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| July 05, 2006 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Sani 8, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
25 terrorists killed in Dera Bugti ISLAMABAD, July 5 (APP): The security forces has killed around 25 terrorists in a raid at a Farrari camp in the area of Dera Bugti, official spokesman of Balochistan Raziq Bugti said Wednesday. According to PTV, he said on a tip off that some terrorists present at the Farrari camp were planning to target sensitive gas installations. The Farrari camp was raided and 25 terrorists were killed and heavy ammunition and arms including rocket launchers, etc have been recovered from the camp. The personnel of security forces remained perfectly safe in the raid, he said. (Posted @ 23:02 PST)
Pakistan air force changes rank insignia of various officers ISLAMABAD, July 5 (APP): Pakistan Air force has changed the designs of the ranks insignia affixed on the shoulders of its various officers. PTV Wednesday reported that officers would have stars instead of straps as new insignia on their shoulders. Air chief Marshal, Air Marshall, Air Vice Marshall, Air Commodore, Group Captain, Wing Commander, Squadron Leader, Flight Lieutenant, Flying Officer and Pilot officer will be the officers who would have uniforms with the new rank insignia. (Posted @ 22:52 PST)
PPP holds rally in Karachi against dictatorship KARACHI, July 5 (PPI): Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will never surrender before the dictators and launch a movement to oust them, said PPP Sindh President Syed Qaim Ali Shah here on Wednesday. Addressing a gathering at Karachi Press Club (KPC) to mark July 5 as 'black day', he said the regime could not frighten them through registering fake cases, arrests and other means. ''We are ready to face the dictators and their supporters''. Earlier, PPP activists took out a protest rally, led by PPP Karachi division President Rashid Rabbani, from Regal Chowk to KPC against toppling of elected government of the then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by General Ziaul Haq on July 5, 1977. (Posted @ 22:45 PST)
Federer into Wimbledon semi-finals LONDON, July 5, (AFP) - Defending champion Roger Federer reached the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over Croatia's Mario Ancic. Federer will now face either the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek or Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden for a place in the final. (Posted @ 22:25 PST)
OIC calls for pressure on Israel to end attacks JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, July 5, 2006 (AFP) - The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on the international community Wednesday to "intervene urgently" to bring an end to Israeli attacks on Palestinians, a statement said. OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu contacted members of the Mideast Quartet comprising the United States, Russia, European Union and the United Nations, as well as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, demanding urgent intervention "to stop Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, their government institutions, ministers and MPs", the statement said. Ihsanoglu "condemned Israel's oppressive measures against the Palestinians", the 57-member Jeddah-based OIC said.(Posted @ 20:28 PST)
Nearly 40 Taliban killed in southern Afghanistan KABUL, July 5 (AFP) - US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan killed 35 rebels in a single strike on a "known Taliban compound" in the village of Ghach Zar in Helmand province late Tuesday, while three more were killed separately on Wednesday, officials said. "Several of the extremists killed were area Taliban leaders who planned and conducted multiple attacks against local Afghans, government officials and coalition forces." The Taliban claimed civilian casualties in the strike, but the coalition said, "no injuries to coalition forces or non-combatants were observed during the strike." Police in nearby Zabul province said meanwhile that they killed three Taliban in a battle on Wednesday in which an Afghan soldier was also killed.(Posted @ 20:24 PST)
Moscow religious summit condemns "terrorism" MOSCOW, July 5 (AFP) - A religious gathering here of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Shintoists Wednesday condemned "terrorism and extremism in all their forms, and attempts to justify these on religious grounds." "It is our duty to oppose politically, nationally or religiously based hatred," said a statement by some 150 representatives of the different religions gathered at a three-day meeting.(Posted @ 20:04 PST)
British soldier killed in Afghanistan LONDON, July 5 (AFP) - A British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said Wednesday, bringing to six the number of killed in the last three weeks.(Posted @ 20:00 PST)
PM leaves for Islamabad GENEVA, July 5 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz left here Wednesday for Ankara after attending the meetings of ECOSOC and UN Secretary General's panel on UN reforms. He will make a brief stopover in Ankara where he will meet his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, before leaving for Islamabad.(Posted @ 19:56 PST)
Six killed, 8 injured as trolley falls in Dek Nullah SHEIKHUPURA, Pakistan, July 5 (APP): Six persons were killed and eight seriously injured when a tractor trolley bound for Badami Bagh on Lahore road fell into Dek Nullah, some 15 km from here, Wednesday.(Posted @ 19:54 PST)
