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| December 03, 2007 | Monday | Ziqa’ad 22, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Sharif presses Bhutto on boycott of Pakistan election ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec 3, (AP) - Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif began a last-ditch effort Monday to persuade Benazir Bhutto to jointly boycott Pakistan's crucial parliamentary elections but he suggested his party was ready to contest the vote if he fails. It was the first meeting between the two since both returned from exile in recent weeks. The talks came hours after an election official rejected Sharif's own candidacy for the Jan. 8 vote, a decision that could deprive him of the chance to become prime minister for a third time. Bhutto reiterated Monday that she thought all opposition parties should take part in the elections despite concerns they will not be free and fair, rather than leave the field open to supporters of President Pervez Musharraf. (First Posted @ 21:48 PST Updated @ 23:24 PST)
Pakistani Election Commission bars Nawaz Sharif from poll LAHORE, Pakistan, Dec 3 (Reuters) Pakistan's Election Commission Monday barred former prime minister and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from a January 8 general election because of past criminal convictions. “His nomination papers are rejected because of his convictions,” presiding election official Raja Qamaruzaman told Reuters in Lahore. (First Posted @ 15:10 PST Updated @ 16:38 PST)
Bomb inside madrassa in Pakistan’s Quetta kills six QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 3 (AP) - A bomb exploded inside a madrassa in Qilla Saifullah, a town about 140 kilometres north of Quetta Monday, killing six people and wounding four others, officials said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
47 parties apply for election symbols, allocation on Dec 09 ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (APP): Forty-seven parties have applied for allocation of election symbols for the January 8, 2008 polls, the Election Commission of Pakistan said Monday. The ECP will meet on December 9 to decide allocation of symbols and has invited only one representative of each political partyto attend the meeting. (Posted @ 20:18 PST)
Woman killed in first Pakistan vote clash: police PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 3 (AFP) - A woman was killed and three political activists injured in the first violence to blight campaigning for Pakistan's January 8 general election, police said Monday. The clash occured late Sunday in Peshawar city between workers from former premier Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and supporters of the Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party, they said. The rival groups started shouting slogans at each other during a doorstep campaign in a middle-class neighbourhood of the city, which led to scuffles and the arrest of a Bhutto supporter. “The two groups then traded fire in which a woman passer-by was killed and three PPP workers wounded,” police said.Benazir Bhutto launched her election campaign in Peshawar at the weekend. (Posted @ 12:40 PST)
Iftikhar Chaudhry's stand can give dignity to country: Imran Khan ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (PPI) - Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Imran Khan has said that the stand of suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry can give dignity to the country. He added that the persons who will take part in the upcoming election will commit treason. Speaking in a radio programme, he said the APDM has decided to boycott the elections if the judges are not reinstated and PCO is not withdrawn. ''PTI has a very clear stand that the decision to impose emergency and promulgate the PCO are extra constitutional steps. The seven judges of the Supreme Court under arrest are still legal judges of the court. The judges who have taken oath under the PCO are unconstitutional and not the judges of the Supreme Court but of Pervez Musharraf '', he said. Imran Khan said Benazir Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rehman are not saying anything about reinstatement of the judges. We should be aware of the fact that the military dictator, his collaborators and corrupt politicians do not want independent judiciary in the country, Khan further said. He said the position of Mian Nawaz Sharif is very clear. He has made no deal with the government and is fully focusing on the reinstatement of the judges. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)
Iran halted nuclear weapons program in 2003: US report WASHINGTON, Dec 3, (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence has determined that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 but believes it is continuing to develop technical capabilities that could be used for building a bomb, a government report said on Monday. (Posted @ 23:18 PST)
World's first permanent artificial heart patient dies LONDON, Dec 3, (AFP) - A Briton who was given the world's first permanent artificial heart has died, seven years after the ground-breaking operation, a friend said Monday. (Posted @ 23:10 PST)
Russian jailed for selling China missile secrets MOSCOW, Dec 3, (REUTERS) - The former head of a Russian space research firm was jailed on Monday for selling China secret technology for the creation of missile delivery systems. A Moscow court sentenced Igor Reshetin, former head of the TsNIIMASH-Export firm, to 11-1/2 years in jail for selling classified technology to China. (Posted @ 22:48 PST)
