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| December 1, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 28, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Cricket-Pakistan 446-5 v England (288) at close on third day LAHORE, Dec 1 (Reuters) England coach Duncan Fletcher has admitted his team have no realistic chance of winning the final test against Pakistan and levelling the three-match series. Pakistan reached 446 for five on Thursday, a lead of 158 runs with two days remaining, leaving England staring at their first test series defeat in two years. "We now just have to make sure we go out and get stuck in and bat out the remaining time properly," Fletcher said. Scores: England 1st innings 288 (M. Trescothick 50, M. Vaughan 58, Collingwood 96; S. Malik 3-58, D. Kaneria 2-47, M. Sami 2-57, Naved-ul-Hasan 2-76, S. Akhtar 1-45) Pakistan 1st innings 446-5 ( Mohammad Yousuf 183 not out, Kamran Akmal 115 not out; Hoggard 58-2, Harmison 115-1, Plunkett 95-2) (First Posted @ 16:55 PST Updated@ 20:28 PST)
Tawfiq A. Husain appointed Acting Governor State Bank of Pakistan KARACHI, Dec 1 (APP) The federal government has appointed Tawfiq A. Husain as the Acting Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with effect from December 2, 2005. An official notification issued by Ministry of Finance (Internal Finance Wing), Islamabad, here on Thursday said he has been appointed till the appointment of a regular Governor.(Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Natwar Singh led a delegation to Iraq in January 2001 New Delhi, Dec 1 (APP): Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh had led a four member delegation to Iraq in January 2001, Rajya Sabha was informed today. "A four-member delegation from the Congress party led by Natwar Singh and consisting of A R Antulay, former CM of Maharashtra, Shiv Shankar, former External Affairs Minister and Anil Methrani, Secretary of the party's Foreign Affairs Cell, called on Tariq Aziz (Iraqi Minister)," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told the House said in a written reply. "Jagat Singh, son of Natwar Singh and Subodh Kant Sahai, former Minister of State for Home, also visited during this period," Ahamed added.(Posted @ 21:25 PST)
Musharraf stresses need for US support in efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute ISLAMABAD, Dec 1 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday stressed on the need for the United States to lend its support to the efforts aimed at resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. He was talking to a seven-member US Congressional delegation, led by Congressional co-chairs of the Pakistan Caucus Congressman Dan Burton (Republican) and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat), which called on him here. The delegation assured Musharraf of commitment of the US Congress to further deepen bilateral relations. The Congressional delegation is on a three-day visit to Pakistan. US Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker was also present in the meeting.(Posted @ 21:22 PST)
Squash-England’s Peter Nicol beats Pakistan’s Shahid Zaman Dec 1 (Infostrada Sports) Result from the World Open Men's Singles 2nd Round matches on Thursday: 6-Peter Nicol (England) beat 16-Shahid Zaman (Pakistan) 11-6 11-8 11-5.(Posted @ 20:42 PST)
Suspected bomber kills two in Bangladesh court attack DHAKA, Dec 1 (Reuters) A second suspected suicide attack in three days near a court building in a Bangladeshi town has killed two people and wounded 25 others during a protest march against violence in the country, police said. Lawyers were staging a demonstration in Gazipur following a spate of attacks by militants against the judiciary this year when the bomber struck. Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia cancelled a planned visit to the United Arab Emirates, which was to begin on Saturday, in the wake of the volatile situation in the country, foreign ministry officials said late on Thursday. Addressing a public rally in western Kushtia town, Khaleda called "for national unity and consensus to fight the bombers and other militants". (First Posted @ 11:13 PST Updated@20:10 PST)
Sharon vows to seek peace but big settlements to stay TEL AVIV, Dec 1 (Reuters) Israel's Ariel Sharon pledged on Thursday to seek peace with the Palestinians but stood firm on keeping many West Bank settlements. Sharon said his departure from the rightist Likud party last week to create a centrist movement meant he would no longer "waste time" battling opponents to his strategy for ending the Middle East conflict. Sharon reaffirmed that Israel would never give up large settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank. He also said Israel would keep control of the Jordan Valley, where it maintains a string of smaller enclaves, under any future peace deal.(Posted @ 20:00 PST)
UAE to hold first elections to National Council DUBAI, Dec 1 (Reuters) The United Arab Emirates, in a step towards political reform, will hold its first elections to its consultative council since the nation was founded in 1971, the Gulf Arab country's president said on Thursday. The elections would only elect half of the body and a UAE official said they may be limited to 2,000 voters, as a first step towards wider participation in the future. "In light of the changes and reforms our region is witnessing, we decided to begin activating the National Council by electing half of its members," President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan,said in a speech marking the UAE's national day.(Posted @ 19:55 PST)
