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Senior policeman quits blast probe after Benazir’s objections KARACHI, Oct 24 (AP): A senior police official leading the probe into the suicide attack on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has withdrawn from the case because she objected to his credentials, a senior official said Wednesday. “The investigation team will be formed anew after Manzur Mughal disassociated himself from the investigation in view of the objections raised by Benazir Bhutto,” said Sindh Home Secretary Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem. (Posted @ 16:25 PST) Two soldiers killed in blast in North Waziristan MIRAM SHAH, Oct 24 (AFP): Two soldiers were killed and another two wounded on Wednesday in a roadside bomb blast near their convoy in North Waziristan close to the Afghan border, security officials said. The remote-controlled bomb exploded when the convoy was travelling into Miranshah, a security official said. (Posted @ 16:20 PST) Police detain dozens of women protesters in Indian occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Oct 24 (AP): Police detained at least 40 Muslim women on Wednesday during an anti-U.N. protest, officials said. The women were protesting against the failure by the United Nations to resolve the Kashmiri dispute. Police stopped them from approaching the U.N. Military Observer's office in Srinagar. A police officer said they were likely to be released later Wednesday. (Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Benazir delays Larkana visit LARKANA, Oct 24 (AFP): Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has delayed a planned visit to her ancestral home because of illness, sources in her party said Wednesday. “She is not feeling well and is staying at Bilawal House in Karachi. It is not yet known when she will go to Larkana,” a senior official of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) told AFP. (Posted @ 17:30 PST) Pakistan shifts Karachi ODI to Lahore MULTAN, Oct 24 (AP): The Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday shifted the fifth and final limited-overs cricket international against South Africa from Karachi to Lahore, a board official said. South Africa had expressed security concerns over playing the last match of the series after suicide bombs killed at least 136 people last Thursday. “The match has been shifted to Lahore after South Africans said they did not want to play in Karachi,” the board's chief operating officer, Shafqat Naghmi, told reporters. The match will now be played at the Gaddafi Stadium on Oct. 29. (Posted @ 20:30 PST) Pakistan probing Japanese hostage case ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (AFP): Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Wednesday investigations are underway into reports a Japanese student taken hostage in Iran has been moved across the border into the South Asian nation. He said he had no information to confirm if the reports were true, but Pakistani authorities were looking into them. (Posted @ 20:30 PST) India test fires nuclear-capable missile NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (AFP): India on Wednesday test fired its nuclear-capable Agni-1 ballistic missile in the eastern state of Orissa for the second time in less than a month and said the latest experiment was a “major success”. The Agni-1 has a range of 700 kilometres making it capable of striking at most targets in Pakistan. (Posted @ 20:45 PST) Two Palestinians killed in northern Gaza GAZA, Oct 24 (Reuters): Two young Palestinians were killed in an explosion in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medical officials said. Local witnesses said they believed the blast was caused by an Israeli missile. (Posted @ 21:35 PST) Storm kills four Mexican oil workers, shuts ports MEXICO CITY, Oct 24 (Reuters): A fierce storm killed four Mexican oil workers and helicopter rescue teams were searching on Wednesday for several still missing in rolling seas after they fled an offshore rig damaged by 25-foot waves. The bad weather shut Mexico's top three oil exporting ports in the crude-rich Gulf of Mexico for a second day, suspending most of the country's oil shipments to the United States. (Posted @ 21:30 PST) Iraq's Basra police chief escapes assassination bid BAGHDAD, Oct 24 (Reuters): The police chief of Basra said he escaped an assassination attempt on Wednesday by gunmen who opened fire at him from rooftops while he was getting into his car. Major-General Abdul-Jelil Khalaf told Reuters that one of his bodyguards was wounded in the attack at a bustling outdoor market in the centre of Basra. (Posted @ 20:45 PST) 'Chessboard killer' found guilty of 48 murders MOSCOW, Oct 24 (AFP): A Moscow court on Wednesday found “chessboard killer” Alexander Pichushkin guilty of 48 murders and three attempted murders after 10 weeks of grisly testimony. Pichushkin, 33, remained calm as the verdict was read, his eyes fixed on the floor of the defendant's glass cage. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) 'New, constructive ideas' in Iran nuclear talks: Larijani ROME, Oct 24 (AFP): Iran's former nuclear point man Ali Larijani said Wednesday that “new and constructive ideas” had emerged during talks in Rome on the crisis surrounding Tehran's contested nuclear programme. “In the last part of the talks today, new and constructive ideas were advanced that could lead to later progress,” Larijani told reporters following talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Saeed Jalili, who was appointed to replace Larijani as Iran's chief nuclear negotiator on Sunday, did not speak at the news conference. