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| August 8, 2005 | Monday | Rajab 2, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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India, Pakistan reach agreement on reducing military tension NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (AFP) - India and Pakistan, striving to end decades of hostility, agreed Monday on seven steps to reduce military tension, including a ban on the building of new army posts along their frontier in divided Kashmir. The two sides also agreed to continue an existing ceasefire along the Line of Control (Loc), said a joint statement issued after day-long talks between senior foreign ministry officials. In addition, India and Pakistan would upgrade an existing military hotline and hold monthly flag meetings between high-ranking military officers along their borders, the statement said. Other measures were the continuation of existing agreements to respect each other's air space, to speedily return civilians who inadvertently stray across their borders and to constantly review existing confidence building measures.(Posted @ 17:36 PST)
Crisis looms as Iran resumes nuclear work ISFAHAN, Iran, Aug 8 (AFP) - "Iran has resumed the conversion of uranium under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency" at its plant in Ispahan, the vice-president of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad Saidi told journalists. The move, which risks seeing Iran hauled before the UN Security Council, comes after Iran rejected as "unacceptable" a package of EU proposals aimed at guaranteeing that it was not trying to build the bomb.The EU, which has been negotiating with Iran for nine months, had already called for an emergency meeting Tuesday of the IAEA board during which an ultimatum demanding a commitment to suspend nuclear fuel work is expected.(Posted @ 17:46 PST)
Lee into hospital with knee problem BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug 8 (AFP) - Australia fast bowler Brett Lee was admitted Monday into a Birmingham hospital with a suspected infection of his left knee.In a statement, Cricket Australia said Lee had been taken into hospital late Monday afternoon after experiencing swelling and discomfort.Lee, the statement added, was "currently undergoing a range of tests and receiving appropriate treatment for the condition".It is not yet known when he will be discharged.Officials said a further update on Lee's condition will be provided in due course.(Posted @ 23:35 PST)
India's Assam state on high alert after string of rebel blasts GUWAHATI, India, Aug 8 (AFP) - India's northeastern state of Assam went on maximum security alert Monday after rebels triggered a string of blasts that killed four people and wrecked oil and gas pipelines, power lines and rail tracks, police said. There were about a dozen attacks in the state at the weekend, a government spokesman said. The deadliest attack occurred late Sunday when a powerful blast rocked a crowded market near Boko village, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the main city Guwahati, killing three people and wounding nine. One of the injured died in hospital Monday, while the condition of at least two was reported to be critical. The ULFA said late Monday that it had bombed the oil and gas pipelines, but denied responsibility for the marketplace blast. Police recovered and defused a powerful bomb Monday planted outside a school in Assam's eastern Jorhat district.A police official said militants also blew up a gas pipeline late Sunday in eastern Assam and two power transformers, a railway track and a government officers' housing colony in other areas. They also bombed two oil pipelines triggering massive fires.(Posted @ 20:52 PST)
UN atomic agency confirms Iranian move on nuclear processing VIENNA, Aug 8 (AFP) - Iran on Monday began sensitive fuel cycle work that it had suspended in order to negotiate with the European Union on its nuclear programme, a UN spokeswoman said, confirming reports from Tehran. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has "informed members of the (IAEA) board (of governors) that Iran today started to feed uranium ore concentrate (UOC) into the first part of the process line at the uranium conversion facility" in Isfahan, spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told AFP.(Posted @ 20:48 PST)
New Zealand crush Zimbabwe HARARE, Aug 8 (AFP) - New Zealand crushed Zimbabwe by an innings and 294 runs in less then two days to win the first Test at the Harare Sports Club here on Monday. The Kiwis had declared on their overnight score of 452-9 and then bowled out the home side for just 59 in their first innings. Zimbabwe were forced to follow on and then were dismissed again for just 99 in their second innings.(Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Britain says terrorists in 'final stages' of planning Saudi attack LONDON, Aug 8 (AFP) - Britain said Monday it has "credible reports" that terrorists are in the "final stages" of planning attacks in oil-rich Saudi Arabia.(Posted @ 20:35 PST)
Pakistan, India Trade Talks New Delhi, Aug 8( PPI: A six- member Pakistan delegation led by Syed Asif Shah, Additional Secretary Commerce arrived Monday in New Delhi to hold second round of trade talks . The main thrust of talks will be on removing tariff and non-tariff barriers hampering Pakistan's exports to India, besides air services, shipping services, banking sector, etc. Discussion will be held on time line for meetings of Joint Study Group (JSG), constituted to facilitate bilateral trade. The two sides will also consider ways and means to resolve problems being faced by business community.(Posted @ 20:16 PST)
