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| January 15, 2006 | Sunday | Zilhaj 14, 1426 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Kuwait's Emir dead: official KUWAIT CITY, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - The Emir of oil-rich Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, died on Sunday aged 77, according to an Emiri court statement read on state television by information minister Anas al-Rasheed. The statement announced a 40-day period of mourning. Government offices will be closed for three days. Sheikh Jaber, who ruled since early 1978, had been ill since suffering a brain haemorrhage in September 2001. For the first time since Kuwait gained independence from Britain in 1961, the Emir in 2003 split the posts of crown prince and prime minister which had been held by the ailing crown prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah since 1978, naming Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, his half-brother, as premier. Under the Kuwaiti constitution, crown prince Sheikh Saad will automatically become Emir. (First Posted @ 09:15 PST; Updated @ 10:15 PST)
Afghan minister arriving on 4-day visit ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (APP): Afghan Minister for Industry and Mining Mir Mohammad Sidiq Farhang will arrive in Pakistan tomorrow on a official four-day visit. According to the petroleum ministry, the Afghan minister would call on Amanullah Jadoon, federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, private TV channel (Geo) reported. The Afghan minister would also join Turkmenistan-Pakistan gas pipeline dialogue.(Posted @ 23:30 PST)
John Kerry calls on President Musharraf KARACHI, Jan 15 (APP)- US Senator John Kerry along with a four-members delegation called on President General Pervez Musharraf at Army House here Sunday. They remained together for some time. During the meeting matters of mutual interest came under discussion.(Posted @ 23:15 PST)
Taiser Town to be developed on self-finance basis KARACHI, Jan 15 (APP)- Taiser Town (Scheme-45) whose balloting was performed by President General Pervez Musharraf here on Sunday, would be developed on self-finance basis. Predominantly it is a low income housing scheme providing maximum number of 80 and 120 square yard plots. Today, the computer balloting was held for 34,762 plots of 80 square yard category for which 416,000 applications were received from all over the country in the month of September 2005.(Posted @ 23:05 PST)
Thousands rally in Pakistan to protest US strike KARACHI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Thousands of people rallied across Pakistan on Sunday to protest against a U.S. airstrike in a tribal region that killed at least 18 people. Up to 10,000 men, women and children rallied in Karachi to denounce the attack in which several women and children were killed. "We condemn attack in Bajaur," read one banner.(Posted @ 22:50 PST)
Seven killed, 40 injured as Indian bus topples into riverbed NEW DELHI, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Seven people were killed and 40 injured Sunday when a passenger bus crashed off a bridge and tumbled into a dry riverbed in southern India, police said. The accident in Tamil Nadu state occurred after a burst tyre caused the bus driver to lose control of the vehicle, police told the Press Trust of India. Five people were killed on the spot and two others died in hospital.(Posted @ 22:15 PST)
Unicef distributes relief package to children in camps MUZAFFARABAD, Jan.15 (APP) In order to keep the children warm the United Nations International Children Emergency Funds (Unicef) has distributed winter kits among the quake survivor children living in the camps. In this package besides shoes, socks, warm clothes, jackets under-garments are being distributed among the quake survivor children in the camps.(Posted @ 21:06 PST)
One Canadian civilian dead in Afghan attack KANDAHAR, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - One Canadian civilian was killed and three Canadian soldiers were wounded in a suicide attack that also killed two Afghan civilians in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, several military sources said.(Posted @ 20:15 PST)
Israel cabinet okays Palestinian Jerusalem vote JERUSALEM, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Israel gave its approval Sunday for Arab residents of annexed east Jerusalem to vote in this month's Palestinian election but made clear it would not tolerate campaigning by Hamas. The militant group immediately vowed to defy the ban and six activists, three of them candidates in the January 25 poll, were arrested while trying to campaign in Jerusalem's old City.(Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Pakistan declares 3-day mourning on demise of Kuwaiti Amir ISLAMABAD, Jan.15 (PPI): Pakistan has declared 3-day mourning on the sad demise of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, who passed away on Sunday. The National flag will fly at half-mast on January 15, 16 and 17, an official announcement said. (Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Suspected militants attack Nigerian oil platform LAGOS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Suspected ethnic militants attacked another oil production platform operated by Royal Dutch Shell on Sunday, extending a three-week spate of sabotage and kidnappings, military officials and diplomats said. Brigadier-General Elias Zamani, who heads a military task force in the southern delta, said troops exchanged fire with the attackers at the Benisede oil flow station in Bayelsa state.(Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Cricket- South Africa beat Australia by five wickets MELBOURNE, Jan 15 (Reuters) - South Africa beat Australia by five wickets in a one-day match at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday. Scores: Australia 228 from 49.5 overs (Mike Hussey 73, Brett Lee 57); South Africa 231 for five from 48.5 overs (Boeta Dippenaar 74, Mark Boucher 63 not out)(Updated @ 16:55 PST)
