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| September 03, 2007 | Monday | Sha'aban 20, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Bush in Iraq on surprise visit WASHINGTON, Sept 3(Reuters): U.S. President George W. Bush landed in Iraq on Monday for a surprise visit along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Steven Hadley, the White House said. (Posted @ 16:57 PST)
Musharraf-Benazir talks likely to resume in Dubai ISLAMABAD, Sept 3 (AFP) - Stalled talks on a deal between President General Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto are expected to resume soon, with the venue moving to Dubai, ministers said Monday. Negotiations held in London last week ended in deadlock. “Our stand is that dialogue should continue,” Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told AFP. He confirmed that President Musharraf's top aide was in the Gulf emirate and said that it would “probably” be the venue for further discussions. “It is expected that the talks will be resumed,” deputy information minister Tariq Azeem told AFP. Azeem said some of Benazir’s demands were “unrealistic” but would not elaborate, adding only: “If the demands are realistic, there are more chances of reaching an understanding.” Benazir Bhutto left London for Dubai Monday morning and was seen off at the airport by party leaders who were in London for several round of the party’s working committee meetings. (Posted @ 12:42 PST)
500 Afghan policemen killed in five months KABUL, Sept 3(AFP): Around 500 Afghan policemen have been killed in growing violence in the past five months, the government said on Monday. An interior ministry spokesman described the death rate for the fledgling force as “very high”. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
Deadly fires finally out in Greece ATHENS, Sept 3(AFP): Forest fires that have ravaged southern Greece for the past 11 days, killing at least 64 people, were finally extinguished on Monday, fire services said. Vast tracts in the Peloponnese peninsula and other areas and 200,000 hectares of countryside were destroyed in the fire which began on August 24. (Posted @ 21:18 PST)
Maximum strength Hurricane Felix aims for Central America MIAMI, Sept 3(AFP): Hurricane Felix ripped across the warm waters of the Caribbean early on Monday towards Honduras and Belize after damaging homes and power lines in Grenada as it gained “potentially catastrophic” class-five strength. (Posted @ 18:45 PST)
UN moot sounds warning on spread of deserts MADRID, Sept 3(AFP): The global spread of deserts poses a severe challenge to humanity that transcends any international borders, a UN-sponsored conference in Madrid heard Monday. “It's clear now that desertification is amongst the greatest challenges that humankind faces,” Crown Prince Felipe, heir to the Spanish throne, said in an opening address to the forum, which included more than 2,000 delegates. Politicians and experts from nearly 200 countries hope to come up with a new 10-year “strategic plan” to stem desertification and set measurable objectives and a timeline for achieving them. (Posted @ 18:10 PST)
Eleven cities bid for Youth Olympics ATHENS, Sept 3(Reuters): Eleven cities have submitted bids to host the first edition of the Youth Olympics in 2010, designed to shore up dwindling support for the Olympic movement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Monday. For athletes aged 14-18, the first summer Games will take place in 2010 and the inaugural winter edition two years later. (Posted @ 18:05 PST)
Thai worker killed in attack on Myanmar dam site MAE SOT, Thailand, Sept 3(Reuters): A grenade attack on the site of a controversial hydropower dam in Myanmar's Karen State killed a Thai worker and prompted dozens to flee, a Thai army officer said on Monday. The camp was in a village in Karen State, where the Karen National Union (KNU) has waged a guerrilla war against the government since 1949. The KNU denied responsibility for the attack. (Posted @ 17:55 PST)
Thailand seeks 200 experts for first nuclear plant BANGKOK, Sept 3(AFP): Thailand is seeking some 200 nuclear experts as the kingdom aims to build its first atomic power plant over the next decade in a bid to cope with a looming power shortage. “It will take us 10 to 15 years to have the first nuclear power plant, and we need 200 nuclear experts to help us,” Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont told reporters on Monday. (Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Four dead, 13 seriously injured in Slovakia bus accident BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Sept 3(AP): A bus carrying members of a Slovak folk music group crashed 50 meters (60 yards) down a slope in central Slovakia, killing four people and seriously injuring 13, an official said on Monday.. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
N.Korea says U.S. to remove it from terrorism list SEOUL, Sept 3(Reuters): North Korea said on Monday the United States has agreed to remove it from its list of countries that support terrorism, a move long-sought by Pyongyang to better its status with the outside world. “The U.S. agreed to take political and economic compensation measures such as deleting our country from the list of terror supporting nations and fully lifting sanctions imposed under the law on trading with enemy countries,” its KCNA news agency reported a foreign ministry spokesman as saying. (Posted @ 14:55 PST)
11 Iraqis kidnapped near Baquba BAQUBA, Iraq, Sept 3(AFP): Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen ambushed a minibus near the Iraqi city of Baquba on Monday and kidnapped 11 passengers, police said. The bus was heading from Baghdad to Baquba, the capital of the province of Diyala, when it was stopped in an area called Al-Hashmiyat, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, an Iraqi lieutenant colonel told AFP. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
British PM defends Basra troop withdrawal LONDON, Sept 3(AFP): Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday defended the pullout of British troops from Basra Palace in Iraq, and stressed they stood ready to “reintervene” if the security situation demanded. He skirted a question on whether the withdrawal of some 500 troops from Britain's last remaining military base in the oil port of Basra amounted to a defeat for Britain, saying it had been planned well in advance. . (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Iranian troops kills three Kurdish rebels TEHRAN, Sept 3(Reuters): Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed three Kurdish rebels who entered Iran and seized their equipment, state television reported late on Sunday. It said the rebels were members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), adding that the Guards seized cameras used at night, satellite phones and weapons. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
