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| May 8, 2006 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
US air strike wounds at least 3 Pakistanis ISLAMABAD, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. helicopter gunships wounded at least three Pakistani laborers in a missile strike against suspected Taliban fighters in the South Waziristan tribal region on Monday, according to security officials. The three were brought to the Pakistani border town of Angoor Adda from a nearby mountain where they had been mining for minerals, said the officials. Military and government spokesmen could not be immediately contacted, and it was unknown whether the U.S. side had consulted Pakistani forces before carrying out the attack inside Pakistani territory.(Posted @ 22:55 PST)
Iran's Ahmadinejad writes to Bush TEHRAN, May 8, 2006 (AFP) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written to US President George W. Bush to "propose new ways" to resolve tensions between the two arch enemies, Tehran announced Monday. The historic move brings an end to a 26-year-old break in official top-level contacts with Washington. "President Ahmadinejad has written a letter to George Bush, which is to be handed to the Swiss embassy," a government spokesman told reporters. A Foreign ministry spokesman told the ISNA news agency that "once the American president has received the letter, its content will be made public". (Posted @ 14:22 PST)
Pakistan heatwave claims 33 lives MULTAN, Pakistan, May 8 (AFP) - At least 31 people have died as a searing heatwave brought temperatures of nearly 47 degrees Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) to central Pakistan, officials said Monday. Islamabad was hit by a duststorm on Monday while streets in Multan (Punjab province) were deserted as the high temperatures kept residents indoors. "We have received reports here that 31 people have died in the heatwave during last three days," said Amir Salman, a spokesman for Punjab's health department. Health officials from a number of dustbowl districts in the south of the province gave a toll of 33. They said 17 died at the weekend and another 16 in the past 24 hours. "We are receiving a number of heat-stricken people daily in the emergency ward," said Dr Laiq Hussain Siddiqui, at Multan's Nishtar Hospital. Temperatures hit 46.8 degrees in the Bahawalnagar and Dera Ghazi Khan districts of Punjab and more hot and dry weather is forecast for the next two or three days, the Meteorological Department said. Fifty-three people have died from blistering heat in neighbouring India. Last year, a heatwave killed some 200 people in Pakistan.(Posted @ 18:36 PST)
Thai court rules April poll unconstitutional BANGKOK, May 8 (Reuters) - Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the inconclusive April 2 general election was unconstitutional and said a new poll should be held to try to resolve months of political deadlock. "The Constitutional Court voted 8 to 6 that the elections were unconstitutional and voted 9 to 5 to hold a new election," Judge Ura Wangomklang told reporters after the court met. A spokesman later confirmed the ruling and said the government should set the date for a new poll. (First Posted @ 11:00 PST Updated @ 19:34 PST)
Delegation of political leaders from UK arrives KARACHI, May 8 (APP): A multi-party delegation comprising young political leaders from Britain arrived here Monday for a week-long visit. The seven-member delegation will hold dialogue with their Pakistani counterparts in various cities under the theme `Dialogue between Muslim world and the West". The dialogue has been organized by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) and supported by the UK Global Opportunities Fund. Both the Pakistan and the British High Commission in London and Islamabad are assisting the dialogue.(Posted @ 23:46 PST)
Bush to send Secretary of State Rice to UN on Darfur WASHINGTON, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - President George W. Bush will send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the UN Security Council to request the accelerated deployment of peacekeepers in Sudan, the US leader said Monday. Bush said Rice would address the Security Council on Tuesday. "She's going to request a resolution that will accelerate the deployment of UN peacekeepers into Darfur," Bush told reporters.(Posted @ 23:30 PST)
Five Pakistani girls drown in canal KARACHI, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - Five young girls of a family drowned on Monday in a canal in southern Pakistan, officials said. The family had gone for a picnic on the banks of Hub canal, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Karachi, where the incident happened.(Posted @ 22:46 PST)
Seven hurt by bombs in Iranian Kurd city TEHRAN, May 8 (AFP) - Two small bombs exploded in government offices in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah on Monday, wounding seven people, official media reported. The first bomb went off at around 1:50 pm (10:20 GMT) in the Kermanshah governor's office. A second bomb went off minutes later in another government office for commercial affairs. Kermanshah is dominated by Iran's Kurdish minority, but it was not clear if the blasts had any connection to ethnic-related violence.(First Posted @ 17:10 PST Updated @ 20:42 PST)
