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| January 13, 2007 | Saturday | Zilhaj 22, 1427 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Indian foreign minister meets President Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Jan 13 (AFP) Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee met President Pervez Musharraf at the start of a two-day visit Saturday. Musharraf told Mukherjee “that resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute and the Siachen and Sir Creek issues would open avenues for further cooperation between the two countries,” an official statement said. Mukherjee said India wanted the peace dialogue over Kashmir to be successful, adding that “India wants good neighbourly relations with Pakistan”. Mukherjee also met Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and delivered him an invitation to attend the 14th summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in India in April. (First Posted @ 17:56 PST Updated @ 20:24 PST)
Iran president tours Latin America bolstering anti-US ties CARACAS, Jan 13, (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arrived Saturday in Venezuela for talks with President Hugo Chavez. (Posted @ 23:52 PST)
Cricket: Pakistan score 103-2 in second innings CENTURION, South Africa, Jan 13 (AFP) Scoreboard at close of play on the third day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan at Centurion Park Saturday: Pakistan, first innings, 313 South Africa, first innings 417 (overnight 254-4, Amla 71, Kallis 18, Prince 138, Gibbs 94; Asif 27.5-4-89-5, Hasan 17-2-92-2, Kaneria 41-8-97-3); Pakistan second innings 103-2 ( Imran Farhat not out 41, Younis Khan not out 32; Kallis 6-0-18-2). (Posted @ 21:40 PST)
PM stresses importance of population control ISLAMABAD, Jan 13 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Saturday emphasized the need for population control in the country and its benefits to a family. Addressing a seminar on reproductive health and family planning, the prime minister said “the gains of economic growth are wiped out if population continues to grow unabated as there is a close link between population welfare and economic development.” Aziz outlined the government's four- pronged strategy to meet the requirements of population control, first being economic growth resulting in higher per capita income. Second he said was infrastructure development in rural areas where 60 percent of country's population lives. He said the government was also making huge investment in human capital besides restructuring governance to ensure social inclusion and to empower people, particularly the women. (Posted @ 20:46 PST)
NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Jan 13 (AFP) A NATO soldier was killed in a clash with insurgents in southern Afghanistan early Saturday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said. (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Cricket: Yousuf to leave for South Africa next week KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan 13 (AFP) Batsman Mohammad Yousuf will join the Pakistan team in South Africa next week after his wife gave birth to a baby girl, the Pakistan Cricket Board said Saturday. Yousuf is likely to be available for the second Test starting at Port Elizabeth from January 19. (Posted @ 20:02 PST)
Somali parliament approves martial law MOGADISHU, Jan 13 (AFP) Somalia's transitional parliament approved Saturday plans for President Abdullahi Yusef Ahmed to impose martial law, a government statement said. (Posted @ 20:00 PST)
Palestinian PM accuses US of seeking 'civil war' GAZA CITY, Jan 13 (AFP) Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya accused Israel and the United States Saturday of trying to stoke Palestinian civil war in a televised address. “The American and Israeli policies seek to push the Palestinian people towards civil war and internal conflict so that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict becomes a Palestinian-Palestinian conflict,” he said. He had earlier appealed for a halt to fighting between Hamas and Fatah party. (Posted @ 19:56 PST)
Hillary Clinton visits Baghdad BAGHDAD, Jan 13 (AFP) Senator Hillary Clinton arrived in Baghdad Saturday on a one-day visit for talks with top Iraqi and US military leaders, a US embassy official said. (Posted @ 19:34 PST)
Tsunami fears ease in Japan after 8.3 quake TOKYO, Jan 13 (AFP) Tsunami fears eased in Japan on Saturday after an 8.3-magnitude Pacific Ocean earthquake as only minor waves hit the country's north and the United States cancelled its tidal wave alert. The earthquake east of the Kuril Islands at 0424 GMT rattled northern Japan, however more than three hours later, no major effects had been reported. The United States also cancelled its warning for Japan, Russia, and a string of Pacific islands. (First Posted @ 10:24 PST, Updated@ 15:38 PST)
10,000 rally in Pakistan to condemn 2006 strike in Bajur tribal region KHAR, Pakistan, Jan 13 (AP) Around 10,000 people protested Saturday on the first anniversary of an airstrike that killed 13 villagers in the village of Damadola in the Bajur tribal region, witnesses said. Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, a former lawmaker from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, and Sardar Khan, another leader from Jamaat-e-Islami addressed Saturday's rally near Damadola. (Posted @ 15:27 PST)
Occupied Kashmir gunbattle kills two suspected militants, civilian SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Jan 13 (AP) A gunbattle between Indian forces and suspected militants killed two militants and a civilian Saturday in occupied Kashmir’s Sumlar village, about 80 kilometers north of Srinagar, the army said. An army soldier was also wounded in the clash. (Posted @ 15:07 PST)
Iraq oil city rocked by attacks KIRKUK, Iraq, Jan 13 (AFP) Iraq's northern oil hub of Kirkuk was rocked by attacks Saturday as insurgents shot dead two contractors and blew up an under construction, police said. Gunmen planted explosives in the mosque in the Nida neighbourhood of eastern Kirkuk and flattened the building site. In central Kirkuk, gunmen shot dead two contractors and wounded another two workers. Another three people were wounded and a house partly damaged when mortar rounds slammed into Kirkuk's Nasir neighbourhood. Further south, in Samarra city, a prayer leader and member of the Iraqi Islamic Party was assassinated outside his home in the southern Sikak neighbourhood, police said. (Posted @ 14:58 PST)
