|
| April 23, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
NZ win final, Japan claim last World Cup qualifying field hockey berth CHANGZHOU, China (AP) New Zealand beat South Korea 4-1 in the final and Japan claimed the last berth in the qualifying tournament for the men's field hockey World Cup on Sunday. Japan defeated France 2-1 on a pair of goals by captain Kazuyuki Ozawa to claim the 12th spot in the World Cup in September in Moenchengladbach, Germany. In the playoff for third, England beat Pakistan 3-1. The top four and Japan qualified for the World Cup from Sept. 6-17, and join host Germany, Olympic champion Australia, and India, Argentina, Netherlands, Spain and South Africa. (Posted @ 22:30 PST)
Saudi Arabia looks to Asia as it seeks stable and friendlier markets RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) The lavish welcome Saudi Arabia accorded Chinese President Hu Jintao has become a hallmark of the overtures the kingdom now makes to Asia's growing and energy-hungry economies as it seeks to diversify the market for its increasingly pricey oil. On Sunday, Hu responded to the gracious welcome by offering in a speech to the Consultative Council _ a rare honor for a foreign visitor _ to work with Arab countries to bring peace to this restive region. He then met with Crown Prince Sultan before heading to the headquarters of the Saudi oil company Aramco in the Eastern Province for a tour of the premises. Saudi Arabia's media, all government-guided, have devoted pages to the three-day visit, which ends Monday, highlighting (Posted @ 22:25 PST)
Abbas arrives in Turkey for talks on aid, Mideast peace ANKARA, April 23, 2006 (AFP) Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Turkey on Sunday on the first leg of a European tour to discuss stalled talks for Middle East peace and aid to his cash-strapped people. "We will tell our Turkish brothers what is happening in the Palestinian territories," Abbas told reporters upon his arrival, the Anatolia news agency reported. (Posted @ 22:15 PST)
Bomb carried by Afghan explodes prematurely in Pakistan, wounding him, two others QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) A homemade bomb carried by an Afghan man exploded prematurely before he boarded a bus in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday, seriously wounding him and two passers-by, police said. The explosion happened at a bus terminal in downtown Quetta, capital of the Baluchistan province, said Zahid Afaq, a senior police official. The bomber, identified as Mohammed Sayed from neighboring Afghanistan, was taken to a hospital in serious condition and was under police watch, Afaq said. ``He did not get the time to plant the bomb on the bus,'' Afaq told The Associated Press, adding the explosive device malfunctioned. The motive for the failed attack was not immediately clear. Afaq said the Afghan had been carrying the bomb in a pocket of his waist coat, part of the traditional attire for Afghan men. (Posted @ 22:10 PST)
Hamas warning for West after bin Laden tape GAZA CITY, April 23, 2006 (AFP) Hamas sought to distance itself from Osama bin Laden's claim Sunday that the isolation of its government was proof of a war on Islam but warned that Western policies were stoking Palestinian anger. "What Osama bin Laden said is his opinion but Hamas has its own positions which are different to the ones expressed by bin Laden," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP after an audiotape purported to be by bin Laden was aired. (Posted @ 20:40 PST)
13 rockets recovered near Sui QUETTA Apr 23 (PPI): Security forces seized 13 rockets in Neelagh hills near Sui. According to a report, security force son an intelligence raided a site in Neelagh hills some 4 Km north east of Sui and recovered 13 rockets. These were fitted with battery and timers and were ready to fire. Had these fired these could target Sui, Kashmore, Rajan Pur and adjacent areas. (Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Pakistani gunmen, 1 soldier killed in tribal region gunbattle MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire with occupants of a speeding van that refused to stop at a checkpoint in a northwestern tribal region Sunday, killing three armed men, an intelligence official said. One soldier was also killed. The shootout at a roadblock outside Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal region, came after security forces fired artillery Saturday night at suspected militants hiding in a nearby village. On Sunday, paramilitary troops exchanged gunfire with armed men shooting from a van that failed to stop at a checkpoint outside Miran Shah, the official said on condition of anonymity. Three armed men and one soldier were killed in the exchange, while three people _ a soldier, gunman and bystander _ were also wounded. The identities of the gunmen in the van were unclear, the official said, Pakistani helicopter gunships hovered over Miran Shah after the shootout and most shopkeepers closed their businesses, fearing more fighting, an Associated Press reporter said. In the village of Spelga, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Miran Shah, troops on Saturday launched an artillery barrage at suspected Islamic militant hideouts after extremists fired six rockets at a roadside security post, the official said. No Pakistani forces were hurt in the rocket attack. Many Spelga residents fled the fighting, which included Pakistani helicopter gunships firing on suspected militant positions in the area. Several homes were hit by security forces fire but there were no reports of civilian or militant casualties. (Posted @ 14:55 PST Updated @ 17:20 PST)
