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| July 5, 2005 | Tuesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Ethnic clash in Slovak-Hungarian border town Bratislava (DPA) - Riot police Tuesday broke up a scuffle between scores of Slovaks and Hungarians in an ethnically tense border town, the Slovak news agency TASR reported. Three people were detained, but apparently no one was injured during the confrontation in Komarno, a town of 40,000 on Slovakia's bank of the Danube River, about 100 kilometres southeast of Bratislava. The trouble began during a nationalist street rally by about 50 Slovaks who waved flags and chanted slogans to mark Tuesday's state holiday, Cyril and Methodius Day. Some were wearing black shirts, the report said. The report said a clash with clubs broke out between young men from the rally and a group of about 40 ethnic Hungarians, but police were prepared and managed to separate the groups.(Posted @ 23:20 PST)
Two Chinese men arrested in Zimbabwe over ivory stash Harare (DPA) - Police in Zimbabwe arrested two Chinese nationals for possession of 72 tusks of ivory worth an estimated 50,000 U.S. dollars, national radio reported Tuesday. The pair were arrested at a house in a suburb of Harare, the report said. "The two will soon appear in court facing charges of contravening some sections of the National Parks and Wildlife Management Act," the report added, noting it is an offence to deal in ivory without official permits. The largest tusk, weighing 33 kilogrammes, alone was worth more than 1,100 dollars.(Posted @ 23:15 PST)
More than 10,000 people evacuated from advancing fire on French Riviera DRAGUIGNAN, France, July 5 (AFP) - More than 10,000 people -- many of them foreign tourists -- were evacuated from six camping grounds on the French Riviera Tuesday as an intense forest fire driven by high winds advanced on their tents and caravans, officials said.Emergency services said it appeared the fire had started in three different locations around the village of Puget sur Argens, near the chic coastal town of Saint Raphael, and was raging through dry woodland.More than 400 firefighters, backed by dozens of vehicles and 11 aircraft, were battling the flames, trying to stop them before they spread to the many homes built in the forested area.(Posted @ 22:05 PST)
India rules out accepting US missile defence system NEW DELHI, July 5 (AFP) - India on Tuesday ruled out accepting a missile defence system from the United States. "There is no question of accepting (a) missile shield from anyone," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a news conference in reply to a question."What we are interested in is developing our own missile programme and we are doing that."(Posted @ 20:05 PST)
India says Pakistan has not done enough to curb terrorism in Kashmir NEW DELHI, July 5 (AFP) - India accused Pakistan Tuesday of failing to dismantle the "infrastructure" of militancy in Kashmir and of adopting double standards in fighting international terrorism. "The infrastructure is still there," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a news conference. "They have not dismantled it." The minister said he told his US hosts this during his visit last week and also told them that Pakistan was adopting a dual approach towards fighting global terrorism. "One approach is a proactive one with the United States. The other is not so proactive as far as its borders with India are concerned... We are keeping our fingers crossed on what will happen when the snow melts," Nukherjee said.(Posted @ 19:50 PST)
30 die in shipwreck off Cameroon YAOUNDE, July 5 (AFP) - A boat carrying about 60 passengers has sunk off Campo on Cameroon's coast, leaving 30 people dead or missing, Cameroon's national radio reported Tuesday.(Posted @ 19:40 PST)
PM, Iranian Vice President note vast potential in expanding trade,economic ties ASTANA, Jul 5 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref Tuesday expressed satisfaction over bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran and agreed to further boost their economic and trade ties to their true potential.Meeting on the sidelines of the the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit (SCO) in the Kazak capital Astana, the two leaders also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest including Afghanistan, Iraq and UN reforms. The proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project was also discussed.(Posted @ 19:38 PST)
PM meets Kazakh President, Pakistan supports Kazakhstan for WTO membership ASTANA, July 5 (APP): Pakistan Tuesday signed a protocol to help Kazakhstan get membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after talks between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Nursultan Nazarbayev held on the margins of a regional security summit. The two leaders discussed bilateral issues with the focus on increasing trade and economic ties and regional issues including situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan-India peace process.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
President says mega project in Balochistan accruing benefits to people ISLAMABAD, Jul 5 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf said Tuesday that the initiation of mega projects in Balochistan, including the recently constructed Mekran Coastal Highway and under construction Mirani Dam, Gwadar Deep Sea Port and Kacchi Canal were in the interest of the country and the people of Balochistan. Chairing a meeting at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President said the benefits of these projects were beginning to accrue in the form of greater employment for the people, poverty alleviation and access to modern facilities. The meeting reviewed law and order and progress of various development projects in of Balochistan. The Governor and Chief Minister of Balochistan gave detailed presentations while PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Secretary General PML, Mushahid Hussain Sayed briefed the participants about the working of the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan.(Posted @ 19:28 PST)
