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| November 26, 2006 | Sunday | Ziqa'ad 4, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan imposes life ban on boxers KARCHI, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) Pakistan has imposed life bans on two boxers found guilty of doping to set an example for others, officials said Sunday. "The executive committee of the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) has unanimously banned Meherullah Lassi and Faisal Karim from all international competitions for life," PBF secretary Shakil Durrani told AFP. "It was the only way to set an example." Lassi, who won a gold medal in the 2002 Asian Games at Busan, South Korea, and Karim tested positive for drugs during the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in August this year. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
21 people kidnapped north of Baghdad BAQUBA, Iraq, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) At least 21 Iraqis of mixed tribe and sect were kidnapped by a band of gunmen north of Baghdad in the restive province of Diyala on Sunday, police said. The kidnapping took place in the small town of Kanaan, just 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the provincial seat of Baquba. Police say the victims were from three different tribes. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Iran says will help U.S. if it quits Iraq TEHRAN, Nov 26 (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Iran was ready to help the United States and Britain in Iraq but only if they pledged to change their attitude and withdraw their troops. (Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Bush demands Afghan action on drugs KABUL, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) President George W. Bush called Hamid Karzai to demand more action against Afghanistan's world-leading drugs trade and reiterate continued US support, the Afghan president's office said Sunday. Bush telephoned Karzai on Saturday, ahead of the NATO summit in Latvia next week where he is expected to press European allies for more support for Afghanistan's battle against the resurgent Taliban. He said the United States would "reiterate its commitment at the NATO summit to the strengthening of security and reconstruction in Afghanistan." He also assured Karzai "of the continued assistance of the international community and the United States of America in all areas and at the same time wanted Afghanistan to take effective measures in fighting narcotics." (Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Thousands rally against change in Pakistan rape laws KARACHI, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) Thousands of supporters of hardline Islamic parties staged a rally here Sunday in protests against the passage of a bill that amends the hadood ordinance. Around 8,000 people participated in the rally called by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of six fundamentalist parties. "We'll intensify our protests to mobilise the people to stand against the induction of anti-Islamic laws," a central MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, told the rally. He claimed that secular parties were trying to change the country's Islamic identity. (Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Iraqi president to visit Iran on Monday BAGHDAD, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will visit Tehran on Monday for a "couple of days," after earlier postponing his trip due to an explosion of violence in Baghdad, his spokesman told AFP Sunday. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Taliban release two Pakistani reporters held in Afghanistan KABUL, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) The insurgent Taliban movement in Afghanistan said Sunday it had released two Pakistani journalists Syed Saleem Shahzad (of The Star Karachi) and Qamar Yousafzai after holding them for nearly five days because they had entered a district without its permission. "This morning the two journalists were released near the Pakistan and Afghan border," a purported Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, told AFP, without saying exactly where the men were apparently dropped off. They were captured after entering the Baghran district of the southern province of Helmand without Taliban permission, he said. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Palestinian forces deploy in northern Gaza to enforce ceasefire GAZA CITY, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) - Palestinian security forces deployed Sunday across the northern Gaza Strip to enforce a ceasefire agreement which calls for militants to stop firing rockets at Israel, a senior security source told AFP.(Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Sino-Pak strategic partnership growing: Hu LAHORE, Nov 26 (APP)- Chinese President Hu Jintao Sunday said that the strategic partnership between China and Pakistan was growing through increased economic cooperation. "China attaches great importance to economic relations with Pakistan," he said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Haier-Ruba Economic Zone at Haier plant in Manga Mandi, some 40 kilometres off here.(Posted @ 15:05 PST)
Car bomb kills eight in market south of Baghdad HILLA, Iraq, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) - A car bomb ripped through a popular market killing eight people in a village just south of the Iraqi capital on Sunday, security officials said. The bomb, which also wounded 28 people, exploded in the main market of the mixed Sunni-Shiite village of Haswa, between the restive town of Mahmudiyah and the provincial seat of Hilla, they said, updating an earlier toll. The agricultural belt south of the capital, inhabited by Shiite villagers and Sunni tribes, has become notorious for sectarian battles.(Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Suicide attack in Afghanistan leaves 7 dead, 20 injured KABUL, Nov 26 (APP/AP): A suicide bomber attacked a restaurant in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, leaving seven Afghans dead and 20 injured, the provincial governor said.The restaurant, located in Paktika province, was completely destroyed, said provincial governor Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak. Akhpelwak told The Associated Press that the attacker was believed to be targeting an Afghan special forces commander and a district chief who were at the restaurant Sunday morning.(Posted @ 12:25 PST)
NATO soldier, about 55 insurgents killed in Afghan clashes KABUL, Nov 26, 2006 (APP/AFP) - A NATO soldier and about 55 insurgents were killed in a series of clashes between security forces and insurgents in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Sunday.(Posted @ 12:15 PST)
Chinese President leaves for China LAHORE, Nov 26 (APP): Chinese President Hu Jintao Sunday left for China after four-day visit to Pakistan. At Allama Iqbal airport Chinese President was seen off by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Chief Minister Ch.Pervaiz Elahi,Governor Khalid Maqbool, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani besides high officials.(Posted @ 12:05 PST)
