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| April 19, 2007 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 01, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan: SC issues notices to respondents on Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry's petition ISLAMABAD, April 19 (APP): A 3-member bench of the Supreme Court Thursday issued notices to respondents in a constitutional petition filed by Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, challenging the constitution of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as well as its conduct and powers for April 24 after hearing the arguments of the counsel of the petitioner.The bench of the apex court comprising Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Chaudhry Ejaz Ahmed and Justice Hamid Ali Mirza heard the arguments of Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan who appeared as counsel of the petitioner, and issued notices to the respondents.Earlier, the bench apprised the counsel of petitioner that the office of the Supreme Court had raised objections on the petition filed by Justice Iftikhar Muhammadh Chaudhry regarding the merits of the petition. Later, the bench decided to hear the arguments to the extent of the merits of the petition and issued notice to the respondents.(Posted @ 14:05 PST)
Afghan, Pakistani troops clash over border fence KABUL, April 19 (AFP) - Afghan troops tore down a new anti-Taliban fence erected by Pakistan on the border between the two countries Thursday, sparking a gunbattle which caused no casualties, officials said. The clash was the first since Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf announced plans earlier this year to fence 35 kilometres of his country's northwestern frontier to stop the movement of militants. Afghan defence ministry said in a statement that the fighting happened between the Afghan border town of Shkin and Angoor Adda in Pakistan's tribal belt. The Pakistani military was not immediately available for comment. “Today at 9:30 am (0500 GMT) the Afghan army moved to the area and removed the fence. Pakistani troops fired on our forces. The Afghan army returned fire,” an Afghan defence ministry statement said. It said that Afghan forces first reached the area on Tuesday, after which Pakistani troops immediately stopped work on the barbed wire fence and pulled back. “But unfortunately, taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the Pakistani forces again erected fences overnight Wednesday,” the statement said. The ministry said no casualties were reported. The statement said the Afghan government had begun diplomatic efforts to stop Pakistan fencing the border. (Posted @ 18:14 PST)
Pakistan, China committed to reinforce exemplary friendship Chengdu, April 19 (PPI): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said Pakistan and China were committed to reinforce their exemplary friendship by building strong partnership in economic and trade fields. Inaugurating the new Consulate General of Pakistan in t Chengdu, in Chinese Sichuan Province, he said it was another major milestone in developing relations and increasing cooperation between the two countries. Shaukat Aziz said China is Pakistan's most trusted friend, good neighbour, good partner and expressed determination to further strengthen friendship and take it to new heights. Chengdu is home to Joint Sino-Pak venture of JF-17, multi role fighter aircraft manufacturing plant and several other high tech industries.(Posted @ 15:55 PST)
PM hails opening of Pakistan's Consulate General in Chengdu CHENGDU, China, April 19 (APP) - Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said that the opening of a Consulate General in Chengdu, Pakistan's third in China, was a very important event in Sino-Pak relations. Pakistani Consulates general are already functioning in Honkong and Shangai. During a meeting with Governor of Sichuan, Jiang Jufeng, he said Pakistan and China having all-weather and time-tested friendship always stood by each other at the time of need and the relations would further deepen in all fields. He hoped that after the implementation of free trade agreement and establishment of Special Economic Zone, the volume of trade between the two countries will increase from US$ 5 billion to US$15 billion. (Posted @ 19:16 PST)
Prominent Kashmir separatists spurn New Delhi talks SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, April 19 (AFP) – All-Parties Hurrriyet Conference, the l prominent separatist group in occupied Kashmir, said Thursday it was boycotting direct talks with New Delhi, saying such a meeting would be pointless without the participation of Pakistan. “We are not against talks. But talks should involve mujahedin (militants), leaders from India and Pakistan and both parts of Kashmir,” Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of APHC said. “Talks cannot be held with everybody,” he said, referring to pro-India political groups which have accepted India's sovereignty over Kashmir and are also invited to the talks. “Talks can only be held with the heirs of martyrs,” he said. The so-called “Kashmir roundtable” is due to be held in New Delhi on April 24. The first two meetings last year were attended by pro-Indian parties only with those opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir staying away. Hardliners are also boycotting the roundtable, arguing that bilateral talks between New Delhi and Kashmiri parties -- an idea of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh -- will not resolve the dispute as Pakistan was an “important party” in the dispute. The Farooq-led Hurriyat has held talks with India in the past, but has declined to share the platform with pro-India Kashmiri groups. The insurgency in Kashmir was launched in 1989 and has left more than 42,000 people dead by an official count. Human rights groups put the toll at 70,000, including 10,000 people who have disappeared and are presumed dead. (Posted @ 18:38 PST)