Heavy rain in Hyderabad HYDERABAD, July 5 (APP)- District Hyderabad and its adjourned areas received a heavy rain accompanied with thunder-storm Wednesday evening. Met office recorded the rain at airport at 15 mm and in the city 26 mm.(Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Monument planned for two Turkish engineers who died during quake relief operations ISLAMABAD, July 5 (APP): The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will build a monument in Islamabad’s Ankara Park for the two Turkish engineers Ceneck Yakin and Ufuk Arsalan who died in a tent fire during the quake relief operations, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said Wednesday.(Posted @ 19:48 PST)
Rain, storm hit lower Sindh MIRPURKHAS, July 5 (APP)- Windstorm with rain hit Mirpurkhas city and other parts of lower Sindh on Wednesday which brought the mercury reasonably down. It rained for nearly twenty minutes only but people had a sigh of relief after heat spell of over two weeks.(Posted @ 19:32 PST)
UN Security council meets on N. Korea missile test UNITED NATIONS, July 5 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council met in closed session on Wednesday to consider a response to a barrage of North Korean missile tests.(Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Iraqi PM demands rape probe, slams US immunity BAGHDAD, July 5 (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister called on Wednesday for an independent inquiry into the alleged rape and murder of a teenager and killing of her family by U.S. soldiers, and for a review of foreign troops' immunity from Iraqi law. "Yes we will demand an independent Iraqi inquiry, or a joint investigation with Multinational Forces," Nuri al-Maliki told reporters during a visit to Kuwait, in his first public comments since the case came to light five days ago. "We do not accept the violation of Iraqi people's honour as happened in this case. We believe that the immunity granted to international forces has emboldened them to commit such crimes and ... there must be a review of this immunity," he said.(Posted @ 19:02 PST)
Israeli Security Cabinet approves deeper incursion into Gaza GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, July 5 (AP) _ Israel's Security Cabinet pproved Wednesday a deeper military incursion into the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired a rocket at a major Israeli city, an official at the meeting said. The army has been given the green light to enter residential areas, but the army will not reoccupy the Gaza Strip, the official said. He spoke on ondition of anonymity because no official statement has been released from the meeting yet. (Posted @ 18:38 PST)
Bangladeshis send home record 4.8 billion dollars in last fiscal year DHAKA, July 5 (AFP) - Bangladeshis living and working abroad sent home a record 4.8 billion dollars in the last financial year, up nearly 25 percent from a year earlier, overseas employment and expatriate welfare minister Kamrul Islam said Wednesday. As many as 291,000 people went abroad with jobs and a significant number of them were skilled laborers, he said.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Two Afghan guards with US security firm killed in ambush KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, July 5 (AFP) - Taliban militants attacked the convoy of a private US security firm in Herat province late Tuesday and killed two local security guards, deputy provincial police chief Ghulam Sarwar Haidari said.(Posted @ 18:18 PST)
14 die in Kazakhstan bus crash ALMATY, July 5 (AFP) - Fourteen people died Wednesday when a bus travelling d between capital Astana and Almaty collided with a truck in the Karaganda region of central Kazakhstan, the emergency agency said. The truck caught fire, killing twelve people in the bus, including the driver, and also the driver of the truck and one of his two passengers, it said. Thirteen other passengers were hospitalized. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
NATO calls for 'firm response' to North Korea missile launch BRUSSELS, July 5 (AFP) - NATO called on Wednesday for a "firm response" from the international community to North Korea's missile launch, which the military alliance regretted and condemned. (Posted @ 18:02 PST)
US diplomacy in high gear after 'provocative' N Korea launches WASHINGTON, July 5 (AFP) - The United States said it was going on the diplomatic counter-offensive after North Korea launched several missiles it strongly condemned as "provocative acts," even though they posed no immediate threat. "The United States strongly condemns these missile launches... We are consulting with international partners on next steps," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said late Tuesday in a statement. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Bomb blasts in Afghan capital kill one, wound nearly 50 KABUL, July 5 (AFP) - Bombs ripped into two government buses in the Afghan capital Kabul during the morning rush hour Wednesday, killing one person and wounding nearly 50 others, most of them army officers, officials said. An explosion struck a bus taking commerce ministry workers in Khair Khana suburb, in which "one person was martyred and four wounded," interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said. About an hour earlier a similar blast struck a bus transporting Afghan National Army (ANA) army officers in a busy area of Kabul, in which around 40 officers were wounded, “many of them lightly wounded," defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said. The blast caused the bus to veer off the road and slam into a shop selling gas, causing further explosions. The bus was gutted in the blaze, and part of the shop was also destroyed. A woman and a cyclist were also wounded, the interior ministry said. Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif said there was a third roadside blast in the east of the city near a military training centre. Police confirmed the blast, which caused no casualties, but said it was an old mortar that was detonated by mistake. (First Posted @ 9:30 PST Updated @ 17:52 PST)
