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| August 02, 2006 | Wednesday | Rajab 6, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Thousands of Israeli troops battle in south Lebanon BEIRUT, Aug 2 (Reuters) Hizbollah guerrillas battled up to 6,000 Israeli troops on five fronts in south Lebanon on Wednesday. Israeli commandos snatched suspected Hizbollah members from Lebanon's ancient city of Baalbek in a helicopter-borne night raid backed by air strikes that killed 19 people, including four children. Lebanese security sources reported fierce battles on five fronts on Wednesday. Israeli artillery fire pounded frontier villages as tank-led forces pushed in. Guerrillas were firing back mortars, anti-tank rockets and machineguns. Hizbollah said it had destroyed four tanks and a military bulldozer. The Israeli army had no immediate comment. Three Lebanese army soldiers were also killed in a separate Israeli air strike in south Lebanon, security sources said. Fighting raged for four hours around Baalbek in eastern Lebanon after the Israelis landed near a previously evacuated Hizbollah-run hospital, supported by helicopters firing missiles and heavy machineguns. The Israeli army said commandos seized five suspected Hizbollah militants before returning safely to base. Hizbollah denied any of its militants were taken. At least 13 civilians were killed when Israeli warplanes hit Jammaliyeh, a village near Baalbek, where five family members were found in the rubble of their house, security sources said. Another family of five died in a strike on the village of Saath. One motorist was killed by a strike in Hermel to the north. After the Israeli commandos left, air strikes destroyed the three-storey al-Hikmah hospital. Israeli aircraft also wrecked at least three bridges in thenorthern tip of the Bekaa and in northern Lebanon. Israel's deputy chief of army staff, Major-General Moshe Kaplinsky, told The Jerusalem Post the army was now working to a plan in which troops would push to the Litani river, some 20 km from the border with Israel, but could go beyond it. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Israeli rescue services say Hezbollah rockets falling throughout northern Israel KIRYAT SHEMONA, Israel, Aug 2 (AP) Hezbollah guerrillas on Wednesday fired a massive barrage of about 200 rockets at towns across northern Israel, killing atleast one person and wounding at least seven people and setting off fires, police and rescue services said. As air raid sirens wailed, rockets shrieked across the border leaving trails in the air and smashing into cities and towns destroying buildings and setting fires. Rockets hit the cities of Tiberias, Maalot, Kiryat Shemona, Carmiel, Rosh Pina and Safed, said police spokesman Avi Zelba. Maalot, near the Lebanese border, was the worst hit with more than 20 rockets hitting the town. At least seven people were lightly wounded in the attacks, rescue workers said. Most residents of Israel's north have either fled the area or are living in underground bomb shelters. The barrage is one of the heaviest to hit northern Israel since fighting started July 12. Hezbollah has fired more than 1,900 rockets, according to army figures. A spokesman for the fire department in northern Israel said firefighters have been dispatched to several areas that caught fire. Several buildings also caught fire after being hit. The blasts pockmarked walls of nearby buildings and scattered debris all around. Rescue workers could be seen leading several crying, shocked people away to nearby ambulances. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Zimbabwe defeats Bangladesh by two wickets< HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) _ Zimbabwe won by two wickets against Bangladesh on Wednesday in the third of five one-day internationals :Scores: Zimbabwe 238-8 (Brendan Taylor 79 not out, Terry Duffin 48; Shahadat Hossain 3-53, Rajin Saleh 2-18) def. Bangladesh 236 (Saleh 54, Aftab Ahmed 53; Anthony Ireland 3-41, Hamilton Masakadza 3-39). Series: Zimbabwe leads 2-1.(Posted @ 20:50 PST)
Castro is 'very alive and very alert': Alarcon WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (AFP) - The speaker of Cuba's National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon said Wednesday that he has met and spoken with Fidel Castro and the ailing Cuban leader was "very alive and very alert" after undergoing surgery and ceding power.(Posted @ 20:45 PST)
UN powers close in on Lebanon resolution: ambassadors UNITED NATIONS, Aug 2 (AFP) - The major powers at the UN Security Council embarked on intensive talks on the Lebanese crisis Wednesday amid growing optimism that a resolution setting out a possible settlement will soon be agreed. "I'm confident that by tomorrow we'll be in a position to have discussions in the council on a text which actually takes us forward," Britain's UN ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry told reporters. "Prospects now of adoption soon of a resolution have improved considerably," he added. French ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said: "We are working very well. We are getting closer, much closer." "We find the results of the conversations have been encouraging so far though a little work remains to be done," US ambassador John Bolton told reporters. "There are differences in approach to the nature of the cessation of hostilities and how to make it permanent but there is complete agreement on the fundamental political framework that has to be put in place," said Bolton. "We have been making progress on that here in New York and in exchanges between capitals," he added. Intense bilateral talks between the UN Security Council permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- were being held in New York and between the capitals, officials said. "Today is going to be a very busy day diplomatically," said a diplomat from one of the permanent members. "There is talk of a ministerial meeting either Friday or Monday but there is a question mark for the time being."(Posted @ 20:40 PST)
