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| January 07, 2007 | Sunday | Zilhaj 16, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Helicopter crash kills three in French garden MARSEILLE, France, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Three people were killed when a helicopter crashed in the garden of a restaurant in southern France on Sunday, emergency services said. All victims had been in a garden near the village of Salin-de-Giraud in the southern Camargue region at the time of the crash, the services said. (Posted @ 23:36 PST)
Four people missing after diving in the Red Sea MARSA ALAM, Egypt, Jan 7 (AP) _ Three foreigners and an Egyptian were missing Sunday after they went scuba diving in the Red Sea the day before, an Egyptian diving association said. (Posted @ 23:12 PST)
Computerized border passes to be functional from Jan 10 QUETTA Jan 7 (APP) The government has issued "computerized border passes" for tribesmen crossing Pak-Afghan border at Chaman which will be functional from Wednesday (January 10), FC Commandant Colonel Masood Ahmed said. (Posted @ 22:58 PST)
Two civilians, one trooper killed in blast ISLAMABAD, Jan 7 (APP): In occupied Kashmir, two civilians and a army personnel were killed and at least 20 persons including four troops were wounded in a grenade explosion in Shopian lastnight. The explosion occurred in Shopian's main market as a result, two civilians, Muhammad Yosuf Lone and Farooq Ahmed died on the spot, while a soldier succumbed to his injuries in a local hospital, KMS reported. (Posted @ 22:32 PST)
US military says 5 troops killed in Iraq; British military cites 1 death BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan 7 (AP) _ Three U.S. airmen and two soldiers were killed in Iraq, the U.S. military said Sunday. A car bomb in Baghdad on Sunday killed three airmen assigned to the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron's Explosive Ordnance Division, the military said in a statement. One airman was also injured in the explosion. Also Sunday, Britain's defense ministry said a British soldier assigned to the Queen's Royal Lancers was killed in a traffic accident in Maysan province. Two other soldiers sustained minor injuries, the ministry said in a statement. A U.S. soldier died Saturday from small arms fire in a southwestern section of Baghdad, the military said. Another American soldier died Friday from combat wounds sustained in Iraq's volatile western Anbar province. (First Posted @ 11:20 PST Updated @ 21:56 PST)
Fatah holds big Gaza rally amid Hamas tensions GAZA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah rallied in Gaza on Sunday in a show of strength to the governing Hamas movement in the Islamists' stronghold. (Posted @ 21:10 PST)
Canadian FM assures Afghan president of support KABUL, Jan 7, (AFP) - Canada's foreign minister met President Hamid Karzai Sunday on a short visit to pledge support for insurgency-battered Afghanistan, where 2,500 Canadian troops are helping to fight the Taliban. Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said before the meeting he would also raise Pakistan's plans to mine and fence part of its border with Afghanistan to block routes used by militants operating across the frontier. (Posted @ 20:38 PST)
North Korea fully prepared for second nuclear test: legislator SEOUL, Jan 7, (AFP) - North Korea appears fully prepared to carry out a second nuclear test but is unlikely to go ahead in the immediate future, a South Korean legislator said Sunday. (Posted @ 20:18 PST)
Car bomb kills two in Hilla south of Baghdad HILLA, Iraq, Jan 7 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded in a market in the Iraqi town of Hilla south of Baghdad on Sunday, killing two people and wounding 11, police and Interior Ministry sources said, adding the death toll could climb. The explosion took place near a local government office in Hilla, 100 km south of the capital. (Posted @ 20:04 PST)
Tony Blair's office says manner of Saddam Hussein's execution was ‘completely wrong’ LONDON, Jan 7 (AP) _ Tony Blair's office said Sunday the prime minister believed the manner in which former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was executed was ``completely wrong,'' adding to criticism aired by senior ministers and Blair's likely successor Gordon Brown. Blair planned to speak publicly about the hanging later this week, but believed that process had been poorly handled, his office said. (Posted @ 19:28 PST)
Iran resumes shipments of natural gas to Turkey ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan 7 (AP)_ Iran resumed shipments of natural gas to Turkey on Sunday, almost a week after cutting them off, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported. Iran had cut its supply of gas to Turkey on Jan. 3, saying it needed to meet increased domestic demand. (Posted @ 17:20 PST)
2 killed and scores injured in clash between villagers and political party in India CALCUTTA, India, Jan 7 (AP) _ Two people were killed and scores more injured in clashes Sunday between villagers and ruling Communist Party members in India's West Bengal state in a dispute over the acquisition of farmland for industrial purposes, an official said. The violence occurred in Nandigram, 150 kilometers north of state capital Calcutta, local administrative official Anup Agarwal said. (Posted @ 16:38 PST)
