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| November 21, 2006 | Tuesday | Shawwal 28, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Musharraf sees headway in Indo-Pak talks KARACHI, Nov 21 (APP)- Pakistan wants to develop its relations with India fully and in every field but this is not possible without dispute resolution, President General Pervez Musharraf told newsmen Tuesday during a visit to the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) at Karachi Expo Centre. Replying to a question, the President expressed the hope that when the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Pakistan, there would be headway towards the dispute resolution. He said we are looking forward for a substantive meeting with the Indian Prime Minister during his forthcoming visit to Pakistan but this is only possible when there is a solution of Siachin and Sir Creek issues and a headway towards the Kashmir dispute. Gen. Musharraf said he was not disappointed with the ongoing process which is moving ahead in the right direction. (Posted @ 17:35 PST)
United States 'trapped' in Iraq: Annan GENEVA, Nov 21 (AFP) US forces are trapped in Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday, warning that Washington must find the right time to leave without plunging the country deeper into chaos. "On the question of the military presence it is a difficult issue. The US is in a way trapped in Iraq, trapped in the sense that it cannot stay and it cannot leave," Annan told a press conference.(Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Iraq, Syria restore diplomatic ties BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (AFP) Iraq and Syria on Tuesday announced the restoration of diplomatic ties severed more than two decades ago during the regime of former president Saddam Hussein.(Posted @ 13:00 PST)
Lebanon minister assassinated BEIRUT, Nov 21 (AFP) - Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a northern Beirut suburb Tuesday in the latest in a spate of attacks to target anti-Syrian politicians, a security source said. Gemayel, 34, son of former president Amin Gemayel, was critically wounded in the attack and died soon afterwards in a nearby hospital, the source said. The head of the anti-Syrian majority in parliament, Saad Hariri, interrupted a press conference to accuse the Syrian regime of "trying to kill every free person" in Lebanon. "The cycle (of killings) has resumed," he said. (Posted @ 19:52 PST)
26 Polish miners trapped underground after explosion WARSAW, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) - Twenty-six miners were trapped underground in southern Poland Tuesday after a gas explosion ripped through a coalmine near the southern city of Katowice, officials said. All means of communicating with the trapped miners had been cut off after the explosion at the Halemba mine in Ruda Slaska, and officials were unable to say if anyone had survived the accident, a spokesman for the mine, Jan Sienkiewicz, said. (Posted @ 23:45 PST)
Two Canadian soldiers injured in Afghanistan roadside explosion OTTAWA, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) - Two Canadian soldiers were wounded overnight in a roadside bomb blast along a new two-lane highway being constructed in southern Afghanistan, a military official told AFP Tuesday "Two Canadian soldiers were injured as a result of an anti-personnel mine strike along route Summit in the Pashmul area at approximately midnight local time (2000 GMT Monday), about 25 kilometers west of Kandahar," army spokeswoman Karen Johnstone said. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
Assassinations 'will not terrorise us': Lebanese PM BEIRUT, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) - Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora vowed on Tuesday that the murder of an anti-Syrian minister "will not terrorise us," and called for unity in the deeply devided country. (Posted @ 22:40 PST)
China to build one of earth's biggest solar power stations SHANGHAI, Nov 21 (APP/AFP) - China intends to build one of the world's biggest solar power stations at a cost of 765 million dollars, state press reported Tuesday. The 100-megawatt facility, to be built in Dunhuang, an oasis town in northwest China's Gansu province, will be a collaborative effort between the local government and Beijing's Zhonghao New Energy Investment, Xinhua news said. The project will take five-years to construct, it added. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Legendary director Altman dead: CNN LOS ANGELES, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) - Oscar-winning director Robert Altman has died, US media reported Tuesday. He was 81. Altman, the creator of a string of classic Hollywood satires including "M*A*S*H", "The Player" and "Gosford Park", died at a Los Angeles hospital on Monday, CNN said. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
PAC calls for black-listing loan defaulters by financial institutions ISLAMABAD, Mar 27 (APP): Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Finance to formulate rules for black-listing of loan defaulters from issuance of loans by public sector financial institutions in future. (Posted @ 20:50 PST)