Bush fears nuclear arms race in Middle East TIPP CITY, Ohio, April 19,(REUTERS) - President George W. Bush said on Thursday he was concerned that Iran's nuclear ambitions will trigger an atomic arms race in the Middle East. Bush expressed his concern after The New York Times reported on Sunday that the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, among other Middle Eastern states, were seeking to develop nuclear programs for electricity generation. (Posted @ 23:54 PST)
Rockets hit Mogadishu market, 12 dead in chaos MOGADISHU, April 19,(REUTERS) - Rockets slammed into a Mogadishu market on Thursday amid battles between troops and Somali insurgents that killed at least 12 civilians but probably many more, residents said. Another report said that at least nine civilians were killed in bitter fighting Thursday between Ethiopian forces and insurgents in the Somali capital, including a possible suicide bombing on an army base. (Posted @ 23:36 PST)
UN urges Israel to ease Palestinian child detention policy JERUSALEM, April 19, (AFP) - A United Nations special envoy urged Israel on Thursday to ease its policy on the detention of Palestinian children, saying current practices deepen violence. “Practically every child I met (in the Palestinian territories) was in detention or had met somebody who has been in detention, or whose brother has been in detention,” UN special representative for children and armed conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy told reporters. (Posted @ 23:02 PST)
Bomb kills 2 UK soldiers in Iraq BAGHDAD, April 19 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed two British soldiers in the southern Iraqi province of Maysan on Thursday, the British military said, a day after British forces handed over the region to Iraqi security control. British military spokesman Major David Gell said three soldiers had also been wounded in the blast northwest of Amara, the capital of Maysan. (Posted @ 22:52 PST)
Cricket: West Indies 230-5 against Bangladesh BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 19, (AFP) - West Indies made 230-5 off 50 overs in their World Cup Super Eights match against Bangladesh at Kensington Oval here on Thursday. (Posted @ 22:08 PST)
Cricket: Fletcher quits as England coach BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 19 (AFP) - Duncan Fletcher quit as England coach on Thursday following the team's dismal World Cup campaign, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced. (Posted @ 20:54 PST)
Three US troops killed in Iraq Three US troops killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, April 19 (AFP) - Three more American soldiers were killed in attacks in Iraq, the US military said on Thursday, taking its losses to 53 this month. Two soldiers were killed on Wednesday when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad after returning from a combat patrol. The third soldier died when a combat security patrol was raked with gunfire in southwest Baghdad. (Posted @ 19:26 PST)
NATO allies urge US to open missile shield plan BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters): NATO allies urged the United States on Thursday to ensure its planned anti-missile shield be broadened to cover the whole of Europe but did not commit themselves to joining the project. The call came during meetings at NATO headquarters in which Washington aimed to soothe Russian alarm and dispel European scepticism about a defence shield in eastern Europe it says is aimed at blocking potential threats from Iran and elsewhere. (Posted @ 19:24 PST)
Policemen, soldiers charged with killing Srinagar shopkeeper SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, April 19 (AFP) - Authorities in occupied Kashmir have charged nine members of the security forces with murdering a street vendor in Srinagar and trying to pass him off as a Pakistani militant, officials said Thursday. “The accused were charged with abduction, murder and destruction of evidence,” a police official said. The vendor, Ghulam Nabi Wani, was detained by police in Srinagar in March last year, driven to Baramulla district and killed in a faked shoot-out. He was later falsely presented as a “Pakistani militant,” although DNA tests confirmed his real identity. The charges, announced late on Wednesday, are the latest to be levelled against security forces after authorities in February exhumed the bodies of five people who were also killed and passed off as militants. Indian human rights groups say 10,000 Kashmiri Muslims have disappeared since the insurgency began, most after being detained by security forces, who have broad powers of arrest in the restive Himalayan state. The government says between 1,000 and 3,900 are missing.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Gates visits former Iraq rebel bastion FALLUJAH, Iraq, April 19 (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited US commanders in the former Sunni Arab insurgent bastion of Fallujah on Thursday straight after arriving in Iraq from Israel on an unannounced trip. Gates flew by helicopter to the city immediately after flying in to Baghdad airport. He is on the latest leg of a Middle East tour that has already taken him to Jordan, Egypt and Israel. (Posted @ 18:06 PST)
