risky - particularly in an exceptionally close election like this one. Polls are based on samples - in this case 18,000 respondents - and always have some margin of error. In addition, thousands have also already cast postal ballots but those results don't factor into the exit polls.

Conservative leaders were adamant that the results meant Brown must go.

"No way this man, who has failed this electoral task, can contemplate forming a government," Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles said of Brown.

But senior Labour figures lost no time in reaching out to the Liberal Democrats in hopes of blocking Cameron.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said, given the election results, Labour and the Liberal Democrats were "honor bound" to talk to each other.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, also Labour's election chief, noted that in a "hung parliament" - one in which no party has a clear majority of seats - the sitting prime minister is traditionally given the first chance to form a government.

In an apparent opening pitch to the Liberal Democrats, Mandelson backed their call for an end to the existing system in which the number of districts won - not the popular vote - determines who leads the country.

"There has to be electoral reform as a result of this election," Mandelson said. The current system, he said, "is on its last legs."

Still, Cameron appears to have a chance of returning rightwing icon Margaret Thatcher's party to power after 13 years in the political wilderness - even though he may have to seek deals with smaller parties.

In theory, a majority requires 326 seats. However, in practice Cameron could govern as a minority government with a dozen or so fewer because of ad hoc alliances he could form for key votes, and the fact that some parties would be unlikely to join a discredited Labour camp.

The Conservatives were ousted by Labour under Tony Blair in 1997 after 19 years in power. Three leaders and three successive election defeats later, the party selected Cameron, a fresh-faced, bicycle-riding graduate of Eton and Oxford who promised to modernize its fusty, right-wing image.

Under Brown, who took over from Blair three years ago, Britain's once high-flying economy, rooted in world-leading financial services, has run into hard times. In addition, at least 1.3 million people have been laid off and tens of thousands have lost their homes in a crushing recession.

Despite the uncertainty, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - a known supporter of Cameron - said on his Twitter feed he'd already called the Tory leader to congratulate him.

"Even though results aren't in we know the Conservatives had a great day," Schwarzenegger wrote.

Sjahril says Susno asks him to stay in Singapore

Sjahril says Susno asks him to stay in Singapore

"Yes, the man contacted me, asking me to stay," Sjahril, who is also a former diplomat, told reporters before undergoing a questioning session at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta.

When asked if the man was a legislator, Sjahril said he did not know the man.

Sjahril also refused to mention where the meeting took place.

Sjahril's lawyer, Hotma Sitompul, added the man came to Sjahril only a day before he returned to Indonesia on April 13, 2010.

Few hours after Sjahril's meeting with the man, Hotma said, Susno was arrested at the Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by a number of National Police's internal affairs officers.

Susno was about to leave for Singapore but he has denied the trip was to meet with Sjahril.

Susno said he wanted to have a medical check-up in Singapore.

After Sjahril arrived in Indonesia, he was brought to the National Police headquarters where he underwent questioning.

Sjahril testified before detectives, according to a recently leaked police document, he once handed over Rp 500 million (US$54,000) in cash to Susno at his house.

The money was allegedly a bribe in connection with a case involving an arowana fish farm in Riau, when Susno was still National Police chief detective.

Post-Mulyani, Boediono in the crosshair

Mulyani and Vice President Boediono have been the target of attacks from legislators at the House of Representatives in the aftermath of the legislative body's investigation into the Bank Century bailout case.

During a plenary session in early March, House legislators deemed Mulyani and Boediono responsible for the bailout that ten-folded to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million), because it was them who authorized the bailout in November 2008, at which time the vice president was Bank Indonesia governor.

Speculations were then rife that Mulyani could be removed, while Boediono could be impeached.

In the latest development, Mulyani has accepted the job offer from the World Bank and will end her term as a minister starting in June. Many critics believe Mulyani's removal is a political compromise between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and one of his coalition partners, the Golkar Party, whose chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, has been involved in numerous public spats with Mulyani.

Golkar executive Priyo Budi Santoso denied an agreement had taken place between Yudhoyono and Aburizal to oust Mulyani. However, he admitted Mulyani's departure could somewhat “politically freeze” the implications of the Bank Century case against her and Boediono.

However, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Secretary General Anis Matta said calls that Mulyani's removal was a favorable exit strategy were wrong.

“If we take a look into the Bank Century case, the biggest responsibility falls on Pak Boediono. He has more responsibility than that of Sri Mulyani,” Anis told reporters at the House in Jakarta on Friday.

Anis also disagreed with Priyo's remarks for freezing the Bank Century case politically.

“Any political implication, including the right for the legislative body to express its opinion for an impeachment, will depend heavily on the results of the supervision conducted by a House monitoring team,” he said.