U.S military drone crashes in Iraqi city of Mosul MOSUL, Iraq, July 5 (Reuters) - An unmanned U.S. military surveillance drone crashed in Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, the U.S military said. The drone landed on a factory in the commercial district of Duwasa and witnesses said a fire broke out before the U.S military removed it. A spokesman for the military said there were no initial reports of casualties.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Pakistan to move its Iraqi envoy to Jordan ISLAMABAD, July 5 (Reuters) - Pakistan has decided to relocate is ambassador to Iraq from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan, following an attack on its top diplomat in the Iraqi capital earlier on Tuesday, a foreign ministry official said. The ambassador, Mohammad Younis Khan, was not hurt when gunmen fired at his convoy. "He is safe. We have decided to relocate him to Amman,"Naeem Khan, a ministry spokesman, said in Islamabad. "The decision has been taken because of a deterioration in the security situation. We are committed to a peaceful and stable Iraq and we will review this decision when we detect any improvement in the security situation."(Posted @ 18:15 PST)
Pakistani envoy has 'very narrow escape' in Baghdad attack ISLAMABAD, July 5 (AFP) - Pakistan's ambassador to Iraq said he had a "very narrow escape" when gunmen attacked his convoy in Baghdad Tuesday. Younis Khan said two cars came up from behind and fired on his vehicle as he was around a kilometre (half a mile) from the Pakistani embassy. "I am safe but it was a very narrow escape," Khan told AFP by telephone from Baghdad. Iraq's interior ministry said the attack took place at about 2:30 pm (1030 GMT) , not far from where Bahrain's envoy was wounded just hours earlier in an apparent kidnap attempt."I was returning to my home when two cars came from behind. There were armed men inside and they fired at my car. But luckily the bullets didn't hit my car," Khan said. Security guards in another car travelling with him immediately responded the fire , Khan said adding that "some bullets hit one of the attackers' cars." "We sped out of danger but it was an extremely dangerous situation," he said. In April, an employee at the Pakistani embassy in Baghdad Malik Mohammad Javed was abducted as he went to a mosque for evening prayers.He was freed two weeks later. In July 2004, two migrant workers from Pakistani Kashmir were killed after their captors alleged they were spying for the United States and another kidnapped Pakistani, Amjad Hafeez, was released in the same month after eight days in captivity.(First Posted @ 16:06 PST Updated @ 18:04 PST)
At least one dead in blast in Russia's Dagestan MAKHACHKALA, Russia, July 5 (AFP) - An explosion at a police post in the capital of Russia's volatile Dagestan republic Tuesday killed at least one person, an official at Dagestan's interior ministry said.(Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Six gunmen killed after storming disputed Indian holy site AYODHYA, India, July 5 (AFP) - Six gunmen were killed on Tuesday after storming the temple-mosque compound in Ayodyha, prompting a nationwide security alert to prevent an outbreak of religious violence.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack as a "terrorist act" and appealed for calm but the main Hindu nationalist party -- which rose to prominence after the Babri mosque at the site was demolished in 1992 by Hindu right-wingers -- quickly called for nationwide protests across India on Wednesday.However, the largest militant group in Kashmir, Hizbul Mujahedin, denied any role in Tuesday's assault and pointed the blame at Hindu hardliners. "The incident seems to be the handiwork of Hindu extremists to trigger anti-Muslim riots in India," a spokesman of the group told the Current News Service in Kashmir. Federal home ministry secretary Vinod Duggal said no group had claimed resposnibility for the attack, but linked the action to militants. "It's obvious that it is a militant group. Which one has done it we'll find out soon," he said. Former home minister and current opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani, who headed a protest to the temple site in 1992 that helped lead to the mosque demolition, said Tuesday's attack was a surprise. "I have simply said that it is surprising and worrying that terrorists reached the complex with AK-47s," Advani told reporters. "We have decided to protest this."(Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Pakistan condemns attack on Babri Mosque site ISLAMABAD, Jul 5 (APP): Pakistan Tuesday condemned the terrorist attack on the site of Babri Mosque in the Ayodhya city of India. A Foreign Office spokesman condemned the attack and stated that Pakistan is against terrorism in all its forms.At least five unidentified persons used a car bomb to blow up a security wall before storming Babri Mosque site on Tuesday, setting off a fierce gunbattle with police and paramilitary forces that left all the attackers dead, a senior Indian official said.(Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Bomb targets U.S. patrol near Iran's Baghdad embassy BAGHDAD, July 5 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded close to a U.S. military patrol on Tuesday in Baghdad, near the Iranian embassy, police said. An embassy employee, contacted by telephone, said she was aware of an explosion but the diplomatic mission was unaffected.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Central Asian security grouping urges deadline for withdrawal of coalition bases ASTANA, July 5 (AFP) - The six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation called Tuesday for deadlines on the West's use of military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for operations in Afghanistan.(Posted @ 16:40 PST)
