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| September 23, 2005 | Friday | Sha'aban 18, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan's madrassas agree to register ISLAMABAD, Sept 23 (AFP) - Pakistan's controversial madrassas agreed Friday to register with the government by the end of the year after coming under pressure following the July 7 London bombings, an official said.Hardliners had opposed the measures but changed their mind during a meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and a delegation from the Federation of Madrassas Organisation, a senior government official told AFP. "Their teachings are not related to violence or any activity prejudicial to the security of the state. They are against suicide attacks and any such activity which brings into bad light our faith," Aziz said. Mufti Muneebur Rehman, speaking on behalf of the madrassa federation, said Friday that the matter had now been settled "amicably". "This is not a success or defeat of anyone, but is the success of Pakistan, of the religion of Islam and a step forward to settle the issues amicably without any confrontation," Rehman was quoted as saying by state media.(Posted @ 17:24 PST)
Fire on bus with elderly Rita evacuees, 24 dead DALLAS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A bus carrying elderly Hurricane Rita evacuees from the Houston area burst into flames outside Dallas before dawn on Friday, killing at least 24, officials said. Oxygen tanks used by many passengers exploded as the fire spread. Multiple blasts were heard before the bus became engulfed in flames. The bus was carrying 38 passengers. Traffic reportedly was backed up at least 20 miles.The National Transportation Safety Board launched an immediate investigation into the cause of the explosion.. Witnesses reported the fire started shortly after the bus stopped for a tire change.(Posted @ 21:42 PST)
Rita waters spill over levee, floods New Orleans NEW ORLEANS, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The outer edge of Hurricane Rita pushed fast-rising water over a freshly patched levee in New Orleans on Friday and flooded a section of the already devastated city. Waters from the industrial canal, where the levee breached during Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago and flooded the city, was submerging houses in the particularly hard-hit Ninth Ward section. The area had been nearly dried out in recent days but residents were not permitted to return.(Posted @ 21:34 PST)
Blast at Hamas rally kills ten JABALYA, Gaza Strip, Sept 23 (Reuters) - An explosion killed at least ten Palestinians and injured many others on Friday in northern Gaza during a rally for the Hamas militant group, witnesses said, hours after gunmen fired rockets into Israel in response to an army raid without causing any damage. The cause of the blast in Jabalya refugee camp was unclear and an Israeli army spokeswoman said there were no reports of military involvement. Palestinians lay injured on the ground, spattered with blood, and a car was found charred and gutted. The explosion occurred after Gaza gunmen fired several rockets into Israel, causing no casualties, in response to an Israeli arrest raid in the West Bank that killed three Palestinian militants. Thousands of Palestinians at the rally, sponsored by the Hamas militant group and attended by some of its top commanders, stormed into the streets of the camp, shouting and carrying the wounded. It was unclear if gunmen were among the injured.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)
One million in Houston area run from Rita : mayor's office HOUSTON, Texas, Sept 23 (AFP) - Some one million people have left the area around Houston ahead of powerful Hurricane Rita, including about 15,000 who were helped out by authorities, city officials said Friday. Mayor's spokesman, Frank Michel, told AFP. "We did not have such a migration since the Civil War in the 19th Century." In Orange County east of Beaumont where some of the worst damage is expected, about 90 percent of residents have evacuated.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Hurricane Rita weakens but still fierce MIAMI, Sept 23 (AFP) - Hurricane Rita weakened further Friday but US forecasters said it would still be a dangerous, major storm when it hits land early Saturday. Maximum sustained winds have eased to about 215 kilometers (135 miles) an hour putting Rita at the border of category three and four on the five-level Saffir Simpson scale. It was rated a category five early Thursday. At 1500 GMT, the eye of the storm was reported to be about 335km (210 miles) southeast of Port Arthur in Texas.(Posted @ 21:25 PST)
Eight pilgrims drown in Sehwan Sehwan, Sindh, Sep.23 (PPI): At least eight pilgrims died of drowning here Thursday, a day before opening of three-day Urs of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. One belonged to Quetta, while the others belonged to various parts of Punjab. One person died while taking a bath in a pond, the other slipped into a water channel where he had gone for a bath, while the others were drowned in river Indus(Posted @ 21:25 PST)
