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| August 25, 2005 | Thursday | Rajab 19, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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India, China agree to set up Joint Steering Committee-Ahamed NEW DELHI, Aug 25 (APP) India and China have agreed to set up a Joint Steering Committee to promote collaborations between the two countries in Information Technology and other sectors of science and technology, Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday. In a written reply, Minister of state for External Affairs E Ahamed said the decision in this regard was taken during the visit of China's State Councillor-in-Charge of Science and Technology Chen Zhili to India in November last year. (Posted @ 23:14 PST)
Musharraf to speak before American Jewish Congress NEW YORK, Aug 25 (AFP) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has accepted an invitation from the American Jewish Congress to speak about his campaign for moderation in the Muslim world, an official of the group said Thursday. He would deliver his address to leaders of the American Jewish community at gathering in New York on September 17 after attending a UN Summit, David Twersky, director of the American Jewish Congress Council for World Jewry, told AFP. (Posted @ 23:13 PST)
Iraq cancels parliament session on charter BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (AFP) - Iraq indefinitely delayed a crucial parliament session that was to be held Thursday to approve the draft constitution, saying certain issues in the charter were still pending. "The parliament session has been postponed without setting a new date...until meetings are finished and (leaders) reach an agreement on pending issues," an official with parliament media department told AFP. "As the draft constitution has already been submitted to the national assembly, there is no legal problem (in delaying) as far as the interim law is concerned." Drafting of the constitution, which was initially due to have been submitted to parliament on August 15, has been dogged by disputes over a number of key issues including federalism, the role of Islam and sharing of oil wealth.(Posted @ 20:00 PST)
England held up by rain NOTTINGHAM, England, Aug 25 (AFP) - Rain frustrated England after they'd made a bold start to the first day of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at Trent Bridge here Thursday.Bad weather meant only 20 balls were possible between lunch and tea, England adding five runs to their initial interval score to be 134 for one. Marcus Trescothick was 65 not out and England captain Michael Vaughan, who'd won the toss, 15 not out.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Two killed, 17 wounded in Khairpur district poll Khairpur, Aug 25 PPI: Two persons were killed and 17 wounded in incidents of firing and clashes at different polling stations in the second phase of Local Government Elections 2005 here on Thursday. One person was shot dead at a polling station in Union Council Saghion while another was killed in firing between supporters of rival candidates in taluka Mirwah. Ex-Nazima Khairpur Nafeesa Shah confirmed that two persons were killed and 17 were wounded in different incidents while five others were arrested. Polling at some places was suspended due to clashes and electoral irregularities were reported at many others.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Puppet regime doing nothing to resolve Kashmir dispute: CPI SRINAGAR, Aug 25 (APP): In occupied Kashmir, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M), PRAKASH Karal, came down hard on the puppet regime for doing nothing to resolve Kashmir issue and for its ambiguous policy on Kashmir. Talking to newsmen here he also criticized Indian government for not taking any political initiative to resolving Kashmir issue. He was of the view that Kashmir issue should be resolved politically rather than through bureaucratic channels.Referring to India-Pakistan dialogue, he said, improving of relations between the two countries is a good thing but there should be discussion on Kashmir. About the Bangergund Kupwara incident, wherein the troops gunned down three innocent children and other human rights abuses committed by troops, Karat termed the incidents as heart-rending.(Posted @ 19:35 PST)
Shah stressed Kashmiris to unite for Afzal Guru's release SRINAGAR, Aug 25 (APP): President of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabbir Ahmad Shah has stressed the imperative need for greater unity among Kashmiris to press for release of Kashmiri youth Afzal Guru. In a statement in Srinagar, he said Afzal Guru was falsely implicated in the so-called Indian parliament attack in 2002, and was later awarded capital punishment on fake charges.Shah called on liberation activists to mobilize greater support among Kashmiris to impress upon the international community to take effective notice of the thousands of other Kashmiris, languishing in jails without a single charge against them. Shabbir Shah blasted the Indian media for being biased saying, Indian media failed to highlight the merciless killings of three Kashmiri children in Kupwara, nor did it highlight the rape and killing of a teenaged female Zahida at Dooru, nor did the Indian media highlight the reaction of the people in occupied Kashmir after the death sentence was awarded to Afzal Guru.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Government striving to pass on economic benefits to common man: PM ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (APP):Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Thursday that Pakistan's economy is on the path of high growth and the government is striving to pass on the benefits to the common man by creating more employment opportunities, curbing inflation and developing infrastructure.Talking to Abbas Mirakhor, Executive Director of the IMF, who called on him here today the Prime Minster hoped that the Fund would now focus on support for sustaining the high growth.Mr Abbas Mirakhor assured the Prime Minister of the Fund's support in realization of Pakistan's full potential and expressed the view that the present economic scene is promising and Pakistan can achieve double digit growth. "Pakistan of today is vastly different from what it was a few years back," he remarked.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