Arsonist torches kindergarten in China BEIJING, May 8 (AFP) - Three children were killed and 14 others injured when an alleged arsonist torched their kindergarten class room in central China on Monday, state press reported. The attacked occurred in Shiguan village, Henan province early Monday after the children had started classes, Xinhua news agency reported. Police have identified 19-year old local villager Bai Ningyang as the arsonist and are seeking his arrest. Bai allegedly broke into the classroom as the students were beginning their class, locked the door and set the room on fire with gasoline before fleeing the scene, the report said. Two children, aged 5, died on the spot and another died in hospital, it said. Fourteen others, including the teacher, were burned, some critically. Police are investigating the motive behind the crime.(Posted @ 20:36 PST)
Bush chooses Air Force general to be new CIA chief WASHINGTON, May 8 (AP) _ President George W. Bush on Monday chose Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to lead the embattled CIA. Republican and Democratic critics questioned the wisdom of putting a military officer in charge of the civilian spy agency. ``Mike Hayden is supremely qualified for this position,'' Bush said in the Oval Office, with Hayden at his side. Without mentioning Hayden's critics or their objections, the president said: ``He knows the intelligence community from the ground up.'' If confirmed, Hayden would replace Porter Goss, who resigned under pressure Friday.(First Posted @ 17:32 PST Updated @ 19:15 PST)
PM extends Motorway police jurisdiction ISLAMABAD, May 8 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Monday lauded the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) in setting high standards of professionalism and said the government has decided to extend their jurisdiction to other roads including the Coastal Highway. Speaking at an awards presentation ceremony the Prime Minister emphasised that "Police should never be used for anything but for the safety and security of the people and the country." He also said that "we have to come out of this VIP culture and work collectively to ensure that justice reaches the common people." he added. The prime minister emphasised the importance of improving the traffic system in preventing accidents that account for maximum deaths after homicide.(Posted @ 18:32 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan appoint Mudassar Nazar as academy head KARACHI, May 8 (Reuters) - Pakistan have selected former test player Mudassar Nazar to head the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official Saleem Altaf said Monday. Mudassar has been appointed as the new director while four to five other coaches would be announced soon, he said. "We also interviewed former captains Intikhab Alam and Mushtaq Mohammad for this position, but I think youth prevailed, he added.(Posted @ 18:12 PST)
Scores killed, injured in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 8 (Reuters) One U.S. soldier was killed when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in the southeast of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement. Five civilians were killed and another 10 wounded when a car bomb exploded near a courthouse in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Meanwhile, the bodies of two Iraqi journalists, who work for the Iraqi al-Nahrain satellite channel, were found with a single bullet to the head after they were kidnapped on Sunday in al-Khalisa, a town about 30 km south of Baghdad, police and employees of the channel said.On the other hand, two civilians were killed and eight wounded when a roadside bomb went off at al-Tayaran Square, western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. The U.S. military and Iraq's government Monday said that Ali Wali, a chemical expert and a Kurdish member of the militant Ansar al-Islam group, was killed on Saturday during a raid operation in Mansour District, west-central Baghdad. A U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded on Sunday after they came under insurgent fire while helping Iraqi security forces clear a building near Tal Afar, about 420 km northwest of Baghdad, the military said on Monday. An insurgent was killed and two policemen were wounded during clashes that erupted after a bomb exploded near an oil pipeline on Monday in Mussayab, about 60 km south of Baghdad. A roadside bomb and a car bomb exploded in quick succession wounding 17 civilians, including four policemen, in an apparent ambush, in eastern Baghdad on Monday, a source in the Interior Ministry said. Separately, the bodies of six people bearing signs of torture and with gun wounds to their heads were found in different areas in Baghdad on Monday, a Ministry of Interior source said. In Yarmouk, gunmen fired at a bus carrying employees working for the Ministry of Higher Education on Monday, killing its driver and wounding three employees.(Posted @ 18:04 PST)
Official: Gunmen open fire in southern Russian city, wounding 6 MAKHACHKALA, Russia, May 8 (AP) _ Gunmen opened fire on civilians Sunday near a wholesale goods market in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt near the border with Chechnya, wounding six people before fleeing the scene, officials said Monday.(Posted @ 17:44 PST)
