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| August 13, 2006 | Sunday | Rajab 17, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Annan announces fighting in Lebanon to end Monday UNITED NATIONS, Aug 13 (AFP) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that the governments of Israel and Lebanon had agreed to halt fighting in the month-long war on Monday, even as fighting raged on the ground. The announcement late Saturday came shortly after US President George W. Bush held telephone talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and had received a call from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the first time since the opening days of the war. "I am very happy to announce that the two leaders have agreed that the cessation of hostilities and the end of the fighting will enter into force on 14 August, at 0500 GMT," Annan said in a statement. The Israeli general in charge of the northern command said he hoped the estimated 30,000 troops involved in the expanded offensive launched overnight Friday will have secured control of most of south Lebanon by Monday. On the fighting front, Israeli forces took a key hilltop village overlooking the strategic Litani River and engaged in fierce fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Israel cabinet approves U.N. resolution to end war JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet on Sunday approved a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities with Hizbollah in Lebanon, a political source said. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had said the prime ministers of Israel and Lebanon agreed fighting would end on Monday at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT). Olmert had urged the cabinet to accept the U.N. resolution. (First Posted @ 12:40 PST Updated @ 17:28 PST)
Nearly 100 Israeli soldiers wounded, 24 killed in fighting in Lebanon: Israel Radio JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (AP) Nearly 100 Israeli soldiers were wounded in heavy fighting in Lebanon on Saturday, the highest one-day injury toll of the monthlong war, Israel Radio reported. In addition, at least 24 Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday, including two crushed in a tank accident and five in a helicopter shot down by Hezbollah. (First Posted @ 0930 Updated @ 10:25 PST)
At least five killed, nine wounded in Israeli strikes in Lebanon SIDON, Lebanon, Aug 13 (AFP) At least five persons were killed and nine were wounded overnight as Israeli forces staged a series of attacks across Lebanon, police said Sunday. A mother, her three young children and their Sri Lankan maid were killed overnight when Israeli bombs flattened their home in the southern village of Burj el-Shemali, police said.Fierce clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops continued through the night southeast of port city of Tyre in the region near the border with Israel, police added. The area around Khiam, along the eastern part of the border, came under intense artillery bombardment by Israeli forces to cover the advance of tanks, they said. Israeli fighter-bombers destroyed two bridges in the northern Akkar plains that link Tripoli with the Syrian border, wounding six people. The air strike on the bridge at Halba destroyed a large number of homes, causing civilian casualties, said a hospital worker. A number of Lebanese Army soldiers stationed nearby were also wounded in the attacks. The bridge in adjoining village was also destroyed. Eight other bridges in the area have already been destroyed. Israeli jets fired a missile on a location in the Ain el-Helweh camp that was already targetted in a similar raid on Wednesday, wounding one Palestinian. Israeli warplanes carried out over three dozen raids in the eastern Nabatiye region, including destroying a three-story building and two structures used by Hezbollah's rescue service. Police were unable to provide any information about casualties. Homes were also destroyed in the villages of Kfar, Tebnit and Ansar. Israeli warplanes staged five raids near the eastern village of Baalbeck, destroying three tanker trucks, said police, who had no information about casualties. (First Posted @ 09:10 Updated 10:15 PST)
Market bomb blitz kills 20 in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Aug 13, (AFP) - Insurgents launched a deadly series of rocket and bomb attacks as night fell on a commercial district of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 20 civilians and injuring 75, security officials said. The blitz on the Zafaraniyah district in the southeast of the city began when a Katyusha rocket demolished a four-storey building housing homes and shops in the popular Al-Qubyasi market, an interior ministry official said. (Posted @ 23:48 PST)
More than 250 rockets fired at Israel JERUSALEM, Aug 13, (AFP) - More than 250 rockets were fired at northern Israel Sunday, the army said, a new single-day record of the month-long Lebanon war that came less than 24 hours before a UN-brokered truce was to take effect on the ground. (Posted @ 23:32 PST)
Honduras bus crash kills 5, injures 40 TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, August 13, (AP) _ A speeding bus overturned on a highway curve in southern Honduras, killing five people, including the driver, and injuring 40, police said. (Posted @ 23:18 PST)
Israeli air raid hits house sheltering 15 civilian TYRE, Lebanon, Aug 13 (Reuters) - An Israeli air raid on a village in south Lebanon on Sunday destroyed a house and 15 civilian casualties were feared, a Lebanese security source said. The source could not say whether they were dead or wounded. The house in the village of Tiri, eight km from the border, had been sheltering families, the source said. (Posted @ 22:26 PST)
Number of Hezbollah rockets to hit Israel tops 4,000: Israel Radio JERUSALEM, August 13, (AP) _ The number of Hezbollah rockets to hit northern Israel since fighting began more than a month ago surpassed 4,000 on Sunday, Israel Radio said. The army said it could not confirm the report, but police said more than 200 Hezbollah rockets fell on Israel on Sunday alone, including 15 in Haifa, Israel's third largest city. (Posted @ 22:10 PST)
Attack on Afghan army post leaves 5 soldiers, 18 insurgents dead, coalition says KABUL, Afghanistan, August 13, (AP) _ Insurgents attacked an Afghan army post in the country's east on Sunday, leaving five soldiers and at least 18 militants dead, the U.S.-led coalition said. Six soldiers were hurt, three seriously, in the fighting in Paktika province before the attackers were fended off by mortar fire from nearby military bases, said a statement from the coalition that operates in eastern Afghanistan. Coalition troops were embedded with the Afghan troops but suffered no casualties, it said. (Posted @ 21:55 PST)
