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| August 10, 2007 | Friday | Rajab 25, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Musharraf to attend peace jirga ISLAMABAD, Aug 10(AFP): Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has agreed “in principle” to address the closing session of the joint Afghan-Pakistan “peace jirga” in Kabul, the foreign ministry said here on Friday. The president “agreed in principle” to address the anti-terror conference after Afghan President Hamid Karzai phoned him late Friday, the ministry said in a statement. (First Posted @ 21:26 PST Updated @ 21:30 PST)
Pak-Afghan peace jirga: call to oust NATO force KABUL, Aug 10(AFP): A peace jirga attended by 700 Pakistani and Afghan tribal leaders debating ways to end Al-Qaeda-backed terrorism in the region, was told to replace western forces in Afghanistan by troops from Islamic countries. Pakistani tribal elder and former MP, Malik Fazal Manaan Mohmand, told the 700 delegates present that the presence of NATO and US-led forces in Afghanistan was a major cause of insecurity. “There is no need for the NATO forces. Bring Islamic countries' troops,” the Malik from Mohmand Agency said. The suggestion received applause. The head of Pakistan’s Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party Mahmood Khan Achakzai spoke out against bloodshed in the region. The gathering of delegates from both sides of the border -- tribal chiefs, parliamentarians and other leading figures -- went into closed session on Friday which was expected to extend into Saturday. (Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Rains kill 22 people in Karachi KARACHI, Aug.10(AP): At least 22 people have died in the rains that lashed Karachi on Thursday and Friday, officials and news reports said on Friday. Officials were still trying to assess the damage. A spokesman for the relief service, the Edhi Foundation, said his organization had pulled at least 22 bodies from collapsed buildings, and rescued 24 injured people. Dawn News television reported at least five people had died from electrocution. Local television showed residents standing in waist-deep water in parts of the city, and houses and other buildings inundated. An emergency has been declared in Karachi’s hospitals, and holidays for doctors and paramedics cancelled. A Meteorological Department official said the storm was the result of a monsoon weather system that formed in the Bay of Bengal - more than 1,500kms away on the other side of the Indian peninsula - and made its way to Sindh on Thursday. (First Posted @ 11:15 PST Updated @ 18:24 PST)
Pakistan gunships pound Taliban, Al-Qaeda positions MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 10, (AFP) Helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in northern Pakistan as the military scoured mountains Friday for 16 missing soldiers believed to have been kidnapped by Taliban rebels. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said soldiers were hunting for 16 paramilitary soldiers who went missing Thursday morning after leaving in a convoy for Sararogha village in South Waziristan. He had no further details but local intelligence officials said Friday they suspected that Taliban operatives had kidnapped the soldiers. There was no immediate demand or claim by local Taliban. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Senior U.S. official to visit Pakistan next week WASHINGTON, Aug 9 (Reuters) U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, the top U.S. diplomat for South Asia, will visit Pakistan next week on a previously scheduled trip that comes shortly after the Pakistani president rejected calls to declare a state of emergency, a U.S. official said Thursday. “Boucher will travel late next week to Pakistan for one of his regular consultations that falls now at a very interesting time,” said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified because the trip has not been announced publicly. The official declined to say exactly when Boucher would be in the country or whether he was expected to meet Musharraf or Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, saying that the U.S. diplomat's schedule is not yet finalized. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Kurdish rebels set off roadside bomb in Turkey; 6 injured ANKARA, Aug 10(AP): Suspected Kurdish rebels detonated a roadside bomb as a minibus carrying army personnel passed, injured six people, a local official said on Friday. The attack was staged in the mainly Kurdish province of Hakkari province, near the borders with Iraq and Iran, said Ali Hamza Pehlivan, the deputy governor of the province. The Dogan news agency said the minibus was carrying an army major, a captain, three soldiers and the major's son. (Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Global stock markets extend plunge LONDON, Aug 10(AFP): World stock markets dived for a second day running on Friday with investors worldwide dumping shares on fears of a widening economic crisis caused by a global credit crunch. The US market opened sharply lower, the London market dived nearly 4.0 percent and Asian exchanges closed down by between 2.0 and 4.0 percent. Economists said investors were alarmed by signs that losses in the US subprime mortgage market -- high-risk property loans to which many US banks and investment funds are exposed -- was spreading to other regions. (Posted @ 21:20 PST)
Security Council unanimously approves expansion of U.N. role in Iraq UNITED NATIONS, Aug 10(AP): The Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Friday expanding the United Nations' role in Iraq in a move aimed at reconciling the country's rival groups, winning support from neighboring countries and tackling Iraq's humanitarian crisis. The resolution authorizes the U.N., at the request of the Iraqi government, to help promote political talks among the country's ethnic and religious groups and a regional dialogue on issues including border security, energy and refugees. (Posted @ 20:44 PST)
