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| March 11, 2006 | Saturday | Safar 10, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
North Korea puts off talks over US-South Korea military exercises SEOUL, March 11, 2006 (AFP) Pyongyang on Saturday informed Seoul of its decision to postpone the 18th inter-Korean high-level talks until some time in April, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The notification said "we express regret at your side's intention to stage again with the US large-scale joint war exercises targeted against the north quite contrary to our just demand and the nation's expectation". "It is our stand that the hostile war exercises and peaceful dialogue cannot go together," it added. (First Posted@ 17:15 PST Updated @ 21:05 PST)
Pugwash conference on Kashmir ends ISLAMABAD, Mar 11 (APP): Kashmiri politicians from Azad and Occupied Kashmir concluded the Pugwash conference Saturday after two days of deliberations on the Kashmir dispute. Pugwash secretary general Prof. Paolo Cotta-Ramusino said another meeting was planned in the near future. He said the participants were of the view that Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC should have greater interaction and more confidence building measures should be taken. Cotta-Ramusino said the conference emphasized that there was a need to end human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir. Posh Charak, a professor at the University of Jammu and Kashmir in IHK, said that people on both sides of Kashmir want to live in peace and tranquillity. She added that travel across the LoC should be further facilitated in order to augment people-to-people contacts.(Posted @ 21:00 PST)
Milosevic dies in jail - UN tribunal THE HAGUE, March 11 (Reuters) Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has died, the U.N. tribunal said on Saturday, just months before his trial for genocide and war crimes in the Balkans wars in the 1990s was expected to conclude. "Milosevic was found lifeless on his bed in his cell at the United Nations detention unit," the tribunal said in a statement. The U.N. court said the Dutch police and a Dutch coroner were called in and started an inquiry. A full autopsy and toxicological examination have been ordered. A tribunal spokeswoman said she could not comment on the cause of death until the autopsy was completed, but added: "we have no indication that it was suicide." French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters in Salzburg that Milosevic had died of natural causes.( First Posted@17:08 PST Updated @ 20:28 PST)
Taliban behead two in Afghan south KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 11 (Reuters) Taliban insurgents beheaded two former Afghan government officials in the southern province of Helmand, officials said on Saturday. One of the dead men was Abdul Razaaq, a former pro-government militia commander for the province, they said. Taliban said they were behind the beheadings.(Posted @ 20:24 PST)
French riot police storm Sorbonne University PARIS, March 11, 2006 (AFP) French riot police stormed Paris's famous Sorbonne university early on Saturday to smash a protest by hundreds of students angry at a new labour law. Police said 11 officers were injured during the operation and there were several arrests.(Posted @ 20:22 PST)
President inaugurates CNG System Pilot Project LILLA, March 11 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Saturday inaugurated a CNG System Pilot Project for Lilla town in district Jhelum. Under the pilot project, a gas station has been set up from which gas will be provided to the people through pipelines extended up to the town. "We are fully focused on improving the lot of the people by alleviating poverty, creating employment opportunities and controlling inflation," Musharraf said at the ceremony. He said he envisaged the idea of introducing LNG and CNG projects for domestic consumers after the increase in demand for gas and electricity, particularly in the rural and remote areas. He told the gathering that huge gas reserves have been discovered at Gurgari in NWFP and pipelines were being laid to extend gas supply from the new source to D.I. Khan and Peshawar city. Similarly, the government is working on a major plan for supply of gas to Bhawalnagar, he said and vowed to ensure the supply of fuel throughout the country.(Posted @ 17:32 PST)
India, China hold talks on border dispute NEW DELHI, March 11, 2006 (AFP) India and China held a new round of talks Saturday aimed at settling a decades-old border row which led to a brief war between the two countries in 1962. India's National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Dai Bingguo, China's executive vice foreign minister, led the two sides in discussing the dispute. "China believes as long as the two sides proceed forward and conduct patient, thorough and friendly consultations ... we can find a fair and reasonable framework (agreement)," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing ahead of the talks, the Press Trust of India reported.(Posted @ 17:12 PST)
Ten tents gutted as fire erupts in Pakistan quake survivors' camp MUZAFFARABAD, Azad Kashmir, March 11, 2006 (AFP) A fire broke out in a refugee camp for earthquake survivors here Saturday, destroying at least 10 tents but there were no casualties, officials said. The fire was triggered while a woman was cooking food on a stove in the Neelum Park camp in Muzaffarabad, a local administration chief said. "There have been no human losses. However, some belongings of the people living in these tents were burnt to ashes," the official added(Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Seven killed in clashes in India's northeast IMPHAL, India, March 11 (Reuters) Seven people, including a civilian caught in crossfire, were killed in gun battles between rebels and Indian troops in the troubled north-eastern state of Manipur on Saturday, police said. "The militants have been identified and they belonged to the People's Liberation Army (PLA)," a police spokesman said. The PLA is battling for freedom for the landlocked state bordering Myanmar, accusing New Delhi of neglecting the development and welfare of the people.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Gunmen kill senior editor from Iraq state TV BAGHDAD, March 11 (Reuters) Gunmen killed a senior editor, Amjad Hameed, from Iraqi state television, shooting him dead in his car as he was being driven to work on Saturday in Baghdad, police and the channel said. He was the second Iraqi television journalist to be killed in a week.(Posted @ 16:52 PST)