Suicide bomber kills 4, wounds 6 in Afghanistan HERAT, Afghanistan, Dec 3, (REUTERS) - A suicide bomber killed four Afghans including two policemen and wounded six others in Afghanistan's western province of Nimroz on Monday, a provincial police official said. (Posted @ 22:18 PST)
US Defence Secretary on surprise visit to Afghanistan KABUL, Dec 3, (AFP) - US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates arrived on Monday night in Kabul for a surprise visit to Afghanistan, an AFP reporter witnessed. Gates, on his third trip to Afghanistan since he took over as head of the Pentagon at last year, will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday, as well as with the commanders of US forces and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. (Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Egypt detains 13 Muslim Brotherhood members CAIRO, Dec 3 (AFP): Egypt Monday detained 13 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a security source said, in a continued clampdown which the group says is aimed at preventing members from running in municipal elections. “Security forces have arrested 13 members of the group while they were holding a meeting in the city of Sohag to prepare for the April 2008 municipal elections,” the source said. (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Pregnant Iraqi woman, Africans immigrants attacked in Germany BERLIN, Dec 3 (Reuters): A pregnant Iraqi woman and a group of African immigrants were attacked over the weekend in the eastern German city of Magdeburg in separate incidents in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt , police believe were racially motivated. Interior Ministry figures published last month showed the number of victims of far-right violence in Germany jumped by more than 25 percent in the first nine months of 2007. (Posted @ 19:40 PST)
Storm-hit Bangladesh seeks $700 mln for rebuilding DHAKA, Dec 3 Bangladesh said Monday it was seeking $700 million from foreign aid donors to rebuild southern coastal areas after last month's devastating cyclone. “We need international aid worth some $700 million for rebuilding and rehabilitation,” Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the interim government, told a meeting of foreign diplomats and donor representatives. (Posted @ 19:36 PST)
India to hold Indian Ocean military summit NEW DELHI, Dec 3 (AFP): India on Monday announced a first-ever summit of navies from 33 nations to bolster regional maritime security along the world's busiest sea lane in the Indian Ocean. Naval chief Sureesh Mehta and Indian naval commanders outlined details of the summit, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, to be held in February in New Delhi. (Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Third Chad rebel group clashes with army N'DJAMENA, Dec 3 (Reuters): A third Chadian rebel group clashed with government forces near the eastern border with Sudan on Monday after abandoning a month-old ceasefire just over a week ago, rebel and army sources said. Fighters from the Assembly of Forces for Change (RFC) clashed with government soldiers near Aram Kole, northeast of the town of Biltine, in fighting which lasted around two hours. Casualty figures were not immediately available. (Posted @ 19:08 PST)
Advisor to Iraq interior minister shot dead BAGHDAD, Dec 3 (AFP): Gunmen killed a police general in Baghdad on Monday while four Iraqi soldiers were shot dead in a separate incident in northern Iraq, officials said. Major General Fawzi Mohammed Hussein, an advisor to Interior Minister Jawad Bolani, was killed by unidentified gunmen while driving in his car in west Baghdad, a security official said. (Posted @ 19:04 PST)
Fire shuts down Saudi oil refinery RIYADH, Dec 3 (AP): A fire has shut down a Saudi Arabian oil refinery, the state oil company said Monday, the second accident in the country's energy industry in two weeks. The Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company, Luberef, announced the fire in a statement published in several Saudi newspapers, saying it occurred two days ago at one of its refineries south of Jiddah but was put out shortly thereafter without any casualties. Luberef is a joint venture between Saudi's state oil company, Aramco, and ExxonMobil. (Posted @ 18:50 PST)
Ras Al-Khaimah to invest $5bn in Indian real estate NEW DELHI, Dec 3 (AP): United Arab Emirates-based Ras Al-Khaimah Investment Authority said Monday it has set up a joint venture in India that will invest $5 billion over the next five years to develop residential and commercial properties here. The joint venture, Rakindo Developers Pvt. Ltd., plans to build independent townships closer to smaller Indian cities, where real estate is poised for high growth in the coming years. Monday's announcement underscores the changing preferences of investors from Arab countries, who are increasingly shifting their focus to emerging markets in Asia from traditional destinations like the United States. (Posted @ 18:48 PST)