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) Iran “perhaps single greatest” security risk to US: Rice WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (AFP): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice singled out Iran Wednesday as “perhaps the single greatest challenge” to US security but stressed that diplomacy was the preferred way to end its nuclear drive. In testimony to Congress, Rice said “serious consequences” would include a third round of sanctions from the United Nations Security Council to punish Iran's refusal to renounce uranium enrichment. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) Top junta member Thein Sein becomes Myanmar PM YANGON, Oct 24 (AFP): Myanmar's Lieutenant General Thein Sein has officially been declared prime minister of the isolated country following the former premier's death earlier this month, state media said Wednesday. Thein Sein, who ranks fifth in the military junta, had already taken over as acting premier from Myanmar's ailing General Soe Win, who relinquished his post in May and died October 12. (Posted @ 20:30 PST) Egyptian police detain 13 Brotherhood students CAIRO, Oct 24 (Reuters): The Egyptian authorities detained 13 students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, after clashes with security men at a university campus on Wednesday, Brotherhood sources said. They were protesting against alleged vote rigging in student elections at Cairo's Ain Shams University on Monday. The students had gathered in front of university offices to collect signatures and read out a prepared statement when security men in plain clothes attacked them, Brotherhood students said. (Posted @ 20:25 PST) France to send military trainers to southern Afghanistan NOORDWIJK, Netherlands, Oct 24 (AFP): France will for the first time send dozens of military trainers to the volatile south of Afghanistan, a French defence ministry official said ON Wednesday. The trainers, expected to total around 50, will be embedded with fledgling Afghan army troops in the southern province of Oruzgan, where some 1,500 Dutch troops are based. (Posted @ 19:45 PST)
Iraq, Afghan wars could cost US $2.4 trillion: report WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (AFP): The total cost, including debt servicing, of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach $2.4 trillion by 2017, a report by the Congressional Budget Office found on Wednesday. The report said higher estimat s for total spending for the wars could top out at $1.7 trillion by 2017. Under the most intense scenarios of US military activity, a further $705 billion could be added to the cost by interest payments, the report said. (Posted @ 19:45 PST) Egyptian police seize 450 kg explosives near Gaza EL ARISH, Egypt, Oct 24 (Reuters): Egyptian police seized 450 kgs of explosives they suspect were going to be smuggled to the Gaza Strip, a security official said on Wednesday. Police found the explosives in 15 plastic bags hidden in a storehouse in the Abu Shinar region near the Gaza border, the source said. No one was arrested. (Posted @ 19:40 PST) Serbia seizes huge heroin haul on Bulgarian border BELGRADE, Oct 24 (AFP): In one of its largest hauls in a decade, Serbian customs officials seized 163 kilograms (360 pounds) of heroin at a border crossing with Bulgaria, Tanjug news agency said on Wednesday. The drugs were found in a secret compartment of a truck heading for deliveries in Austria, France and the Netherlands. (Posted @ 19:30 PST) Afghan governor survives suicide raid, three hurt KHOST, Oct 24 The governor of Khost province survived a suicide attack on his convoy on Wednesday, officials said. Three people, including a bodyguard were wounded in the raid which happened on a road in a district of the province close to the border with Pakistan. Minutes after the attack, the governor speaking to Reuters said, “I was in another car. The car bomber hit a vehicle ahead of me. I am fine.” (Posted @ 19:05 PST)
Sri Lanka says 11 rebels killed in clashes COLOMBO, Oct 24 (Reuters): The Sri Lanka air force bombed a Tamil Tiger training base on Wednesday while government soldiers killed 11 Tiger rebels in a series of clashes in the island's north the previous day, the military said. One soldier also died, the military said. The military said troops fought four separate engagements with rebel fighters in the northern district of Vavuniya late on Tuesday. (Posted @ 18:15 PST) Israeli soldier wounded in West Bank JERUSALEM, Oct 24 (AFP): An Israeli soldier was wounded in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday as he waited at a bus stop in the West Bank near a Jewish settlement, Israeli radio and police sources said. (Posted @ 17:30 PST) Jerusalem church torched, fittings damaged JERUSALEM, Oct 24 (Reuters): Fire damaged chairs and other fittings at an American-run church in Jerusalem on Wednesday in what Israeli police said was an arson attack. Militant Jews burned the institution to the ground in 1982 and a firebomb damaged its bookstore some years ago. “We don't know who did this,” local church official Joe Broom told Reuters at the Narkis Street Baptist Church, in the Jewish west of the city, where fire crews put out the blaze late on Tuesday. (Posted @ 17:05 PST) Iraq revokes security contractors' immunity BAGHDAD, Oct 24 (AFP): The Iraqi government announced on Wednesday that it has decided to formally revoke the immunity from prosecution granted to private security companies operating in the war-ravaged country. “The cabinet held a meeting yesterday and decided to scrap the article pertaining to security companies operating in Iraq that was issued by the CPA (Coalition Provision Authority) in 2004,” a government spokesman said in a statement. (Posted @ 16:55 PST)
