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| December 10, 2007 | Monday | Ziqa'ad 29, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Suicide bomber rams schoolbus near Kamra, nine hurt ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (Reuters): A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a schoolbus near an air force base in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing himself and wounding about nine people, including several children, the military said. “A terrorist targeted a schoolchildren's bus. The driver and the guard who were sitting in the front were seriously injured,” said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad. “Because of the timely reaction of the driver, the children were saved. About seven children were injured,” he added. “It was outside the Kamra air base. It was specially targetting the schoolchildren's bus.” The base is 60 kms northwest of Islamabad. (First Posted @ 09:15 PST, Updated @ 09:25 PST)
Nawaz Sharif defends election U-turn ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (AFP): Former premier Nawaz Sharif Monday defended his decision to drop a threatened boycott of elections in January, saying that any opposition move to shun the polls had to be unanimous. “If any boycott is to take place it must be unanimous, any partial boycott would be disastrous for the opposition,” Sharif told Dawn news television in his first comments since his party announced its participation on Sunday. Sharif said his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party made the decision after attempts to convince fellow opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and a key religious party to stay out of the January 8 vote failed. “We came to the realisation that we must participate in the elections to block Mr Musharraf's unconstitutional actions,” said Sharif. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
PML-Q launches election manifesto ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (AFP): Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) unveiled its election manifesto Monday, saying it focused on human rights, political reconciliation and tackling extremism. “Our manifesto is based on human rights and values, tolerance, harmony and a free media,” party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain told a news conference. The party's secretary general, Mushahid Hussain, said it wanted to end months of political chaos in Pakistan culminating in an ongoing state of emergency imposed by Musharraf on November 3. “We make it clear that culture of revenge will have to be replaced with a culture of reconciliation. We will have to make our minds and attitude democratic,” he said at the same briefing. On militancy in Pakistan’s tribal areas, Mushahid Hussain said his party wanted a political solution. The tribal belt “needs a healing touch,” he said. “Extremism and terrorism can be resolved by political parties, which symoblise sovereignty and integrity of the country.” Mushahid Hussain told AFP earlier the manifesto focused on “five Ds” - Democracy, Development, Devolution, Diversity and Defence.” (Posted @ 13:50 PST)
Pakistan tribunal clears Benazir Bhutto for elections KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec 10 (AFP) - A Pakistani election tribunal on Monday dismissed a petition to bar opposition leader and former premier Benazir Bhutto from contesting next month's elections, court officials said. A candidate from the former ruling party (PML-Q) had sought her disqualification from standing in her hometown constituency of Larkana because of sentences passed down by anti-graft courts five years ago. After arguments from Bhutto's lawyers that the sentences had already been overturned by the Supreme Court, tribunal judges threw out the petition, officials said. Nawaz Sharif, another opposition leader and ex-prime minister, was last week barred by electoral officials from contesting the January 8 election because of previous criminal convictions. (Posted @ 19:48 PST)