Vice Admiral Afzal Tahir Appointed New Pakistan Navy Chief Islamabad, Sept 23 PPI: President Pervez Musharraf has appointed Vice Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir as Chief of the Naval Staff and promoted him to the rank of Admiral. According to a notification issued Friday in Islamabad, his promotion and appointment as Naval Chief will be effective from the date of taking over on October 7.(Posted @ 21:20 PST)
Thousands welcome Nepal king's first walkabout KATHMANDU, Sept 23 (APP/AFP)- Nepal's King Gyanendra called on all Nepalese to join nation-building efforts as thousands turned out to welcome his first public walkabout in the Kathmandu valley after almost eight months , witnesses said. Tens of thousands of people lined along the streets of the ancient capital Lalitur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, on Thursday to greet the royal couple. The tour of Lalitpur marks the first time the king has strolled among the masses since he sacked the four-party coalition government on February 1.(Posted @ 21:17 PST)
President briefed on simplified procedure for investment RAWALPINDI, Sep 23 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf has commended the measures taken by the Government to materialize an investor-friendly climate and underlined the need to removing the remaining bottlenecks for imparting a new vigour to the economy. The President made these observations following presentations on simplified procedures for facilitating both public and private investment on fast-track basis, with a view to speeding up development and also bolstering foreign investment in next five years. The simplified procedure will be in place shortly, reducing PC-1 forms from 14 to three to avert delays and ensure timely completion of the projects through speedy approval and on-time availability of finances. Minister of State for Investment Umar Ghumman later told newsmen that Pakistan was aiming at foreign direct investment of around US 27 billion dollars over the next five years and had particularly identified power generation, natural gas, hotels, water, housing, infrastructure and liquefied natural gas as the major areas of foreign investment.(Posted @ 20:32 PST)
Five major generals approved for promotion RAWALPINDI Sept 23 (APP): Five Major Generals have been approved for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General, said a press release of ISPR. They are: Major General Raza Muhammad Khan, Major General Masood Aslam, Major General Shafaat Ullah Shah, Major General Mohammad Hamid Khan and Major General Israr Ahmad Ghumman.(Posted @ 20:25 PST)
Minor amendments in Madaris Registration Ordinance soon: Secretary ISLAMABAD, Sep 23 (APP): Wakil Ahmed Khan, Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs said on Friday that minor amendments in the already promulgated Deeni Madaris Registration Ordinance would be introduced in the next National Assembly session. Talking to APP,he Secretary said that the proposed amendments were agreed upon by the different organizations of Madaris during talks with the ministry ."Actually the Madaris organizations have proposed most of the amendments," he added. He said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also promised to address their grievances and they have no reservations on the issue of registration etc.(Posted @ 20:16 PST)
Autonomy to Kashmir not the solution: Mirwaiz ISLAMABAD, Sep 23 (APP): All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Omer Farooq has said that autonomy to Kashmir was not a solution to the long-standing issue. In an interview with a private tv channel he said "we have been saying from day one that autonomy is not a solution to Kashmir issue . It should be a permanent solution. We have to find a solution which reflects the aspirations and sentiments of the people of Kashmir and for which they have rendered sacrifices".(Posted @ 20:10 PST)
PM reviews future energy needs ISLAMABAD, Sept 23 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday called for increasing oil exploration activities in the country and encouraging use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and CNG in the wake of growing energy needs and rising international oil prices. Talking to representatives of oil companies he underlined Pakistan's strategic location at the mouth of the Gulf which is ideally placed for a world class mega refinery both for meeting domestic needs and exports.(Posted @ 19:54 PST)
