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| August 17, 2007 | Friday | Sha’aban 3, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Seven militants killed in Pakistani attacks PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 17 (Reuters) Militants in Pakistan launched a series of attacks on security forces near the Afghan border Friday and six gunmen and a suicide bomber were killed, security officials said. Militants attacked a security post near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, said military spokesman, Major-General Waheed Arshad. “In retaliation, two of them were killed and two were captured.” One of the dead was an Uzbek and one of those captured was an Arab, Arshad said. Earlier, militants attacked two security posts before dawn in the Tiarza area, about 20 km north of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan region, security officials in the area said. The security forces suffered no casualties and killed four of the militants, they said. Separately, in the nearby town of Tank, a suicide bomber rammed a jeep into a military vehicle, killing himself and wounding three soldiers. The military said Thursday that 10 militants and four soldiers were killed in clashes in Waziristan. Arshad said five soldiers wounded in one of the clashes died later. (First Posted @ 16:40 PST Updated @ 19:44 PST)
Fight against extremism not due to foreign pressure: President Musharraf LAHORE, Pakistan, Aug 17 (APP) President Pervez Musharraf, while underscoring the need for political stability in the run-up to elections, said Friday the government was making all efforts in this regard. He stated this while addressing legislators from the districts of Lahore, Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, Narowal, Sialkot and Gujrat at 90 Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam urging them to play their due role in the promotion of tolerance and moderation at the grassroot level, as extremism and terrorism were the major threats to the society. The President said that Pakistan was not fighting against terrorism due to foreign pressure, and that efforts to curb terrorism and extremism were being made in national interest. He said the national assembly and provincial assemblies would complete their constitutional term for the first time in the country's history. “This is going to happen due only to the steps taken by the present government for political stability,” he said, and expressed hope that PML would sweep the next general elections. (Posted @ 19:36 PST)
Pakistan's nuclear assets under strong command and control system: FO ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (APP) Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam Friday said the Government of Pakistan fully supports the global efforts aimed at non-proliferation, and has instituted strong command and control system and export controls. “We have instituted strong command and control system and export controls that conform to the most stringent international standards maintained to ensure WMD non-proliferation”, she stated while commenting on the remarks by Foreign Minister of Australia Alexander Downer in an ABC interview. Aslam termed the remarks of the Australian Foreign Minister about Pakistan as “incorrect and uncalled for” and said that “those who forget that Pakistan was not the one to introduce nuclear weapons in South Asia, nor were we the first to test nuclear weapons, need to be reminded of the facts of history.” (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Agreement violation by Nawaz Sharif to revive remitted punishment: Malik Qayyum ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (APP) Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will loose benefit of remission of his sentence if he violated the exile agreement under which he had left the country, Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said, according to a private television channel. If anyone gets punishment remitted under an agreement with the government and thereafter he goes back on it then the punishment would come into force again, he said. The Attorney General also said that according to the law of the land convicted persons could not take part in elections. About the presidential election, Qayyum said President Pervez Musharraf would contest in uniform as there was no bar on him in this regard. If after re-election he wants to retain uniform in the next term this would require a law passed by the parliament, he added. (Posted @ 21:02 PST)
Curfew in Nigerian oil city after gun battles PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Aug 17 (Reuters) The government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Port Harcourt, Nigeria's main oil city, Friday after dozens of people were killed in gun battles. Up to 40 people died in street fighting between troops and heavily armed gangsters Thursday, local newspapers reported. The state government said movement would be restricted from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for one week from Friday in the first instance. (Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Somali woman dies in botched rocket attack MOGADISHU, Aug 17 (Reuters) A woman was killed and a police officer wounded in a botched rocket attack by insurgents in Mogadishu, police said Friday. Insurgents opened fire on a police station late Thursday. (Posted @ 19:46 PST)