Israelis training Kurds in northern Iraq - report JERUSALEM, Dec 1 (Reuters) Private Israeli security firms have sent experts to Iraq's northern Kurdish region to give covert training to Kurdish security forces, an Israeli newspaper reported on Thursday. The daily Yedioth Ahronoth said that over the past year and a half the Israeli companies had set up a secret training base in northern Iraq as part of a multi-million dollar project with the Kurdish regional government. It said dozens of Israeli specialists had been sent to teach Kurdish forces "weapons training, self-defence and counter-terror warfare". Israel's foreign ministry voiced doubt over the report.(Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Iraq bars entry by non-Iraqi Arabs before election BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (Reuters) Iraq has barred non-Iraqi Arabs from entering the country as it beefs up security ahead of parliamentary elections in two weeks, a government official said on Thursday. No date for lifting the restrictions has been set, an official at Iraq's Interior Ministry said.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Musharraf underlines the importance of ‘democracy’ within political parties RAWALPINDI, Dec 1 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday underlined the importance of ‘democracy’ within political parties at the grassroots level for sustained socio-economic development of the country. "The genuine participation of local leadership within the political parties gives inherent strength to the democratic process - the elections within the parties should be reflective of the will of the people," he said. Musharraf was speaking to a delegation of elected representatives and local leaders of the Rawalpindi district.(Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Aid scramble wasting Sri Lanka tsunami relief, think-tank says COLOMBO, Dec 1 (AFP) International and local charities have wasted aid money meant for tsunami relief and slowed reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka, an independent think-tank said Thursday. The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) asked the Sri Lankan government to rein in the number of charities, many of which it says are in competition with each other and preoccupied with grabbing media attention. "Reluctance to co-operate with government institutions and competitive behaviour towards others continue to hamper coordination and implementation," an IPS economist said. Nearly 300 aid agencies capitalised on a huge international outpouring of sympathy for tsunami survivors and collected millions of dollars to rebuild and restore livelihoods along Sri Lanka's devastated coastlines. But an official from the country's housing ministry said some NGOs were less than honest.(Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Israel will not accept Iran nuclear weapons: Sharon TEL AVIV, Dec 1 (AFP) Israel will never accept a situation where Iran is in possession of nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday. "We must do everything possible to prepare for such a situation. But Israel is not on the verge of combat" with the regime in Tehran, Sharon said. "It is not only a danger for Israel but for the Middle East as a whole and for other countries," he added.(Posted @ 16:08 PST)
Two militants killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Dec 1 (AFP) Two suspected Taliban militants were killed in a gunfight after they ambushed a US-led convoy in Grisk, a district in troubled Helmand province, the ousted militia and the US military said Thursday. ”There were no Afghan or coalition casualties," a US military spokesman said.(Posted @ 16:08 PST)
India plans to launch a dozen satellites by 2008 NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (AFP) India Thursday announced plans to launch up to a dozen satellites in the next four years. Prime Minister Manmogan Singh's envoy Prithviraj Chavan told parliament that so far New Delhi had approved the construction of five satellites including two for communications and a remote sensing satellite and another with cartographic applications. "An India-French joint mission for tropical climatic research is among the other projects," Chavan said in a statement to parliament's upper house.(Posted @ 16:07 PST)
Let's talk about safe sex, PM Singh tells India NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (Reuters) India, with the world's second largest number of HIV/AIDS cases, must shed its inhibitions and start talking openly about safe sex to protect itself against the epidemic, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday. It was vital to educate young men and women about how to lead a "healthy and safe sexual life", Singh told hundreds of young political leaders on World AIDS Day. India says it has 5.13 million people living with HIV/AIDS,the second largest number after South Africa, but UNAIDS says many cases in the country of a billion-plus people go unreported.(Posted @ 16:07 PST)