African heads of state unanimous on UN seats SYRTE, Libya, July 5 (AFP) - African Union heads of state and government have unanimously adopted a declaration and a resolution they will present to the United Nations with the aim of obtaining two permanent UN Security Council seats with veto rights, summit sources said Tuesday. "The text of the declaration and the resolution that will be submitted to the UN were adopted by the presidents on Monday night. They debated the question at length but they are in agreement on the main point: that Africa should obtain two permanent seats with veto rights on the (UN) Security Council," an AU official who wished to remain anonymous.(Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Afghan president distressed by US air strike deaths KABUL, July 5 (AFP) - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday he was "saddened and distressed" by the deaths of up to 17 people in a US air strike, as US forces reportedly found the bodies of two missing commandos. The Afghan government urged the American-led coalition to change its tactics following Friday's bombing in Chichal village in the eastern province of Kunar, which came amid a mission to rescue a team of four special forces soldiers.(Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Mauritius opposition leader named prime minister after election PORT-LOUIS, June 5 (AFP) - Mauritius opposition leader Navin Ramgoolam was officially installed Tuesday as the Indian Ocean island's new prime minister after clinching victory in the weekend legislative polls. President Anerood Jugnauth named Labor Party chief Navin Ramgoolam the country's new head of government shortly after receiving the resignation of outgoing prime minister Paul Berenger, the presidency said in a short statement. (Posted @ 16:09 PST)
Gunmen wound Bahrain's envoy in Baghdad BAGHDAD, July 5 (Reuters) - Bahrain's envoy in Iraq, Hassan Malalla al-Ansari, was shot and slightly wounded by gunmen who opened fire on his car in Baghdad on Tuesday, the second attack on a senior Arab diplomat in the city in three days, police and hospital sources said. The motive was unclear. (Posted @ 13:06 PST)
Pentagon reviewing two-war strategy to account for terrorism: report WASHINGTON, July 5 (AFP) - The Pentagon is weighing a change in its military strategy of being ready to fight two major wars at once to accommodate greater defense of the US territory and antiterrorism efforts, The New York Times said Tuesday. In their Quadrennial Defense Review mandated by Congress, the Pentagon for the first time in decades is seriously questioning the wisdom of the two-war strategy, the daily said. After years of saying US forces were sufficient for a two-war strategy, "we've come to the realization that we're not," an unnamed Defense Department official told the paper. (Posted @ 13:01 PST)
Taliban kill three Afghans, injure Turkish engineers KABUL, July 5 (AFP) - Two Turkish engineers working for a Turkish road construction company were injured and their Afghan driver was killed when Taliban militants set off a roadside bomb in Ghazni, a southern Afghanistan province, an interior ministry official said Tuesday. The militants also kidnapped and killed two Afghan police officers in the Registan district of Helmand province, the official added. A Taliban spokesman claimed both attacks. (Posted @ 11:41 PST)
Pakistan committed to peace with India: Aziz ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 5 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said both Pakistan and India were committed to the composite dialogue process to resolve all outstanding issues including Jammu and Kashmir peacefully. "We want the peace process to move forward. We want various issues between the two countries to be resolved," he told reporters after meeting Natwar Singh, the Indian External Affairs minister, who called on him on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. The Prime Minister described the discussion as good which was held in a very "open" and "informal" atmosphere. "We discussed the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir to see how we can resolve it," he said. The two sides also exchanged views on water issues including the Baglihar dam and the gas pipeline project. He added that the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project would create a win-win situation for both sides.(Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Four female Baghdad airport employees killed on way to work BAGHDAD, July 5 (APP/AFP) - Four female employees at Baghdad airport were killed and three others wounded Tuesday after gunmen attacked the minibus taking them to work, an interior ministry source said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
UK minister says EU should grant China market economy status BEIJING July 5 (AFP) - European Union should grant China its long standing demand to be recognized as a market economy, a status that would help Beijing avoid punitive anti-dumping measures, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. "We in Britain believe China should be granted market economy status. We are talking to our partners in the EU about this at the moment," Ian Pearson, Britain's minister of state for trade, told the newspaper. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Israel, Palestinians reach agreement on West Bank, Gaza transport link JERUSALEM, July 5 (AFP) - Israel and the Palestinians have reached agreement in principle over a means of transportation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank immediately after Israel's pullout from Gaza this summer, public radio reported Tuesday, citing Western diplomatic sources. According to the report, Palestinians will be able to travel between the West Bank and Gaza in convoys escorted by Israel in the immediate aftermath of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer. Israeli and Palestinian officials were not immediately available to comment on the report. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
U.S. military confirms one soldier rescued, two dead commandos found KABUL, July 4 (Agencies) - A second American soldier missing in eastern Afghanistan for the past week may have been located, an Afghan official said on Monday. The U.S. military confirmed in a statement reports that one member of the reconnaissance team that went missing since an anti-militant operation in Kunar province last Tuesday had been rescued and was in stable condition. It said operations were continuing to find the others. Also US forces recovered the bodies of two commandos who were part of a Special Forces team that went missing last week, the New York Times reported Monday, citing a top Pentagon source. (Posted @ 09:59 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 109.37 points: KARACHI, July 5: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 7517.92, up 109.37 points from Monday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:40 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, July 5: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:40 PST)
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