Pakistan election campaign heats up after Nawaz Sharif's party decides to contest ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (AP) Pakistan's election campaign began in earnest Monday, a day after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dropped threats to boycott the polls and embarked on an election campaign tour. The two-time prime minister was to address a rally Monday in the central city of Faisalabad and proceed to five other cities in coming days, party officials said. ''We will sweep the elections if given a level playing field,'' claimed Siddique ul-Farooq, a senior party leader. But some were unhappy that a total opposition boycott had fallen apart, particularly lawyers, who have been at the forefront of anti-Musharraf protests. ''The nation has been abandoned by the political segment of the population,'' said retired Supreme Court Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, who ran against Musharraf in October. ''Today there is no constitution, no independent election commission and above all there is no independent judiciary,'' he said, vowing that the legal community will continue fight a ''do or die'' issue. The election is largely shaping up to be a three-corner fight with the parties of Nawaz and Benazir battling the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Dozens held in human rights protest in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Dec 10 (Reuters): Police detained dozens of people protesting against alleged human rights violations by security forces in occupied Kashmir Monday, officials and witnesses said. Hundreds of members of different Kashmiri separatist groups marched in Srinagar to mark Human Rights Day. The silent protesters carried placards that read “Stop human rights violations, stop custodial killings.” “The law of the jungle prevails,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief of the region's All Parties Hurriyat Conference alliance. “They (security forces) kill with impunity.” “Atrocities in Kashmir have increased rapidly despite fake slogans by the ruling party,” Mohammad Yasin Malik, the chairman of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, wrote to U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Saudis say hajj on December 19 RIYADH, Dec 10 (AFP) -Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on December 19, Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council said on Monday. (Posted @ 22:48 PST)
Indian Hindu nationalists name Advani for PM NEW DELHI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - India's opposition Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), named on Monday senior leader Lal Krishna Advani as their prime ministerial candidate for polls due in 2009.The decision came on the eve of the first stage of voting in the communally polarised western state of Gujarat, where the party and its controversial chief minister, Narendra Modi, are going all out to retain power. “General elections are not far,” BJP President Rajnath Singh told reporters after a party parliamentary board meeting. “The parliamentary board has unanimously decided that Lal Krishna Advani will lead the party in elections.” Advani is leader of the opposition in parliament and was deputy prime minister in Vajpayee's government which was swept out of power in a shock election defeat in 2004. (Posted @ 20:56 PST)
More than 100 dead or missing in migrant disasters ANKARA, Dec 10 (AFP) - At least 40 people drowned off the Turkish coast in one of three incidents that left at least 90 other hopeful migrants to Europe missing or presumed dead, officials said Monday. As many as 85 people may have been aboard a 15-meter boat that capsized on Saturday in the Aegean Sea off the western Turkish town of Seferihisar, near Izmir. “Forty bodies have been found so far and only six survivors,” said a top Turkish official. In a separate incident, some 40 Africans died at sea off Senegal as they were trying to reach the Spanish Canary Islands, police quoted survivors as saying. They were aboard a boat that set off at the end of November from Diogue Island in southern Senegal, with 130 people aboard. Only 90 were left when it ran aground north of Dakar on Saturday. Survivors had spoken of 40 people who “died at sea and were thrown overboard” during the voyage, police said. At least 50 people were missing after another immigrant boat -- also heading for the Canary islands -- sank in the Atlantic. (First Posted @ 15:00 PST Updated @ 20:06 PST)
Kadhafi arrives for five-day French visit PARIS, Dec 10 (AFP) - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi arrived in Paris Monday at the start of a five-day visit at the invitation of President Nicolas Sarkozy. (Posted @ 19:54 PST)
British PM visits Afghanistan as troops retake town KABUL, Dec 10 (AFP) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Afghanistan Monday as Afghan troops backed by NATO forces retook the southern town of Musa Qala, in Helmand province, captured by Taliban rebels 10 months ago. ISAF said the Afghan troops had entered the town at around 1000 GMT. A Taliban spokesman confirmed the rebel fighters had retreated. The Afghan defence ministry issued a statement saying Afghan troops backed by ISAF had started clean-up operations in Musa Qala district, of which the town is the centre. Brown, on his first trip to Afghanistan as prime minister, held talks with President Karzai and addressed a joint press conference. Earlier he met British troops at their base at Camp Bastion in Helmand. In comments shown on BBC television, he praised their bravery and commitment in fighting Taliban militia in difficult circumstances. (First Posted @ 17:26 PST Updated @ 19:12 PST)