Grenade blast in occupied Kashmir wounds 12 people JAMMU, occupied Kashmir, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Suspected militants threw a grenade near a crowded bus stand in Surankote town, 230 km north of Jammu on Wednesday, wounding over a dozen people, police said. The grenade was aimed at a federal police patrol but missed and exploded among people standing close to the crowded bus stand. Five of the wounded were in serious condition, a police officer said.(Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Jordanian and Egyptian FMs warn violence could lead to Mideast chaos BEIRUT, Aug 2 (AP) _ Brutal conflicts like the one raging between Israel and the Hezbollah and the Palestinians will not end until Israel makes peace with the whole Arab world, the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers said Wednesday. The two were the first Arab diplomats to visit Lebanon since Israeli attacks began 22 days ago. ``We believe that this situation in Lebanon could be repeated if a peace settlement that gives Arabs their full rights and gives the Palestinian people the right to set up their independent state is not reached,'' said Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib(Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Pakistan says 'very positive' attitude to peace talks with India DHAKA, Aug 2 (AFP) - Pakistan's foreign minister said Wednesday that Islamabad has a "very positive attitude" toward a resumption of peace talks with nuclear rival India. Speaking after the close of South Asian foreign ministers' meeting in Dhaka, Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said foreign secretary-level peace talks between India and Pakistan held on the sidelines were "positive." "As far as Pakistan is concerned, we have a very positive attitude (to the talks)," Kasuri said. India postponed formal foreign secretary-level talks last month following serial train blasts in Mumbai that killed 183 people, saying Pakistani "elements" were involved. Pakistan has demanded proof of India's allegations and offered to help in the investigation into the blasts. "We are also interested to find out who the real culprits (of the Mumbai blasts) are," said Kasuri.(Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Pakistan set to change rape laws ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (AFP) - Pakistan government Wednesday proposed amendments to Hadood Ordinance which currently place an almost impossible burden of proof on women and expose victims to adultery charges. The federal cabinet Wednesday approved the draft legislation that would change the 27-year-old laws, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told a press conference. The bill is expected to go before parliament next week. Under the existing provisions of the ordinance promulgated by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1979, women must produce four adult Muslim male witnesses to prove an act of rape. Women who fail to prove rape can be jailed or even sentenced to death for adultery. Reports said the amendment would remove the requirement for four witnesses for rape, and make it necessary to have four people testify to any alleged act of adultery. The Hudood Ordinance runs parallel to Pakistan's British-influenced secular penal code.(Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Shujaat, Mushahid discuss Sindh political situation with President ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (Online): Ruling Pakistan Muslim League President Ch Shujaat and Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Syed met President Musharraf on Wednesday and had detailed consultations on the Sindh political situation.Ch Shujaat expressed the view that PML leadership also wanted that this matter be settled through talks, well placed sources said.(Posted @ 19:15 PST)
PM restricts federal ministers from giving out statements on MQM situation ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (Online): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz banning all federal ministers and state ministers from giving out statements on the political crisis with Muttahida Qaumi Movement said Wednesday that talks with MQM are continuing and the situation would improve for the better soon. Reliable sources said the Prime Minister took the cabinet members into confidence and said he was optimistic that the situation would improve and all outstanding issues with MQM would be settled through the dialogue process. Amendments in the Hadood Ordinance were also approved at the meeting and now the amended draft would be tabled at the next session of the National Assembly.(Posted @ 19:15 PST)