India jails 31 for life over 1998 blasts COIMBATORE, India, Oct 24 (AFP): An Indian court sentenced 31 people to life in prison on Wednesday for carrying out serial blasts aimed at a top politician that killed almost 60 in southern India a decade ago. Nineteen blasts rocked Coimbatore on February 14, 1998, as then home minister Lal Krishna Advani arrived to campaign in support of his ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (Posted @ 16:45 PST) Turkish planes, army bombs Kurdish rebel targets ANKARA, Oct 24 (AFP): Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets along the Iraqi border in southeast Turkey, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday. Earlier Turkish artillery units shelled suspected Kurdish positions across the border in Iraq, a govt official said. He declined to identify which areas were targeted. (First Posted @ 14:20 PST Updated @ 18:40 PST) NATO defence ministers start talks on Afghanistan NOORDWIJK, Netherlands, Oct 24 (AFP): NATO defence ministers began informal talks in the Netherlands on Wednesday focused on drumming up reinforcements for insurgency-hit Afghanistan. “Our top priority today is our operation in Afghanistan,” Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told ministers from the 26 NATO countries, at the start of a two-day informal meeting in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. (First Posted @ 16:40 PST Updated @ 18:40 PST) 54 miners rescued from Australian gold mine CANBERRA, Oct 24 (AP): Fifty-four miners who spent nearly eight hours trapped underground by a fire in an Australian gold mine on Wednesday have been rescued, the mining company said. “Everyone has been brought to the surface, with the last 16 evacuated by 1020 GMT. No one was injured in the incident. (Posted @ 16:35 PST) 10 Indian policemen sentenced to life for mistaken killings NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (AP): An Indian court sentenced 10 policemen on Wednesday to life in prison for the deaths of two businessmen killed in a hail of bullets in New Delhi more than a decade ago, officials said. Prosecutors said police shot 38 times at Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh as they drove through the Indian capital's upscale Connaught Place shopping area in March 1997, mistaking them for gangsters they were chasing. (Posted @ 16:35 PST) Danish PM calls snap election for Nov 13 COPENHAGEN, Oct 24 (Reuters): Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called a general election for November 13 on Wednesday, launching a long-anticipated campaign after solid support in polls, a healthy economy and record-low unemployment. He did not have to call a vote before early 2009. (Posted @ 16:35 PST) 58 endangered falcons shot in Cyprus NICOSIA, Oct 24 (Reuters): Fifty-eight endangered red-footed falcons were shot dead in Cyprus, a wildlife conservationist group said on Wednesday.The birds had probably been shot as target practice, Birdlife International's Martin Hellicar said. “This is ecological vandalism in its worst form,” he said. “These birds are classified as globally near-threatened. That is as endangered as things get.” (Posted @ 16:15 PST) Cricket: Asif set for rest ahead of India tour MULTAN, Oct 24 (Reuters): Leading paceman Mohammad Asif is unlikely to play in the last two one-day internationals against South Africa as the national selectors are keen to give him a proper rest before next month's tour of India. “He is not certain to play in the last two games because we need him in India for the tests and one-day internationals,” chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed told Reuters on Wednesday. (Posted @ 16:15 PST) Polish PM Kaczynski says to resign on Nov 5 WARSAW, Oct 24 (Reuters): Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Wednesday he would resign on November 5. He lost a parliamentary election, allowing centre-right opposition leader Donald Tusk to succeed him. The new parliament has its first sitting on Nov. 5. “I see no reason to resign before Nov. 5. It is my constitutional obligation to resign on Nov. 5,” Kaczynski told a news conference. (Posted @ 14:50 PST) France seals nuclear deal with Morocco-Sarkozy MARRAKESH, Oct 24 (Reuters): France will help Morocco build a civil nuclear energy industry to underpin its development, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on a visit to the north African country. Morocco, with a population of 33 million, lacks energy reserves and has sought for years to build nuclear power stations to provide enough electricity to feed industrial growth and rising living standards. (Posted @ 14:40 PST) Iranian nuclear negotiator to meet Prodi in Rome ROME, Oct 24 (AP): Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, will meet Italian Premier Romano Prodi Wednesday for a second day of talks on Tehran's nuclear dossier. Jalili accompanied by his predecessor, Ali Larijani, met Tuesday with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Rome. The talks were Jalili's first since his appointment over the weekend. (Posted @ 14:35 PST) Philippine forces capture militant suspected of beheading marines MANILA, Oct 24 (AP): Philippine police and troops have captured a suspected militant accused of beheading 10 marines in an ambush in July, officials said on Wednesday. The man was arrested on October 16 in Tipo-Tipo township on southern Basilan island, where U.S.