US intel on Iran nuclear threat seen as inadequate WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) The United States doesn't have enough good intelligence to know whether or not Iran will be capable of producing nuclear weapons in the near future, top congressional intelligence committee members said on Sunday. Iran said earlier on Sunday it would not abandon its work on nuclear enrichment, which the United Nations has demanded it halt, and was prepared to face sanctions from abroad. Asked on Fox News Sunday when Iran might be capable of producing nuclear weapons, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, said: "I'd say we really don't know. (Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Bin Laden calls Muslims to fight in Sudan: tape DUBAI, April 23, 2006 (AFP) Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden called on Muslim fighters to go to Sudan to wage war against "crusader thieves," according to a new audiotape attributed to him that aired on Sunday. He also slammed the Darfur conflict and the international isolation of Hamas-led Palestinian government as proof of a "war by crusaders and Zionists against Islam" in the tape broadcast by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television. It was the first purported recording by the Western world's most wanted man in three months but its authenticity could not be verified and it was not clear when it was made. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Hamas militants clash with Gaza gunmen, wounding three GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) Hamas gunmen backed by police came to the rescue of the new Palestinian health minister _ a top Hamas official _ after angry gunmen raided his office Sunday and sparked a shootout that left three people wounded. The shootout was the latest explosion of violence in the Gaza Strip and it marked the first time a Hamas Cabinet minister turned to his group's gunmen to help restore order. It also underscored Palestinians' growing dissatisfaction with the Hamas-led government as it confronts a crippling financial crisis.(Posted @ 19:20 PST)
3 Iraqis killed, including seven near Baghdad's Green Zone BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Three explosions just outside the heavily guarded Green Zone killed seven Iraqi civilians and wounded eight Sunday, a U.S. official said. Sixteen Iraqis also died in other violence. Iraqi police first said that three mortar rounds landed inside the zone, but the U.S. official said the explosions occurred just outside. Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi, an Interior Ministry official, gave a lower casualty count, saying six Iraqis were killed and three wounded. The casualty toll could not immediately be verified independently. Three of the wounded were Defense Ministry employees, an official at the ministry said on condition of anonymity. Iraqi police said the three explosions were among 11 mortar rounds fired in central Baghdad at about 8 a.m. No one was hurt in the other eight blasts, which fell on the east side of the Tigris River near Iraq's Interior Ministry and the Shaab sports stadium, said police Lt. Bilal Ali. A building housing a municipal swimming pool was damaged. On Sunday, the bodies of eight Iraqi men who apparently were killed in captivity were discovered in two areas Baghdad: six in Azamiyah and two in Sadr City, police said. Elsewhere Sunday, unidentified gunmen raided a real estate agency in Baghdad and killed its owner, who also was a volunteer for the Iraqi Red Crescent Society relief agency, police said. Outside the capital, a roadside bomb targeting a convoy carrying a provincial police commander, Maj. Gen. Hamad Al-Namis, missed him but killed two of his policemen and wounded another near Beiji, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Soon afterward, officials imposed a curfew in Beiji, said police Capt. Arkan Ali. Further north, near Kirkuk city, a drive-by shooting killed Muhammed Fathi, director of the Ardhul Battra, a Turkish company working on the area's railways, said police Brig. Sarhat Qadir. In Fallujah, west of Baghdad, about 1,000 residents held a funeral procession for Sheik Shaukit al-Kubaisi, a Sunni cleric and imam of a local mosque who was killed by unidentified gunmen on Saturday night. (Posted @ 13:15 PST Updated @ 17:25 PST)