Aftershock of 6.0 magnitude hits Peru LIMA, Aug 17 (Reuters) An aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 hit Peru south of its capital Lima Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said two days after a powerful 8.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the same area. A Reuters witness said there were no immediate reports in Lima of damages or injuries from the aftershock, centred about 90 miles south of Lima on the coast. (Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Six migrants die, five missing off Turkish coast ANKARA, Aug 17 (Reuters) Six migrants drowned and five more were missing after their boat sunk off the west coast of Turkey Friday, the Anatolian news agency reported. Forty-five people were rescued from the boat, which was heading for Greece carrying mainly Afghan migrants, the agency said. (Posted @ 19:22 PST)
Blast kills two paramilitary soldiers, injures another five in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Aug 17 (AP) A truck carrying paramilitary soldiers was blown up by a roadside bomb in occupied Kashmir Friday, killing two soldiers and critically wounding another five, an official said. The attack by suspected militants occurred as the soldiers were passing through Kawni, a village 65 kilometres south of Srinagar, said Prabhakar Tripathi, the spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force. (Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Sheikh Rashid foresees triangular post-election coalition ISLAMABAD, Aug 17 (APP) Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that PML, PPP-P and MQM could be partners in future ruling setup after the general election. Talking to a private television channel he said representation in future central and provincial governments would be given to each party in accordance with its election score. Replying to a question, he said the Chaudhry brothers would be holding important position in the new dispensation. The Minister said that next two weeks would be very important on the political horizon of the country. He also said that he had personally seen the agreement under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz and other family members left the country in December 2000. The Minister said Sharif brothers had signed the agreement and under it they cannot come back to the country for a period of ten years. (Posted @ 18:16 PST)
Pakistan sends relief supplies for China floods ISLAMABAD, Aug 17(AFP): Pakistan on Friday despatched relief supplies including rice and tents to China for victims of devastating floods there that have killed more than 500 people, the foreign ministry said. A plane carrying 150 tents, 1,000 blankets, five tonnes of rice and 200,000 water purifying tablets had left for the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi, a ministry statement said. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
US forces attack Iraqi mosque BAGHDAD, Aug 17(Reuters): U.S. troops battled gunmen in a mosque after their combat outpost north of Baghdad came under machinegun and rocket-propelled grenade fire that killed one soldier, the U.S. military said on Friday. The military said an aircraft fired a Hellfire missile at two gunmen on the roof of the mosque in the town of Tarmiya on Thursday after ordering everyone inside to evacuate. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Death toll touches 33 in Japan's heat wave TOKYO, Aug 17(AFP): Five more people were killed on Friday as record-level summer temperatures scorched Japan, bringing the death toll from a heat wave to at least 33, officials said. The weather has sent hundreds of people to hospitals and raised fears of an eventual power shortage. The mercury rose to 40.8 degrees Celsius (105.44 F) in Gifu prefecture in central Japan midafternoon on Friday, a day after it soared to a domestic record of 40.9 C, the Japan Metreological Department said. (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Nobel prizes to be announced October 8-15 STOCKHOLM, Aug 17(AFP): The 2007 Nobel prizes will be announced between October 8 and 15, the Nobel Foundation said on Friday. The peace prize, the most celebrated of the Nobel honours, will be announced on October 12 in Oslo.T he prize for medicine or physiology will be announced in Stockholm on October 8, the physics prize on October 9, the chemistry prize on October 10 and the prize for economics on October 15. In keeping with tradition, the Swedish Academy will announce the literature prize later. It is traditionally awarded on a Thursday, and could therefore be announced on October 11 or 18. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Three US soldiers die in Iraq BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (AFP) Three more American soldiers have died in Iraq. Two lost their lives due to non-battle related causes, while the third died of wounds sustained from “enemy fire” in Baghdad province on Thursday, the military said adding another soldier was also wounded but had returned to duty. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
Suicide bomber kills Afghan district governor, three others KANDAHAR, Aug 17(Reuters): A suicide bomber killed an Afghan district governor and three of his family members on Friday in their home in the southern city of Kandahar, a police official said. Khairuddin Kaka, the district chief for Zerai, one of his teenage daughters and two of his sons were killed when the bomber set off explosives attached to his body, they said. (Posted @ 12:30 PST)
Ex-Bangladesh lawmaker jailed for 10 years DHAKA, Aug 17(AFP): A former Bangladesh lawmaker arrested under the emergency government's corruption crackdown was jailed for 10 years for illegal possession of firearms, a police official said on Friday. Shahidul Alam Talukdar, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was sentenced by a court in the southern town of Patuakhali on Thursday, said a police inspector. The court heard that police and security forces recovered two blank pistol magazines and a large quantity of government relief materials from his home in the district during a February raid. Talukdar, was convicted on the firearms charge but still faces trial on the other allegation. (Posted @ 12:10 PST)
