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| November 30, 2006 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 8, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Govt, parliament can't imagine legislation contrary to Holy Quran, Sunnah: Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (Online) President General Pervez Musharraf Thursday said government and parliament could not imagine legislating contrary to the Holy Quran and Sunnah. "The Women’s Protection Bill will provide relief to the womenfolk and government will continue enacting laws, which provide them more protection," he said while talking to Chairman and members of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Rebutting the criticism levelled against WPB, the President said this bill was not repugnant to the Holy Quran and Sunnah and opinion of all segments of the society was obtained before finalizing it. The Chairman and members of the CCI also supported WPB and termed it a step in the right direction. They said that they would try to alleviate the flaws in present laws vis-à-vis WPB. They also proposed that women should no be kept in jails. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)
Cricket-Record-breaker Yousuf blasts past Viv Richards KARACHI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf set a world record for the highest number of test runs in a calendar year on the fourth day of the third and final test against the West Indies on Thursday. Yousuf broke West Indian Vivian Richards record of 1,710 runs in 11 matches set in the year 1976, by reaching 1,788. Yousuf, who has scored nine hundreds in 2006 in 11 tests, also established a record of most hundreds in a year held jointly by Richards and Sri Lankan Aravinda de Silva who made seven hundreds each. He scored 102 and 124 in the final test against the West Indies, only the sixth Pakistani batsman to score two centuries in a test match. According to a private TV channel Dr. Naseem Ashraf, Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board announced a special cash award of Rs.1million for Muhammad Yousuf for this feat. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Economic growth encouraging: PM Shaukat Aziz ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (PPI) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said the overall macro economic situation in the country continues to be robust with every sector of the economy including agriculture, industry, services, trade and investment showing encouraging trends. Addressing the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, he said the GDP growth during the current year is expected to be higher than targeted and range between six to eight percent. He said the share of industrial and manufacturing sector towards overall GDP has increased from 18.2% in 2001-2002 to 26% in 2005-06 and 15.5% in 2001-02 to 18.2% in 2005-06 respectively. On the other hand Foreign Direct Investment during first quarter of the year has already touched a record level of 1.2 billion dollars, he said adding that more investment is expected to come as a result of a number of agreements signed with foreign countries. Tax collection in the first four months of the current fiscal year is 236.5 billion rupees which is 17.5% higher than the last year. The Prime Minister said that core inflation is showing a declining trend and as a result of the steps taken by the government, prices of essential commodities have remained stable. (Posted @ 18:08 PST)
Police detain three MMA lawmakers in Lahore LAHORE, Pakistan, Nov 30 (AP) Police detained three leading Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) lawmakers Thursday in an attempt to block a protest in Lahore against the passage of women’s rights bill, witnesses and officials said. The three lawmakers were Liaquat Baluch, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Farid Piracha. Police also baton charged about 100 people who had also gathered at the rally point.Earlier, Munawar Hassan, a senior leader of the MMA, told reporters Thursday that police had detained scores of supporters and erected barricades to block the planned march route. According to a private TV channel Qazi Hussain Ahmed did manage to reach Gujrat but police took him back to Lahore. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
86 corpses found across Iraq BAGHDAD, Nov 30 (AFP) Iraqi and US forces found at least 86 corpses across Iraq, 58 in Baghdad and 28 south of Baquba, over the past 24 hours, the US military and local security officials said Thursday.(Posted @ 14:45 PST)
PM says Iraqi forces will be ready to take command in June 2007 WASHINGTON, Nov 30, 2006 (AFP) - Iraqi forces will be ready to take charge of security in the country in June 2007, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki said in an interview with the US television network ABC, due to be aired Thursday. (Posted @ 23:35 PST)
At least 12 killed in suicide car bomb blasts near Somali gov't seat: police MOGADISHU, Nov 30 (AFP) - At least 12 people were killed Thursday when two suicide car bomb blasts rocked the Somali town of Baidoa, seat of Somalia's weak government, police commander General Ali Hussein told AFP. "There were two suicide cars full of explosives," he said, adding the blasts had killed one of his officers, several people inside the two vehicles and the occupants of a third vehicle near the Boynunay checkpoint in eastern Baidoa. The official in Mogadishu said at least 24 Ethiopian troops had died but Hussein denied any Ethiopians had been involved and said the death toll was lower. (First Posted @ 20:15 PST; Updated @ 21:10 PST)
Iraq withdrawal timetable would cut US leverage: Clinton WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (AFP) Former US president Bill Clinton said Thursday that setting a timetable to pull US troops out of Iraq would reduce US leverage on neighbouring countries and on Iraqi leaders to help quell the violence. Speaking on CNN television, Clinton said he was more worried about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and suggested that some US troops in Iraq should be moved there. (Posted @ 19:38 PST)
U.N. evacuates staff after south Sudan clashes KHARTOUM, Nov 30 (Reuters) Heavy fighting between Sudan's army and former rebels in the south has forced the United Nations to evacuate staff. The United Nations has temporarily evacuated around 240 civilian staff from Malakal town close to the north-south border, U.N. officials in New York said. (Posted @ 18:37 PST)
