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| December 17, 2005 | Saturday | Ziqa’ad 14, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
One dead in Gaza car blast-Palestinian sources GAZA, Dec 17 (Reuters) - One person was killed when a car exploded in an apparent Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian security sources said. The identity of the dead passenger was not immediately known. (Posted @ 23:25 PST)
Bush acknowledges secret order for domestic spying WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) President George W. Bush on Saturday acknowledged he signed a secret order after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to allow the surveillance of people in the United States. In a rare live radio address, Bush defended the practice as a "vital tool" in defending the United States against another such attack. In the radio address, Bush called for renewal of the USA Patriot Act, an anti-terror measure stalled in Congress.(Posted @ 21:15 PST)
U.S. warns of possible Mideast, North Africa attacks KUWAIT, Dec 17 (Reuters) The United States has warned of possible militant attacks on its interests in the Middle East and North Africa and urged Americans there to be vigilant, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait said on Saturday.(Posted @ 21:08 PST)
India dethrone Bangladesh to regain SAF soccer crown KARACHI, Dec 17 (APP): Favourites India produced a superb show to dethrone the Bangladeshi team with an impressive 2-0 victory in the final soccer match to regain the South Asian Federation Football (SAFF) Championship title here on Saturday evening. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was the Chief Guest at the event, presented the trophy to the winning Indian Captain Bhaichung Bhutia and a cash purse of US$ 50,000 while the losing Bangladeshi skipper Arif Khan Joy received the runners-up trophy and a US$ 30,000 cash prize. The losing semi-finalist teams Pakistan and Maldives received US$ 10,000 each.(Posted @ 21:02 PST)
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to be built starting from 2007-officials NEW DELHI, Dec 17 (Reuters) Pakistan and India hope to start building a $7 billion gas pipeline from Iran to South Asia by 2007 despite objections from the United States, top officials from both countries said on Saturday. "We have made significant progress. We hope to complete the project by 2010," Pakistan's Petroleum Secretary Ahmad Waqar told reporters after bilateral talks with officials from India's oil ministry in New Delhi. "We shall go ahead," Waqar said when asked to comment on U.S. objections to the project. His Indian counterpart, Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi, said "we have made significant progress. We are now talking about details of the project," he said. He said the pipeline would initially bring 90 million cubic metres a day of gas, a third of it for Pakistan. The volume would be raised to 150 million cubic metres in 3-4 years. Oil ministers from both countries plan to meet in New Delhi in February to review progress in the project, a joint press statement said. India, Pakistan and Iran would also discuss the project at another meeting in Tehran, also in February, it added.(Posted @ 19:56 PST)
Hamas wins big in Palestinian local election-official results RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec 17 (Reuters) Hamas won in three out of four Palestinian cities in a local ballot seen as a bellwether for a January election, official results published on Saturday showed. Hamas won in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Jenin as well as in the town of al-Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah, which was the only city where the mainstream Fatah faction prevailed in an alliance with Marxist and independent lists. But Hamas's success was more muted among the 37 West Bank villages that participated in the fourth round of municipal voting on Thursday. It won in only three villages. President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction won in most of the rest. "The elections were free, fair and transparent,” Jamal al-Shobaki, the head of Local Election Commission, told reporters at a news conference announcing the results.(Posted @ 19:52 PST)
Government committed to bring further improvement in capital market: Aziz KARACHI, Dec 17 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said here Saturday that "the government is committed to further reform the capital market and bring further improvements…government is now launching new initiatives such as General Depository Receipts (GDR), Private Equity, Voluntary Pensions, Venture Capitals, Multiple Listing and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) while Real Estate Fund will be finalized in four weeks". He was talking to a delegation of Karachi Stock Exchange which had called on him at the Governor House. Aziz said the government was aggressively pursuing the privatization program and accordingly was also contemplating to enter the international equity market by taking the best public sector enterprise to major international stock markets through the General Depository Receipts (GDR).(Posted @ 18:14 PST)
Sri Lankan Tiger rebels reject Asia peace talks offer KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, Dec 17 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday rejected a government offer to hold crunch talks in Asia aimed at averting a return to civil war, insisting any meeting should be hosted by peace broker Norway. New President Mahinda Rajapakse has offered to meet the rebels for immediate talks in any Asian country, but not in Europe. He has also angered the Tigers by rejecting their demand for an ethnic Tamil homeland outright.(Posted @ 17:54 PST)