Lebanese army hunts for fugitives after crushing militant group MOHAMMARA, Lebanon, Sept 3 (AP) - Lebanese soldiers fanned out along the Mediterranean coastline in northern Lebanon on Monday, hunting for fugitives a day after the army crushed the remnants of a militant group and ended a three-month siege at a Palestinian refugee camp. The army searched buildings and bushes for Fatah Islam fighters while patrol boats were out looking for bodies in the sea. Inside the camp, military sappers were combing devastated neighbourhoods, looking for booby traps, unexploded shells and mines. Some of the militants tried to sneak out through a tunnel, while another group tried to escape through a different path. Outside fighters arrived to help them, said security officials. Army quickly deployed reinforcements to the camp, just outside the port city of Tripoli, blocked surrounding roads and set fires to nearby fields to deny fleeing militants a hiding place. Helicopters provided aerial reconnaissance for the military inside the camp, and checkpoints were erected as far as Beirut and southern Lebanon. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Roadside bombs kill 7 Afghan security personnel KABUL, Sept 3 (AP) - Twin roadside bombs killed seven Afghan security personnel in the east of the country, while insurgents destroyed a convoy of trucks ferrying supplies for NATO-led troops, officials said Monday. The blasts in eastern Kunar province on Sunday destroyed two vehicles, killing four intelligence officers, one policemen and two private security guards, said governor’s spokesman Ajmal Mukhtarr. Also Sunday, militants attacked a 12-truck convoy carrying supplies for NATO-led troops in southern Zabul province, destroying all the vehicles and sparking a gunbattle that left one of the attackers dead, said Jailani Khan, a police official. (Posted @ 11:42 PST)
Bangladesh jails ex-premier Khaleda Zia on corruption charges DHAKA, Sept 3 (AP) - Authorities jailed former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Monday in a corruption case involving container terminal contracts. Police arrested Khalida Zia and her younger son, Arafat Rahman, after an anti-corruption official filed a case against them. A Dhaka court refused bail and sent her to jail pending trial, her lawyer told reporters .The son is to remain in police custody for seven days while investigators question him, the lawyer said. Another former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina _ has been detained since July on extortion charges. The two women head the country's two biggest parties. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Tennis- US Open: Venus, Serena cruise, pained Nadal advances NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Sisters Venus and Serena Williams served their way into the U.S. Open quarter-finals with impressive straight-sets victories Sunday. Venus never lost her serve during a 6-4 6-2 drubbing of Ana Ivanovic, while Serena stopped France's Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-4 by blasting 10 aces and landing 73 percent of her first serves. Top seed and world number one Justine Henin demolished 15th seed Dinara Safina 6-0 6-2 in just 59 minutes. On the men's side, second seed Rafael Nadal continued to suffer from nagging injuries to both knees but registered a 7-6 6-2 6-1 victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In the fourth round, Nadal will face compatriot David Ferrer who defeated Argentine David Nalbandian 6-3 3-6 4-6 7-6 7-5.Third seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia eased past Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 6-1 6-3 6-4.Other third-round winners included Stanislas Wawrinka, Juan Ignacio Chela, Carlos Moya and Juan Monaco. (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
Russia draws 'red line' on Kosovo, US missile defence: Lavrov MOSCOW, Sept 3 (AFP) - Russia will not back down on “red line” issues including Kosovo and its opposition to US plans for an anti-missile shield in central Europe, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. “There are so-called 'red line' issues for Russia,” Lavrov said in a speech at Moscow's main university for international relations. “There we cannot fail to react and we must stick to our position to the end.” (Posted @ 11:23 PST)
British troops withdraw from Basra city BASRA, Iraq, Sept 3 (AFP) - British troops have quit the city of Basra and handed control of their Basra Palace base to Iraqi troops, an Iraqi general said on Monday. “British troops began their withdrawal from Basra Palace at 11:00 pm (1900 GMT) last night,” said General Mohan Fahad, commander of Basra military operations. “The Iraqi army has now taken over responsibility and the area is off-limits. No one can approach except those who are authorised,” he told AFP. Farhad added that the Iraqi military will control the presidential palace compound until Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki decides its fate. “UK forces will now operate from their base at Basra Air Station, and will retain security responsibility for Basra until we hand over to provincial Iraqi control, which we anticipate in the autumn.” (Posted @ 11:20 PST)
Ten Colombian soldiers killed in firefight with guerrillas BOGOTA, Sept 3 (AFP) Ten Colombian soldiers were killed and five went missing during a shootout Sunday with leftist FARC guerrillas in the mountainous central part of the country, Army Commander Mario Montoya reported. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
New Japanese farm minister resigns over money scandal TOKYO, Sept 3 (AP) Japan's agriculture minister Takehiko Endo resigned Monday only a week after his appointment because of a scandal involving misuse of farm subsidies, the fourth Cabinet minister to step down in the past year. Endo admitted on Saturday that a farm cooperative he headed had received government subsidies by exaggerating weather damage to the 1999 grape harvest. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Fifteen drown in Guatemala after election rally GUATEMALA CITY, Sept 3 (Reuters) At least 15 people drowned in Guatemala on Sunday when a truck carrying them from an election rally was swept away when it tried to cross a river. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Fatah al-Islam chief among Lebanon siege dead NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon, Sept 3 (AFP) The head of Fatah al-Islam, Shaker al-Abssi, was killed on Sunday in fighting with the Lebanese army at a refugee camp and his body has been identified, an army officer told AFP. Lebanese minister for youth and sports Ahmad Fatfat told Al-Jazeera television, monitored in Dubai, that it appeared that Abssi had been killed in the siege. “But further confirmations are required, additional witnesses have been called, and DNA tests are being carried out in order to have a definite confirmation before an official statement is issued,” he said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 18.88,points: KARACHI, Sept 3:At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 12233.14 ,up 18.88,points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Sept 3: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.5 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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