Bahrain's Shiite opposition win over 40 percent in polls MANAMA, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) - Bahrain's Shiite opposition, which had boycotted the 2002 legislatives, grabbed over 40 percent of the parliament seats in Saturday's polls, amid a high turnout, an official told AFP Sunday. Sixteen out of 17 candidates fielded by the Islamic National Accord Association (INAA) -- the main formation of the Shiite majority -- won, as turnout was estimated at 72 percent, he said, requesting anonymity.(Posted @ 11:45 PST)
URGENT Hamas claims responsibility for rocket attack GAZA CITY, Nov 26, 2006 (AFP) - The armed wing of the ruling Islamist Hamas movement Sunday claimed responsibility for a morning rocket attack launched against Israel just two hours after a ceasefire came into effect.(Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Ceasefire: Israeli army pulls out from Gaza Strip JERUSALEM, Nov 26 (AFP) - The Israeli army early Sunday withdrew all its troops from the Gaza Strip following a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian Authority, an army spokeswoman said.(Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Three rockets fired from Gaza just before truce JERUSALEM, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Palestinian militants fired three rockets at Israel shortly before a ceasefire took effect on Sunday, causing no injuries but damaging a building, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. One of the rockets struck the town of Sderot within an hour before the truce and two others hit nearby towns. The Hamas armed wing said it had fired its last rockets 30 minutes before the truce began.(Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Gaza truce begins, Israeli army withdraws GAZA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, heralding a possible end to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and a halt to a crushing Israeli military offensive. The Israeli army said it had withdrawn its forces from Gaza overnight, before the truce took effect. Palestinian witnesses confirmed troops had left northern Gaza, where operations against rocket-launching squads had been concentrated in recent weeks.(Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Britain's finance minister launches nuclear threat warning LONDON, Nov 26 (AFP) - Finance minister Gordon Brown warned Saturday against unilateral British nuclear disarmament in a world where rogue states could acquire nuclear weapons. "People should bear in mind over the next few months on this issue that if North Korea has nuclear weapons, if there are other states threatening to have nuclear weapons, then it doesn't make sense to take unilateral action," Brown told the Scottish Labour Party's conference in Oban on mainland Scotland's west coast.(Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Palestinians, Israel agree on Sunday morning ceasefire GAZA CITY, Nov 26 (AFP) - Palestinian militant groups Saturday agreed to halt all rocket fire from the Gaza Strip against Israel from Sunday at 0400 GMT, drawing an Israeli promise to halt military operations and withdraw from the Palestinian territory. Palestinian Authority "President (Mahmud) Abbas and prime minister Ismail Haniyeh agreed with all factions to establish calm and stop rockets being fired (against Israel) as of Sunday," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told at a press conference in Gaza City. "There was a telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas, who told him that the factions were willing" to stop firing the rockets, he said. "Ehud Olmert agrees to stop all military operations and begin withdrawing from the Gaza Strip at the same time," he added. Together with the Palestinian announcement, Israel said it "will respond favourably" to the ceasefire proposal. "The prime minister spoke with top Israeli ministers and security officials and informed Abbas that Israel will respond favourably" to the ceasefire, Olmert's office said in a statement to AFP.(Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Saddam genocide trial resumes after three-week break BAGHDAD, Nov 26 (AFP) - Saddam Hussein's genocide trial resumes Monday with more Kurdish witnesses testifying, as a human rights watchdog said the deposed Iraqi leader's previous trial was fundamentally flawed. Lawyers for Saddam and six co-defendants are expected to present their witness list in the 23rd hearing of a trial that began on August 21 and was temporarily adjourned on November 8. The seven men are accused of responsibility for the deaths of 182,000 Kurds killed when government forces swept through Iraqi Kurdistan in 1988, burning and bombing thousands of villages. Saddam and his former aides insist it was a legitimate counter-insurgency operation against Kurdish separatists at a time of war with Iran. Last week New York-based Human Rights Watch, which is tracking Saddam's trials, described as fundamentally flawed the deposed dictator's previous trial, in which he was sentenced to death. "The trial ... was marred by so many procedural and substantive flaws that the verdict is unsound," it said in a statement released with a 97-page report.(Posted @ 09:50 PST)
West must prepare for Chinese, Indian dominance: Wolfensohn SYDNEY, Nov 26 (AFP) - Western nations must prepare for a future dominated by China and India, whose rapid economic rise will soon fundamentally alter the balance of power, former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn has warned. Wealthy countries were failing to understand the impact of the invevitable growth of the two Asian powerhouses, Wolfensohn said in the 2006 Wallace Wurth Memorial Lecture at the University of New South Wales at the weekend. "It's a world that is going to be in the hands of these countries which we now call developing," said Australian-born Wolfensohn, who held the top job at the global development bank for a decade until last year.(Posted @ 09:45 PST)
At least 53 feared dead in two China mining accidents BEIJING, Nov 26 (AFP) - A blast in a southwestern China mine has taken the lives of 32 miners and left 28 injured, while 21 miners were confirmed dead in a second explosion in a northeastern Chinese mine, state press said Sunday.(Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Majority back separation of England and Scotland: poll LONDON, Nov 26 (AFP) - A majority of voters in both Scotland and England back the break-up of the United Kingdom, according to a poll in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper. Support for Scottish independence was at 52 percent in Scotland and 59 percent south of the border in England. Some 68 percent of English voters backed the establishment of an English parliament, while 48 percent wanted complete separation from the rest of the UK -- Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.(Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Secret US report finds Iraqi insurgency self-sustaining: report NEW YORK, Nov 25, 2006 (AFP) - A secret US government report has concluded that Iraqi insurgent groups are raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting and other crimes that have allowed the insurgency to become financially self-sustaining, The New York Times reported on its website Saturday.(Posted @ 09:35 PST)
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