Britain ran torture camp after World War Two: report LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) Britain ran a secret prison in Germany for two years after the end of World War Two where inmates including Nazi party members were tortured and starved to death, the Guardian said on Saturday. Citing Foreign Office files which were opened after a request under the Freedom of Information act, the newspaper said Britain had held men and woman at a prison in Bad Nenndorf until July 1947.The files detailed an investigation carried out by a Scotland Yard detective who found evidence of torture and said at least two inmates had starved to death while another had been beaten to death. "Even today, the Foreign Office is refusing to release photographs taken of some of the 'living skeletons' on their release," the newspaper said.(Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Sixty hurt as Bhutanese protest at Indian border KOLKATA, India, Dec 17 (Reuters) About 60 people were injured when Indian police used batons to push back hundreds of Nepal-based Bhutanese refugees, police and witnesses said on Saturday. About 100,000 ethnic Nepali Bhutanese have been living in camps in eastern Nepal on the border with India since Bhutan's king stripped them of citizenship or forced them to leave after they campaigned for democracy in the early 1990s. On Saturday, around 1,000 of them gathered on the India-Nepal border for a meeting to mark the Bhutanese National Day, but later tried to force their way into India on which the police baton-charged them.(Posted @ 17:48 PST)
Bangladesh arrests key militant leader DHAKA, Dec 17 (AFP) Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Mohammad Abu Isa and three junior militants of the banned group Jamayetul Mujahideen at a hideout in western Rajshahi city late Friday, a statement on Saturday said. The RAB alleged that Isa, 27, was head of Jamayetul's operations in Rajshahi, one of six administrative divisions of Bangladesh and that he had confessed to organising the blasts on August 17 in the region. RAB also said they had seized 2,000 electric detonators and 144 power gels, used to enhance the power of bombs, in two raids on militant hideouts in the west of the country.(Posted @ 17:46 PST)
India hopeful of getting international civilian nuclear cooperation NEW DELHI Dec 17 (AFP) "I am optimistic through constructive dialogue with the international community, we will soon be part of the mainstream with full civilian nuclear cooperation," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday. Singh's comments came before a second meeting of the Nuclear Working Group headed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, which were thrashing out details of the accord. The meeting will be held Wednesday and Thursday in Washington. "Our non-proliferation record and our scientific credentials will only add to India's weight in the international cooperative endeavour to harness all the applications of nuclear energy for the country's social and economic development, for meeting our growing energy needs," Singh said in a statement at a function in Indore, the Press Trust of India reported.(Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Afghan villagers’ riot after police capture suspected Taliban KABUL, Dec 17 (AFP) Hundreds of villagers clashed with police near Afghanistan's capital to demand the release of six men they said were ordinary clerics but whom police suspected were Taliban fighters, authorities said Saturday. The villagers rioted in Logar province just south of Kabul on Friday, breaking windows and throwing stones, police said. Gunfire was also heard coming from the mob, he said. The crowd claimed police had shot dead two of the protesters, however no bodies had been found after the clash.(Posted @ 17:36 PST)
Protesters battle past HK police to reach WTO centre HONG KONG, Dec 17 (Reuters) Hundreds of protesters battled past police lines in Hong Kong on Saturday to reach a building where a meeting of world trade ministers was being held, a Reuters reporter said. Police wielding pepper spray and batons fought pitched battles with the protesters over a large area around the Hong Kong Convention Centre, the site of the meeting in the city's Wanchai entertainment and office district. More than 20 protesters had been injured by pepper spray, witnesses said, and a local radio station reported at least one policeman had been injured.(Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Taliban kill two in attack on Afghan school KABUL, Dec 17 (Reuters) Taliban guerrillas attacked a high school in southern Afghanistan on Saturday killing a guard and a male teenage student, a witness said. The attackers arrived at the school in Lashkargah, the capital of the troubled southern province of Helmand, and killed the two. They then went out firing into the air and called on people to obey their orders to shut down schools, saying they would be killed if they did not.(Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Musharraf praises Pakistan cricket team ISLAMABAD, Dec 17 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday praised the Pakistani cricketers for emerging as a remarkable outfit in the current series against England. Speaking informally to Pakistani and English cricket teams at a reception in Aiwan-e-Sadr, Musharraf said "the Pakistani cricketers have gelled wonderfully under their captain and put up a brilliant showing in all departments of the game.” He particularly lauded the team's performance in the Test series, saying the interesting contest brought back crowds to the five-day matches. The British High Commissioner Mark Lyall Grant also attended the reception. Inzamam ul Haq expressed the resolve to sustain the winning form in the remaining matches.(Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Pakistan Army contingent leaves for Liberia KARACHI, Dec 17 (APP) The first batch of Pakistan Army contingent consisting 300 Troops left to participate in the United Nations Mission in Liberia here Friday night, a press release of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued here on Saturday said. The contingent comprises of troops from the infantry, engineers and medical corps division.(Posted @ 15:26 PST)
Warne claims new wickets record PERTH, Australia, Dec 17 (AFP) Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne outstripped Dennis Lillee's 24-year-old record for most wickets in a calendar year on Saturday when he claimed his 85th and 86th in the first Test against South Africa. Warne bowled opener A.B. de Villiers for 68 before trapping Ashwell Prince lbw for 28, moving past compatriot Lillee's 1981 haul of 85.(Posted @ 15:24 PST)
Cricket-Australia 258 and 38-1 v South Africa 296 - close PERTH, Dec 17 (Reuters) Australia were 38 for one in their second innings at the close of play on the second day of the first test against South Africa on Saturday. Scores: Australia 258 and 38-1; South Africa 296.(Posted @ 15:15 PST)
South Africa bus accident kills 22-radio JOHANNESBURG, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Twenty-two South Africans were killed and 77 injured when a bus they were travelling in overturned and plunged into a river early on Saturday, public radio reported. The bus was carrying holiday- makers. Police expect the death toll to rise as rescue teams were still searching the murky waters. Among the dead were six children, reports said.(Posted @ 12:51 PST)
Bollywood icon Bachchan released from hospital after surgery MUMBAI, India, Dec 17 (AFP) - Bollywood movie legend Amitabh Bachchan was released from a Mumbai hospital Saturday after doctors said he made a good recovery from bowel surgery. Bachchan, known as the "Big B," waved at the doorway to hundreds of fans who had gathered outside the building to catch a glimpse of him. The actor spent about a week in intensive care after being operated on November 30 for diverticulitis. The ailment involves bulging pouches on the outside of the colon that can lead to infection and sometimes rupture.(Posted @ 12:30 PST)
US House adopts tougher immmigration bill, nixes Bush guest worker plan WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (AFP) - The House of Representatives late Friday adopted tougher immigration legislation, including a measure to set up vast border fences that has strained ties with Mexico. The bill was adopted in a 239-182 vote, and deprived President George W. Bush of his proposed guest worker program. A proposal to end the automatic right to US citizenship for all those born on US soil, defended by some conservatives, failed to gain support. But a highly controversial fence-building plan -- to set up five double-layer border fences in California and Arizona, totaling 1,123 kilometers (698 miles) -- did pass the House. The future of the bill in the US Senate is still uncertain.(Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Chinese Olympic hopeful killed in training accident BEIJING, Dec 17 (AFP) - A 17-year-old Chinese Olympic cycling hopeful was killed in a road accident while training, state press reported Saturday.Triathlete Chen Lihong died from head injuries after a collision between a car and a group of cyclists on a major highway, the Beijing News said. Chen was ranked eighth in China's women's national team, 20th in Asia and 170th in the world rankings, it said.(Posted @ 10:33 PST)
Cheney to visit Afghanistan, Pakistan, other allies WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will go to Afghanistan for the historic opening session of its new parliament next week and also make stops in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman -- all allies in the U.S. war against terrorism. In Pakistan, he plans to meet President Pervez Musharraf. "President Bush has asked the vice president to stop in Pakistan as well to assess ongoing U.S. relief and reconstruction efforts in the wake of October's devastating earthquake," a statement said. Cheney will also meet the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Oman to discuss "key issues of mutual concern relating to President Bush's freedom agenda and the war on terror," the statement added (Posted @ 10:06 PST)
US Congress backs resolution opposing Hamas role in Palestinian vote WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (AFP) - The US House of Representatives backed a resolution Friday asserting that Hamas should not be allowed to participate in Palestinian elections until it recognizes "Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state". The resolution was approved by a voice vote of 397 to 17 with seven abstentions. Hamas scored a resounding victory Friday in local elections in the main West Bank cities in what was one of the clearest indicators of its strength ahead of January's parliamentary contest.(Posted @ 09:55 PST)
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