Suicide attack hits Canadian convoy in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - A suspected suicide car bomb targeted a Canadian military convoy in the troubled southern city of Kandahar Sunday, witnesses said. The number of casualties was unclear but several witnesses told AFP that soldiers were lying on the ground after the explosion in the city's Do Rahee district.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Thirteen killed by landslide in Afghanistan, villages cut off KABUL, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide while heavy snow has left hundreds of thousands of others stranded in northern Afghanistan's mountainous villages, officials said Sunday. Heavy rain and snow triggered the landslide in remote villages in northern Sar-i-Pul province killing residents including women and children late Friday, provincial governor Mohammad Iqbal Munib told AFP.(Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Accidental explosion at German party injures 31 BERLIN, Jan 15 (Reuters) - A petrol can exploded at a birthday party in Germany, injuring 31 people, nine seriously, police said on Sunday. A heater in the garage where around 60 people were attending the party caused the half-empty petrol can to explode on Saturday night, setting the garage on fire, police said. Fire fighters extinguished the blaze in the southern German town of Herzogenaurachand.(Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Three killed in India when train hits jeep SRINAGAR, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Three people were killed and two others critically injured Sunday when a train rammed into a jeep crossing an unmanned railway junction in occupied Kashmir, police said. The accident took place in the southern district of Kathua, 350 kilometres (220 miles) of Srinagar. "Three people died on the spot while two others were taken to hospital in a critical condition," a police spokesman said. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Indian troops kill three militants in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Indian soldiers have killed three militants in occupied Kashmir, police said Sunday. Two of the militants from Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed during a 12-hour long gunbattle late Saturday in the southern Poonch district, a police spokesman said. He identified the pair as Abu Bilal and Abu Saqui. Two others escaped. "The four were in a meeting when security forces launched a raid based on a tip-off," the spokesman said. Another Lashkar militant, Abu Maaz, was killed during a gunbattle in the neighbouring district of Doda late Saturday, police said. Kashmir is in the grip of a 16-year-old insurgency that has left more than 44,000 people dead. Separatists say the death toll is twice as high. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
US soldier injured in blast in Afghanistan KABUL, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - A US solider was slightly wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a military convoy in southern Afghanistan, the US military said Sunday. The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon in the insurgency-hit southern province of Helmand, the military said in a statement. "A US soldier was wounded in Helmand province when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy," it said, adding that the wounded soldier was airlifted to a military base in Kandahar for treatment.The United States maintains more than 19,000 troops in Afghanistan following the ousting of the ultra-conservative Taliban regime in late 2001. Taliban remnants, however, have been fighting an insurgency against the US-backed government and US-led forces ever since. Most of their attacks occur in southern and eastern regions -- mountainous terrain along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Three soldiers killed during India-Singapore military exercises LUCKNOW, India, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Three Indian soldiers were killed in an accident involving an artillery gun during joint military exercises with Singapore in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, police said Sunday. "The three Indian soldiers were killed when the barrel of an artillery field gun exploded on Saturday evening," police spokesman Surendra Srivastava told AFP in the provincial capital of Lucknow. The accident occurred in Jhansi, 300 kilometres (186 miles) southwest of Lucknow. The exercises began on January 9 and will end on January 18. (Posted @ 12:00 PST)
At least 15 dead in Philippine boat accident MANILA, Philippines, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - An overloaded fishing boat sank Sunday in the southern Philippines, killing 15 people, mostly children, police said. The vessel was taking part in a sea parade off the coast of San Ricardo in Southern Leyte province to celebrate the annual feast of the infant Jesus when the accident happened, police said. "The vessel sank and we have at least 15 dead taken to our municipal hospital," police officer Sam Lianes told local radio. The dead were taken to the nearby Pintuyan municipal hospital. "Authorities in the area say there could be more bodies that have not been recovered," Lianes said. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
