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| November 10, 2007 | Saturday | Shawwal 28, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Satellite Parameters for DAWN NEWS Satellite: Intelsat 10, Band -C Downlink Frequency: 4126.05 Mhz Symbol rate: 3255 Kbps FEC: 3/4 Polarization: Horizontal |
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Decision on emergency, in best interest of country: Musharraf RAWALPINDI, Nov 10 (APP): President General Pervez Musharraf Saturday said proclamation of emergency was taken in the best interest of the country to ensure effective governance, maintain impetus to root out terrorism and to ensure stable political transition. Chairing the 103rd Corps Commanders Conference he said it will be ensured that no effort was spared to eradicate extremism and militancy from the country. “All necessary steps shall be taken to hold free and fair elections as early as possible,” a press release from the Inter Services Public Relations quoted the President as saying. Participants were also given a comprehensive briefing on the prevalent security environment, around the country with a special focus on Swat and the Tribal Areas. He said Army was performing a very critical and important task as part of its national effort in combating extremism and terrorism. “It is imperative that we succeed, for the future and prosperity of our country,” the President said. (Posted @ 19:22 PST)
Iran, Pakistan finalise gas pipeline contract TEHRAN, Nov 10 (AFP) - Iran and Pakistan have finalised a contract for a multi-billion-dollar gas export deal scheduled to be signed within a month, the Iranian oil ministry's news service Shana reported on Saturday. “The content of the Peace Pipeline contract has been finalised and all the points prepared by the two sides' legal experts have been re-read and agreed by the two sides,” Iran's deputy minister in charge of the project, Hojatollah Ghanimifard, was quoted as saying. “The remaining points which are technical issues... must be studied within a month to make the contract ready for the simultaneous signing by the heads of the two countries,” Ghanimifard said. “The conditions of a contract with India will be exactly the same as with Pakistan. If the Indians are not too late, based on the current market conditions, the price terms will not change,” Ghanimifard said. The project is slated to be commissioned by the end of 2013. (First Posted @ 14:45 PST Updated @ 19:36 PST)
Pakistan to expel three British daily reporters ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (AFP) - Pakistan's government on Saturday ordered three journalists namely Isambard Wilkinson, Collin Freeman and Daniel Macelroy, for Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper to leave the country because of its “foul and abusive language” against its leadership. They have been told to leave within 72 hours, deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said. “They used foul and abusive language against Pakistan and its leadership in an editorial published on November 9,” he said. Contacted in London, the paper said it was not immediately able to comment. “We are urgently looking into it,” British High Commission spokeswoman Laura Davies said in Islamabad. (First Posted @ 19:48 PST Updated @ 21:22 PST)
Chief Justice chairs National Judicial (Policymaking) Committee meeting ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 PPI: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Saturday chaired a meeting of National Judicial (Policymaking) Committee which resolved to make efforts on priority basis to resolve problems faced by litigant public, particularly those faced in production of under-trial prisoners before courts at remand and trial stage. It was noted that in recent past many new districts had been created, but adequate provision for construction of jails and transport had not been made. In some cities, jails had been constructed far away from courts premises. Consequently, police authorities have often not been able to produce prisoners at proper time. It asked federal, provincial governments to initiate construction of jails near court premises in all districts, tehsils to ensure production of prisoners on fixed date and time. The meeting decided video conferencing system for courts in every district, and tehsil. Through this system, an accused is not required to be produced before court and concerned judicial officer may interact with the accused as well as police officials in judicial lockups and pass orders on applications for remand. This system is successfully working in some cities of Punjab province. (Posted @ 20:22 PST)
Iftikhar Chauhdry still the chief Justice:Benazir ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP/AFP): Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is still the Chief Justice of Pakistan and he has been put under illegal detention after unconstitutional suspension, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto claimed on Saturday. Addressing party workers outside the residence of former Chief Justice , she said “PPP understands that Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry is the Chief Justice and he was suspended after imposing emergency that is an unconstitutional step.” “I came here to meet justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry but the administration has not allowed me to see him,” Benazir said. Police placed two trucks on the road to block Benazir Bhutto’s path. “It is no crime to see him”, she said over the megaphone to policemen guarding the house of justice Chaudhry. ( First Posted @ 16:28 PST Updated @ 21:10 PST)