Afghan ex-premier's rebels reject reconciliation PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 1 (Reuters) An Afghan rebel group led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said an offer of reconciliation by President Hamid Karzai was an attempt to trick the Afghan people. "There can be no peace and reconciliation in the presence of foreign forces," Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami party said in a statement distributed to media in Peshawar late on Wednesday.(Posted @ 15:48 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan’s chief calls for fewer matches against India LAHORE, Dec 1 (Reuters) Pakistan’s cricket chief Shahriyar Khan wants his team to play fewer matches against India because he fears interest in one of cricket's greatest spectacles is being diluted. "We are playing too much against India," Shahriyar told Reuters. "Last year we played India 12 times so the sparkle has gone out of the series but one has to contend with the requests of fellow boards. We are killing the goose that laid the golden egg," he added. ”I would like to see us play each other every two years like with the Ashes," Shahriyar said. "We need to treat our series in the same way as England and Australia treat theirs. If we do that there will then be no danger of overkill and it will maintain the fervour that we associate with these matches," he said.(Posted @ 15:48 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan rules out six-day tests against India LAHORE, Dec 1 (Reuters) Pakistan has ruled out the possibility of six-day tests against India next year to overcome the problem of bad light reducing the number of overs in matches. "We can talk to the Indian board and have a mutual agreement to have six-day tests. But it is not practical now since the itinerary has already been finalised," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director of Cricket Operations, Saleem Altaf said. "Secondly the tour schedule is already very tight and we are not in a position to have extra days and we don't think even the Indians would agree to such a proposal at this stage," he added.(Posted @ 15:47 PST)
Malaysia cracks down on 50,000 illegal immigrants KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Reuters) Malaysia launched a hunt on Thursday for some 50,000 illegal immigrants and overstaying foreign tourists, state-run Bernama news agency said on Thursday. The crackdown comes as Malaysian police have come under fire for allegedly mistreating some visitors from China.(Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Iraqi rebels launch assault in Ramadi, seize streets RAMADI, Iraq, Dec 1 (Reuters) Iraqi militants attacked a U.S. base and a local government building with mortar rounds and rockets in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Thursday, before holding ground on several central streets, residents said.Around 400 heavily armed, masked men were patrolling the main thoroughfares of the city, and had set up checkpoints at major entrance and exit points, residents from across Ramadi told Reuters. Leaflets were distributed and posted on walls declaring that al Qaeda in Iraq was taking over the city. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for information about the situation.(Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Ethiopian soldiers defect to Eritrea in Israel JERUSALEM, Dec 1 (Reuters) At least seven Ethiopian soldiers have defected to Eritrea during a training course in Israel, at a time of growing tension between the two Horn of Africa countries and fears of a new border war. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the soldiers went missing several days ago after a course run by a private company and then decided to go to Eritrea rather than Ethiopia. "In Israel we were surprised and we had nothing whatsoever to do with this whole episode," an Israeli spokesman said. Neither Ethiopian nor Eritrean diplomats in Israel made any immediate comment.(Posted @ 15:45 PST)
Cyclone off India expected to intensify HYDERABAD, India, Dec 1 (APP/AFP) - A high alert remained in effect Thursday along the southeastern Indian coast as weather officials said stalled Cyclone Baaz would intensify and move onshore at the weekend. The cyclone had been forecast to make landfall in the southeastern states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh by late Friday with winds of up to 90 kilometres (56 miles) per hour. But by early Thursday it had halted around 400 kilometres southeast of the city of Chennai, a weather official said. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Five militants killed by own explosives in Pakistan MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Dec 1 (AFP) - Five suspected militants, three of them Uzbeks, died when bomb-making equipment exploded at their house in a Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border, officials and witnesses said Thursday. The alleged rebels were killed late Wednesday "when explosives stored in their home went off" at Haisori village in the restive North Waziristan region, local administration official Kamal Khattak said. "We are trying to establish the nationality of the three," he said. Local residents said that they heard seven loud blasts between midnight and 2:00 am (1900 and 2100 GMT) and an aircraft also hovered over the area, but military officials said there was no air operation at that time. Witnesses said the dead included three Uzbek militants and two Pakistanis who had rented two rooms in a compound owned by a local tribesman. It may be recalled that thirty-five tribal militants with alleged links to Al-Qaeda network signed a peace deal with Pakistani authorities on Monday, pledging not to harbour foreign militants.(Posted @ 12:53 PST)