Casualties in Iraq, Aug 8 BAGHDAD, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The bodies of five policemen who were shot dead and thrown in a river were found in Samarra. They were on their way home for vacation when they were killed, police said.A translator working at Baghdad's Doura power station was shot dead.. A suicide bomber attacked a U.S. patrol in the former rebel stronghold of Falluja. There was no immediate confirmation of the attack from the U.S. military and no word on casualties.(Posted @ 20:13 PST)
Pakistan and Britain close to signing extradition accord ISLAMABAD, Aug 8 (AFP) - Pakistan and Britain are close to signing an extradition treaty.Right now it is in the final stages, spokesman Muhammad Naeem Khan told a weekly briefing. "This has basically been done at the initiative of Pakistan," he added. He declined to say how many wanted persons may be swapped between the two countries after the treaty is signed. Pakistan has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Britain which is aimed at easing travel to the UK by Pakistanis and reducing their deportation rate by half, he said. "The MoU on managed migration was signed between Pakistan and UK on 25th of July. This MoU is basically to regulate the visas for Pakistanis who are wishing to travel to UK," Khan said. "It would substantially reduce the number of deportations of Pakistani nationals from UK to almost half."(Posted @ 20:08 PST)
Pakistani PM in Japan for talks with business and political leaders TOKYO, Aug 8 (AFP) - Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrived in Japan Monday for talks with Japanese business and political leaders expected to focus on economic cooperation. He timed his visit to attend the World Exposition, a six-month showcase of technology and innovation under way in the central prefecture of Aichi. Aziz is expected to explore ways to expand access to the Japanese market, as the bilateral trade balance is heavily in Japan's favour. He will meet Tuesday and Wednesday with political leaders including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The two last met in April when Koizumi visited Islamabad and announced the resumption of low-interest loans which Japan suspended after Pakistan and India carried out nuclear tests in 1998.(Posted @ 19:33 PST)
Three young girls killed by abandoned explosive device in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Aug 8 (AFP) - Three Muslim girls aged six, seven and eight were killed Sunday evening in Kargil district when an explosive device they found in a field exploded, police said Monday. "The girls were grazing cattle when they found an abandoned explosive device, which exploded as they started fiddling with it," a police spokesman said. They died on the spot. Occupied Kashmir is in the grip of a 16-year-old freedom movement that has left 44,000 people dead by official count. Separatists put the toll at twice as high.(Posted @ 19:26 PST)
12 killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Aug 8 (AFP) –Militants killed at least 12 Iraqis, mostly security personnel across the country on Monday as a massive sandstorm lashed Iraq leaving thousands of inhabitants with breathing difficulties and forcing others to stay indoors. Nearly 1,000 cases of suffocation were reported at the city's Yarmuk Hospital. Traffic came to a virtual standstill and the capital's main airport was also shut with no flights taking off. That did not however deter militants who killed 12 people, including three Iraqis, one of them a soldier, in a gunfight between joint Iraqi-US forces and insurgents in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Two policemen were also shot dead further north in Sherkah, while two employees of state-owned Northern Oil Company were also shot dead near Kirkuk. Another employee of trade ministry was shot dead by gunmen in eastern Baghdad. Four others were killed in other attacks.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Occupied Kashmir shuts down to demand lifting of death sentence, seven die in unrest SRINAGAR, Aug 8 (AFP) - A one-day strike seeking the lifting of a death sentence on Mohammad Afzal convicted over a 2001 raid on India's parliament paralysed much of occupied Kashmir on Monday, residents said. Most schools, shops, post offices and banks remained closed in Srinagar, while little traffic was seen on the roads. The strike also closed down most government and semi-government offices. The shutdown was also being observed in other major towns in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley .Afzal’s hometown Sopore wore a deserted look as the strike totally paralysed life. The strike is sponsored by both the hardline and moderate factions of the main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.The people demanded the lifting of the death sentence, Yasin Malik, the head of the pro-independence Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), told AFP.Meanwhile, a civilian was killed and an Indian soldier injured by a mine in the southern district of Pulwama Monday, police said. In the same district two militants and a civilian died during a fierce clash, while suspected rebels shot dead three people elsewhere in occupied Kashmir, police said.(Posted @ 19:08 PST)
Britain plays down proposition to 'rebrand' minorities LONDON, Aug 8 (AFP) - Britain played down proposals Monday that ethnic minorities be "rebranded" in a bid to facilitate their integration in the wake of the London bombings. In an interview with the Times newspaper, Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said that in meetings with Muslims over the coming weeks she would ask if they'd rather be called "British-Asian" or "Indian-British". But following an initial frosty response to the idea from Muslim leaders, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted the idea was not one that the government was actively pushing. "This is something that has been put to Hazel Blears in meetings," she said. "It is not something she suggested. It is not something that the government is proposing or suggesting."(Posted @ 18:56 PST)