Palestinian rocket hits Israel, first since pullout GAZA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza into Israel on Friday, a military source said, in the first such attack since Israeli forces completed a pullout from the territory 10 days ago. The Islamic Jihad militant faction said it fired five rockets at Israel from north Gaza to avenge the killing of three of its gunmen by Israeli troops in a raid in the West Bank earlier in the day. No casualties or damage were reported from the rocket attack.(Posted @ 19:18 PST)
Security incidents in Iraq, Sept 23 Sept 23 (Reuters) - Five people were killed and eight wounded when a suicide bomber in a vehicle blew himself up at a bus station in central Baghdad, police said. An official in the Ministry of Interior was killed along with his brother by gunmen in the western Doura district of Baghdad and a third brother was wounded. Gunmen killed another official of the same ministry in Mansur district, while a railway employee was killed and six were wounded by a bomb planted beside the railway in the town of Latifiya, southwest of Baghdad. One U.S soldier was shot dead on Thursday in Ramadi, U.S. military said as Iraqi security forces conducted a raid and arrested 10 people in Khalis, 15 km north of Baquba. And in Mosul, three officials in the Turkmen Front were killed and one wounded on Thursday by gunmen while leaving their office while a policeman policeman was shot dead. Also, six bodies of people who were shot dead were found on Thursday and Friday in different areas of Mosul, a medical source said. One U.S soldier was killed and another wounded on Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol near Balad, 110 km (70 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.(Posted @ 19:12 PST)
Over 400,000 Afghan refugees gone home this year-UN GENEVA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Well over 400,000 Afghan refugees have returned home this year under United Nations programmes.Ron Redmond of the UNHCR told a news briefing Friday that the returns brought the total since the programmes got under way in 2002 to 4.2 million Afghans -- nearly all from Pakistan and Iran.Of this year's returnees, some 366,000 had been living in Pakistan and 49,000 in Iran, he said.Redmond said a recent decision by the Pakistan government to close all refugee camps in federally-administered tribal areas close to the Afghan border on security grounds had triggered a sharp increase in the numbers wanting to go home. But he said a census taken earlier this year indicated that some three million Afghan refugees remained in Pakistan and about 900,000 in Iran.(Posted @ 18:45 PST)
Ex-boxing champ Johnson dies from serious brain injury LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Sept 22 (AFP) - Former International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Leavander Johnson died in hospital on Thursday, five days after suffering a serious brain injury in the ring. He was 35. Johnson lost his IBF lightweight title to Jesus Chavez on the undercard of Saturday's event.He was hit hard throughout the fight before it was mercifully stopped 38 seconds into the 11th round by referee Tony Weeks. Chavez opened the 11th by landing a steady stream of blows - all to the head - that kept a dazed Johnson pinned to the ropes. Johnson collapsed later in his dressing room and was rushed to hospital, where he underwent surgery for bleeding on the brain. He was then placed in a medically-induced coma. Chavez has vowed to donate a portion of each purse he makes while IBF lightweight champion to a fund set up for Johnson's four children.(Posted @ 18:34 PST)
Seven killed in militants' attacks in Thai south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Sept 23 (AFP) - Seven people, including two police officers, were killed in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, as violence flared in the wake of a deadly hostage-taking two days ago, police said Friday. Two police officers were killed and one injured when a bomb exploded as they cleared the road for a convoy of teachers going to Ban Kaseanue school early Friday in Sungai Padi, Narathiwat province. Hours later, another remote-control bomb detonated in the same district of Narathiwat, injuring three soldiers, and a smaller bomb exploded and damaged a car outside a mosque in neighboring Yala province, police said. Also in Yala, a 65-year-old Buddhist man, Klom Huapet, was shot dead Friday morning and in neighboring Pattani province, a Buddhist construction worker was shot dead while on his way to work, In neighboring Yala province, elephant caretaker, 48-year-old Mit Sriraksa was shot dead mid-day Thursday as he left a motorcycle repair shop in Bannang Sata. Late Thursday in Yala town, a Myanmar migrant worker was shot dead when gunmen opened fire on a brick factory, police said.(Posted @ 18:28 PST)
Seven wedding singers shot dead in remote Afghanistan MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Sept 23 (AFP) - A band of seven wedding singers was ambushed and shot dead on their way home in Mazar-i-Sharif from a late night performance in Chimtal district in northern Afghanistan, police said Friday. It doesn't seem that the attackers were thieves because they did not steal anything, even the car, police said. "They might be personal enemies of the seven or some extremist group, but it is premature to tell," police said.(Posted @ 18:04 PST)