Police in Dhaka clash with protesters demanding electoral reforms DHAKA, Bangladesh Jan 7 (AP) Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas, and charged with batons Sunday to disperse thousands of stick-wielding and stone-throwing protesters in the Bangladeshi capital demanding electoral reforms and a postponement of the Jan. 22 polls, police, witnesses and news reports said. But the country's interim leader, President Iajuddin Ahmed, said he could not change the election date as it was mandated by the country's constitution. Several protesters were injured during the melee in Dhaka, the ATN Bangla television station reported. The station also said schools and businesses were shut and transportation across the country ground to a halt as a three-day transport blockade by supporters of the alliance led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina started Sunday. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Abbas stands firm in standoff with Hamas GAZA CITY, Jan 7 (AFP) Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas dug in his heels in a standoff with the ruling Hamas movement Sunday, amid fears that the political tensions could again erupt into deadly factional violence in Gaza. Abbas told top officials from his Fatah party that he intended to go ahead with his plan to call early elections -- a move rejected by Hamas when it was first announced in mid-December, sparking internecine bloodshed. "I will not go back on holding early parliamentary and presidential elections," Eissa Karaqaa, a senior Fatah official in Bethlehem, quoted Abbas as telling the Fatah closed-door meeting in the town on Sunday. "This plan is not a tactic. All paths to forming a government of national unity are closed and there is no other choice except these elections," Abbas said, adding that Fatah should "prepare" for the polls. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Bomb kills two newborn babies, mother in Afghanistan KHOST, Afghanistan, Jan 7 (AFP) A bomb planted on the side of a road killed two newborn twins, their mother and grandmother in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Khost on Sunday, police said. The bomb struck the family while they were in a private stationwagon driving home from a clinic in Ismail Khail district where the babies were born overnight, deputy police chief Sakhi Mir told AFP. "Two newborn babies and two women were martyred in the roadside bomb blast and another woman and a man in the vehicle were wounded," Mir said. (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Bomb and shootings kill at least 4 Iraqis BAGHDAD, Iraq Jan 7 (AP) A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol killed two pedestrians Sunday in eastern Baghdad, police said. The attack missed the police convoy but wounded two other civilians in the Iraqi capital's Sinaa neighborhood, an officer said on condition of anonymity. Also in eastern Baghdad, drive-by shooters sprayed bullets at four guards for the Iraqi finance ministry, killing one and injuring two others, the same officer said. In Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers south of the capital, gunmen assassinated Akeel al-Khalidi, a defense ministry employee, as he left his house for work, another police officer said on condition of anonymity. Another roadside bomb went off near an American military convoy in Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers south of Baghdad, damaging one Humvee, police said. There was no word on casualties, and U.S.troops sealed off the area. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Former member of Islamic movement killed in Mogadishu MOGADISHU, Jan 7 (AFP) Gunmen attacked and killed a former member of Somalia's now-vanquished Islamic movement overnight in the capital Mogadishu, where lawlessness has increased since the Islamists were ousted last month, witnesses said on Sunday. They also said that three women were wounded after unknown attackers threw a grenade in their house hours after a teenage boy was shot when Ethiopian and Somali forces opened fire to disperse anti-Ethiopian protesters. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Iran vows to hit back at any Israeli strike TEHRAN, Jan 7 (AFP) Iran warned on Sunday it would make any foe "regret" an attack against the Islamic republic after a British newspaper reported Israel was planning a strike against its nuclear facilities. "Any action against the Islamic republic will not go without a response and the aggressor would regret the action very quickly," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. A senior Israeli official has dismissed as "absurd" the report in The Sunday Times that the Jewish state had drawn up plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities in a tactical nuclear strike. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Tight security fails to thwart Bangladesh blockade DHAKA, Jan 7 (Reuters) Police imposed tight security in the Bangladeshi capital on Sunday as a three-day transport blockade took hold, forcing most vehicles off the road, witnesses said. Hundreds of activists of a multi-party alliance boycotting the Jan. 22 general election gathered at strategic intersections in Dhaka to ensure no buses or lorries left or entered the city. Rail officials said protesters stopped trains at major junctions. At Savar, 25 km from the capital, protesters attacked vehicles trying to ignore the blockade, witnesses said. Deliveries from the main seaport at Chittagong and at several land ports connecting India and Myanmar were also suspended. Witnesses said the activists pulled away barbed wire barricades laid by police, but there was no violence. (Posted @ 11:20 PST)
India, Pak must take solid steps for resolution of Kashmir dispute-Farooq NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (APP) Asserting that gun was no solution to Kashmir problem, former occupied Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has called upon India and Pakistan to take "solid steps" for the resolution of the dispute. "Dialogue is the key for resolution of Kashmir issue and India and Pakistan need to take solid steps to resolve the problem," Abdullah told a party workers meeting in Srinagar. The National Conference leader said he wants to meet External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee prior to his Pakistan visit and urged him that India should take immediate steps for resolution of Kashmir issue. "I have already met the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and acquainted him of difficulties being faced by people and political roadmap of National Conference for the resolution of the issue," Abdullah, the chief patron of the party, said. During the address, Abdullah also accused America of hatching a conspiracy to "grab the Arab land", saying that the hanging of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was aimed at triggering a sectarian feud. " (Posted @ 11:10 PST)