Car bomb kills 10, injures 21 in Baghdad Baghdad, April 19 (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber rammed his car into a fuel tanker, killing 10 people and wounding 21 in the southern Jadriya district of Baghdad, police said. Gunmen wounded seven oil company employees when they attacked their vehicle in Kirkuk, Gunmen also attacked a police patrol, killing one policeman and wounding five others in Baquba. Iraqi army killed 20 insurgents and arrested 84 others during the last 24 hours in operations across Iraq, police said. Four charred dead bodies were found by police inside a car in the town of Shirqat, south of Mosul. (First Posted @ 15:05 PST Updated @ 16:48 PST)
24 Taliban killed in Afghan battle KABUL, April 19 (AFP) - US special forces and Afghan troops killed 24 Taliban militants and destroyed four rebel vehicles in a seven-hour battle in southern Afghanistan, the US-led coalition said Thursday.(Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Bangladesh's Hasina vows to defy ban on her return SINGAPORE, April 19 Reuters) - Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to defy the government's bar on her return to the country, telling the BBC she planned to arrive in Dhaka next Monday. The Awami League party chief, currently on a private visit to the United States, said that “nothing would stop” her return to participate in elections and defend herself against charges of murder and extortion. Hasina told the BBC's Bengali service she would fly on Thursday to London and travel on to Dhaka on April 23. “My duty is to the people of my country and I owe it to them to fight the election and defend myself against fabricated criminal charges,” she was quoted as saying.(Posted @ 15:35 PST)
Bill Gates sees tech revolution without limits BEIJING, April 19 (Reuters) - Technology will keep getting better and better rather than plateauing out, with the humble keyboard making way for speech recognition software as standard, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said on Thursday. “I'm often asked, is the technology revolution going to reach an end? Is the improvement in the chips and the software, will that start to slow down as we reach some limits?” he told a forum in Beijing. “The answer is -- certainly in the decades ahead -- we don't see any limits. We see in fact the power will just get better and better.” In the future, students' textbooks would be replaced by individual electronic tablets that would be cheap, multimedia, and connected to the Internet, Gates predicted.(Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Cricket-Shoaib Malik named Pakistan captain KARACHI, April 19 (Reuters) - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has named all-rounder Shoaib Malik as captain of the national team following the resignation of Inzamam-ul-Haq in the wake of the side's early World Cup exit. The 25-year-old, who has played 18 tests and 137 one-day internationals, was handed the role until the end of the year for the test and one-day squads. His first assignment is expected to be a three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi scheduled for next month. “Malik has been appointed as captain with the future of Pakistan cricket in mind,” PCB chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf said on Thursday.(Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Four die as wagon turns turtle near Khuzdar KHUZDAR, April 19 (PPI) Four persons including a woman and driver were killed and 15 others were injured when a wagon turned turtle near Khuzdar Thursday. According to details, a speedy wagon on its way to Khuzdar from Archano, about 45 Km east of Khuzdar, overturned due to speed. As a result four persons were killed while 15 others were injured. Tehsil Nazim Asif Jamaldini and Inspector Ashraf Jattak reached the site and removed the dead and wounded to District headquarters hospital Khuzdar.(Posted @ 14:55 PST)
Three blasts hit southwestern France overnight, no injuries BORDEAUX, April 19 (Reuters) Simultaneous explosions occurred overnight in three towns in the southwest of France near the Spanish border, causing some damage to buildings but no casualties, a police source said Thursday. No-one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which occurred at around 1900 GMT Wednesday in Ciboure, Guethary and Saint-Jean-de Luz.(Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Malaysian Minister sees more cooperation between Pakistan, Malaysia KARACHI, April 19 (APP) Owing to the policies being pursued by the governments of Pakistan and Malaysia, the two countries enjoy very good political and trade ties. This was stated by the Malaysian Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui while addressing a press conference here Thursday. The Minister said that here is a unique and a very close cooperation between our two countries. He particularly referred to the palm oil industry which falls under the purview of his Ministry, and added that various steps have been initiated that can further enhance the already close cooperation between Pakistan and Malaysia. Datuk Peter asked the companies of the two countries to establish close links and joint ventures in this field. He informed that on Friday he would be visiting Port Qasim to initiate a project there. The Minister hoped that both Malaysian and Pakistani counterpart can explore more downstream business partnership in areas such as advanced food applications and other areas such as energy and telecommunication etc.(Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Three killed by Baghdad mortars BAGHDAD, April 19 (APP/AFP) - A salvo of overnight mortar attacks killed a teenage Iraqi girl and two young men in Zafaraniyah district of southern Baghdad, a medical source said Thursday.(Posted @ 14:05 PST)
Pakistan awards offshore block to local oil firm ISLAMABAD, April 19 (Reuters) - Pakistan on Thursday granted an exploration licence to state-run Government Holdings Private Ltd. (GHPL) for an offshore block in the Arabian Sea, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said. The Indus-R offshore block covers an area of 1,402 sq kms, the ministry said.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Afghans recapture highway near Kabul-defence official KABUL, April 19 (Reuters) - Afghan government forces have retaken a major road the Taliban seized northeast of Kabul during the heaviest fighting close to the capital since the Islamists were ousted in 2001, an official said Thursday. Backed by support from the U.S.-led coalition, Afghan forces late on Wednesday retook the road in Tagab district of Kapisa province, 70 km from Kabul, a defence ministry spokesman said. There were no casualties among the Afghan troops during the operation near Bagram, the spokesman said. He did not know how many Taliban fighters had dug in in the rugged Tagab valley, but Kapisa's governor believed the militants strength was up to 300 well-equipped fighters. The Taliban could not be contacted immediately for comment.(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
China announces blistering 11.1 pc growth BEIJING, April 19 (AFP) - China's economy grew a blistering 11.1 percent in the first quarter of 2007, the government said Thursday(Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Gunmen attack Grozny checkpoint, injure six Russians GROZNY, Russia, April 19 (Reuters) Unidentified gunmen injured six Russian policemen during a night attack on a checkpoint on the outskirts of the Chechen capital, Grozny, Wednesday, an interior ministry spokesman said Thursday. “As a result of a night attack, six policemen from Karelia were injured,” the spokesman said. Karelia is a republic in the northwest of Russia, bordering Finland.(Posted @ 12:55 PST)
US-led troops kill three Taliban KABUL, April 19 (AFP) Three Taliban rebels wearing fake police uniforms were killed in a gunbattle with Afghan and US-led troops in western Afghanistan, the US military said Thursday.The fighting on Wednesday erupted after the troops received small-arms fire from militants dressed in police outfits who had set up a checkpost near the town of Shindand in western Herat province, the military said. “The combined patrol returned fire killing three enemy fighters and wounding another three,” it said in a statement.(Posted @ 11:35 PST)
US says nuclear deal with India at risk HONG KONG, April 19 (AFP) A landmark nuclear energy deal between the United States and India is in jeopardy because New Delhi wants key clauses rewritten, a senior US official told the Financial Times daily Thursday. US State Department officials say India's tough stance is threatening to unravel the agreement, which gives the South Asian state unprecedented access to nuclear fuel without having to sign a non-proliferation treaty. “We are disappointed with the pace and seriousness of the civil nuclear negotiations with India,” Nicholas Burns, the US under secretary of state, told the daily. According to people close to the talks, Indian negotiators are contesting a clause which states that the United States would withdraw civil nuclear fuel supplies and equipment if India breached its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, the FT said.(Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Canadian soldier dies in Afghanistan accident MONTREAL, April 19 (AFP) A Canadian soldier died in an accident Wednesday in Afghanistan, local media reported quoting military officials in Kandahar. The soldier fell from a communications tower in Kandahar, said Colonel Mike Cessford, describing it as “a tragic accident.” His death brought to 54 the number of soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the beginning of Canada's mission there in 2002.(Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 66.75 points: KARACHI, April 19: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 12122.54 , down 66.75 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, April 19: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.75 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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