Bangladesh: 3 killed, 150 wounded, DHAKA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Three people were killed and around 150 wounded in clashes between rival political activists in Bangladesh on Tuesday as a transport blockade called by a 14-party alliance demanding the removal of election commission officials paralysed the country for the second straight day. Two men were killed and 30 others were wounded at Patiya town near Chittagong. Nearly 50 more were hurt in the Pahartali suburb of the port city, where police quelled the violence by using batons and teargas. A third man died in southern Laxmipur district town. Fighting also broke out at Dhaka University in which several students were wounded, police said. In Bogra, 250 km north of Dhaka, police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse stick-wielding and stone-throwing rival activists. More than 40 people were hurt. (Updated @ 20:45 PST)
Two Italian aid workers abducted in Gaza GAZA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Gunmen abducted two Italian aid workers in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a Palestinian security source said. The two men, who work for the International Committee of the Red Cross, were in a car on their way to Khan Younis when they were intercepted by gunmen. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)
Pakistani journalist freed by abductors ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) _ Journalist Dilawar Khan Wazir was released Tuesday by unknown men in Islamabad, a day after they abducted, blindfolded and beat him. Dilawar who is daily Dawn’s correspondent and also worked for BBC's Urdu-language service, said he was snatched from a taxi in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad, by a group of men who bundled him into another car and sped away. He did not know why he was targeted. ``I was sitting in a taxi when five or six people grabbed me,'' Wazir told The Associated Press. ``Then I was blind-folded and taken to unknown place. I was beaten.'' On Tuesday, the men put him into a car and left him in a deserted area in Islamabad, he said. (Posted @ 20:20 PST)
Engineer, student, two rebels killed in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Nov 21 (AFP) - Suspected militants Tuesday shot dead an engineer and hanged a university student in occipied Kashmir, while soldiers killed two rebels during a gunbattle, police said. Engineer Bashir Ahmed was shot dead in Patan, 30 kilometers north of Srinagar, at his home. "We're ascertaining why he was killed," a police spokesman said adding none of the dozen militant groups had claimed responsibility. Police also said that a university student, son of a retired Indian border security trooper, was found hanged in Awantipora town after being abducted by suspected guerrillas earlier. In other acts of violence, soldiers shot dead two suspected militants in Doda district, police said. (First Posted @ 15:20 PST; Updated @ 20:10 PST)
Pakistan verdict in Shoaib, Asif case next week LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 21 (AFP) - Pakistan's banned fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will learn the fate of their appeals against doping bans by next week, official said Tuesday. "The committee continued to assess the appeals and have given a questionnaire to both the bowlers and asked them to return it to facilitate the committee to reach a conclusion," committee head Fakhrudin Ibrahim, a retired judge of the supreme court of Pakistan, told reporters. "In my view the final decision will come by next week," said Ibrahim, whose committee also include former Test spinner Haseeb Ahsan and doping expert doctor Danish Zaheer. "In my opinion it would be final and binding, but you can't say anything is final in the law," he added. (Posted @ 20:03 PST)
Nepal premier, Maoist leader sign peace pact KATHMANDU, Nov 21 (AFP) - Nepal's Maoist leader and its interim prime minister signed an historic peace deal on Tuesday to end a decade of war that has claimed at least 12,500 lives in the impoverished Himalayan nation, a reporter at the scene said. (Posted @ 20:03 PST)
Seventeen killed in Iraq attacks BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (AFP) - Insurgents killed at least 17 people across Iraq on Tuesday, including 11 in a series of shootings in Baquba, capital of Diyala province, and one outside the city, police said. Four others were killed in Mosul, among them Lt-Col Mohammed Saleh al-Juburi of Tall Afar police who was shot dead by gunmen as he was travelling in Mosul. A civilian was killed and nine others wounded, including two policemen, when a roadside bomb struck a passing police patrol in southern Baghdad. An Iraqi was killed and three wounded in a car bomb attack against yet another police patrol in Baghdad's Al-Amel neighbourhood. The US military said that insurgents attacked its convoy on a highway in Baghdad but gave no further details. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Fire breaks out in DR Congo's Supreme Court after clashes KINSHASA, Nov 21 (AFP) - Fire broke out Tuesday at the Supreme Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo after clashes between police and supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba, who has filed a legal challenge after losing the country's presidential election. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