UN to discuss NKorea missiles as US revs up diplomatic response UNITED NATIONS, July 5 (AFP) - The UN Security Council was to hold an urgent meeting Wednesday to discuss North Korea's launch of several missiles, as Washington embarked upon a furious round of diplomacy in response to what it termed Pyongyang's "provocative acts." Japan called for the Security Council meeting, which was due to start at 1400 GMT Wednesday, and has urged China and South Korea to support its efforts to broker a UN resolution against North Korea's missile launches. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Eighteen killed in attacks around Iraq BAGHDAD, July 5 (AFP) - Eighteen people were killed in attacks around Iraq on Wednesday, including a car bomb in western Baghdad that killed six people and wounded 17, according to security officials. The car bomb exploded outside a mosque in a public square in Washash neighborhood, in Mansour district. A bomb also exploded outside a restaurant in the busy downtown Tayaran square, killing one person and wounding seven. Also in central Baghdad, a bomb left in a shopping center exploded, wounding ten people, according to the nearby al-Kindi hospital. In the city of Mosul, a car packed with explosives slammed into a building at a busy intersection being used as a police checkpoint, killing a police lieutenant and a civilian, and wounding three civilians and a policeman, while two police vehicles were set on fire. On the main road 40 kilometers south of Kirkuk, a roadside bomb exploded as a car full of Kurdish fighters passed, killing one and wounding two. When members of the civil defense showed up at the site, a second bomb detonated wounding three of them. Another Kurd was killed near Kirkuk when gunmen opened fire on his car while he was driving on the main road leading to Baghdad. Police in a village 90 kilometers south of Kirkuk also reported finding the headless corpse of a man lying in the river Zab. In Tikrit, a shopowner was killed when gunmen opened fire on his store, while in the nearby village of Awja, birthplace of Saddam Hussein, a women was shot dead.The restive province of Diyala, also saw its share of violence when one civilian was killed by a car bomb in the capital Baquba and another gunned down in the east of the city. Two others were shot dead in Khalis, to the north. Two corpses were found in the village of Khan Beni Saad, south of Baquba. In the holy city of Karbala, police reported the shooting death of a former Baathist. (Posted @ 17:26 PST)
Iran nuclear talks would lower temperature in west Asia: Pakistan GENEVA, July 5 (AFP) - Pakistan said Wednesday that international diplomatic moves to solve the standoff over neighbouring Iran's nuclear programme would help "lower the temperature" in the region. "Pakistan does not support production of nuclear weapons or proliferation of nuclear technology by any country, including Iran," Pakistani Prime Minister Shakat Aziz told journalists. "We also believe Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," he added.(Posted @ 17:24 PST)
China urges all sides to remain calm following NKorea missile tests BEIJING, July 5 (AFP) - China urged Wednesday all sides to "remain calm and exercise restraint" after North Korea launched seven missiles into the Sea of Japan, with analysts saying Beijing will not endorse a tough response. "We are seriously concerned about the incident that has already happened," the foreign ministry said in a statement on its website. "We hope the relevant sides will remain calm and exercise restraint, do more that is beneficial to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in northeast Asia, and refrain from actions that will increase tensions and complicate the situation," the statement said. Beijing stopped short of condemning the tests and refrained even from mild criticism of Pyongyang. (Posted @ 17:18 PST)
Arab League sends $50 million to Palestinians CAIRO, July 5 (Reuters) The Arab League has wired $50 million to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to ease a fiscal crisis by providing humanitarian grants to government workers who have gone unpaid for months, an official said on Wednesday. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Prime Minister Aziz says bin Laden's whereabouts unknown GENEVA, July 5 (AP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Wednesday that Osama bin Laden's whereabouts were still unknown. ``There is speculation as to where he is, but certainly nobody has a clue,'' Aziz told reporters. ``If they did, they would use all their resources to go after the individual and try and capture him.'' Aziz was in Geneva as one of three chairmen of a group meeting to decide on reforming aspects of the United Nations. He said the panel would be ready to issue its conclusions within the next three months. Aziz also rejected a report that he was a candidate to replace U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan when his second term ends at the end of the year. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Pakistan says North Korean missile tests 'unfortunate' PARIS, July 5, 2006 (AFP) Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri on Wednesday condemned the missile tests carried out by North Korea and said it shared international concerns about weapons proliferation. "It's a very unfortunate development," Kasuri told reporters in Paris, asked to comment on the North Korean missile tests. "We know that proliferation is a major international concern," said the foreign minister. Kasuri also said Pakistan had played no role in providing North Korea with the technology behind its missile. "When you are talking of firing of missiles, we have never been accused of having supplied that technology anywhere…so I can't take responsibility" for North Korea's actions," he said. Kasuri repeated that his country "has effectively upgraded all its mechanisms" and is currently "following the world's best practices on non-proliferation". Kasuri also stressed that Pakistan supported the resumption of six-party talks -- involving China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- as the best way to tackle concerns over North Korea's military ambitions. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
