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| November 18, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 15, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Karachi revamps security after car bomb attack KARACHI, Nov 18 (AFP) Karachi will install 100 surveillance cameras as part of a security revamp after a car bomb this week killed three people, provincial governor Ishratul Ibad said Friday. The new security and monitoring system "would not only be able to minimise further terrorist threats but also help in tracing the perpetrators," Ibad said in an interview. The sophisticated surveillance cameras will be installed in 100 high-risk places including foreign missions and monitored round the clock, said Ibad. Ibad said the investigation that lead security agencies into tracing suspects of Tuesday's blast was helped by closed-circuit cameras that filmed a man parking a car outside the KFC restaurant and then getting into another car, he said. "We took the blast as a test case for intelligence network and three people were caught within 16 hours," he added.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
PM directs HEC to strictly deal with substandard universities ISLAMABAD, Nov 18 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday directed the Higher Education Commission to evolve a clear, standard procedure to deal strictly with public and private sector universities that do not meet the minimum criteria. Chairing a meeting here at the PM House to review the quality of higher education sector, Aziz expressed concern over proliferation of substandard universities. He asked the Chairman HEC Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman that the criterion, laid down by the Cabinet for establishment of new universities, be strictly adhered to and to suspend funding to universities that were substandard and violating the governance rules. He instructed HEC to take concrete steps to ensure quality of education and strict observance of governance rules by all public and private sector higher education institutions.(Posted @ 17:34 PST)
Pakistan denies sending or sponsoring any delegation to Israel ISLAMABAD, Nov 18 (APP): Pakistan on Friday denied sending or sponsoring any delegation to Israel. Responding to a question about reports that a Pakistani delegation led by Ajmal Qadri was visiting Israel, the spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said "there is no government of Pakistan sponsorship. The delegation may have gone on its own." She said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has neither any association with the reported delegation nor it has any information on it. Ms Aslam said an official delegation from Pakistan was scheduled to visit Gaza and the West Bank in November but was postponed in the wake of October 8 earthquake. (Posted @ 15:48 PST)
India holds major war games at Pakistan's borders NEW DELHI, Nov 18 (AFP) - India's military Friday staged the grand finale of major military manoeuvres, showcasing newly-acquired T-90 battle tanks and warplanes close to the border with Pakistan in the Thar desert, officials said.The Indian military said New Delhi had given advance notice of the 14-day exercises to Pakistan. "These are the biggest exercises since Operation Brass Tacks," an infantry commander told AFP, referring to 1987 war games in Rajasthan that sent tensions skyrocketing between India and Pakistan. (Posted @ 14:38 PST)
Sri Lanka's socialist PM wins presidency: official results COLOMBO, Nov 18 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's socialist Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has won the presidency with 50.33 percent of the popular vote, according to official results released Friday by the elections' commissioner. Rajapaske, who celebrates his 60th birthday Friday, received 4.88 million votes, beating his nearest rival, right-wing Ranil Wickremesinghe, on 4.69 million votes, the final result showed.(Posted @ 10:35 PST)
UN envoys reject Guantanamo visit GENEVA, Nov 18 (Reuters) United Nations human rights envoys rejected on Friday an invitation to visit the Guantanamo Bay prison camp because Washington did not accept their terms. The envoys, who report on torture, arbitrary detention and other abuses for the U.N., had warned that they would not go unless the United States allowed them to interview the more than 500 inmates of the camp at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. "We deeply regret that the United States government did not accept the standard terms of reference for a credible, objective and fair assessment of the situation of the detainees," the five envoys said in a statement. (Posted @ 15:22 PST)
At least 75 killed in Iraq mosque blasts KHANAQIN, Iraq, Nov 18 (AFP) At least 75 people were killed and 90 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up Friday among the worshippers at two mosques in Khanaqin, a top Iraqi official said. The toll could climb further as more bodies were believed trapped under the rubble at one mosque where the roof collapsed, a Diyalah provincial council leader said. "The explosions came within four minutes of one another," he said, adding that the suicide bombers, who wore explosive belts, had joined the faithful for Friday prayers and were sitting in their midst at the time of the blasts. The search for bodies was called off at nightfall, but was to resume Saturday, he added. (First Posted@15:33 PST Updated@ 21:58 PST)