Security threat has changed in Afghanistan, says French army chief KABUL, Dec 1 (AFP) - The security threat in Afghanistan has changed, notably with an increase in suicide attacks encouraged by the presence of foreign fighters, the head of the French army said during a visit to Kabul this week. "The threat has changed. Today there are no longer the groups of organised terrorists that move around in gangs as was the case only one year ago," General Henri Bentegeat told AFP Wednesday. "Instead, what has appeared and poses today a general problem of security is the individual attacks, suicide attacks or attacks with homemade bombs or mines," he said.(Posted @ 12:24 PST)
Two US soldiers killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (AFP) - Two more US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, one north of Baghdad the other in Fallujah, the US military reported Thursday. A US marine died in Fallujah from wounds received from small arms fire during combat on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a US army soldier based in the Taji military base in north Baghdad, died in hospital of wounds received from a gunshot. The military would not elaborate on the nature of the incident. The latest deaths brings the death toll of military personnel in Iraq up to 2,108, according to the Pentagon website tracking casualties.(Posted @ 12:18 PST)
Final phase of Egypt elections kicks off CAIRO, Dec 1 (AFP) - Egyptians went to the polls Thursday for a third and final phase of parliamentary elections, in which the Muslim Brotherhood hoped to consolidate its newfound electoral strength despite a wave of arrests. Voting is taking place in nine provinces, with close to 1,800 candidates contesting 136 seats. The opposition Muslim Brotherhood has already secured 76 seats in the first two rounds -- five times its tally in the outgoing parliament -- and could reach the 100 mark if half of its 49 third-phase candidates win.The movement's leader, Mohammed Mehdi Akef, said Wednesday that more than 500 of its supporters had been detained in the run-up to the third phase, mainly in the Nile Delta.(Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Cricket-ICC plans to add umpires to elite panel LAHORE, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Wednesday that it will increase the number of umpires on its elite panel from seven to either nine or ten."Next year when we sit down to make appointments we will increase the number to nine or ten but we want to have the best umpires supervising tests and one-day internationals," ICC chief executive Malcom Speed said. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)
Pakistan calls for early establishment of Palestinian state UNITED NATIONS, Dec, 1 (APP) -- Pakistan told the UN General Assembly that it looked forward "eagerly" to the early establishment of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian State. "What is most important, at this stage, is for both parties to demonstrate their clear commitment to implement the further steps involved in the Road Map, including the withdrawal from the West Bank, leading to the establishment of a Palestinian State," Pakistan's U.N. Ambassador Munir Akram said of the process, which is sponsored by the Quartet consisting of the U.N., European Union, United States and Russia. (Posted @ 10:53 PST)
UNESCO sets up "Confucius Literacy Prize" to boost education BEIJING, Dec. 1 (APP): The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here Thursday announced it is setting up the "Confucius Literacy Prize," aimed at honoring individuals and institutions that have made a significant contribution to education development. The prize will be funded by eastern China's Shandong Province and Confucius' hometown, Jining City. The prizes, worth a total of 150,000 US dollars, will be announced on International Literacy Day which falls on September 8. The UNESCO director general will grant the prize to the two winners with certificates and medals, as well as a chance to visit Jining City. (Posted @ 09:17 PST)
India's biggest movie star has surgery, doctors say he's in stable condition BOMBAY, India, Dec 1 (APP/AP) _ India's movie legend Amitabh Bachchan had surgery and was in stable condition, hospital authorities said Thursday. Bachchan was operated on for diverticulitis of the intestine, said a statement from Bombay's Lilavati Hospital, where the surgery was performed late Wednesday. Bachchan's condition was stable and the surgery successful, the statement said. The actor was admitted to hospital on Monday with acute abdominal pain and doctors suspected inflammation of the intestine. Bachchan has acted in more than 150 Indian movies in a career spanning three decades. (Posted @ 09:17 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 55.10 points: KARACHI, Dec 1: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 9081.03, down 55.10 points from Wednesday's close. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Dec 1: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.1 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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