Britain confirms that five killed in weekend helicopter crash in Basra LONDON, May 8 (AP) _ The Ministry of Defence confirmed Monday that five British military personnel died when their helicopter crashed in Basra. The dead were identified as Wing Commander John Coxen, Lt. Commander Darren Chapman, Flight Lt. Sarah Mulvihill, Lt. David Dobson, and Marine Paul Collins.(Posted @ 17:36 PST)
Pakistan asks Afghan refugees to return home or relocate ISLAMABAD, May 8 (AP) _ Some 7,335 Afghan refugees living in Rawalpindi have been asked by Pakistani authorities to either return home or relocate to a refugee camp in Mianwali, the U.N. refugee agency said Monday. Last year authorities vacated an Afghan refugee camp near Islamabad, saying the settlement provided easy shelter for robbers and terrorists. The UNHCR said in a statement Monday relocation will start next week and will be completed by end of May.(Posted @ 17:28 PST)
Blair says consideration of nuclear attack against Iran would be absurd LONDON, May 8 (AP) _ Prime Minister Tony Blair says that any consideration of a nuclear attack against Iran would be ``absolutely absurd,'' and said the issue had no bearing on his decision todemote his foreign secretary. Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, had described alleged U.S. contingency plans for a tactical nuclear strike as ``nuts.'' At his monthly news conference, Blair said: ``I don't know anybody who is even talked or contemplated the prospect of a nuclear strike in Iran and that would be absolutely absurd.''(Posted @ 17:12 PST)
Sex scandal sparks fresh protests, several injured in street clashes In occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir, May 8 (AP) _ Angry demonstrators fought pitched street battles with police in Srinagar Monday as they demanded strong government action over a sex scandal allegedly involving bureaucrats, police officials and politicians. Hundreds of veiled women, children and men marched through Srinagar, arrying placards and shouting slogans demanding ``severest punishment to the guilty,'' protesters broke through police barricades, pelting stones and bricks. Security forces used water cannons and bamboo truncheons to disperse the demonstrators, a police officer said adding that several demonstrators, a policeman and a television cameraman were injured. Protesters also forced the closure of shops in Srinagar's main business district.(Posted @ 17:06 PST)
Eight killed in Thai disco fire BANGKOK, May 8 (AFP) - At least eight people were killed and 54 injured after a fire engulfed a disco in the Thai seaside resort town of Pattaya, police said Monday. "A technician was repairing the air conditioner, using a small welding torch to connect two strips of metal. But the torch accidentally fell and kept burning until the gas ran out," police Lieutenant General Jongrak Juthanon said. The technician was among the dead. The seven others were staff members. Police said seven of the 54 injured were in critical condition suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.(Posted @ 16:55 PST)
Six summit Everest but three die trying in pre-monsoon season KATHMANDU, May 8 (AFP) - Three Nepalis and three Tibetans became the first climbers to summit Everest this year in the short pre-monsoon mountaineering season, but three local guides died in an avalanche, a tour guide said Monday. The six climbers reached the 8,848-metre-high (29,028-foot) summit from the Tibetan side on April 30, after successfully setting out climbing ropes for dozens of mountaineers acclimatizing at lower altitudes, according to Tam Ding Sherpa. (Posted @ 16:05 PST)
Factional fighting kills 11 as Japanese envoy pushes peace bid COLOMBO, May 8, 2006 (AFP) - At least 11 people were killed in Sri Lankan factional fighting on Monday, defence officials said, as a Japanese envoy sought to salvage the island's faltering peace process. A breakaway faction of LTTE launched a pre-dawn attack against a base of the main guerrilla group in Trincomalee district Monday, defence sources said but had no further details of the latest violence because the fighting occurred in rebel-held territory. The reports of violence emerged as Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi met President Mahinda Rajapakse Monday after the government imposed a curfew in Jaffna peninsula. Security measures also followed reports that eight men were missing in on Sunday. (First Posted @11:00 PST; Updated @ 16:00 PST)
Three Afghan police killed in Taliban ambush KABUL, May 8 (Reuters) Taliban guerrillas killed three policemen in an ambush in southern Afghanistan and three bombs exploded in an eastern town but caused no casualties, police said. The insurgents ambushed a police vehicle delivering supplies to a post in Zabul province on Sunday night. A police officer said three policemen and two Taliban were killed during the clash. In the eastern town of Jalalabad, three bombs went off in a central market area on Monday. No one was hurt but windows in nearby buildings were smashed, a provincial security official said. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Israel mapping unauthorized settlement construction in West Bank JERUSALEM (AP) Israel, having stalled for three years on its promise to the U.S. to take down wildcat settlement outposts, is in the process of mapping unauthorized construction in the West Bank, according to a court document The Associated Press obtained Monday. Critics attacked the work as yet another Israeli delay tactic, noting that just a year ago, a government-commissioned report detailed 105 unauthorized outposts. Almost all remain intact, and additional unauthorized structures have been erected in the West Bank since. The more than 100 outposts detailed in a March 2005 report by former State Prosecutor Talia Sasson range from isolated hilltop trailers to permanent buildings. Many are near existing, authorized settlements, in effect extending their reach. (Posted @ 12:40 PST)