38 militants among top commander of Mari tribe surrender QUETTA, Aug 02 (Online): As many as 38 militants of Mari tribe and their commander Jumma Khan Nawabzada Balach Mari tribe surrendered to Kohlu administration on Wednesday. According to information, they also handed over a huge cache of arms including rocket launchers, klashnikoves and ammunition.(Posted @ 19:05 PST)
Hudood Ordinance does not conform fully to the Quran and Hadith: CCI ISLAMABAD, August 2 (Online): The Hudood Ordinance does not conform fully to the Holy Quran and Sunnah and its improvement is necessary in order to make it more responsive to the Islamic philosophy of crime and punishment as well as more effective in a modern Judicial system, says a interim report on Hudood ordinance issued by Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology Khalid Masood.(Posted @ 19:00 PST)
PM leaves for Kuala Lumpur for attending OIC emergent meeting ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (Online): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday left for Kuala Lumpur to attend the emergency meeting of the OIC Executive Committee being held Thursday in the Malaysian capital to discuss the situation in Lebanon and Palestine, a foreign office statement said.The prime minister of Malaysia, who is the current Chairman of the OIC, will preside over the meeting which is will be attended by leaders from the OIC Summit Troika (Malaysia, Senegal and Qatar), IOFM Troika (Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Yemen), Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Bangladesh, Brunei and the UAE.(Posted @ 19:00 PST)
Bangladeshi trawlers sink, 50 fishermen missing BARISHAL, Bangladesh, Aug 2 (Reuters) - At least 50 Bangladeshi fishermen were missing after four fishing trawlers sank in the Bay of Bengal during a storm on Wednesday, police said.(Posted @ 19:00 PST)
Iraq president says local forces will take over security of all provinces by the end of the year BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (AP) _ President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday that Iraqi forces will take over security of all provinces in the country by the end of the year, which at present is largely in the hand of U.S. forces.(Posted @ 19:00 PST)
Justice Rana Baghwandas takes oath as Acting Chief Justice ISLAMABAD, Aug 2 (APP): Mr Justice Rana Baghwandas, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, took oath Wednesday as Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan. He will serve during the absence of Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who has left for Malaysia on an official visit. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Mirwaiz urges India to resume talks process for resolving Kashmir issue SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir, August 2 (Online): Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has urged India to resume talks process with Pakistan to resolve Kashmir dispute. Addressing an extraordinary session of the members of the Executive and General Councils of the APHC here Wednesday, he said President General Pervez Musharraf's positive proposals on Kashmir were a significant step towards resolving Kashmir dispute and urged India to reciprocate.The APHC meeting also strongly condemned Israeli attacks on innocent people of Lebanon. It appealed the world community to pressurize Israel to stop its naked aggression. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Six killed in German police car chase BERLIN, Aug 2 (Reuters) Six people were killed and two seriously injured in a police car chase during an operation against human trafficking in eastern Germany, police said on Wednesday. "Three people were dead at the scene of the accident and another three died after arriving at a nearby hospital," police in the town of Koenigs Wusterhausen said in a statement. The car carrying eight passengers slammed into trees after speeding off when police tried to stop it, police said. One of the dead was a Vietnamese citizen and a second held a Czech passport. The identity of the remaining passengers has not yet been determined, police said. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Rockets hits 60 km inside Israel in deepest Hezbollah strike JERUSALEM, Aug 2 (AFP) Rockets hit near the Israeli city of Beit Shean Wednesday, some 60 kilometers south of the Lebanese border, the deepest strike on Israeli territory since the start of the offensive on Hezbollah 22 days ago, public radio said. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Pakistan denies Indian press report on Afghanistan ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, August 2 (AP) Pakistan on Wednesday said it wouldn't oppose Afghanistan joining a regional free trade agreement, denying a report in the Indian press that it wanted to shut Kabul out. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called a report by the Press Trust of India claiming Islamabad would oppose extension of free trade benefits to Afghanistan part of a ``disinformation campaign.'' ``Pakistan fully supports'' Afghanistan's integration into the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC, which includes a free trade agreement, the Foreign Ministry said. Afghanistan should benefit from the free trade accord like all other SAARC states that have signed on to it, it said in a statement. (Posted @ 14:10 PST)