Pakistan's Inzamam to replace unfit Tendulkar for Super Test NEW DELHI, Sept 23 (AFP) - Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq will replace Sachin Tendulkar in the World squad to face Australia in a six-day Test match in Sydney next month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday. Rahul Dravid will replace team-mate Tendulkar in the one-day squad, which also sees West Indian opener Chris Gayle come in for the injured Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa, the ICC said in a release.(Posted @ 17:55 PST)
Afghanistan gunbattle leaves 10 militants, soldier dead KABUL, Sept 23 (AFP) - Ten suspected militants and an Afghan soldier were killed and a US-led coalition soldier was wounded in a firefight in central Afghanistan, the US military said Friday. Afghan and coalition forces were patrolling Deh Rawood district in Uruzgan province on Thursday when militants opened fire with small arms, heavy machineguns, mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades. "Coalition and US close air support and US attack helicopters arrived at the scene blasting enemy positions killing 10 enemy combatants," the statement said. One Afghan soldier died and one wounded, it added.(Posted @ 17:48 PST)
India coach Chappell wants captain Ganguly out NEW DELHI, Sept 23 (AFP) - India's cricket coach Greg Chappell believes Sourav Ganguly is no longer fit to lead the side and has threatened to quit if the captain is not changed, a cricket board source told AFP on Friday. Chappell sent an e-mail to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) saying Ganguly did not deserve a place in the team either, the source said. "Chappell has told the BCCI that he will find it difficult to continue if Ganguly is retained as captain," said the source who has seen the e-mail from Zimbabwe. "The coach believes Ganguly is not physically or mentally fit to lead and had lost the respect of the younger players in the team." BCCI president Ranbir Singh Mahendra confirmed he had received Chappell's mail, but declined to reveal its contents on the pretext it was a confidential report.Kolkata-based Bengali language newspaper, Ananda Bazar Patrika, on Friday quoted Ganguly as saying he had heard about the e-mail. "Yes I have heard about the mail," the captain told the newspaper. "I will say whatever I want to to the board. I hope the board will give me a chance to explain. "You can imagine the character of a person who within hours of a truce goes and writes such an e-mail."(Posted @ 17:44 PST)
Palestinians open Gaza-Egypt border shut by Israel GAZA, Sept 23 (Reuters) Palestinian authorities temporarily opened Gaza's main border crossing with Egypt on Friday two weeks after it was sealed by withdrawing Israeli troops, officials and witnesses said. By agreement with Cairo, the Rafah terminal would be open for a 48-hour period to Palestinians who work, study or need medical treatment in Egypt or further abroad, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said. (Posted @ 14:33 PST)
Typhoon sweeps through north Philippines, 16 dead MANILA, Sept 23 (Reuters) Typhoon Damrey swept away from the northern Philippines on Friday after killing at least 16 people across the main island of Luzon, the Office of Civil Defence (OCD) said. About 20,000 people were still in temporary shelters in the northern provinces, an official said. (Posted @ 14:28 PST)
Afghan soldier killed, Australian wounded in Afghanistan SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) An Afghan army soldier was killed and an Australian special forces soldier was wounded on a recent joint patrol at an unspecified location in Afghanistan, the Australian defence department said Friday. (Posted @ 14:28 PST)
Bomb blast wounds 40 outside Belarus cafe MINSK, Sept 23 (Reuters) A bomb blast packed with pieces of metal, went off on Thursday evening wounding 40 people outside a cafe in a town northeast of the Belarussian capital Minsk, officials said on Friday. A spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry said 36 people were still in hospital. The blast was being investigated but officials ruled out terrorism, a spokesman for Belarussian prosecutors said. (Posted @ 12:32 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 6.10 points: KARACHI, September 23: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 8179.90, down 6.10 points from Thursday’s close. (Bureau Report) (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, September 23: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.03 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:00 PST)
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