Tribal rebels blow up gas pipeline in Pakistan QUETTA, Pakistan, April 23 (Reuters) Tribal militants fighting for greater autonomy in Pakistan's restive southwestern Baluchistan province blew up a pipeline supplying a major gas distribution plant on Sunday, a senior official said. The pipeline supplied gas to the plant in the troubled Dera Bugti district from the Loti gas field, Abdul Samad Lasi, administrator of the district, told Reuters. Dera Bugti, the home of Pakistan's biggest gas reservoir, is a stronghold of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a rebel chieftain who accuses the central government of exploiting Baluchistan's resources without passing on the benefits to ethnic Baluchs. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Three killed in Sudan protest over Nile dam KHARTOUM, April 23, 2006 (AFP) Three civilians were killed in violent clashes between Sudanese police and residents protesting the construction of a dam on the Nile river north of Khartoum, police said Sunday. Nine people, including four policemen, were also wounded in the clashes Friday in the town of Amre which will be affected by the Meroe dam, the largest hydropower project in Africa, a police statement said. Up to 1,000 people attacked police forces as the authorities prepared to conduct a census in the area, whose population will be displaced by the dam's reservoir, projected to be some 200 kilometres (120 miles) long. (Posted @ 17:10PST)
Kashmiri militant bemoans Pakistani peace moves ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Reuters) The commander of Kashmir's largest militant group said on Sunday Pakistan had caused "irreparable damage" to the Kashmiri fighters' cause by pursuing peace without winning more concessions from India. Sayed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and chairman of the United Jihad Council grouping a dozen Kashmiri militant organisations, staged a protest last month over Pakistan's strategy in the peace process begun in early 2004. "One-sided pragmatism and confidence building measures, which are not reciprocated by the Indian side, have caused irreparable damage to the ongoing freedom struggle in the (Kashmir) Valley," said Salahuddin in an e-mail response to Reuters. The burly, bearded veteran of 17-year-old insurgency in Indian Kashmir said Kashmiri fighters were feeling abandoned. "It has created an impression that Pakistan had now become exhausted in extending support to the Kashmir cause," he said, calling for "substantial support" for the movement to continue. Salahuddin remained defiant, saying a truce would only be called once India agreed Kashmir was in dispute and had talks with both Paksitan and Kashmiris, returned its troops to their barracks, stopped military operations and released all prisoners. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Saudi might set up strategic oil reserve in China RIYADH, April 23, 2006 (AFP) Chinese President Hu Jintao discussed with Saudi leaders during his current visit a proposal to set up a strategic oil reserve in China fed by Saudi supplies, a Chinese official told AFP Sunday. The plan was raised during Hu's talks with King Abdullah on Saturday and both sides want to see it through, the official said, requesting anonymity. The reserve would be on top of the oil supplies Saudi Arabia exports to China for its daily needs, and which reached some 22.18 million tons last year, he said. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Fatah, Hamas agree to calm tensions after clashes in Palestinian areas GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) The Hamas group and the rival Fatah Party agreed Sunday to work to end tensions between their competing branches of the Palestinian government that exploded into violent clashes and mass protests throughout Palestinian towns in recent days. In a meeting that began late Saturday and spilled into Sunday, Hamas and Fatah officials said they would take steps to end the fighting. ``The two movements have agreed to call on our Palestinian masses to stop all displays that might lead to tension,'' Fatah official Maher Mekdad said, reading a joint statement. ``They agreed to work together to strengthen national unity.'' But no agreement was reached on control of the security forces, participants said. Outside the meeting, which was mediated by Egyptian security officials. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Iran says nuclear enrichment work irreversible TEHRAN, April 23 (Reuters) Iran's work on uranium enrichment, which the United Nations has demanded be halted, is irreversible and the country will not give up its rights to nuclear technology even if faced with threats, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Sunday. "Iran's uranium enrichment and nuclear research and development activities are irreversible," Hamid Reza Asefi told a news conference, adding that, even if a report by the U.N. atomic watchdog used the "language of threats" Iran would not back down. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Bangladeshi police clash with opposition activists, several hurt DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) Riot police used batons to beat back hundreds of opposition activists trying to march through the Bangladeshi capital during an anti-government general strike Sunday. Elsewhere in the city, police arrested about a dozen activists gathering for a separate protest. About 300 demonstrators tried to overrun barbed wire barricades, prompting police to charge them with batons at Dhaka's uptown Mahakhali district. Several people were hurt in the violence. An opposition alliance of 14 parties organized the nationwide strike to demand electoral reforms and the resignation of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government (Posted @ 11:25 PST)