Iran’s Larijani arrives in Turkey ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Iran's top nuclear negotiator arrived in Turkey on Monday as part of Iranian efforts to try to rally support among the country's neighbours as tensions with the United States grow over the country's nuclear program. Ali Larijani is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Yigit Alpogan, head of the National Security Council. (Posted @ 12:40 PST)
Land mine explosion in Bajur tribal region kills off-duty policeman PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) A land mine exploded in a field in Inayat Qala, a village in the Bajur tribal region, on Monday, killing an off-duty policeman who was cutting fodder for his cattle, an official said. The officer from Levies, a tribal police force in Bajur, may have triggered the blast either by stepping on the land mine or his sickle may have hit it as he cut grass, the official added. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
Family feud claims seven lives in rural Pakistan ISLAMABAD, May 8, 2006 (AFP) Seven members of the same family, including four women, were shot dead early Monday by a rival clan in a remote village in eastern Pakistan, police said. More than a dozen armed men attacked the house of a local farmer before dawn killing him and six other people in Madar, in eastern Punjab province, police said. Police said the killings were the result of an old rivalry between the families of the dead farmer and another local man. Police arrested eight of the alleged killers and recovered weapons from them. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Polls open as Sonia Gandhi runs for re-election in local constituency NEW DELHI (AP) Sonia Gandhi, the head of the country's ruling Congress party, went before voters Monday in a bid to regain the parliamentary seat she gave up during a high-profile political scandal. Gandhi is expected to easily win the special election Monday in Rae Bareli in India's Uttar Pradesh. Three other candidates also were running for the seat. However, analysts predicted Gandhi would better her results in the 2004 election there, when she won by more than 200,000 votes. (Posted @ 11:01 PST)
At least 299 male detainees released in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 8, 2006 (AFP) The US military on Monday said that 299 male detainees had been released from US-Iraqi-run prisons in Iraq. It said the detainees were released Sunday. About 14,000 detainees continue to be in US-Iraqi-run prisons. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Lightning kills five boys playing cricket in Bangladesh DHAKA, May 8, 2006 (AFP) At least five children were killed by lightning while playing cricket on a school pitch near the northern Bangladesh town of Gafargaon, police said Monday. The children, aged nine and 10, died on the spot as lightning struck the pitch at Makhal Kaldhair village, some 100 kilometres from Dhaka, a local police chief said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Three die in Hamas-Fatah gun battle in Gaza GAZA, May 8 (Reuters) At least three Palestinians were killed on Monday in gun battles in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and Fatah, the most serious internal violence in the territory since Hamas came to power. Medical officials in the southern town of Khan Younis identified the dead as two Fatah members of the Palestinian security services and a Hamas gunman and said 10 other participants in the fighting were wounded. A Hamas spokesman, said the clashes began after Fatah security men "kidnapped" three members of the Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades. Gunmen from the brigades then surrounded the area where their comrades were being held and captured four Fatah men, he said. A Hamas gunman was shot dead in an initial round of fighting and two Fatah men were killed in a second clash, the spokesman added. There was no immediate comment from Fatah.( First Posted @ 09:35 PST Updated @ 09:57 PST)
Three killed in Occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir, May 8, 2006 (AFP) A young woman was hanged in northern Baramulla district and two men were shot dead in Baramulla and Pulwama districts, police said Monday. No group claimed responsibility for the killings. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 90.47 points: KARACHI, May 8: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 11776.91, up 90.47 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, May 8: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.1 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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