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| August 19, 2007 | Sunday | Sha’aban 5, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan attack militants hideouts, killing 15 MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 19 Pakistan army helicopters pounded two militant hideouts near the Afghan border on Sunday, killing 15 pro-Taliban fighters, a military spokesman said. Major General Waheed Arshad told Reuters the pre-dawn attack continued for several hours near Mir Ali town in the North Waziristan tribal region. “They were carrying out attacks on security forces from the two compounds and we're targeting them,” Arshad said. He said 15 militants were killed in the strike, though intelligence officials in Mir Ali said two women and two children also died. Violence has intensified since July, following the break down of a 10-month peace deal with militants in North Waziristan (First Posted @ 12:40 PST Updated @ 17:22 PST)
Benazir links Pakistan terrorism to Musharraf regime MONTREAL, Aug 19 (AFP) Pakistan's exiled former leader Benazir Bhutto warned Saturday that the threat of terrorism in northwestern Pakistan's tribal zones will not go away while a military government is in power. “The root cause of the problem lies in the inability of the government of Pakistan to assert governmental authority and state authority in the tribal areas,” she told Canada's CBC public television channel. “As long as we have a cabinet ... that needs the threat of terrorism to sustain a military dictatorship in Pakistan we're never going to get rid of terrorism,” she said. “The military is the problem,” she said Saturday. “True democracy will deal with the social and economic needs of the people of Pakistan.” She also called on the international community to support a transfer to a regular democratic government in Islamabad. “The money that has gone into Pakistan so far has not led to the pacification of the tribal areas where people are desperately poor and the militants exploit this poverty to hire them as soldiers,” Benazir said. “Our people have been thrown to the wolves. They've been thrown to the militants,” she added. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Fire breaks out again in PNSC Building KARACHI, Aug 19 (APP) - A fire broke out in the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) building here on Sunday in Karachi. The fire broke out on the third and fourth floors of the building. Karachi Port Trust fire tenders are battling the fire. The KPT has also sought the assistance of the CDGK Fire Brigade which has sent three fire tenders and a snorkel. (Posted @ 18:28 PST)
Helicopter in rooftop blaze rescue KARACHI, Aug 19, (AFP) - A Pakistan navy helicopter rescued a man from the roof of a burning 16-storey building in Karachi on Sunday amid fears that others could be trapped inside, officials said. “One of our two helicopters rescued a man trapped in the building's top storey,” navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali told AFP. At least 26 firefighters struggled to extinguish the fire, which broke out on the third floor of the PNSC building in Karachi. “We don't know if more people were there,” an official said. Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Ghori said firefighters were trying to contain the blaze, which spread to upper floors of the building. (Posted @ 22:56 PST)
Maldives islanders hand victory to president in landmark referendum MALE, Maldives, August 19, (AP) - President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom won an overwhelming victory Sunday in a referendum on the Maldives' future form of government, a poll seen as a vote of confidence in his three-decade rule of the tiny Indian Ocean nation. Results Sunday afternoon showed the presidential form of government winning more than 60 percent support, 93,042 votes, to 57,109 votes for a parliamentary system. (Posted @ 22:36 PST)
Thai PM declares victory in referendum BANGKOK, Aug 19, (AFP) - Thailand's army-installed government declared victory Sunday in a referendum on a new constitution, and vowed to hold general elections by year's end to restore democracy following last September's coup. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont claimed victory just 30 minutes after polls closed, saying that a majority of Thai voters had approved the charter. “We consider that this constitution has been approved by the people, and by the end of August the constitution will be submitted to the king for endorsement,” Surayud said on national television. (Posted @ 20:42 PST)
Militants take 12 hostage in Iran TEHRAN, Aug 19, (AFP) - Armed militants kidnapped 12 people in Iran on Sunday after firing at their cars on a remote road in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province close to the border with Pakistan, police said. The militants, linked to the shadowy Sunni rebel leader Abdolmalek Rigi, ambushed the vehicles around the town of Negur, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border, and then took them into Pakistan. “The armed bandits, who belong to Rigi's terrorist group, shot at eight passing personal vehicles,” said Mehdi Ahmadi, the head of the police information centre in Tehran, according to the Fars news agency. (Posted @ 19:12 PST)
12 killed in Baghdad mortar attack BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) At least 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in an intensive mortar bombardment of an eastern Baghdad suburb on Sunday, security and medical officials said. An interior ministry official said the attack came during heavy clashes in the mainly Shiite suburb of Obaidi between the US military and militiamen. “Many mortars were fired. The area has been sealed off,” the official said. (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Head of British Army says troops in Afghanistan ”stretched” but winning LONDON Aug 19 (AP) British troops in Afghanistan are stretched but are winning the tactical battle against the Taliban, the head of the British Army said in an interview broadcast Sunday. During a visit to Afghanistan, Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt told British Broadcasting Corp. television that due to simultaneous operations in southern Afghanistan and Iraq soldiers were being deployed more often than he would like. (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Israel deports 50 Sudanese refugees to Egypt JERUSALEM, Aug 19 (AFP) Israel on Sunday returned to Egypt 50 Sudanese refugees who had entered the country illegally the previous day, a senior official said. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