Two Nepal soldiers killed, three hurt in clashes with rebels KATHMANDU, Aug 8 (AFP) - At least two Nepalese soldiers were killed and three injured when Maoist rebels attacked an army camp in northwestern Nepal, an army official said Monday. The attack on the newly set up camp at Pakha village in Kalikot district by a fairly large number of rebels began Sunday evening and lasted through the night, the official said, requesting anonymity. Some 200 personnel are stationed at the camp, which has been set up to protect workers building the Surkhet-Jumla section of the Karnali Highway.(Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Japan elections to be held September 11: Koizumi TOKYO, Aug 8 (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that early elections, which he called after his signature postal reforms failed to pass through parliament, would take place on September 11. "After we hold the election on September 11, we must sort out the political situation without confusion," Koizumi said during a news conference.(Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Indian Troops Martyre Five More Kashmiri Youth SRINAGAR, August 8 (APP): In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh acts of state terrorism, martyred five Kashmiri youth at different places, reports Kashmir Media Service. This included a mentally retarded person at Mirgund-Pattan. Three others were shot dead by troops at Dogerpora in Pulwama and in Balakote area of Poonch district.Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen killed three persons in Thatharaka area of Udhampur district and Indian troops arrested four youth from Sopore town, last night.(Posted @ 17:24 PST)
Overseas Pakistanis can send cars to relatives under gift scheme: Tareen ISLAMABAD, Aug 8 (APP): Overseas Pakistanis can now send cars to their blood relatives under the gift scheme announced in the new trade policy 2005-06, said Federal Minister for Industries and Production Jehangir Khan Tareen Monday. Earlier, only family members were eligible under the gift scheme, he said in a PTV programme(Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Thirteen trapped in tunnel in Indian frontier state GUWAHATI, India, Aug 8 (AFP) - Hundreds of rescuers were trying to free 13 workers trapped by mudslides since Sunday in a tunnel at a hydroelectric power project in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, an official said.The men were working inside the tunnel Sunday night when heavy mudslides triggered by torrential rain blocked the passageway.They are part of a team constructing a 2,000 megawatt power project at Dulanmukh , bordering China.(Posted @ 16:20 PST)
US signals NATO to take lead role in Afghanistan in 2006 KABUL, Aug 8 (AFP) - The US military signalled Monday it plans to hand over responsibility for security across Afghanistan to NATO in 2006 However it did not say exactly when the transfer of power to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or the withdrawal of American troops from the still violence-plagued country, would take place. "The agreement is that efforts will be made towards 2006," US military spokesman Lieutenant Cindy Moore told a press conference in Kabul when asked about the arrangements for the handover.(Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Bomber kills himself and injures 31 on bus in China SHANGHAI, Aug 8 (AFP) - A suicide bomber was killed and 31 people injured after a home-made device was detonated on a bus in southeastern China Monday, state media reported.The blast occurred near the downtown area of Fujian's provincial capital Fuzhou at around 2:30 pm, Xinhua news agency reported.The suspect, a 42-year-old farmer, was believed to be from Putian city in the province and according to police was suffering from terminal lung cancer, the report said. He was killed in the blast.(Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Weather worries keep shuttle in space an extra day CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug 8 (Reuters) Cloudy skies on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida forced NASA to postpone the return to Earth of space shuttle Discovery, prolonging for at least a day. The U.S. space agency will try to land Discovery and its seven-member crew on Tuesday. The first opportunity will be at the Florida landing strip at 5:08 a.m. EDT (0908 GMT) with alternative sites in California and New Mexico available if Florida's weather is still unfavourable.(Posted @ 14:20 PST)
60 percent of Gaza, West Bank settlers apply to leave JERUSALEM, Aug 8 (Reuters) Nearly 60 percent of the Jewish settlers slated for removal from Gaza and part of the West Bank have applied for state compensation, signalling their willingness to leave, new government figures showed on Monday.(Posted @ 13:00 PST)
UN inspectors arrive to oversee Iran nuclear plant restart TEHRAN, Aug 8 (Reuters) U.N. inspectors have arrived at a uranium conversion plant in Iran to install surveillance equipment and oversee the removal of seals as Tehran prepared to resume work there, a senior Iranian official said on Monday.(Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, August 8: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.45 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 10:30 PST)
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