Pakistan police stop US envoy Patterson seeing Aitzaz Ahsan LAHORE, Dec 3 (Reuters) Police stopped U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson Monday from meeting Aitzaz Ahsan, a lawyer and former member of the National Assembly for Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party being held under house arrest, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman said. Ahsan was detained under emergency powers invoked by President Musharraf on November 3. The former cabinet minister was held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for nearly three weeks before being transferred to house arrest in Lahore and allowed to file nomination papers for a parliamentary election set for January 8. Patterson had requested permission days earlier to meet Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. When the envoy arrived at Ahsan's home she was barred from seeing him, but was allowed to meet his wife, Bushra, along with several lawyers in another part of the house. “The ambassador met Bushra Aitzaz to express concern and repeated U.S. calls for all detainees to be released, including Aitzaz Ahsan,” Elizabeth Colton, the embassy spokeswoman said. (Posted @ 18:36 PST)
Cricket- Sri Lanka's Jayasuriya quits Test cricket KANDY, Sri Lanka, Dec 3 (AFP) Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka's highest scorer in both forms of cricket, has decided to retire from Test cricket, officials said Monday. The 38-year-old left-hander will end his Test career after the ongoing first Test against England at the Asgiriya stadium here, but will continue to play limited-overs cricket. “Sanath has decided to retire from Test matches,” Sri Lanka Cricket media manager Samantha Algama said. Jayasuriya marked his last Test innings with a spectacular 78 earlier Monday. (Posted @ 18:06 PST)
Cricket- Sri Lanka 167-2 (& 188) v England (281) - close KANDY, Sri Lanka, Dec 3 (Reuters) Sri Lanka reached 167 for two in the second innings, leading by 74 runs, at the close of the third day of the first test against England Monday. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 188 all out and 167-2; England 281 all out. (First Posted @ 12:50 PST Updated @ 18:00 PST)
950 juveniles in US prisons in Iraq BAGHDAD, Dec 3 (AFP) US troops are holding nearly 950 children and teenagers in a military prison at a Baghdad base, some as young as 10, Brigadier General Michael Nevin of US military police said Monday. He said many of these youngsters, mainly 15, 16 or 17 years of age are illiterate and have been detained for planting bombs and even for “picking up a gun and firefighting.” The juveniles are being held in Camp Cropper near Baghdad airport and are part of the nearly 26,000 detainees held by the US military across Iraq and make up almost 25 percent of the 4,000 detainees held at Baghdad’s Camp Cropper. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Sudan releases British 'teddy' teacher KHARTOUM, Dec 3 (AFP) Sudan on Monday released British teacher Gillian Gibbons given a presidential pardon after being jailed for insulting religion and handed her over to British officials, an embassy spokesman said. “We can confirm now she's in British embassy custody and our officials are with her,” Omar Daair told AFP by telephone refusing to give any further details on her precise location. (Posted @ 17:14 PST)
41 Tamil rebels, six soldiers killed in northern Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, Dec 3 (AP) Government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels battled each other with rifles, mortars and artillery across northern Sri Lanka Monday, in fighting that killed 41 rebels and six soldiers, the military said. In Mannar district just south of rebel-held territory, guerrilla fighters attacked soldiers in an offensive, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. The military repelled the attack in a battle that left 35 rebels and six soldiers dead, he said. Also Monday, soldiers killed four guerrillas in a pre-dawn clash in the northern Jaffna peninsula, Nanayakkara said. Troops suffered no casualties. Troops killed two rebel fighters in separate fighting in the Vavuniya district, he said. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan forces defused a package bomb hidden in the garden of a heavily guarded Colombo apartment building filled with lawmakers' homes Monday, the military said. (First Posted @ 13:50 PST Updated @ 17:00 PST)
US Ambassador meets Nawaz Sharif LAHORE, Dec 3 (APP) US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson Monday said that the United States wants the election in Pakistan to be free, fair and transparent. Talking to newsmen after meeting ex-premier Nawaz Sharif at his Raiwind residence here, she hoped that elections would be held in a fair manner, and added that Washington would remain neutral. During the meeting, Nawaz Sharif elaborated on the reasons due to which PML (N) had decided to boycott the elections. Sharif was of the view that without the reinstatement of the judges there was no possibility of holding free, fair or transparent elections. (Posted @ 16:40 PST)
Cricket- India 141-2 in second innings KOLKATA, India, Dec 3 (AFP) - India were 141-2 in their second innings for an overall lead of 301 at stumps on the penultimate day of the second Test against Pakistan at Eden Gardens here on Monday. Brief scores: India 616-5 decl and 141-2; Pakistan 456. (First Posted @ 10:55 PST, Updated @ 16:00 PST)