Bush hits out at critics of Iraq strategy WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (AFP) US President George W. Bush on Saturday warned opposition Democrats against cutting funds for the Iraq war and said those who oppose his new plan must put an alternative on the table. “Those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible,” he said in his weekly radio address. He called his new plan “an important mission that will in large part determine the outcome in Iraq” and warned that “our brave troops should not have to wonder if their leaders in Washington will give them what they need.” “Whatever our differences on strategy and tactics, we all have a duty to ensure that our troops have what they need to succeed,” Bush said, adding that his new strategy fixed flaws that doomed previous efforts to pacify Baghdad by deploying more US and Iraqi troops and giving them a freer hand to quell violence. (Posted @ 14:22 PST)
Indian FM arrives in Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Jan 13 (AFP) Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here Saturday on a two-day visit, his first since he assumed the office in October, officials said. Mukherjee will meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. He will hold formal talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri to review the ongoing peace process between the two countries. (Posted @ 14:08 PST)
Military says soldiers kill Tamil rebel in northern Jaffna COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan 13 (AP) Soldiers shot and killed a suspected Tamil Tiger rebel at a checkpoint in northern Sri Lanka Saturday after he lobbed a hand grenade at officers who were checking travellers, the Defence Ministry said. The grenade exploded away from the officers, who suffered no casualties. (Posted @ 12:49 PST)
Chinese coal mine explosion kills 13, injures nine BEIJING, Jan 13 (APP/AP) An underground gas explosion in a Chinese coal mine Friday afternoon killed 13 people and injured nine, Xinhua News Agency said Saturday. The explosion struck the Niuxinhui Coal Mine in the northern province of Shanxi and the cause of the blast was under investigation. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Bomb explosion kills four family members in western Bangladesh DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan 13 (AP) A bomb exploded in a slum district in western Bangladesh Saturday, killing a mother and her three daughters, a report said. The blast happened in Chapainawabganj town, 232 kilometers west of Dhaka, as the children in the family’s home were playing with a container that held the explosive, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported. (Posted @ 11:02 PST)
Cricket-England name provisional World Cup squad SYDNEY, Jan 13 (Reuters) England have named a provisional 30-man squad for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. England World Cup squad: James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Glen Chapple, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Jamie Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ed Joyce, Amjad Khan, Jon Lewis, Mal Loye, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matt Prior, Chris Read, Owais Shah, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett, Michael Vaughan, Michael Yardy. (Posted @ 10:27 PST)
Despite opposition, Bush vows to pursue Iraq plan WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (AFP) US President George W. Bush vowed to press ahead with plans to send an extra 21,500 troops into Iraq despite strong opposition in Congress and a war-weary American public. Asked by CBS television if he had the authority to go ahead without congressional backing, Bush said: “I think in this situation I do and I fully understand (Congress) could try to stop me from doing it…but I made my decision. We're going forward.” CBS released the extract of Bush's interview with the “60 Minutes” program on its website Friday. (Posted @ 10:04 PST)
Journalist shot dead in northern Iraq MOSUL, Iraq, Jan 13 (AP) Gunmen killed an Iraqi journalist, Khudr Younis al-Obaidi, working for the local Al-Diwan newspaper, Friday afternoon in northern Iraq, police said. (Posted @ 10:02 PST)
Three killed in Ivory Coast checkpoint attacks ABIDJAN, Jan 13 (Reuters) Unidentified gunmen shot dead three members of Ivory Coast's security forces and wounded seven, four of them seriously, in an attack on two checkpoints near the border with Ghana early Friday, military and local council sources said. (Posted @ 09:26 PST)
US business jet crashes in LA takeoff; two dead LOS ANGELES, Jan 13 (AFP) A US business jet crashed early Friday near a Los Angeles suburban airport, killing the two people aboard, a federal aviation spokesman said. The plane plunged after takeoff into land several hundred meters from a runway at Van Nuys Airport, 20 kilometers northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and burst into flame. The pilot radioed in that he was experiencing problems during takeoff and wanted to turn back to land, before the plane crashed, the spokesman said. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Floods hit southern Malaysia, 50,000 homeless KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (Reuters) Heavy rains in southern Malaysian forced some 50,000 people to seek higher ground, the Bernama news agency reported Saturday. The fresh floods cut off several major roads in the southern state of Johor. The state's capital, Johor Baru, was the worst hit area, with nearly 20,000 people evacuated. (Posted @ 09:21 PST)
Sri Lanka floods displace 60,000 COLOMBO, Jan 13 (Reuters) Around 60,000 people have been displaced in Sri Lanka by flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains, the government said on Saturday, while the death toll from landslides a day earlier rose to 13 in Nuwara Eliya district Friday.“ Hundreds of houses were damaged and thousands of people remain stranded in the central hills, the government said, , which is temporarily housing the displaced in schools and welfare centres. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
Cypriot ship breaks up off Norway, 25 crew rescued OSLO, Jan 13 (Reuters) A Cypriot-registered cargo ship ran aground and broke up off the west coast of Norway Friday, but the 25-man crew was rescued by helicopters, Norwegian rescue officials said adding that there were no injuries. The ship was carrying no cargo but local authorities feared environmental damage from a possible spill of the vessels 650 tonnes of fuel, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported. It was not clear what caused the ship to hit the rocks. The crew were mainly Indonesian with Greek officers. (Posted @ 09:18 PST)
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