Three suspected militants killed in occupied Kashmir JAMMU, occupied Kashmir, Nov 30 (AP) The army shot dead three suspected militants in a gunbattle in a forest in mountainous Mahore, a town 180 kilometers north of Jammu on Thursday, an army spokesman said. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Lebanon opposition calls mass protests for Friday BEIRUT, Nov 30 (AFP) The Lebanese opposition called for mass demonstrations Friday in support of its demands for government of national unity but the cabinet swiftly rejected the move. The opposition called for an an open-ended sit-in from 3 pm (1300 GMT) and asked demonstrators to brandish only the Lebanese flag and authorised slogans. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a televised address asked “all Lebanese, from every region and political movement, to take part in a peaceful and civilised demonstration Friday to rid us of an incapable government that has failed in its mission." But Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh made clear that the government had no intention of giving in to pressure from the street. "The government will not give in. It rests on a comfortable majority in parliament and among the people and has the support of the Arab world and the international community, apart from Syria," he said. (Posted @ 18:28 PST)
Seven killed, 11 hurt in road mishap near Larkana Larkana/ Ratodero, Sindh, Nov 30 (PPI) At least seven passengers were killed and 11 others seriously injured in a car-pickup collision at the Larkana-Naudero Road on Thursday. According to reports, a pickup proceeding from Naudero to Larkana for onward journey to Sehwan Sharif collided with a car coming from the opposite direction killing seven passengers on the spot and injuring 11 others. (Posted @ 18:15 PST)
US, Pakistan building multitude of bridges to broaden ties WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (APP) US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns Wednesday acknowledged Pakistan as a key ally in the war against terrorism and underlined that the two countries are striving to build a "multitude of bridges" to broaden their relationship. "There is no more important country in the world to the United States when it comes to counter-terrorism cooperation and Pakistan has been a valued ally of our country," he said while welcoming top Pakistani and US education officials for dialogue at the Department of State. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
17,331 pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia for Hajj ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (APP) More than 17,331 intending pilgrims reached Saudi Arabia till Thursday as part of pre-Hajj operation to airlift about 150,000 pilgrims to the Holy Land, a spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs said. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Sheikh Aziz rearrested ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (APP) In occupied Kashmir the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples League Sheikh Abdul Aziz has been rearrested after his release from Amphala Jail of Jammu, Kashmir Media Service reported. A TADA court in Jammu had released him on bail and when his party members reached the detention centre, the police rearrested him and took him to Maidanpora JIC. Meanwhile, bodies of two women have been recovered in occupied Kashmir. The unidentified body of a woman was recovered from Shadipora Sumbal in Baramulla while another body of a woman was recovered from river Jehlum near Pampore. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Palestinian PM says unity talks must go on CAIRO, Nov 30 (Reuters) Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Thursday that talks on a Palestinian government of national unity would not run into a dead end. "The atmosphere (in the talks) has been somewhat tense but I am confident that the door must not be closed and we will not reach a dead end," Haniyeh told a news conference in Cairo. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said earlier today(Thursday) that the talks on a unity government with Hamas were at a dead end. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
Six killed, 60 injured in Indian riot Mumbai, Nov 30 (Agencies) Low-caste Hindus protesting the desecration of their leader's statue in Uttarpardesh burned train cars and clashed with police at several places in Maharashtra state on Thursday, in violence that left at least three people dead and 40 injured, police said. The violence came after a statue of B. R. Ambedkar, one of India's prominent freedom fighters and a leader of low-caste Hindus was damaged in the city of Kanpur on Wednesday. The Press Trust of India news agency put the death toll at six and the number of injured at 60. (First Posted @ 16:50 PST, Updated @ 17:05 PST)
Five killed in Thai south YALA, Thailand, Nov 30 (AFP) Five people were killed and seven injured in a wave of attacks by suspected insurgents Thursday in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority provinces, police said. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Qatar pledges safe and secure Games DOHA, Nov 30 (AFP) - Qatar started its 24-hour countdown to the Asian Games opening ceremony on Thursday and insisted its three-billion-dollar investment in the tournament will be a success despite fears over security and organisation. More than 13,000 athletes from 45 nations will be taking part in the Games which run from December 1-15. On Thursday, there will be action in five events. (Posted @ 16:45 PST)
Pakistan denies urging NATO to accept Taliban ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (AFP) Pakistan on Thursday rejected a "distorted" British media report that its foreign minister was urging NATO countries to accept the Taliban and set up a new coalition government in Kabul. The Daily Telegraph said on Wednesday that the minister, Khurshid Kasuri, had told his counterparts in some NATO countries at private briefings that the Taliban are winning the war in Afghanistan and NATO is bound to fail. "The Foreign Minister's comments have been distorted and misrepresented," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Foreign Minister did not say that the Taliban were winning the war in Afghanistan and NATO was bound to fail nor has he advised any country against sending more troops," the statement said. Pakistan insisted that Kasuri had only "reiterated" what Pakistan has been stressing all along - the need for a "comprehensive strategy". The statement said the minister had emphasized that a military approach alone would not resolve the problem in Afghanistan, adding: "It must be combined with political and economic approach." The international community must encourage national reconciliation and undertake extensive reconstruction in south and southeast Afghanistan as well as addressing the problem of the drug trade, it added. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