Benazir addresses jounalists’ protest ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (AFP): Former premier Benazir Bhutto addressed a protest by journalists against emergency rule, an AFP reporter said. “I have come here to express solidarity with you. I condemn these curbs. We believe in freedom of expression. My fight is also for this,” she said. “The war against dictatorship will continue, we are for freedom, we are with the media.” Benazir told the crowd using a microphone. Her appearance at the rally in central Islamabad was a surprise, pulling up in her bulletproof car before getting out to address around 200 media workers. Bhutto also reaffirmed her pledge to lead a protest march on Tuesday from Lahore to Islamabad. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Emergency to end in a month, says official ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (AP): Pakistan will lift the state of emergency within one month, a senior government official said Saturday, amid sharp U.S. criticism of President General Pervez Musharraf's step back from democracy. The government's top lawyer Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview the state of emergency would be short-lived. “The state of emergency will end within one month,” he said but provided no further details and would not say when a formal announcement might come. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)
Cricket: NZ struggle to avert defeat against S. Africa JOHANNESBURG, Nov 10 (AFP) - New Zealand, set 531 to win, were 57 for three at stumps on the third day of the first Test against South Africa here Saturday: Scores: South Africa, first innings, 226; New Zealand, first innings, 118; South Africa, second innings 422 for three dec; New Zealand second innings 57 for three. (Posted @ 22:28 PST)
Shamim inaugurates five bridges destroyed in earthquake ISLAMABAD, Nov 10 (APP):Pakistan Minister for Communications, Shamim Siddiqui Saturday performed the opening ceremony of five bridges on Muzaffarabad - Chakhoti road in Azad Kashmir, which were destroyed in the devastating earthquake. These bridges have been built by the Japanese engineers in just fifteen months. (Posted @ 21:06 PST)
Mausoleum of Yasser Arafat unveiled in Ramallah RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 10 (AP) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas unveiled a $1.75 million mausoleum for Yasser Arafat on Saturday, in a pomp-filled ceremony that helped him draw on the continued popularity of his iconic predecessor as he headed into peace talks with Israel. The mausoleum, made of glass and beige Jerusalem stone, is surrounded on three sides by water, and a piece of rail track is entombed underneath Arafat's grave. The water and piece of track are meant to symbolize the temporary nature of the grave, officials said, with Palestinians planning to rebury their leader one day in Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital. (Posted @ 20:02 PST)
3 Germans killed in plane’s emergency landing in Australia DARWIN, Australia, Nov 10 (AP) - A light aircraft crashed while trying to make an emergency landing on a highway in Australia's remote Outback on Saturday, killing all three Germans on board, police and witnesses said. (Posted @ 19:58 PST)
U.S. writer Norman Mailer dies aged 84 WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Norman Mailer, the pugnacious two-times Pulitzer Prize winner who was a dominating presence on the U.S. literary scene across seven decades, died on Saturday of kidney failure, his family said. Mailer, 84, had undergone lung surgery in October. (Posted @ 19:38 PST)
Pak-Afghan border closed, reopenes against reactivation of BMS CHAMAN, Pakistan, Nov 10 (APP)- Afghan border security forces sealed border with Pakistan at Chaman against reactivation of Biometric System, FC spokesman Major Irfan told APP Saturday. The border remained closed for more than five hours and was reopened after FC Col. Masood held negotiations with Afghan officials. The Biometric System is meant to check illegal movement from Chaman border. “More than 10,000 border passes have been issued to traders and people who frequently cross the border”, a NADRA system engineer working on BMS told APP. (Posted @ 19:18 PST)
4 killed, 3 injured in traffc mishaps in Pakistan’s Jhang town JHANG, Pakistan, Nov 10-(PPI): Four persons were killed and three injured in bus-truck collision on Jhang-Multan Road near Badhuana Saturday morning. (Posted @ 17:46 PST)
At least 32 die in gun battle near Iraq's Samarra BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed in clashes between al Qaeda gunmen and a rival insurgent group in the villages al-Julam and Benat al-Hassan near the city of Samarra, a police source and villagers said on Saturday. Gun battles between al Qaeda and the Islamic Army, a Sunni Arab nationalist group, broke out late on Friday and ended early on Saturday with 17 al Qaeda fighters killed besides 15 Islamic Army fighters and villagers. Another 18 al Qaeda fighters, some of them wounded, were captured. (Posted @ 17:32 PST)
Fighting rages in occupied Kashmir as hotel siege enters third day SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Nov 10 (AFP) - Fierce fighting continued for a third straight day Saturday between troops and two militants holed up in a four-storey hotel in Sopore since late Thursday, seeking refuge. Police immediately ringed the hotel and evacuated civilians inside. “We have entered the building,” a police official said, adding six policemen had been wounded in the fighting. (Posted @ 17:14 PST)