-backed troops have been pursuing al-Qaida-linked militants. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Saudi Arabia invites Somali leaders for mediation BAIDOA, Somalia, Oct 24 (Reuters): Saudi Arabia has invited Somalia's top leaders to the kingdom for mediation talks on how to heal that country's government rift, a spokesman to the Somali prime minister said on Wednesday. The invitation comes ahead of a debate among the country's lawmakers over when Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi's 30-month mandate should expire. (Posted @ 14:20 PST) Iran FM offers to resign: MPs TEHRAN, Oct 24 (AFP): Two prominent members of the Iranian parliament said Wednesday that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has tendered his resignation to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ISNA news agency reported. “Based on what we have heard, last night Mottaki presented the president with his resignation,” said Kazem Jalali, the spokesman for parliament's national security and foreign policy commission. His comments were echoed by Reza Talaie Nik, a fellow member of the commission. The foreign ministry declined to comment. (Posted @ 13:10 PST) Pakistan deploys 2,000 soldiers to Swat valley ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (AFP): Pakistan has deployed more than 2,000 troops to a troubled northwestern district to bolster efforts to stem rising violence linked to pro-Taliban militants, a senior official said Wednesday. Paramilitary troops erected barricades and checkposts in Swat valley, the official said. “We have deployed a little over 2,000 troops to assist police and civil administration in the district,” top military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. Arshad said the deployment was to tackle threats to law and order by Tahreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) gangs operating in the area. “It is not a military operation and the exercise is aimed at improving the law and order situation,” he said. Four paramilitary soldiers were injured late Tuesday when a roadside bomb planted by militants ripped through their convoy at Chakdara town in Swat, Arshad said. (Posted @ 13:05 PST) More rebels said killed in new Afghan fighting KABUL, Oct 24 (AFP): Several militants were killed in a new burst of fighting near Kabul, while the Taliban killed an Afghan man because he worked for the US-led coalition, officials said Wednesday. The new fighting in Wardak province, which adjoins Kabul, follows heavy battles there Monday that the Afghan army said killed between 12 and 20 militants but a local official said left 13 civilians dead. (Posted @ 13:05 PST) President of Iraqi Kurdish region urges end to rebellion ARBIL, Iraq, Oct 24 (AFP): The president of Iraq's northern Kurdish region on Wednesday urged the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to end its more than two-decade armed struggle against Turkey. “We call upon the PKK to eliminate violence and armed struggle as a mode of operation,” said a four-point statement issued by the office of Massud Barzani, president of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. “We do not accept in any way, based on our commitment to the Iraqi constitution, the use of Iraqi territories, including the territories of the Kurdistan region, as a base to threaten the security of neighbouring countries.” (Posted @ 12:25 PST) Pakistan police 'not received' Benazir threat letter KARACHI, Oct 24 (AFP): Police said Wednesday they have not yet received a letter containing a death threat supposedly from a “friend of Al-Qaeda” against former premier Benazir Bhutto. Benazir said late Tuesday extremists were trying to derail Pakistan's return to democracy after her lawyer received the letter threatening to kill the ex-premier “anywhere we get the opportunity.” The letter, written in Urdu, was signed by the “head of the suicide bombers and a friend of Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.” Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi said Bhutto's aides had not yet passed on the letter, making it difficult for investigators probing the blast to determine whether the threat was real. “We have learnt through the media that they have received a threatening letter. It is information, not a piece of intelligence,” he told AFP. “We will be in a position to pursue it once they share the information with us officially about the latest threat,” he said. (Posted @ 11:55 PST) Hungary opposition holds large, peaceful rally on 1956 revolution anniversary BUDAPEST, Oct 24 (AP): Tens of thousands of people attended a rally by Fidesz, Hungary's main centre-right opposition party, on Tuesday, the 61st anniversary of the start of the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution. The meeting came a day after violent clashes between police and far-right anti-government protesters in which 19 people were injured, including 14 police officers and three press photographers. (Posted @ 11:35 PST) Two bombs kill eight near Baghdad BAGHDAD, Oct 24 (AFP): Insurgents in Iraq set off two coordinated roadside bombs Wednesday on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, killing eight people, security officials and medics told AFP. At least 22 people were also wounded in the explosions at around 7:00 am in Jisr Diyala, a suburb on the southern outskirts of the capital, a security official said. “The first bomb went off beside a crowd of daily labourers who had gathered to seek jobs, and the second one exploded a few minutes later when police arrived to investigate the earlier blast,” the official said. (Posted @ 11:30 PST) Bomb near military convoy wounds four troops in northwestern Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 24 (AP): A remote-controlled bomb exploded near a military convoy in northwestern Pakistan early Wednesday, wounding four troops, an official said. The convoy was targeted near the town of Chakdarra as it headed to Swat in the North West Frontier Province, local security official Noor Ali said. Four troops from the Frontier Corps paramilitary force were wounded and a pickup truck they were driving was damaged in the explosion, Ali said. Security forces blocked off roads leading to scene of the bombing and a search for suspected attackers has been launched, he said. (Posted @ 10:30 PST) Huge fire devastates occupied Kashmir village, injures at least 100 JAMMU, occupied Kashmir, Oct 24 (AP): A huge fire destroyed a remote mountainous village in occupied Kashmir, devastating 160 wooden homes and injuring nearly 100 people, an official said Wednesday. Police believe that bonfires used by local residents to keep themselves warm in chilly weather caused the devastation Monday night in Margi, a village 250 kilometres north of Jammu, said Shahid Inayatullah, the deputy commissioner. All the 350 families in the village lost their homes, Inayatullah said, adding that ''one hundred and sixty houses, one mosque, one school and nearly 60 cattle sheds were gutted (by the fire).” (Posted @ 10:10 PST) Two more Colombian candidates killed before vote BOGOTA, Oct 24 (Reuters): Two more candidates were killed in Colombia Tuesday before nationwide local elections this weekend, shot by suspected leftist guerrillas as they campaigned in a rural hamlet. Gunmen opened fire on mayoral candidate Gratiniano Murcia and assembly candidate Carmen Liliana Polania as they left a meeting in Caqueta province. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Sarkozy announces nuclear cooperation with Morocco MARRAKESH, Morocco, Oct 24 (AFP): French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Tuesday that France and Morocco had decided to cooperate on civil nuclear energy. “We have decided to launch a new project, that is civil nuclear energy,” Sarkozy said at a state dinner held in his honour by Morocco's King Mohammed VI at the royal palace in Marrakesh. “The energy of the future is not something that should be the exclusive possession of more developed countries and international conventions should be respected everywhere,” said Sarkozy. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Venezuela police clash with students protesting constitutional reforms CARACAS, Oct 24 (AFP): Police hurled teargas at bottle-throwing students in Caracas Tuesday as thousands of people protested planned constitutional changes that would boost leftist President Hugo Chavez's powers. Demonstrators also clashed with Chavez’s supporters who sported red T-shirts emblematic of the Venezuelan leader. Chanting “reform, no; democracy, yes,” the demonstrators, mostly university students, protested the proposed reforms Chavez says will speed up Venezuela's transition to socialism. Hundreds of riot police and National Guard members kept the march two blocks away from the National Assembly, but eight of the demonstrators were escorted into the building, where they held talks with some lawmakers. (Posted @ 09:30 PST) Second blast in Russia’s Dagestan region, two wounded MAKHACHKALA, Russia, Oct 24 (Reuters): A roadside bomb injured two people in Russia's Dagestan region late Tuesday, local media reported. Itar-Tass news agency said a taxi was caught in a powerful blast as it drove through Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. The taxi driver was slightly hurt but his female passenger was in serious condition, the agency quoted the police as saying. Police said they believed the blast was caused by a bomb concealed in a rubbish bin. (Posted @ 08:50 PST) Earthquake hits western Indonesia, no casualties JAKARTA, Oct 24 (Reuters): A strong earthquake struck western Indonesia in the Mentawi islands off Sumatra Wednesday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, a meteorology official said. The magnitude 6.0 quake struck just before 3 a.m. at a depth of 35 km, with its epicentre 125 km southwest of the town of Padang, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Indonesian meteorological and geophysics centre put the quake at 6.1 on the Richter scale and at a shallower depth of 20 km. (Posted @ 08:50 PST) Karachi Stocks down 265.57, points: KARACHI, Oct 24:At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 14260.95,down 265.57, points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 13:00 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, Oct 24: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 60.65, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 13:00 PST)
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