Benazir, Nawaz to discuss elections boycott; Nawaz arrives in Islamabad ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (AP) - Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif prepared to meet in Islamabad Monday to discuss whether to jointly boycott crucial parliamentary elections to protest a state of emergency declared by President Musharraf. Benazir and Nawaz have both threatened to boycott the January 8 vote, warning that Musharraf loyalists could manipulate the result. However, Pakistan People’s Party(PPP) says it does not want to leave the electoral field uncontested. The two leaders will discuss the emergency, Musharraf's purge of the judiciary and the ''rewriting of the constitution,'' said PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar, referring to the changes Musharraf made to the constitution using his emergency powers. ''The People's Party is of the view that the scene should not be left open to Pervez Musharraf's supporters,'' Babar said. Nawaz Sharif arrived in Islamabad Monday afternoon from Lahore. About 3,000 people gathered at the airport in Islamabad to welcome him. He left the airport for the city in a long column of vehicles. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Observer mission says Russia's election “not fair” MOSCOW, Dec 3 (Reuters) Observers from the OSCE and the Council of Europe said Monday that Russia's parliamentary election, won overwhelmingly by President Vladimir Putin's party, was “not fair”. “The State Duma election in the Russian Federation on the 2nd December 2007 was not fair and failed to meet many OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections,” the joint observer mission said in a statement. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Tremor causes panic in occupied Kashmir ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (APP) - An earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale rocked occupied Kashmir, triggering panic among people. Met department in Srinagar said the epicentre of the tremor was in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, KMS reported. Srinagar residents ran out of their homes in panic as the tremor shook structures there. However, there were no reports of any casualty or damage due to the temblor so far. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Turkish president Abdullah Gul calls for Pakistan unity ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (AFP) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul Monday called for Pakistan's warring political forces to show unity amid an ongoing state of emergency imposed by President Pervez Musharraf. Gul held lengthy talks with Musharraf in Islamabad Monday. “Pakistan is passing through a critical time... therefore, from this kind of critical period, all the leading teams should focus on the future of Pakistan,” Gul said at a joint news conference with Musharraf. “They should look at the big picture and behave constructively. It is good for Pakistan.” President Musharraf said he had “explained to the (Turkish) president the political turmoil we had gone through and the democratic transition course we have adopted.” Gul is also due to meet opposition leaders, including former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, during his visit. “I know it is going to be positive and in the interest of Pakistan. When the President meets these political leaders, they have to keep Pakistan's interest foremost,” Musharraf told reporters. Musharraf and Gul said they had also discussed terrorism, international relations and bilateral ties, including the possibility of stepping up defence production cooperation. (First Posted @ 13:30 PST, Updated @ 14:45 PST)
Gaza pilgrims allowed to head for Hajj via Egypt RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Dec 3 (AFP) - Hundreds of Palestinians headed for Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj were allowed to leave Gaza Monday through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, which has been closed since Hamas seized power more than five months ago. Some 700 Palestinian pilgrims entered the crossing building, a witness said. (Posted @ 14:00 PST)
Putin party secures constitutional majority MOSCOW, Dec 3 (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party has secured a constitutional majority of 315 seats in the new Russian parliament, ITAR-TASS news agency said Monday, quoting an election official. (Posted @ 13:55 PST)
Cricket: Sri Lanka's Muralitharan becomes top Test bowler KANDY, Sri Lanka, Dec 3 (AFP) -Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed his 709th victim in the first Test against England on Monday to become Test cricket's highest wicket-taker.The off-spinner, playing his 116th Test, bowled Paul Collingwood to grab his fifth wicket in the innings and surpass retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne's world record tally of 708 wickets in 145 matches. Muralitharan's 61st five-wicket haul made England 266-8 in reply to Sri Lanka's modest first innings total of 188. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Afghanistan: US-led coalition kill 5 suspected insurgents KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec 3 (AP) - U.S.-led coalition forces killed five suspected Taliban militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan targeting a commander believed to be involved in the kidnapping of an Italian journalist earlier this year, the coalition said Monday. Coalition forces tracked a vehicle carrying five men, including the senior Taliban commander, on Sunday in Musa Qala district of Helmand province. They conducted airstrikes against the vehicle, killing all the occupants, it said in a statement. The Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, was freed in March but his driver and translator were killed. (Posted @ 10:55 PST)