Two killed in Mogadishu clash MOGADISHU, Aug 10(Reuters): At least two people were killed in a gun battle between Somali troops and insurgents on Friday, a senior Somali police officer said. A police officer told Reuters insurgents attacked government positions in downtown Mogadishu early on Friday. “They attacked us in five different places. “We returned fire and they fled when we advanced leaving two dead bodies,” he said. On Friday, government troops raided the independent Somali Shabeelle Radio, arresting 10 journalists and detaining one they accused of inaccurate reporting, the station's director said. “They shut us down for four hours,” he told Reuters. (Posted @ 20:36 PST)
27 killed in Taliban ambush in Afghanistan HEART, Aug 10(AFP): Taliban fighters ambushed an Afghan and Nato army convoy in western Afghanistan on Friday, sparking a gunfight that killed seven Afghan soldiers and 20 militants, the defence ministry said. The army called in NATO war planes to bomb militant positions after the attack in the western Badghis province, defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP. (Posted @ 20:24 PST)
SKorean-Taliban hostage talks begin GHAZNI, Aug 10(AFP): Face-to-face talks were under way late on Friday between a South Korean team and the Taliban holding 21 missionaries hostage for three weeks, an Afghan security official said. The Taliban sent two of their negotiators to Ghazni city for the talks. The South Korean embassy said it “could not confirm anything. ”There are face-to-face talks ongoing at the moment between two Taliban negotiators and the South Korean delegation in Ghazni,” an official said on condition of anonymity. (Posted @ 19:56 PST)
Bomb blast in Ankara ANKARA, Aug 10(Reuters): A bomb exploded outside a court house in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Friday, a Turkish TV channel reported. There were no reports of injuries, NTV said. Police were not immediately available for comment but a clerk at the court house said she heard a blast. (Posted @ 19:44 PST)
Arctic Sea ice 'lowest in recorded history': scientists WASHINGTON, Aug 10(AFP): Sea ice in the northern hemisphere has plunged to the lowest levels ever measured, US polar specialists said, adding they expect the record low to be “annihilated” by summer's end. In data posted on the Internet Thursday, the scientists said that sea ice in the Arctic region had plunged to new lows some 30 days before the normal point of the annual lows. (Posted @ 18:28 PST)
Turkish presidential vote on Aug. 20 ANKARA, Aug 10(Reuters): Turkey's newly re-elected parliament expects to start voting for a new president on August 20, a ruling AK Party official said on Friday. The official, who declined to be named, told Reuters the second round of voting was planned for August 24 and a third and probably decisive round for August 28. No official decision has yet been taken. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Typhoon lashes Hong Kong HONG KONG, Aug 10(AFP) A typhoon lashed Hong Kong on Friday forcing the closure of the stock market and leaving the streets deserted. The Hong Kong Observatory issued a level eight storm signal at 0630GMT, advising the public to return home immediately and closed all schools. Trading was suspended on the stock exchange. Ferry services were suspended as tens of thousands struggled to get home in appalling conditions. Underground stations saw severe crushing as the crowds tried to get home before services were suspended. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 10(Reuters): One NATO soldier was killed and another wounded on Friday during a patrol in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said. No information was given on their identity and the circumstances of the incident. The death brings the number of foreign troops killed in action in Afghanistan this year to 95. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Palestinian killed in Jerusalem shooting JERUSALEM, Aug 10(AFP): A Palestinian man was killed by an Israeli in the Old City of occupied east Jerusalem on Friday, police said. The Israeli was guarding a building housing an ultra-nationalist religious association in the walled Old City, which houses sites holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews. At least five other people were wounded. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Car bomb kills 11 in Iraqi market BAGHDAD, Aug 10(AFP): A car bomb ripped through a popular market in Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least 11 people, including two women and a child. At least 45 others were wounded in the explosion, with rescue workers rushing to ferry the wounded to hospitals. The vehicle, packed with explosives, blew up at the al-Hurriyah market in eastern Kirkuk, an area cluttered with fruit and vegetable stalls and normally bustling with shoppers, said Colonel Sheikh Zad Muferi. (First Posted @ 14:35 PST Updated @ 17:14 PST)
Five killed in Thai south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Aug 10 (AFP) Five people were killed Friday in Thailand's Muslim-majority south amid intensified fighting in a separatist insurgency, police said. Three militants were killed in clashes with security forces across Narathiwat province, while two Muslim men, including a suspected militant wanted by police, were shot dead in separate attacks. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
10 Taliban killed in major Afghan battle KABUL, Aug 10 (AFP) Intense air and ground fighting between soldiers and insurgents in Helmand province left 10 Taliban rebels confirmed dead and scores more believed dead or wounded, the US-led coalition said Friday. The battle raged the entire day Thursday, sparked by a major ambush by about 50 insurgents on a joint Afghan-coalition patrol, the force said in a statement. The rebels, attacking from buildings and fortified positions, opened fire with guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. The fighting raged for 12 hours before airstrikes were called in. The aftermath of the battle was being assessed Friday, a spokeswoman said. (Posted @ 13:00 PST)