Lebanon postpones presidential vote to Nov 21 BEIRUT, Nov 10 (AFP) - The Lebanese parliament has postponed until November 21 the election of the country's next president, the parliament's secretariat announced Saturday. (Posted @ 17:08 PST)
Four Muslims shot dead in Thai south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Nov 10 (AFP) - Suspected separatists shot dead four Muslims in different incidents in restive southern Thailand overnight, police said Saturday. (Posted @ 16:28 PST)
Seven killed in Iraq attacks BAGHDAD, Nov 10 (AFP) - At least seven people were killed on Saturday in Iraq, a day after a suicide bombing claimed the lives of four tribal leaders fighting Al-Qaeda, security officials said Four civilians were killed when a roadside bomb struck their bus in the city of Mosul. Another six people, including a woman and her daughter, were wounded. Two people were killed and seven injured in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, while a street vendor walking on a road in the city of Baquba was shot dead by unknown gunmen, security officials said. The early morning bombing in Baghdad was aimed at police but instead hit a minibus, an official said. (Posted @ 16:24 PST)
24 killed in Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, Nov 10 (Reuters): Sri Lankan troops killed 23 Tamil Tiger rebels in clashes in the north of the island, while a soldier was also killed in the fighting, a military spokesman said on Saturday. The clashes, in the northern district of Vavuniya and northwestern district of Mannar on Friday, were the latest engagements in a a renewed civil war between government forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters. (First Posted @ 10:25 PST Updated @ 15:40 PST)
Stagehands' strike darkens most of Broadway NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters): A strike by Broadway stagehands will shutter the majority of Broadway shows starting Saturday, theater owners and producers said. “Due to a strike by Local One ... there will be no performances today at many Broadway theaters,” the League of American Theaters and Producers said early on Saturday on its Web site, www.livebroadway.com. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
6 US, 3 Afghan soldiers killed, 8 wounded in Afghanistan KABUL, Novv 10 (AP): Six U.S. troops and three Afghan soldiers died when insurgents ambushed their foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan, one of the deadliest attacks on American forces this year, officials said Saturday. The troops were returning from a meeting with village elders on Friday afternoon in Nuristan province when militants attacked them, said a military spokesman. Eight more Americans and 11 Afghans were wounded. The 14 total U.S. casualties was the highest number of killed and wounded in fighting in Afghanistan this year. (First Posted @ 11:55 PST, Updated @ 13:00 PST)
Four anti –Al-Qaeda tribal leaders killed in Iraq BAQUBA, Nov 10 (AFP): A suicide bomber exploded his vest inside a house in central Iraq, killing four tribal leaders spearheading the fight against Al-Qaeda in Diyala province, police and the US military said Saturday. The attack took place Friday evening in the home of Sheikh Taha al-Obeidi in the village of Dojemah, near the town of Khalis about 50 kilometres north of Baghdad. In Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a minibus early Saturday in Baladiyat, east of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, killing at least two people, police said. The bomb was likely aimed at a passing police patrol, an officer said. Seven other people were wounded in the blast. (First Posted @ 11:05 PST, Updated @ 12:30 PST)
Bolton urges full US support for Musharraf UNITED NATIONS:Former US envoy to the UN, John Bolton, on Friday questioned the need for elections in Pakistan and urged full support for General Pervez Musharraf as the “best hope” for keeping the country's nuclear weapons secure. Bolton told reporters here. “I think the answer is to support Musharraf.” He suggested US President George Bush's administration has “contributed to some of the (current) instability (in Pakistan) by implying less than robust support of Musharraf.”(Posted @ 09:40 PST)
US lawmakers’ bill backs UN membership for Taiwan WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (AFP): Nineteen US lawmakers introduced a bill in the House of Representatives backing UN membership for Taiwan, a move that could anger China. It was introduced on Thursday at the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 18 Republican legislators and one Democrat. The move was led by New Jersey Republican Representative Scott Garrett. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Bush, Merkel hold talks on Iran, Afghanistan CRAWFORD, Texas, Nov 10 (AFP): US President George W. Bush welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to his Texas ranch Friday for two-day talks on issues like Iran and Afghanistan. Bush said he hoped for constructive talks as well as a chance to relax. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to be on hand Saturday to discuss the Middle East peace process, as well as efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, Kosovo's future, pressure on Myanmar, and Lebanon's political crisis. Ahead of the talks, US officials downplayed fissures between the allies on the US hard line toward Iran and Germany's restrictions on its troops in Afghanistan. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
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