China bus, tanker crash kills 12 BEIJING, Aug 17(Reuters): An oil tanker and a passenger bus collided in northeast China on Friday, killing 12 people and injuring 11, Xinhua news agency said. The accident happened in Jilin province when the bus carrying passengers to Liaoning province collided with the tanker and caught fire, Xinhua said. (Posted @ 12:00 PST)
5 people killed in Alaskan airplane crash KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Aug 17 (AP) Five people were killed when a small airplane crashed north of this town, authorities said. There were four survivors in Thursday night's crash, including a 2-year-old girl. No other details were available (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Three dead, six injured in Utah mine rescue effort LOS ANGELES, Aug 17 (AFP) Three rescuers died and six others were injured Thursday in cave-in incident during efforts to reach six miners buried underground in Utah, officials said. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
5 civilians killed in clash in eastern Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 17 (AP) Five civilians were killed during a firefight between NATO soldiers and Taliban insurgents and three others were wounded in eastern Afghanistan, an alliance statement said Friday. The NATO troops were initially hit by a roadside bomb before coming under small-arms fire and mortar attacks, the statement said. The alliance did not disclose the exact location of the incident. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
Typhoon hits Taiwan after swiping Philippines TAIPEI, Aug 17(Reuters): A super-strength typhoon that brought flooding to parts of the Philippines tore into Taiwan on Friday, forcing the cancellation of flights and sending coastal residents to secure their homes. Waves swelled, winds picked up and rain battered the north of the island as Typhoon Sepat made landfall, a disaster relief official and local media said. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
Typhoon rains, winds batter northern Philippines MANILA, Aug 17(AFP): Heavy rains spawned by Typhoon Sepat battered the northern Philippines on Friday, flooding 20 towns. Civil defence officials said parts of 20 towns in Pampanga province, north of Manila, were still under water with over 370,000 people affected. The typhoon on Friday was located some 200kms east of the northernmost Philippine islands of Batanes, heading northwest, the government weather station said. The storm has continued to strengthen with maximum sustained winds of 215kms per hour and gusts of 250kms per hour. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
At least four dead as Erin floods Texas HOUSTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) At least four people died on Thursday as Tropical Storm Erin swept into Texas with heavy rains that caused flooding, traffic tie-ups and a fatal roof collapse. Up to eight inches of rain fell across Houston, where street flooding brought traffic to a standstill on several major highways after the storm came ashore 175 miles to the southwest, near the seaside city of Corpus Christi. Houston television reports showed neighbourhoods where streets were filled with water and people waded through waist-deep water. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
India PM would get bullet in China for lying: Fernandes NEW DELHI, Aug 17 (Reuters) If Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was China's head of government he would have been shot for “bluffing” to the nation over a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, a former Indian defence minister said. “What has emerged is that the prime minister of the country has betrayed the nation by continuous bluffing, something unbecoming of the head of the government,” George Fernandes, who was part of the previous Hindu nationalist-led government, said in a statement. “If it were China, they would have settled it with one bullet in his head,” the maverick veteran politician said in the statement sent to Reuters on Friday. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Three earthquakes hit Indonesia JAKARTA, Aug 17(Reuters): Three undersea earthquakes struck western and eastern Indonesia on Friday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, the country's meteorological agency said. The first quake struck overnight at 1826GMT on Thursday south of a strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, with its epicentre about 275 km south-west of the capital Jakarta.The quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale. The other two quakes struck about eight hours later in the Banda Sea in the far east of Indonesia. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
North Korean nuclear talks in 'tough' new phase SHENYANG, China, Aug 17(AFP): The six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programme entered a second day here on Friday, marking what the US envoy called a “tough” new phase in efforts to get North Korea to disarm. The working-level meetings in the city of Shenyang in China's northeast, close to the border with North Korea, brought together experts for an exchange of views seen as crucial to maintaining momentum in the negotiations. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 10.47 points: KARACHI, Aug 17: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 12698.04, down 10.47 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 17: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.8 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 16:05 PST)
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