World's largest nuke plant closed for 'months' TOKYO, Aug 10(AFP): UN inspectors said on Friday that the world's largest nuclear plant in Japan will be closed for months after being hit with an earthquake. An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), mission spent four days inspecting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant northwest of Tokyo which caught fire and leaked a small amount of radiation following an earthquake on July 16. The IAEA team leader Philippe Jamet said, “when you think of starting such a plant, you have to very carefully think about what you have to check first and the possibility of future earthquakes. This is one of the tasks in the following months (or) a year that has to be carried out, if this plant is to restart.” The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., has already downgraded earnings forecasts on the assumption that the seven-reactor facility will be down for at least a year. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
U.S. helicopter forced down south of Baghdad; 2 soldiers injured BAGHDAD, Aug 10 (AP) A U.S. helicopter was forced down while supporting a planned mission in the town of Youssifiyah south of Baghdad on Friday, and two soldiers were injured, the military said. “Security forces and close-air support immediately responded to the site, providing security for the forces and the downed aircraft,” it said. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
Nine bodies found in Baghdad Baghdad, Aug 10 (Reuters) Nine bodies were found around Baghdad in the past 24 hours, police said. Meanwhile, a roadside bomb killed three people and wounded two in the southern Baghdad district of Bayaa, police said. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Over 50 killed in fighting in S. Philippines MANILA, Aug 10(Reuters) More than 50 people, including at least 25 Philippine soldiers, have been killed in intense fighting between Muslim rebels and troops on the remote southern island of Jolo, military officials said on Friday. The fighting, in mountains near the town of Maimbung, started early on Thursday when rebels killed nine soldiers and wounded two in an ambush. One of the wounded later died.Reinforcements were rushed to the area, officials said. In a gunbattle later in the day, at least 10 soldiers were killed, said a spokesman. Fighting continued into the night and at least five more soldiers were killed, At least 27 rebels were killed and 10 wounded, other military officials said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Extreme floods hit 500 million people a year-UN UNITED NATIONS, Aug 9(Reuters): Homes and farmland drowned in increasingly severe floods are affecting some 500 million people a year and straining relief efforts. Deaths have been reduced because of early warning systems and other factors but the economic toll on a community's housing, health and infrastructure still is devastating, said U.N. deputy humanitarian coordinator Margareta Wahlstrom. “The great risk is that large numbers of people are living in the most vulnerable areas in the world,” Wahlstrom told a news conference, noting serious flooding was not restricted to South Asia, the heaviest hit, but had struck all continents. She said that between 2004 and 2006, the number of natural disasters had increased from an average of 200 to 400 a year, including heat waves, droughts, wildfires and storms. Floods increased from 60 to 100 per year in that time span and in 2007 some 70 serious floods have been registered. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)
Twenty feared dead in Tahiti plane crash PAPEETE, Tahiti, Aug 10(AFP): A passenger plane plunged into the sea near Tahiti moments after take-off from a nearby island and all 20 people on board are feared dead, including two Americans, officials in French Polynesia said. Two European Union officials and a number of local officials were also on board the Air Moorea turboprop aircraft when it went down. Witnesses said they saw the aircraft ploughing into the waves soon after taking off from Moorea's Tamae airport at 2200 GMT on Thursday. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Israeli strike destroys Gaza airport control tower GAZA, Aug 9(Reuters): An Israeli aircraft destroyed a control tower at Rafah airport in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, residents and security officials said. Witnesses said an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at the abandoned control tower. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
US public sees news media as biased, inaccurate, uncaring: poll WASHINGTON, Aug 9(AFP): More than half of Americans say US news organizations are politically biased, inaccurate, and don't care about the people they report on, a poll published on Thursday showed. Respondents who use the Internet as their main source of news -- roughly one quarter of all Americans -- were even harsher with their criticism, the poll conducted by the Pew Research Center said. More than two-thirds of the Internet users said they felt that news organizations don't care about the people they report on; 59 percent said their reporting was inaccurate; and 64 percent they were politically biased. Among those who get their news from newspapers and television, criticism of the news organizations was up to 20 percentage points lower than among Internet news audiences. The poll indicates an across the board fall in the public's opinion on the news media since 1985, when a similar survey was conducted by Times Mirror, Pew Research said. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Afghans fearing deportation from Sweden on hunger strike STOCKHOLM, Aug 9(AFP): A group of Afghans fearing deportation to their home country have been on a hunger strike for the past six days in central Stockholm, a support group said on Thursday. “There are about 15 hunger strikers, but some have fallen ill and were hospitalised, while others are holding on”, Vice-President of the Afghan Association of Sweden, Nasim Sahar, told AFP. The Afghans were given temporary residency, but feared they would be expelled after the Swedish Immigration Service decided that the situation in Afghanistan would allow them to return to their own country. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 166.45 points: KARACHI, Aug 10: At close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 13012.96, down 166.45 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 17:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 10: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.85 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 09:50 PST)
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