Taliban militants kill Afghan security guard, burn vehicles in KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) Taliban militants attacked a U.S.-backed Afghan construction company Sunday, killing one security guard and wounding two more before torching 14 vehicles, the company's director said. The attack happened on the Uruzgan-Kandahar highway near a southern Kandahar provincial village where a day earlier four Canadian soldiers were killed in a suspected Taliban roadside bombing. A group of heavily armed militants launched a two-hour gun battle against the headquarters of the Thavazoo company in Shah Wali Kot district, about 40 kilometers (25 miles), early Sunday, said Haji Mohammed Youssef, the company's director. One guard was killed in the attack and two were wounded before the remaining security personnel fled, Youssef said. The Taliban fighters then entered the compound, burning 14 trucks and bulldozers and stealing equipment before escaping. (Posted @ 11:20 PST)
Thais vote in by-elections amid tightened security PATTANI, Thailand, April 23 (Reuters) Thais voted in by-elections on Sunday amid tight security in the restive Muslim south where militants killed one man and clashed with security forces before polls opened. Early Sunday before voting began, unknown gunmen riding on a motorcycle killed one man and wounded a woman near a polling station in the province of Narathiwat. Around half the 40 seats at stake are contested only by Prime Minister Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party and a candidate has to get 20 percent of the eligible vote to win in a region where the government is very unpopular. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Roadside bombs kill 5 U.S. soldiers in Iraq BAGHDAD, April 23 (Reuters) Two roadside bombs attacks killed five U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Saturday, the U.S. military said. Four died when their combat patrol south of Baghdad was hit by a bomb, the military said in a statement. A fifth soldier died on Saturday night after being hit in a separate bomb attack south of Baghdad, a military spokeswoman said. No further details were available. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Bush promotes hydrogen-powered cars on Earth Day WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 23 (Reuters) President George W. Bush marked Earth Day on Saturday by promoting technology that could reduce U.S. dependence on oil, while Democrats used a spike in gasoline prices to slam White House energy policy. Bush toured the California Fuel Cell Partnership, a consortium of auto makers, energy companies and government agencies supporting the commercialization of vehicles run on hydrogen fuel cells that would emit no pollution and be more efficient than gas-powered cars. "I strongly believe hydrogen is the fuel of the future," Bush said, "not a foolish dream." The administration is also funding research into a new generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles that could be recharged in electrical outlets, allowing drivers to make their daily commute using no gas. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Indian opposition leader Pramod Mahajan, shot by brother, battles for life BOMBAY, April 23 (AP) Pramod Mahajan, a top leader of the opposition BJP was battling for his life Sunday, a day after being shot and critically injured by his younger brother in his 15th floor apartment in Bombay on Saturday morning. The bullets damaged Mahajan's liver, pancreas, intestine and the main vein in the abdomen, according to a hospital statement. He continues to be in a critical condition because of extensive injuries to his liver, which continued to ooze blood, it said. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Arab aid to Palestinian Authority blocked: official RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 23 (AFP) The 55 million dollars per month aid pledged by Arab countries to the cash-starved Palestinian Authority has been held up, a senior Palestinian official said late Saturday, blaming foreign opponents of the Hamas government.The funds had reached the Arab League, but their transfer to the authority's bank account had been blocked, Nabil Amr, an adviser to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, told a press conference. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Nepal announces new curfew for capital: state television KATHMANDU, April 23 (AFP) epal's state-run television announced a new 11-hour curfew from 9:00 am until 8:00 pm Sunday for Kathmandu as anti-royal protests continued to wrack the country. The order followed protests Saturday when some 300,000 took to the streets to reject King Gyanendra's televised offer to hand power back to the people. Clashes left more than 100 people injured, some of them seriously, on the 17th day of protests and strikes as an alliance of seven opposition parties announced they had rejected the king's offer to them to appoint a prime minister. They want a recall of parliament suspended by the king in 2002 and the chance to vote on the constitution that would decide on the future role, if any, of the monarchy. (Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Tahir Mirza
The DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 569-3995
webmaster@dawn.com
Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
|
|
|
Contributions |