NATO soldier, 4 Afghan guards, killed in attacks in southern Afghanistan Afghanistan, Aug 19 (AP) A NATO soldier was killed escorting a convoy in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, while four Afghan security guards died in a suicide attack. NATO did not disclose the soldier's nationality or the exact location of the incident. A Taliban insurgency is raging in Afghanistan's south and attacks on supply convoys are near-daily occurrences. Meanwhile, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to members of a private security company providing protection for a road construction company Saturday in southern Helmand province's Lashkar Gah district. Four guards were killed and three others wounded, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein. (Posted @ 12:50 PST)
Kazakh leader's party sweeps parliamentary polls ASTANA, Aug 19 (AFP) The party of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev won a landslide 88 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections, leaving the opposition with no seats, the central election commission said Sunday. The Nur Otan party got 88 percent while neither the opposition Social Democratic Party or its more moderate rival Ak-Jol surpassed a seven-percent threshold for gaining seats. They received 4.62 percent and 3.27 percent respectively. (Posted @ 11:10 PST)
Two dead, 18 injured in New York skyscraper fire NEW YORK, Aug 19 (AFP) Two firefighters were killed and at least 18 others were injured Saturday after an under-construction 40-storey bank building overlooking New York's Ground Zero site caught fire, the New York Fire Department said. The blaze occurred when scaffolding caught fire on the former Deutsche Bank building. The skyscraper was under construction after being pulled down following the 9/11 tragedy.(Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Scuffles with police as hopes fade for 172 trapped Chinese miners XINTAI, China, Aug 19 (AFP) Scuffles broke out on Sunday between relatives and security forces at a coal mine in the city of Xintai in Shandong Province as hopes faded for the rescue of 172 miners trapped underground by flash floods. About 200 angry relatives toppled an iron fence at the gate of the mine as rumours swirled that the rescue had been called off. At the other gate, another crowd of relatives scuffled with uniformed police and some of them threw rocks at the main administration building. Over 750 miners were underground when the water swept in on Friday. Many managed to escape, but some 172 remain trapped. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Afghans search for kidnapped German aid worker KABUL, Aug 19 (Reuters) Afghan police continued their search on Sunday for a female German aid worker who was kidnapped at gun point from a restaurant in Kabul on Saturday but reported no early breakthrough. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
15 killed as storm hits China coast BEIJING, Aug 19 (AP) At least 15 people were killed as a tornado connected with Typhoon Sepat hit the Chinese mainland, state media reported Sunday. The tornado toppled 156 houses in Cangnan county in Zhejiang province and also injured more than 60 people, Xinhua News Agency said adding that it was moving north up the coast packing winds of about 120 kilometers an hour. Earlier, the storm knocked out power, washed out roads and overturned cars as it cut an east-west swath across Taiwan. (First Posted @ 10:05 PST Updated @ 18:04 PST)
Iraq: 32 bodies found Baghdad, Aug 18 (Reuters) Police have found at least 32 bodies showing signs of torture from various parts of Baghdad and the town of Iskandariya near Baghdad during the past 24 hours. The bodies of 29 people were found dumped in different areas of Baghdad while three bodies of men, all shot in the head, were found in Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad, police said. Meanwhile, one person was killed and six wounded in a mortar attack in the Saha district of southwestern Baghdad, and seven people were killed, including an infant, in a mortar barrage that hit the town of Khalis, 80 km north of Baghdad, on Saturday, police said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Tennis: Henin eases past Yan to set up final against Jankovic TORONTO, Aug 19 (AFP) World number one Justine Henin moved a step closer to her 35th career title by taking down Chinese qualifier Yan Zi 6-3, 6-0 in the semi-finals of this 1.34 million dollar hardcourt event Saturday. Henin, who is seeking her sixth title of the season, will face second seed Jelena Jankovic, a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 winner over France's Tatiana Golovin. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Tennis: Federer to face Blake in quest for 50th career title CINCINNATI, Ohio, Aug 19 (AFP) Roger Federer will bid for a 50th career title against James Blake on Sunday, taking a 6-0 career record over the American into their clash in the final of the Cincinnati Masters. Federer ousted tenacious Lleyton Hewitt in their semi-final 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/1), then ninth-seeded Blake eliminated Russian fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-4. Hewitt, ranked 20th, has not beaten Federer since a Melbourne Davis Cup date in September, 2003. (Posted @ 09:20 PST)
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