South Africa unchanged for Pakistan series CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Jan 7(APP/AFP) South Africa named an unchanged 16-man squad for a three-Test series against Pakistan. All 14 men who played in the series against India were selected, together with back-up spin bowler Paul Adams and batsman Jacques Rudolph. The first Test against Pakistan starts at Centurion Thursday. South African squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis (vice-captain), Paul Adams, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Paul Harris, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn. (Posted @ 11:05 PST)
17 dead in Salvadoran prison riot SAN SALVADOR, Jan 7 (APP/AFP) Hundreds of gang members led a bloody prison riot in El Salvador Saturday, leaving 17 prisoners dead including some who were decapitated, authorities said. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
30 militants killed in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Jan 7 (AFP) Iraqi troops Saturday killed 30 militants in a fierce firefight in Baghdad's Haifa Street neighbourhood and captured many others, including four Sudanese. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
UN chief urges Iraq to suspend executions UNITED NATIONS, Jan 7 (AFP) UN chief Ban Ki-moon Saturday "strongly" urged the Iraqi government to suspend imminent executions as prime minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened to "review" relations with countries that criticized Saddam's execution. In a statement released by the United Nations, Ban "strongly urged the Government of Iraq to grant a stay of execution to those whose death sentences may be carried out in the near future." (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Briton denies being 'Al-Qaeda banker' LONDON, Jan 7 (AFP) Mohammed al-Ghabra accused of being a banker for Al-Qaeda on Sunday denied to The Sunday Times claims from London and Washington that he played a key role in the terrorist network inspired by Osama bin Laden. The US Treasury and the Bank of England, last month froze the assets of al-Ghabra who is specifically accused of backing Al-Qaeda and other violent jihadist groups, helping recruits travel to meet Al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and take part in terrorist training. The 26-year-old, from Forest Gate, east London, said: "I don't have the capability of supporting anyone financially, barely myself... If anyone has the evidence, please show it to me. I am not the banker." Ghabra, born in Damascus, is a naturalised British citizen. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Israel planning tactical nuclear strike on Iran: report LONDON, Jan 7 (AFP) Israel has drawn up plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities in a tactical nuclear strike using low-yield atomic "bunker busting" bombs, The Sunday Times said adding that two of the Jewish state's air force squadrons are training to use the weapons for a single strike. It said the plans involved sending conventional, laser-guided missiles to open up "tunnels" in the targets before "mini-nukes" with a force the equivalent of one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb are fired in. The plan is similar to one said in a report in the New Yorker magazine last April to have been considered by the United States. The White House dismissed investigative reporter Seymour Hersh's article as "ill-informed". The three prime targets are said to be the enrichment plant at Natanz, a uranium conversion facility near Isfahan and a heavy water reactor at Arak, all south of the capital Tehran. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
More troops for Iraq 'too little, too late': former NATO commander LONDON, Jan 7 (AFP) The former commander of NATO forces in Kosovo from 1997-2000, General Wesley Clark, said Sunday that sending more US troops to Iraq would be "too little, too late", and could worsen the situation for coalition forces. "We've never had enough troops in Iraq," Clark wrote in Britain's Independent on Sunday newspaper. "In Kosovo, we had 40,000 troops for a population of two million. For Iraq, that ratio would call for at least 500,000 troops. So, adding 20,000 now is too little, too late. "What the surge would do is put more American troops in harm's way, further undercut US forces' morale, and risk further alienation of elements of the Iraqi populace." (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
US Iraq plan to include new troops, jobs for Iraqis: report WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (AFP) President George W. Bush's new Iraq strategy calls for a rapid influx of as many as 20,000 new US combat troops to Baghdad, supplemented with a jobs program for Iraq costing as much as one billion dollars, The New York Times reported on its website Saturday. Citing unnamed US officials who are piecing together the plan, the newspaper said that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki formally agreed in a long teleconference with Bush on Thursday to match the US troop increase by sending three more Iraqi brigades to Baghdad over the next month and a half. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Six kindergarten children killed in China accident BEIJING, Jan 7 (AFP) Seven people were killed, including six kindergarten-aged children, when their bus plunged into a river in central China, state press said Sunday. The mini-bus was transporting the children home from school when it plunged into the river. The driver was also killed. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Army crackdown in India's northeast after bloodshed GUWAHATI, India, Jan 7, 2007 (AFP) Federal soldiers in armoured vehicles patrolled India's northeastern Assam state Sunday, enforcing a curfew and with orders to shoot on sight after rebels went on a two-day rampage killing 48 people and wounding another 30 in separate raids in the three eastern districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, and Dhemaji targeting Hindi-speaking migrant workers. Separately, five policemen and two officials were killed by a landmine as they returned from conducting local polls in Karbi Anglong district, some 260 kilometres from Guwahati, police said. Police blamed the string of attacks on militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which is fighting for an independent homeland. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
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