Israel plans new homes for major West Bank settlement JERUSALEM, Nov 18 (Reuters) Israel has issued new housing tenders for the biggest Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, despite its obligation to freeze such construction under a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace with the Palestinians. Israeli government officials had no immediate comment.(Posted @ 20:12 PST)
Russian troops held for killing three Chechen civilians GROZNY, Russia, Nov 18 (Reuters) Authorities have arrested some Russian soldiers for killing three Chechen civilians found dead days before a parliamentary election, the Interior Ministry of the troubled Caucasus region said on Friday. The statement said that 10 Russian soldiers were present during the shooting but the Interfax news agency reported that three soldiers had been arrested. Rights groups say government troops were behind numerous civilian killings, abductions and rapes in Chechnya, where separatists have been fighting federal forces for more than a decade.(Posted @ 20:08 PST)
Uzbek president sacks defence minister TASHKENT, Nov 18 (Reuters) Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Friday sacked Defence Minister Kadyr Gulyamov whom the European Union holds responsible for the deaths of up to 500 people in May, the official UzA agency reported. Gulyamov is on the EU's list of 12 top Uzbek officials who earlier this week were banned from entering EU states for one year for their role in suppressing an uprising in the town of Andizhan on May 13. Karimov appointed Ruslan Mirzayev, who is also on the EU's blacklist, as his successor.(Posted @ 19:48 PST)
Bush backs Putin’s initiative on Iran PUSAN, South Korea, Nov 18 (Reuters) U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday backed an initiative by Russian President Vladimir Putin to end a stalemate over Iran's nuclear plans as the pair held an hour-long meeting before attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Pusan. The Russian plan would allow Iran to continue nuclear fuel production if it shifted its most critical stage, uranium enrichment, to Russia as part of a joint venture.(Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Indian minister hails defence ties with Russia MOSCOW, Nov 18 (AFP) Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed satisfaction on Friday with his country's already sizeable defence procurement cooperation with Russia and outlined hopes of their jointly building a new fighter jet. "Our defence cooperation will widen and deepen. Currently contracts worth around 9.0 billion dollars are being fulfilled," Mukherjee said.(Posted @ 17:26 PST)
South Korea says it plans to cut Iraq troops by a third SEOUL, Nov 18 (Reuters) South Korea plans to pull out about one-third of its 3,200 troops in Iraq beginning in the first half of next year, the defence ministry said on Friday, but Seoul's foreign minister said no final decision had been made. The ministry confirmed the proposed plan a day after U.S. President George W. Bush expressed gratitude for Seoul's reconstruction efforts in Iraq at a meeting with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.(Posted @ 17:22 PST)
Castro denies CIA Parkinson's diagnosis HAVANA, Nov 18 (AFP) Cuban President Fidel Castro denied a report by the CIA that he was stricken with Parkinson's disease, and in a five-hour long speech vowed to keep the revolution alive and rid the island of corruption. "I feel better than ever," Castro, 79, said Thursday in a speech at the University of Havana to mark his enrollment there as a student exactly 60 years ago. "Those who have killed me so many times," Castro said in reference to US attempts on his life, "have had disappointment after disappointment."(Posted @ 17:14 PST)
International probe needed in Iraq jails: U.N. GENEVA, Nov 18 (Reuters) United Nations human rights chief Louise Arbour on Friday called for an international probe into conditions in Iraqi jails after accusations of serious abuse of detainees at a secret Interior Ministry detention centre. "In the light of the apparently systemic nature and magnitude of the problem, and the importance of public confidence in any inquiry, I urge the authorities to consider calling for an international inquiry," Arbour said. (Posted @ 16:43 PST)
Iran confirms processing new batch of uranium TEHRAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) Iran, one step from U.N. Security Council referral, confirmed it had started processing a new batch of uranium at its Isfahan nuclear plant, chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Friday. "We had informed the U.N. watchdog that Iran wanted to process a new batch of uranium and we have started it," the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Larijani as saying. (Posted @ 16:42 PST)