Indian PM defends new friend Washington, nuke deal NEW DELHI, March 11 (Reuters) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday told the parliament that the nuclear pact, sealed during President George W. Bush's visit this month, was vital to boosting energy output to sustain targeted 10 percent economic growth to fight poverty. "While doing this deal ... we have not compromised our autonomy with regard to our strategic programme," Singh said. Singh also said the new relationship between the two was driven by shared interests and India would still focus on other important partners, including Russia, China and France.(Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Makeshift bombs damage 26 French cars in Athens ATHENS, March 11 (Reuters) Unknown assailants using makeshift bombs burned 26 French-made cars in showrooms and parking lots around Athens on Saturday, authorities said. Scores of fire fighters were dispatched to five different locations in and near the Greek capital in the early morning, the fire department said. No one was hurt in the bombings. French interests in Greece have been attacked in the past by groups expressing solidarity with rioting youths in France last year.(Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Bomb found at Indian rail station MUMBAI, March 11, 2006 (AFP) Police found a bomb Saturday at a railway station in Mumbai. "It has not yet been disclosed what sort of bomb it was," a police spokesman said. "It was lying in an unattended bag." The spokesman added that there had been no arrests in connection with the bomb found Saturday and that it was too early to say who planted the device.(Posted @ 16:38 PST)
Indian troops kill two militants in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, March 11(AFP) Soldiers shot dead two militants Saturday as troops combed an area in southern Anantnag district and recovered counterfeit Indian and US currency notes, the army said. Troops received information militants were hiding in the village of Muchhama and laid a cordon around it. There was an ensuing gunbattle in which two militants were killed, it said. The army also recovered fake US and Indian currency notes from a suspected militant hideout in northern Kupwara district late Friday, it said. (Posted @ 12:40 PST)
Thailand warns of unusual underwater tremors BANGKOK, March 11 (AFP) Thailand warned Saturday of a series of unusual underwater earthquakes in the Andaman Sea, urging caution along its southern coast where the tsunami hit in 2004. The National Disaster Warning Center said that between March 9-11 it had detected 31 quakes ranging in magnitude from 4.0 to 5.3 near the Andaman Islands, some 500 kilometers (300 miles) east of the southern Thai province of Ranong. The epicenters have been in an area where underwater volcanoes sometimes erupt along a fault line, it said in a statement. "It could cause a major eruption of underwater volcanos, and that could trigger a tsunami that would damage Thailand," the statement said. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Lorry and coach crash in Morocco, killing 10 RABAT, March 11 (Reuters) Ten people were killed and 21 injured in southern Morocco on Friday when a bus drove into oncoming traffic and was involved in a collision with a coach. The bus driver was believed to be under the influence of alcohol. (Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Seven Russian troops, one pro-Moscow policeman killed in Chechnya VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia, March 11 (AFP) Seven Russian soldiers and a policeman have been killed in a bloody 24 hours of rebel attacks in Chechnya, an official said Friday. Four soldiers were killed and five others wounded in a string of ambush attacks on federal forces, said the source. In another incident, one soldier was killed when a military vehicle came under fire near the village of Benoi-Vedeno in the south-eastern Nozhai-Yurt region. A further two servicemen from a unit stationed near Nozhai-Yurt were killed Thursday by a grenade that exploded in their hands. In the southern Vedeno region a police unit got ambushed early Friday, with one policeman killed and another wounded. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Russia, Algeria sign debt, warplanes deals on Putin visit ALGIERS, March 11 (AFP) Russia and Algeria swapped debt repayment for military hardware Friday during a visit by President Vladimir Putin, with Algiers paying up to 7.5 billion dollars (6.3 billion euros) for weaponry but erasing its debt. Under a document signed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Algerian opposite number Mohammed Bedjaoui, Moscow is writing off 4.7 billion dollars that the north African nation owes it. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
India involved in illicit nuclear activities: US think tank WASHINGTON, March 11 (AFP) A US think tank on Friday questioned India's nuclear non-proliferation record, saying it had uncovered illicit Indian government nuclear procurement from Europe that leaked sensitive atomic technology. Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a private group in Washington, said in a report Friday that it "has uncovered a well-developed, active, and secret Indian program to outfit its uranium enrichment program and circumvent other countries' export control efforts." "Indian procurement methods for its nuclear program leak sensitive nuclear technology," said the report, co-authored by ISIS President David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
US hostage found dead in Iraq WASHINGTON, March 11 (AFP) A dead body found in Iraq has been identified as missing US hostage Tom Fox, a peace activist who was abducted along with three Western colleagues three months ago, a State Department spokesman said late Friday. "The FBI verified the identity of a body found in Iraq this morning. While additional forensics will be completed in the United States, they believe this is the body of Tom Fox," State Department spokesman Noel Clay told reporters . There was no news of the other three hostages, who appeared without Fox earlier this week in a video shown on Al-Jazeera television. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
French riot police storm Sorbonne university amid student protest PARIS, March 11 (AFP) French riot police stormed Paris's famous Sorbonne university early Saturday, where hundreds of students were holed-up following sometimes violent protests against a new labour law. The police action, which began just before 4:00 am (0300 GMT) seemed to have ended in under ten minutes with the evacuation of some 400 student activists. Police used teargas and batons to push the students to the exit, witnesses said. The students confronted the anti-riot police, forming a human chain and chanting "peaceful resistance". Some of the protesters attempted to block the police advance by hurling tables and chairs at them. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
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