U.S. says 16 militants killed in Afghan fighting KABUL, Aug 25 (Reuters) - U.S. and Afghan forces backed by a giant B-52 bomber, A-10 attack aircraft and helicopters killed an estimated 16 militants in southern Afghanistan in the past two days, the U.S. military said on Thursday. Six militants were were killed on Tuesday after Afghan and U.S. forces saw them planting improvised explosive devices in Shinkay district of Zabul province. An Afghan and U.S. patrol also pinned down another group of militants southeast of the town of Tarin Kot and called in a B-52 bomber, A-10 attack aircraft and attack helicopters, it said, adding that casualties there were being assessed. In other incidents on Wednesday, five militants were killed by aircraft and ground fire northeast of Tarin Kot five more in Kandahar province, the statement said, adding that there were no U.S. casualties or damage in any of the incidents.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Casualties in Iraq, Aug 25 BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Six Iraqi civilians were killed and 15 wounded on Thursday, mostly elderly men, when gunmen burst into a popular cafe in the small town of Abu Sayda, about 60km (37 miles) north of Baghdad, health officials said. Three people including a Filipino contract worker travelling in a car were killed in an ambush by militants in Kirkuk on Wednesday. One Iraqi soldier was killed and three people wounded including a child when a roadside bomb blew up near their patrol in the town of Hawija on Wednesday, and one insurgent was killed and two injured in clashes with Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad's upscale district of Yarmouk on Wednesday, a defence ministry statement said.(Posted @ 18:15 PST)
Iraq police say find 36 bodies of shooting victims BAGHDAD, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Iraqi police said on Thursday they have discovered the bodies of 36 people shot dead and dumped in a shallow river south of Baghdad. Provincial police chief Brigadier-General Abdel Haneen Hamoud told Reuters by telephone that the victims were men left in their underwear, each with a single bullet wound to the head. The bodies were found in the province of Wasit, between the towns of al-Dibouni and al-Jafan, Hamoud said.(Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Kenya moves 400 elephants from overcrowded reserve SHIMBA HILLS, Kenya, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Kenya began moving 400 elephants from an overcrowded Shimba Hills reserve on its Indian Ocean coast on Thursday in world’s biggest 8-month translocation operation intended to protect the environment and reduce conflict with local people. Kenya has 28,000 elephants. At Shimba Hills, 600 elephants occupy space deemed adequate for only 200.The government plans to transport one elephant family -- up to seven animals -- on specially strengthened trucks every day. The first animals were to be tranquilised before starting the journey to Tsavo East national park, Kenya's biggest national park, 350km (220 miles) inland. Poachers annihilated the elephant population in Tsavo East in the 1970s and 1980s. Six of the female elephant family heads had been collared with radios to track their movements through Global Positioning System (GPS) data.(Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Head of Russia's Ingushetia region wounded in attack VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia, Aug 25 (AFP) - The head of the regional administration in Russia's Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, bordering Chechnya, was wounded in an attack Thursday that killed one of his bodyguards, Russian officials and news agencies said. "The Ingushetian prime minister's car was attacked and he was hospitalized," a spokesman told AFP. Ibragim Malsagov was rushed to hospital but one of his bodyguards was killed. Officials confirmed that there were two explosions in the vicinity of the central market in the main city of Ingushetia, Nazran, but could not immediately confirm that the injuries to Malsagov and the others were caused by the blasts.Russia's North Caucasus region is frequently rocked by instability and violence, particularly in Chechnya, where Russian forces remain locked in a low-intensity war with separatist rebels with both sides sustaining fatalities almost daily. Two Ingushetia residents were killed on Monday when a bomb exploded in central Nazran as a police car was passing by and on August 15, the Nazran police chief, Djabrail Kostoyev, and his driver were injured in a bomb attack.(Posted @ 17:15 PST)
Militants burn down another Afghan school JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Aug 25 (AFP) – Insurgents Wednesday night torched a primary school for girls and boys in Alingar district of the province of Laghman, police spokesman Zalmay Khan told AFP without pinning the blame on any one group. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Ten dead in second round of Pakistan polls ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (AFP) - Clashes between rival political groups in Pakistan left 10 people dead and dozens more injured Thursday as voters cast their ballots in the second round of key local bodies elections. "So far we have reports of 10 people killed in election-related violence," a senior security official in Islamabad told AFP. Eight died in Punjab two in Jhang, three in Jaranwala and one each in Lahore, Muridke and Jhelum. Another two people died in Kohistan, a remote mountainous district in the NWFP, he added. At least 20 people were killed and more than 700 injured in the first round of the polls on August 18. Parties loyal to Musharraf claimed victory in last week's round of voting but opposition groups, including the party of exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto, have alleged widespread electoral fraud. (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Over 3m Afghans residing in Pak ISLAMABAD, August 25 (PPI)As many as 548,105 Afghan Families, constituting over three million individuals are currently residing in Pakistan, 'the Census of Afghans' undertaken in all locations in the country revealed.The census report released here states that some 19 per cent Afghans in Pakistan are under the age of five; the largest ethnic Afghan group in Pakistan is Pashtun-nearly 82 per cent; and 62 per cent were living in NWFP, 25 per cent in Balochistan, seven per cent in Punjab; and four per cent in Sindh. Some 58 per cent of the population were living outside camps while 42 per cent were in UNHCR assist camps. The census also indicates that 62 per cent of the Afghans living in Pakistan originate from six provinces in Afghanistan-17 per cent Nangarhar, 11 per cent Kabul, 10 per cent Kandahar and eight per cent Kunduz. More than 17 per cent of Afghans told the enumerators they intended to return to Afghanistan during 2005-a total of 532,000-which is a bit higher than the 400,000 Afghans that UNHCR predicted would return during this year. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Pakistan's Justice Chowhan elected to Int'l tribunalfor former Yugoslavia Assembly Wednesday elected Pakistan's Ali Nawaz Chowhan and 26 other judges from around the world to the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in one round of secret balloting. Justice Chowhan of the Lahore High Court polled 130 votes, 33 more than the required number. The judges will serve a four-year term. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Forceful Anti-India protest demonstration in Mattan SRINAGAR, Aug 25 (APP): In occupied Kashmir, thousands of people took to the streets in Mattan area of Islamabad district in protest against new surge in atrocities by Indian troops in the area, Kashmir Media Service reported. Meanwhile, police have seized one thousand three hundred kilograms of explosive material from Khayam locality of Srinagar. A senior police official said the explosive was smuggled into the city from New Delhi. Meaznwhile, veteran Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Gilani addressing a gathering at Rajpora, in Pulwama district, where a Kashmiri youth was martyred by Indian troops emphasized that the liberation struggle will be taken to its logical end despite stepped up Indian state-terrorism. He said, economic packages and so-called assembly polls ploys are no answers to the problem. He described participation in the so-called election as tantamount to treason. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Pakistan-China to discuss progress on Thar project this week BEIJING, August 25 (APP): Sindh Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Irfanullah Marwat is scheduled to pay a three-day official visit to China from Friday to discuss progress on implementation of Thar Coal power project. Shenhua Group of China has agreed to start the project (cost about US dollars one billion) his year on BOT basis Under the agreement WAPDA will lay the 500 Kv line from Power Station to National Grid Jamshoro. (Posted @ 16:05 PST)
Pakistani fighter jet crashes, pilot safe ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (AFP) A Pakistan Air Force fighter jet crashed in the country's southwest Thursday but the pilot was able to eject safely, a military official said. The French-built Mirage aircraft came down near the town of Badin, 105 miles east of Karachi, due to "technical reasons", an air force spokesman said. The spokesman added that an investigation was under way to find out the details of the plane crash which was on a routine training mission. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)
Top German court clears way for Sept. 18 vote KARLSRUHE, Germany, Aug 25 (Reuters) Germany's highest court removed the final hurdle on Thursday to a Sept. 18 federal election, dismissing complaints that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's path to an early vote was unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court voted 7-1 that President Horst Koehler had been right to dissolve parliament in July and call a national election one year ahead of schedule. (Posted @ 14:05 PST)
Sri Lanka insists on truce talks at home, not Oslo COLOMBO, Aug 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's government on Thursday rejected a Tamil Tiger request to hold emergency talks aimed at preserving a 3-1/2-year ceasefire in Oslo, insisting they should take place at home on the island. Peace broker Norway is still arranging the date and venue of crunch talks in the wake of the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, whose killing the government blames on the rebels and has raised the spectre of a return to civil war. (Posted @ 12:00 PST)
North Korea nuclear talks to resume on Sept 2: Chinese official TOKYO, Aug 25 (AFP) Six-nation talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive will resume on September 2, an official from one of Japan's political parties said Thursday, quoting China's chief negotiator Wu Dawei. There was no immediate confirmation of Wu's remarks. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Israeli troops kill five Palestinians in West Bank TULKAREM, West Bank, Aug 25 (AFP) The Israeli army killed five Palestinian militants, including a senior member of the Islamic Jihad, in the West Bank late on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, updating the toll from the earlier four plus one injured. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 43.64 points: KARACHI, August 25: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 7555.98, up 43.64 points from Wednesday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:40 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, August 25: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.15 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:40 PST)
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