German parties ink deal to form grand coalition BERLIN, Nov 18 (Reuters) Germany's two leading political parties signed a governing coalition deal on Friday, formally setting aside decades of rivalry exactly two months after September's inconclusive general election. The conservatives of chancellor designate Angela Merkel and the Social Democrats put pen to paper to form Germany's first "grand coalition" of the traditional opponents since 1969. "Will we ensure that by 2009 people say 'Yes, for me personally it's a bit better than in 2005'?" Merkel said before the signing. (Posted @ 16:36 PST)
First Portuguese soldier killed in Afghanistan LISBON, Nov 18 (Reuters) A Portuguese soldier died in an explosion in Afghanistan on Friday, the Iberian nation's first military death in Afghanistan, state news agency Lusa reported. The soldier was killed while on patrol in Kabul, Lusa said, citing a Defence Ministry statement. Portugal has about 200 soldiers in Afghanistan. It is in charge of security at Kabul airport as part of a NATO force. (Posted @ 16:32 PST)
Iraqi politician kidnapped in Baghdad-police BAGHDAD, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A Shi'ite politician was kidnapped on Thursday by gunmen who took him from his home in western Baghdad, police said on Friday. Tawfiq al-Yassiri was a candidate for Dec. 15 elections. Police said gunmen in seven cars came to his house on Thursday evening and abducted him. (Posted @ 14:38 PST)
Seven immigrants found dead on Sicily shore RAGUSA, Sicily, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The bodies of seven immigrants among a group trying to enter Italy illegally were found washed up on the shores of Sicily on Friday, Italian media reports said. Italian state television said the seven, five men and two women, were found near the town of Scicli di Pozzallo in southeast Sicily after rough seas and high winds hit the area. They were among a group of more than 100 illegal immigrants who set out for shore after leaving a wooden boat that ran aground just off the coast. At least six people were taken to hospital and police were searching the area for more victims or survivors. Thousands of illegal immigrants try to enter Italy every year after making a dangerous sea crossing from north Africa, often in ships and boats that are not seaworthy.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Six dead in double suicide bomb attack in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Nov 18 (AFP) - At least six people were killed and 40 wounded when suicide bombers Friday drove two cars laden with explosives at a target next to an interior ministry complex in Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.(Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Bomb attack on mosque kills four in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Nov 18 (APP/AFP) - Unidentified attackers lobbed grenades into a mosque in eastern Sri Lanka Friday, killing four men at prayer and wounding at least 25, police said. The blasts ripped through the mosque in the town of Akkaraipattu in the district of Ampara, 350 kilometres (218 miles) east of Colombo. The attack came a day after Muslims in the area defied Tamil rebel pressure to boycott Thursday's presidential elections.(Posted @ 09:40 PST)
3,000 foreign fighters in Iraq: intelligence study WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (APP/AFP) - As many as 3,000 foreigners are fighting US and coalition forces in Iraq, a US military analyst reported Thursday, citing a study drawing on Saudi and other regional intelligence reports. Algerians constituted the highest percentage of the foreign fighters about 20 percent -- followed by Syrians, Yemenis, Sudanese, Egyptians, and Saudis, said Anthony Cordesman in a report on the findings. Cordesman, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said US sources have put the number of the foreign fighters under Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at only about 1,000 and believe the number has increased since the January 30 elections.(Posted @ 09:10 PST)
International parley on Afghan reconstruction set in January UNITED NATIONS, Nov 18 (APP/AFP) - An international conference will be held in London at the end of January to assess the next phase of Afghanistan's reconstruction, Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry said here Thursday. Speaking to reporters ahead of UN Security Council consultations on Afghanistan, he said the two-day conference would be co-chaired by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, UN chief Kofi Annan and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.(Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 69.49 points: KARACHI, Nov 18: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 8933.51, up 69.49 points from Thursday's close.(Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 18: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.05 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
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