US says 'ball in North Korea's court' after stalemate on talks NARITA, Japan, Nov 30 (AFP) Christopher Hill, the chief US negotiator with North Korea said Thursday the burden was on the communist state to resume negotiations on ending its nuclear program after intense talks in Beijing failed to produce a breakthrough. He said he was still optimistic that six-nation disarmament talks would resume by the end of the year, even though there was "a lot of work to do". Hill insisted that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons, while Pyongyang stood firm that it would only disarm in return for concessions. "I want to stress the ball is in their court. They know what they have to do," Hill told reporters on a brief stopover in Japan as he flew between Beijing and Washington. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Abbas calls for Mideast truce to extend to West Bank JERICHO, West Bank, Nov 30 (AFP) Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Thursday that he hoped a fledgling Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip would be extended to the occupied West Bank. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that the United States hoped for a "comprehensive ceasefire." (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Witnesses say chief justice's office in Bangladesh capital attacked DHAKA, Bangladesh, Nov 30 (AP) A group of lawyers on Thursday ransacked the office of the chief justice of Bangladesh's Supreme Court and set fire to a car owned by a former junior minister, witnesses said. The lawyers launched the attack immediately after Chief Justice Syed J.R. Mudassir Husain suspended a pending ruling on petitions challenging President Iajuddin Ahmed's authority as head of the country's interim government, a witness said.(Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Norway's peace envoy to meet warring parties in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Nov 30 (AFP) A top Norwegian peace broker arrived in Sri Lanka Thursday, a diplomat said. Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was to hold separate talks with Sri Lankan officials and rebel leaders after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced a new bid to run their own independent state, the Norwegian diplomat said. "He will be travelling to (the rebel-held) Kilinochchi next week for talks with the Tiger leadership," the diplomat added. The envoy was due to meet Sri Lankan officials later Thursday.(Posted @ 15:15 PST)
At 69, Nigerian president goes back to school LAGOS, Nov 30 (AFP) Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has enrolled as a student of a university in the nation's capital Abuja, his office said Thursday.The 69-year-old retired general, who will step down in May 2007 having served the limit of two four-year terms, matriculated as a distance learning student of the National Open University of Nigeria on Wednesday. Presidency sources said the president was expected to pursue a degree in religious studies after leaving power next year.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Cricket-India's Ganguly recalled for South Africa tests NEW DELHI, India, Nov 30 (Reuters) Indian selectors Thursday recalled former captain Saurav Ganguly for next month's three-test series in South Africa. "India's batting in the current series (against South Africa) has failed... we need experience and so Ganguly has been included," chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar told reporters. Team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Vangipurrapu Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
50,000 opposition protesters mass in Dhaka DHAKA, Nov 30 (AFP) At least 50,000 opposition supporters massed on the streets of the Bangladesh capital Thursday to demand the resignation of the president and head of the interim government, police and witnesses said. Thousands of police blocked opposition activists on roads leading to the presidential palace. There were no reports of any serious violence, although the private UNB news agency said the youth wings of the main opposition Awami League and the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) clashed early Thursday at Dhaka University Campus.(Posted @ 13:45 PST)
US soldier killed in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Nov 29 (AFP) An American soldier was killed in Baghdad on Wednesday during combat operations, the US military said Thursday.(Posted @ 13:40 PST)
Iraq panel recommends US move away from combat role WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) The Iraq Study Group has decided to recommend the U.S. military transition from a combat to a support role in Iraq roughly over the next year, a source familiar with the panel's deliberations said on Wednesday. The source said the idea was to shift U.S. combat forces both to bases inside Iraq as well as elsewhere in the region as the military gradually moved away from combat operations, adding that this should happen over the next year or so. The New York Times earlier reported that there was no timetable for the proposed U.S. pullback. The independent, bipartisan group also decided to call for a regional conference that could lead to direct U.S. talks with Iran and Syria, the source added.(Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Fiji PM agrees to military demands, easing coup fears SUVA, Nov 30 (AFP) Fiji's Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase Thursday agreed to military demands to suspend three controversial bills and backed the dropping of investigations into military leaders, easing coup fears.(Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Australia, Malaysia disagree over foreign troops in Iraq KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (AFP) The leaders of Malaysia and Australia disagreed Thursday over whether foreign troops should withdraw from Iraq, but agreed that Palestine was the root of conflict in the Middle East. Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, chairman of the Organisation of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, said after talks with Australia's John Howard that the goal should be for US-led troops to withdraw.(Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Five killed in Sri Lanka as train hits truck COLOMBO, Nov 30 (APP/AFP) - Two soldiers and three policemen were killed Thursday when their pick-up truck was hit by a commuter train at an unprotected level crossing near the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, police said.(Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 24.90 points: KARACHI, Nov 30: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 10619.47 , up 24.90 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 30: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.9 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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