Fire in multi-family home kills 6, others missing MICHIGAN CITY, Indiana, August 13, (AP) _ A fire swept through a two-story home early Sunday, killing at least six people, the state fire marshal said. Others were missing. ``It's not clear whether they left the scene or are still inside the home,'' State Fire Marshall Roger Johnson said. (Posted @ 21:36 PST)
Police kill 6 suspected Taliban, wound four in southern Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, August 13, (AP) _ Police attacked Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, killing six and wounding four, an officer said Sunday. The militants were killed during an operation late Saturday in the mountainous Thakhapul area of Garmser district of the southern Helmand province, said Ghulam Rasool, the district police chief. (Posted @ 21:16 PST)
Lebanon cabinet postpones meeting over Hezbollah arms BEIRUT, Aug 13, (AFP) - The Lebanese government postponed indefinitely a meeting scheduled for Sunday that was to be devoted to the question of disarming Hezbollah, a cabinet minister who declined to be named told AFP. (Posted @ 20:55 PST)
Mirwaiz calls for shutdown on August 15 SRINAGAR,August 13 (PPI) The Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has called for complete shutdown on August 15 in occupied Kashmir in protest against illegal occupation and denial of basic right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by India, reports Kashmir Media Service. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)
No Afghan al-Qaida link to UK terror plot, Afghanistan says KABUL, Afghanistan, August 13, (AP) _ Afghanistan's foreign ministry on Sunday denied any Afghan al-Qaida connection to a plot to blow up jetliners over the Atlantic, rejecting a Pakistani allegation. ``Afghanistan has become an inhospitable environment for al-Qaida to commission any terrorist attacks outside Afghanistan,'' the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement. (Posted @ 20:15 PST)
Pakistan relaxes hand luggage restrictions on flights ISLAMABAD, Aug 13, (AFP) - Pakistan has lifted a ban on hand baggage on international flights although passengers are still barred from carrying liquids, officials said Sunday. Extra armed police had been guarding major airports in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore with passengers subject to baggage restrictions and extra screening. (Posted @ 19:44 PST)
Govt to provide all possible assistance to flood affectees: PM ISLAMABAD, August 13 (PPI) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said the government will provide all possible assistance to the flood affectees for their early rehabilitation and provide them livelihood. Talking to newsmen here Sunday, he said essential commodities worth Rs 55-million have so far been distributed among the flood affectees in NWFP Punjab. He said the supply of these goods would continue till complete rehabilitation of the affectees. (Posted @ 18:12 PST)
At least 20 explosion rock south Beirut in two-minute period BEIRUT, Lebanon, August 13, (AP) _ At least 20 huge explosions rattled Beirut over a two minute period Sunday afternoon, and television reports said the attack was carried out by Israel warplanes. Initial reports had said Israeli warships anchored off the Lebanese coast were firing artillery into south Beirut. The attack hit the Dahiyeh suburb, a Hezbollah stronghold that has been pounded repeatedly by Israeli warplanes and ships. (Posted @ 17:54 PST)
South Thailand rebel attack kills 2, wounds 10 BANGKOK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - An ambush by suspected militants in Thailand's restive south killed two civilians and wounded at least 10 people on Sunday, police said. (Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Afghan soldier killed in clash with militants in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) A clash between militants and Afghan troops left one soldier dead and two others wounded in southeastern Afghanistan, while a gunfight between local police left an officer dead, officials said Sunday. The Afghan soldier was killed in Barmal district of Paktika province Saturday during the clash with militants, said Sayyed Jamal, the spokesman for the province's governor. No information was available about any militant casualties. Meanwhile, a clash between police officers in Andarab district of central Baglan province, left one police officer dead and four wounded Saturday, said Kamin, a police official in the province, who goes by only one name. It was not immediately clear what caused the fight. A suspected Taliban insurgent was killed and another wounded after militants attacked and clashed with police in Aka Ghar district of southern Zabul province late Saturday, said district police chief Momuand Khan. There were no police injured. Separately, militants blocked the main Kandahar-Kabul highway in Zabul province Sunday, hijacked three trucks and torched two, said Noor Mohammad Paktin, Zabul's chief of police. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Sri Lanka says ready to talk peace amid heavy fighting COLOMBO, Aug 13 (AFP) Sri Lanka is willing to revive peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels immediately despite ferocious weekend battles which claimed at least 177 lives. Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the LTTE made an overture Friday through truce monitors to revive their stalled talks and the government was positive despite the growing violence. "We have told them, name your team and find a date and we will be there," Rambukwella said, adding that they were awaiting a response from the guerrillas. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
Iran insists on nuclear right, threatens to quit IAEA TEHRAN, Aug 13 (AFP) Iran on Sunday repeated its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment activities as called for in a UN resolution, threatening instead to withdraw from the International Atomic Energy Agency. "Iran doesn't accept suspending its uranium enrichment," the official IRNA agency quoted parliamentary speaker Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel as telling parliament. "If the result of our being part of international organisations and the IAEA is to be deprived of our absolute right (in nuclear matters), there is no reason for us to continue to be part of such organisations," he said. The UN Security Council has given Iran until August 31 to halt enrichment and reprocessing activities or face possible sanctions. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