Chavez admits defeat in referendum CARACAS, Dec 3 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez admitted his defeat in a weekend referendum aimed at expanding his powers, in a media conference broadcast live.“I don't feel sad, no, I don't feel sad,” he said, stressing that there were “minimal differences” in the final result, put at 51 percent against and 49 percent in favour moments earlier by the National Electoral Council. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Three Hamas militants killed in clash with Israelis GAZA CITY, Dec 3 (AFP) - Three members of the military wing of Hamas were killed Monday morning in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops at Beit Lahya in the north of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical source said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the incident. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Twenty bodies found in mass grave in Iraq BAGHDAD, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces found a mass grave containing the bodies of around 20 men, women and children near the former insurgent stronghold of Falluja on Sunday, police said. They said the bodies were partly decomposed and had been found northeast of Falluja in an area once controlled by militants. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
China coal mine blast kills 18, with 43 missing BEIJING, Dec 3 (Reuters) - An explosion at a coal mine in Zhenxiong in the southwestern province of Yunnan on Sunday killed at least 18 people and left 43 missing, the Beijing News reported on Monday.(Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Lebanon majority backs army chief for president BEIRUT, Dec 3 (AFP) - Lebanon's Western-backed governing majority announced on Sunday that it would accept army chief General Michel Sleiman as a compromise candidate for the vacant presidency, clearing the way to an end to a year-old stand-off with the opposition. The coalition “announces that it is going back on its initial opposition to an amendment to the constitution and... is supporting the candidacy of General Michel Sleiman for president,” said a statement read by former president Amin Gemayel, a leading Christian coalition politician. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)
Snow and ice hit US and Canada, at least four dead CHICAGO, Dec 3 (AFP) - The US Midwest is in the grip of heavy snow and freezing rain, leaving at least four dead in car accidents and disrupting air travel, officials and media reported on Sunday. The winter weather forced the cancellation of numerous flights in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois and some campaign events in Iowa. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec were also bracing for the storm, with heavy snowfall already causing major delays and cancellations at Toronto airport, Canada's largest. Several dozen flights were cancelled Sunday morning from Toronto. A number of flights coming from affected US airports such as Detroit, Chicago and New York were also cancelled. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)
At least four killed in new blast at Ukraine mine DONETSK, Ukraine, Dec 3 (AFP) - At least four workers were killed in an explosion Sunday at a Ukrainian coal mine where 101 miners were killed two weeks ago in the country's worst mining accident, an official said. “Four people are dead and five have been injured,” the official said. A blast in the mine on Saturday injured 47 miners. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Rudd sworn in as Australian prime minister CANBERRA, Dec 3 (AFP) - Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australia's 26th prime minister Monday after a landslide election win against long-serving conservative leader John Howard. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
Climate change conference opens on Indonesia's Bali NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Dec 3 (AFP) - A major climate change conference opened on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Monday, aimed at crafting a blueprint for negotiations leading to a new pact for addressing global warming. Some 190 governments have been called to the 11-day conference which is being held under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Pressure is intensifying on the world's political leaders to deliver a master plan to combat the threat of climate change in the wake of scientists delivering their most urgent warnings yet on rising global temperatures. (Posted @ 09:40 PST)
Israel releases more than 400 Palestinian prisoners KETZIOT, Israel, Dec 3 (AFP) -Israel began to free more than 400 Palestinian prisoners early Monday, the latest release aimed at boosting president Mahmud Abbas amid revived peace efforts. The first bus with the prisoners left the Ketziot prison in southern Israel shortly after 0400 GMT, said an AFP reporter on the scene. “Today we are releasing 429 prisoners,” Yaron Zamir, a spokesman for the Israeli prison authority, said. He said 20 of the freed detainees would return to their homes in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, with the rest going to the occupied West Bank. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 72.93 points: KARACHI, Nov 03: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13925.59, down 72.93 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Nov 03: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.5, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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