EU-Iran nuclear talks postponed BRUSSELS, July 5 (Reuters) Crucial talks due on Wednesday between the European Union and Iran on incentives to a end a nuclear stand-off have been postponed for a week, an Iranian official said. "The meeting has changed to the next week. They (the Iranian delegation) will not come (to Brussels) today," a senior Iranian nuclear official said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Israeli troops kill Palestinian in occupied West Bank; 10 arrested JERICHO, West Bank, July 5 (Reuters) Israeli troops killed a Palestinian during a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said. Palestinians said the slain man was a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades group. There was no indication the Palestinian, in his 30s, was carrying weapons at the time he was shot. Israel Radio said the Palestinian was suspected of involvement in a deadly attack inside the Jewish state during the uprising in year 2000. Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli troops arrested 10 suspected militants, the army said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Japan’s Koizumi says North Korea launched 7th missile TOKYO, July 5 (Reuters) Japan has information that North Korea launched a seventh missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters. He also said he could not rule out further launches. Koizumi said dialogue was needed to solve the current situation with North Korea, adding that North Korea could achieve nothing positive from the missile launches. (Posted @ 14:15 PST)
Grenade explosion in Balochistan wounds four villagers QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) An assailant lobbed a grenade into the home of a farmer in Killi Landai village near Quetta early Wednesday, wounding the man's wife, his son and two other people, police said. Police suspect the attack was linked to an old family feud. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
North Korea says it has invincible military might SEOUL, July 5 (Reuters) North Korea, in an official media report, said on Wednesday it had invincible military might but made no mention of its test-firing of six missiles earlier in the day. "We continue on our revolution in our own way, according to our conviction in this complicated and conflicting situation, as we have such invincible and revolutionary military power, even for the imperialist United States," a communist party newspaper said in a commentary. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Israeli aircraft attack Interior Ministry in Gaza GAZA, July 5 (Reuters) Israeli missiles tore through the Palestinian Interior Ministry building in Gaza on Wednesday as Israel kept up overnight air attacks to pressure militants to release a captured soldier. The air strike, which wounded at least three people, was launched hours after militants had fired a rocket into a major Israeli city. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was meeting with top security officials and might order stronger military action in Gaza in response to the attack on the coastal city of Ashkelon, officials said. The air raid damaged neighbouring apartments, and medics rushed Palestinian children suffering from shock to hospital. An Israeli daily claimed on Wednesday that seven gunmen were holed up with the captured Israeli soldier in an underground bunker somewhere in Gaza, with a hoard of food. (First Posted @ 09:55 PST Updated @ 13:50 PST)
Asia Pacific, Middle East airlines face pilot, engineer shortages: report SINGAPORE, July 5, 2006 (AFP) Asia Pacific and Middle East airlines could face serious shortages of skilled personnel such as pilots and engineers after record orders for new aircraft, an industry research group said Wednesday. The problem could affect expansion plans by some airlines and is the "next big storm on the radar" for the industry, the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in a statement. Airline operators in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East are estimated to require 150,000 additional employees to support the new aircraft orders, CAPA said. China, India, the rest of Asia and the Middle East are expected to be the most affected. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)
North Korea fired 10 missiles SEOUL, July 5 (Agencies) North Korea test-fired 10 missiles early on Wednesday including one long-range missile, Yonhap news agency cited a South Korean defence intelligence source as saying. The report gave no additional details on the types of missiles. The White House said it could only confirm that North Korea had fired five missiles. Earlier on in Washington, a U.S. Defense Department official was quoted as saying that North Korea had test-fired six missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 missile and five short-range missiles. Meanwhile the White House strongly condemned North Korea and warned against taking any more "provocative acts", adding that the United States would take "all necessary measures" to protect itself and allies. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 107.09 points: KARACHI, July 5: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 9936.49, up 107.09 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, July 5: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.55 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
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