15,000 Protestants march in Northern Ireland city after night of Catholic riots LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland, Aug 13 (AP) About 15,000 Protestants paraded through this predominantly Roman Catholic city Saturday following a night of Catholic rioting, but the parade itself ended without any direct clashes between rival mobs. Police said rioters in the Bogside, the major Catholic district beside central Londonderry, hijacked and burned at least two cars and threw about 50 Molotov cocktails at police, who were wearing flame-retardant suits, body armor and helmets. Nobody was reported injured. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Three militants killed in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Aug 13 (AFP) Indian troops Saturday shot dead three suspected militants during a gunbattle that erupted when troops laid cordon around the village of Ringpait, about 80 kilometers north of Srinagar, an army spokesman said. The killings came as security forces were put on high alert to prevent militants from disrupting Indian Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday. Srinagar's high-security Bakshi Stadium was been sealed off and searches were conducted along key roads in the city ahead of festivities at the venue. Kashmiri separatists have asked people to remain indoors on Tuesday to observe it as a "black day". More than 44,000 people have died in occupied Kashmir in the insurgency against Indian rule. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Hezbollah shoots down Israeli helicopter: officials JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (AFP) An Israeli helicopter carrying troops was shot down Saturday by Hezbollah near the border village of Yater over southern Lebanon, Israeli army said. At least four helicopters were flying in the region at the time. Five soldiers were killed in the crash. This was the third military helicopter downed by Hezbollah since Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Israel strikes Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon SIDON, Lebanon, Aug 13 (AFP) Israeli fighter jets bombed overnight for the second time this week the 50,000-strong Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in south Lebanon, police said Sunday. At least three Palestinians were injured but details were awaited. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Thousands protest Lebanon war outside White House WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (AFP) Thousands of people demonstrated outside the White House Saturday to protest Israel's US-backed military operations in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The protests also spread to California, where several hundred demonstrators denouncing Israel faced off against a similar number of people supporting the Jewish state in the heart of San Francisco, according to local press reports. "Israel out of Lebanon now!" chanted members of the crowd outside the White House, some brandishing signs that read: "Occupation is a crime." More than 30,000 people joined in the demonstration, according to the anti-war group ANSWER, which organized the event along with the Muslim American Society and the National Council of Arab Americans. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Maskaev stops Rahman to win WBC heavyweight world title LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Aug 13 (AFP) Kazakhstan-born Oleg Maskaev stopped Hasim Rahman in the 12th and final round here Saturday to capture the World Boxing Council heavyweight title. The 37-year-old former Russian Army lieutenant, who became a US citizen two years ago, repeated a 1999 knockout of Rahman and left no US native atop the heavyweight division among the major sanctioning bodies. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Federer fights his way into Toronto Masters Series final TORONTO, Aug 13 (AFP) Roger Federer fended off the tenacious challenge of Fernando Gonzalez here Saturday to reach the final of the Toronto Masters Series. He subdued the 15th-seeded Chilean 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. In the final he will face France's Richard Gasquet who beat Britain's Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Focus turns to Pakistan, Al-Qaeda for alleged British bomb plot LONDON, Aug 13 (AFP) - The focus of a global investigation into an alleged plot to blow up US-bound airliners has turned increasingly to Pakistan and Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, as 23 suspects faced further questioning in British custody. Photographs of British Al-Qaeda suspect Rashid Rauf appeared across the British media after Pakistani authorities claimed he was a "key person" in the alleged plot. Early editions of Sunday's Observer newspaper quoted security sources as saying that "up to two dozen" terror investigations were now underway across Britain -- a figure put at one dozen in the Mail on Sunday. The News of the World said security services were dealing with "another 30 Islamist murder plots", while the Sunday Times said one of the suspects under arrest could be "Al-Qaeda's leader" in Britain. He was not named. But just as air services struggled to get back to normal after more than 48 hours of cancellations and long delays, the British Airports Authority (BAA)said that one in three flights from London's main Heathrow airport would not take off on Sunday. The 23detenus include a taxi driver, an accountant, a student, a pizza delivery man and a security worker, as well as several Muslim converts, according to British newspapers. Police, who have up to 28 days to release or charge the suspects, successfully applied for further warrants to detain 22 of the group. They will apply on Monday to hold the remaining suspect for longer. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Nigeria set to hand Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon CALABAR, Nigeria, Aug 13 (AFP) Nigeria will on Monday formally hand sovereignty over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon after withdrawing its 3,000 troops in compliance with a UN-brokered deadline. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
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