Baglihar Dam Issue: I cannot say decision can totally be in India`s favour: Union Minister Jammu, occupied Kashmir, Nov.21 (PPI): Indian Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz referring to the arbitration on the Baglihar Dam issue, Tuesday stated that he can not say the decision can be tally in favour of India. ``After accepting the arbitration we cannot say no now. If review is possible, may be we do it; may be it is not possible,'' he told newsmen. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Four die in road mishap near Chiniot Multan, Pakistan, Nov 21, (PPI): Four members of a family, all on a single motorcycle, were run over and killed by a speedy bus in Chiniot city on Tuesday. (Posted @ 17:45 PST)
Five students killed, 20 injured as roof of school caves in HAFIZABAD, Nov 21 (APP)- Five students were killed and twenty others injured, five of them seriously, when the roof of a private school bulding collapsed near Ali by-pass, Sheikhupura Road, here Tuesday afternoon. More than fifty minor students were present in the School when a speeding tractor trolley hit the wall of the school. As a result, the wall and the roof of the school fell on the children burying them under the debris. (Posted @ 17:25 PST)
47 Afghan nationals arrested from Quetta QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 21 (APP)- Quetta police arrested 47 Afghan nationals from the provincial capital and suburbs on Tuesday, SP City Qazi Abdul Wahid said. He said fifteen were arrested from Kuchlak and the rest from the limits of Pashtoonabad, Saddar and Satellite town police stations. The police also recovered literature from the custody of the arrested people indicating their strong links with Taliban movement in Afghanistan. The arrests have been made under the Foreign Act and they will be produced before court after completing initial interrogation, the SP said. (First Posted @ 17:00 PST; Updated @ 17:20 PST)
China bus plunge kills 8 children, 39 critical BEIJING, Nov 21 (Agencies) - Eight children were killed and thirty nine were critically injured when an unlicensed primary school bus plunged off a bridge in Shuangcheng, 50 km from Harbin, capital of province of Heilongjiang, on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency said. (First Posted @ 17:05 PST; Updated @ 18:30 PST)
Pakistan soccer ball maker says Nike move to cut orders could cost over 4,000 jobs ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (AP) _ Nike Inc.'s decision to cancel orders from a Pakistan-based supplier of hand-stitched soccer balls due to alleged labour laws violations could cost the company more than 4,000 jobs, its general manager said Tuesday. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)
India, China seek to solve border dispute, double trade NEW DELHI, Nov 21 (AFP) - Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, holding the first leadership meeting in a decade, pledged Tuesday to work faster to end a bitter border dispute, the cause of a brief war in 1962, and double trade to 40 billion dollars by 2010. "An early boundary settlement will advance the interests of our two countries," Singh said, adding that special representatives from both nations had been told to "accelerate their progress" towards a deal. "We will endeavour to have the bilateral volume of trade reach 40 billion US dollars by 2010 and encourage two-way investment flow," Singh added. The two leaders also inked 13 agreements mainly aimed at increasing tourism and investment and establishing new consulates in Kolkata and the Chinese port city of Guangzhou. Hu will leave for Pakistan on Thursday after a stop in Mumbai and the Taj Mahal city of Agra. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Two dead in Gaza incursion, rocket attack on Israel GAZA CITY, Nov 21 (AFP) - Two Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed Tuesday as Israeli troops pushed into Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City and one man was seriously wounded in a fresh rocket attack on Israel. During the incursion, hundreds of Palestinians gathered around two homes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants after the Israeli military warned that the buildings would be destroyed in air raids, a security source said. "They formed a human chain to prevent the two houses from being destroyed," the source said. Israeli troops also launched an incursion further north around the sprawling refugee camp of Jabaliya, leaving at least four Palestinians wounded, security and medical sources said. Meanwhile, adjacent to the Israeli town of Sderot, a factory worker was seriously wounded when a rocket fired by Gaza militants exploded in the industrial zone. Tuesday's fresh incursion into the Gaza Strip came just hours after two Hamas militants were killed in an air strike against a vehicle. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Accord signed in France on breakthrough nuclear reactor PARIS, Nov 21 (AFP) A seven-member international consortium Tuesday signed a formal treaty to build a multibillion-dollar experimental nuclear reactor emulating the power of the Sun. Representatives from China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States signed a pact in Paris on the construction of the 12.8 billion dollar reactor at Cadarache in southern France. Work on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which aims to provide a clean and limitless alternative to fossil fuel, is set to start in 2008 and be completed by 2018.(Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Afghan army patrol escapes suicide bombing KHOST, Afghanistan, Nov 21 (AFP) A suicide bomber was killed in a failed bid to attack an Afghan army patrol in southwestern Afghanistan, an army official said Tuesday. The troops were returning to their base in Barmal after a patrol in Paktika province late Monday when a man detonated explosives strapped to his body, local commander Colonel Murtaza said, adding that the attacker's body was blown to pieces and could not be recognized.(Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Hail storm kills 14 in Vietnam, four missing HANOI, Nov 21 (AFP) At least fourteen people were killed in Vietnam and four were reported missing after a hail storm hit the northern province Quang Ninh early Tuesday, officials said.(Posted @ 15:10 PST)
UN atomic agency decision on Iran put off to Thursday: diplomats VIENNA, Nov 21 (AFP) The UN atomic agency has put off until Thursday deciding whether to block a project to help Iran build a nuclear reactor that could provide plutonium for weapons, diplomats said Tuesday. Western and non-aligned states have been unable to reach a compromise on the matter at a session on technical cooperation running from Monday to Wednesday of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors. Diplomats said the plan now was for the technical session to make no recommendation, as it usually does, on a package of aid projects and for the matter to be taken up fresh when the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors meets in a regular political session Thursday and Friday.(Posted @ 15:10 PST)
US air strike kills three in Baghdad's Sadr City BAGHDAD, Nov 21 (Reuters) A U.S. air strike in Baghdad's Sadr City district killed at least three people on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said. Iraqi Health Ministry spokesman Abdul Ahdi said the dead included a six-month-old baby and that up to 50 people had been wounded. Other Iraqi officials put the number of wounded at 15.(Posted @ 12:45 PST)
Fifteen killed in Guatemala City market fire GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 21 (Reuters) Fifteen people died when a market in Guatemala City caught fire Monday, suffocating shoppers and workers trapped inside a labyrinthine building of grain and vegetable stalls. Witnesses said a lit cigarette set a fireworks stand on fire. "Then strong winds made everything burn faster," a fire department spokesman said.(Posted @ 10:25 PST)
Eighteen feared dead in Nicaragua boat accident MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov 20 (Reuters) Eighteen people were feared dead after a boat hit rocks and capsized on a river in northeastern Nicaragua on Monday, police said. Five bodies were found, including those of two children, after the accident on the Tuma River in the department of Matagalpa.(Posted @ 10:00 PST)
US threatens "plan B" if Sudan does not act soon WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (Reuters) Washington's special envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, on Monday set a deadline of January 1 for Khartoum to make progress on Darfur or have the United States and others resort to what he called "Plan B."Warning that time was running out, Natsios declined to say what Plan B comprised, but he made clear Khartoum must accept a joint U.N./African Union force in Darfur by January 1 or a tougher line would be taken against Sudan's government. "On January 1st, either we see change or we go to Plan B," Natsios told reporters at the State Department. When pressed what he meant by this, Natsios replied: "I am not going to get into that ... Plan B is a different approach to this."(Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 191.89 points: KARACHI, Nov 21: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 10622.55 , up 191.89 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:45 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 21: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.93 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:45 PST)
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