Hamas can join government if accepts peace with Israel: Abbas DUBAI, Jan 15 (APP/AFP) - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that Hamas could only participate in any future government if it recognizes the Oslo peace accords with Israel. "Hamas is now participating in the elections according to a certain basis, and not any other basis from the past," Abbas said in an interview with the Al-Jazeera news channel. "If Hamas wants to participate in the government, it has to abide by this basis ... upon which we (the Palestinian leadership) returned (from exile) to Palestine in 1994, based on the Oslo accords," he said. "We returned on the basis of the Oslo accords which rule the legislative council and all the agreements that took place afterwards between us and the Israelis, and subsequently the roadmap," he said. "So whoever wants to participate in this government has to do so on this basis," he said. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Cuba gets China's first trains exported to Latin America HAVANA, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - President Fidel Castro on Saturday took delivery of China's first trains exported to Latin America and the Caribbean. Castro came out personally to the railyards to see the 12 trains -- as well as 80 buses -- purchased from China. The trains cost more than 15 million dollars to make and ship here, official reports said. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Senator John Kerry visits earthquake affected areas, lauds rehabilitation efforts MEHRA CAMP (Shangla), Jan 15 (APP): US Senator John Kerry Saturday lauded rehabilitation efforts in the earthquake affected areas and praised the courage of the survivors. The senator, who was runner-up in the last US Presidential elections, said the Pakistan army put up impressive and extraordinary efforts for rehabilitation. "I am really impressed to see the spirit of survivors. Incredible efforts have been put together by the military (for rehabilitation)," he told reporters. Some 18,000 survivors are living in the high altitude tented village - largest in the area – which has the facilities of school and hospital. The senator distributed USAID-funded school uniforms for around 3,000 school children at the camp. "It is a terrible thing when 3.5 million people are displaced and 80,000 people killed," he said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Palestinian mother and son shot dead by Israeli troops: sources NABLUS, West Bank, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - A Palestinian mother and her son were shot dead during an Israeli army shoot-out in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank early Sunday, security sources said. The troops opened fire during an operation in Rujeb village, killing 50-year-old mother and her 20-year-old son and injuring four other people who lived in the same house, sources said. According to a witness, a member of the family had opened fire on the soldiers, fearing that they were burglars. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Pakistani gang rape victim in France for book launch PARIS, Jan 14, 2006 (AFP) – Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman whose gang rape triggered an international outcry, arrived in France Saturday for the presentation of her French biography. "Deshonouree", written in collaboration with Marie-Therese Cuny, hit bookshelves in France on Thursday. Mai said, through an interpreter, that she wanted "to spread to women worldwide the message that each time a woman is abused it is important to be by her side." She is due to meet with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Monday before leaving for the United States on Tuesday. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
US screen star Shelley Winters dead at 85 LOS ANGELES, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Double Oscar-winning star Shelley Winters, a tough-talking brassy blonde who would become one of Hollywood's most respected actresses, has died, her publicist said on Saturday. She was 85. Winters won best supporting actress Oscars for 1959's "The Diary Of Anne Frank," in which she played a Dutch Jew, and again for her role as the cruel mother of a blind girl in "A Patch Of Blue" (1965). She also earned two more Academy Award nominations for her roles opposite Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in "A Place In The Sun" (1951), and for 1972's "The Poseidon Adventure," the campy high seas disaster movie in which she played one of her most memorable roles, that of an ill-fated ex-swimmer. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Anger in Pakistan over US air strike DAMADOLA, Pakistan, Jan 15, 2006 (AFP) - Tribal police patrolled restive villages Sunday after Pakistan formally protested to the United States at a deadly air strike targeting Al-Qaeda's deputy leader that killed 18 people. Tensions remained high near the village of Damadola, the site of the attack in the Bajur tribal area on the Afghan border, after police teargassed thousands of protesters who torched a US-funded aid agency office Saturday. The leader of top Pakistani religious-based party Jamaat-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, has called for a nationwide protest strike on Sunday (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
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