Israel will fight until force deploys: Israeli PM JERUSALEM, Aug 2 (Reuters) Israel will keep fighting Hizbollah in southern Lebanon until a strong international force is deployed, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview on Wednesday. Olmert said he wanted the peacekeepers to have a mandate that would include enforcing a U.N. resolution calling for the disarmament of Hizbollah, claiming that Israel's offensive had already "entirely destroyed" the group's infrastructure. Olmert also said Israel would not make any deal for the return of the two soldiers captured by Hizbollah. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Afghan forces kill 18 Taliban guerrillas KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 2 (Reuters) NATO and Afghan forces killed 18 Taliban guerrillas in a raid on Helmand province’s Garmser village. Police did not give further details but said there were no casualties among the NATO and Afghan troops. Taliban officials could not be contacted for immediate comment. In the capital, Kabul, a blast in a car killed a man and wounded two on Wednesday, police said. The cause of explosion was unclear. Separately, 15 police surrendered to the Taliban on Tuesday in Zabul province, a Taliban commander claimed. (First Posted @ 10:00 PST Updated @ 14:00 PST)
Five gunmen, soldier killed as new fighting flares in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, Occupied Kashmir, Aug 2 (AFP) Five gunmen and an Indian soldier died in clashes Wednesday in revolt-hit occupied Kashmir, police said. Police said two gunmen and a soldier were killed in a pre-dawn gunfight in Doda, south of Srinagar. Indian troops also shot dead three militants in separate early morning clashes near Tral town, south of Srinagar and in northern Bandipora town, police added. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Hezbollah repulses Israeli attack TYRE, Lebanon, Aug 2 (AFP) Israeli forces were on Wednesday involved in heavy clashes with Hezbollah inside Lebanese territory, backing up their continued ground push with air raids, police said. The fighting was concentrated in the central sector of the border region, where Israeli forces unsuccessfully tried to enter the hill village of Meis al-Jabal and then tried to attack from the south, police said. A statement from Hezbollah said that the group had "repulsed the attackers". Israeli forces were also engaged in a second front further to the north and were seeking to take the village of Aadaisseh, police said. Hezbollah said it had destroyed three tanks and a bulldozer. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television also said that clashes were taking place close to the border village of Rmeish. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
45 killed in Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, Aug 2 (AFP) At least 40 Tiger rebels, three sailors and two civilians were killed when troops repulsed an attack by the guerrillas on army camps and the government-held town of Muttur in Sri Lanka's northeast Wednesday, the defence ministry said. The military's claims of rebel deaths could not immediately be confirmed. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST Updated @ 12:45 PST)
Oil prices above 75 dollars as hopes for MidEast ceasefire fade SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (AFP) Oil prices jumped back above 75 dollars in Asian trade Wednesday as hopes for a quick ceasefire in Lebanon faded while concerns grew at the approach of a tropical storm in the United States, dealers said. At 2:18 pm (0618 GMT) New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, was 51 cents higher at 75.42 US dollars a barrel from 74.91 dollars in late US trades Tuesday. (Posted @ 11:50 PST)
Three dead in Thailand after wave of attacks NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Aug 2 (AFP) Three policemen were killed Wednesday in a blast at a railway bridge just hours after a wave of nearly 100 coordinated bomb and arson attacks in southern Thailand, officials said. The railway attack came just hours after a string of 97 coordinated bomb and arson attacks across the region along the southern border with Malaysia late Tuesday that injured at least three people. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
US soldier killed in Iraq's Anbar province BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (AFP) A US soldier was killed in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, the US military said Wednesday. The soldier, assigned to the 1st Armoured Division based in Ramadi, was killed in "enemy action" on Tuesday, according to a US military statement. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Bombs kill three in downtown Baghdad BAGHDAD, Aug 2 (AFP) Three bombs exploded near a police checkpoint and a gathering place for day labourers in Baghdad's Tayaran Square early Wednesday morning, killing three and wounding nine, an official said. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)
Israel bombs house in Gaza GAZA, Aug 2 (Reuters) Israeli aircraft on Wednesday bombed a house in central Gaza, the army said. Security sources made the accusation that the house was owned by a Hamas militant. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 51.22 points: KARACHI, Aug 2: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10558.31, up 51.22 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 2: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.8 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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