Bangladesh president pardons jailed academics DHAKA, Dec 10 (AFP) Bangladesh's president Iajuddin Ahmed “following petitions from their wives” on Monday pardoned four academics who were sentenced to two years in jail last week for fuelling nationwide student unrest, interim law and information minister Mainul Hosein told AFP. “They were released from Rajshahi jail,” prison official Abdul Halim added. Four other professors from Dhaka University who have been detained as part of the nationwide crackdown after the unrest could also be freed if they apologise for their actions, the minister said. (First Posted @ 12:55 PST Updated @ 18:48 PST)
Chief Justice Dogar administers oath to new SC judges ISLAMABAD, Dec 10 (PPI) Chief Justice Mr. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar Monday administered oath of the office to Mr. Justice Mian Hamid Farooq, Mr. Justice Syed Sakhi Hussain Bokhari, and Mr. Justice Syed Zawwar Hussain Jaffery as Judges of Supreme Court of Pakistan. (Posted @ 18:42 PST)
Musharraf inaugurates new power plant Lahore, Dec 10 (PPI) President Pervez Musharraf Monday performed the opening ceremony of the fast track rental 136MW power plant Monday at Bhikhi near Sheikhupura in Punjab province. Speaking on the occasion he said the concerned agencies will have to do more to improve electricity transmission and distribution system throughout the country. (Posted @ 18:36 PST)
New Guinea struck by 5.7 magnitude quake WASHINGTON, Dec 10 (Reuters) A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck near New Guinea Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The moderate strength quake, which hit at 1210 GMT, was centred 51 miles east of Wewak, New Guinea, the USGS said, at fairly shallow depth of 21.7 miles. (Posted @ 18:06 PST)
Plane crash kills three Croats in Slovakia BRATISLAVA, Dec 10 (Reuters) Three Croats died when their small plane crashed near the Slovak capital Bratislava Monday, police said. The Cessna aircraft was flying to have a regular mechanical service inspection in Slovakia, Pavel Brath, Bratislava region police chief, told the news television channel TA3. The three dead men were the 53-year-old pilot, a 35-year-old flight engineer and a 19-year-old flight student, Brath said, adding they were all from Croatia. (Posted @ 18:02 PST)
Kosovo youths rally for independence PRISTINA, Serbia, Dec 10 (AFP) Thousands of Kosovo Albanian youths rallied Monday for an immediate declaration of independence, urging EU unity on the issue as a deadline ended for a negotiated settlement. The demonstrators held up placards bearing demands such as “Declare (independence)!” and “Europe show some unity” as they marched through downtown Pristina, the provincial capital. Dozens of police looked on as the protest made its way from Pristina University to the Kosovo parliament and government building. Leaders of Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian population said Monday they would embark on immediate talks on independence from Serbia as EU powers tried to drum up support for recognising such a declaration. (Posted @ 17:30 PST)
Cricket-Sri Lanka 105-2 v England (351) - close COLOMBO, Dec 10 (Reuters) Sri Lanka reached 105-2, still trailing by 246, at the close of play on the second day of the second test against England on Monday. Brief scores: England 351 (M. Vaughan 87, A. Cook 81, M. Prior 79; M. Muralitharan 5-116) v Sri Lanka 105-2. (Posted @ 17:15 PST)
Cricket-Pakistan 369-5 v India (626) in third test BANGALORE, India, Dec 10 (Reuters): Pakistan were 369 for five in reply to India's first innings total of 626 at stumps on the third day of the third and final test on Monday. Brief scores: India 626 (Y. Singh 169, Ganguly 239, I. Pathan 102; Arafat 5-161) v Pakistan 369-5 (S. Butt 68, Yunus 80, Misbah-ul-Haq 54 not out). (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Saudi plans monorail for Muslim holy places: report RIYADH, Dec 10 (AFP): Saudi Arabia is planning a five billion dollar monorail network to transport millions of pilgrims around the Muslim holy sites during the annual hajj pilgrimage, a Saudi daily reported on Monday. The kingdom is to carry out a feasibility study into the proposed network of five lines linking Muzdalifah, Mina and Arafat, the English-language Arab News reported. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Foreign diplomats' cars burned in Athens ATHENS, Dec 10 (Reuters): Unknown assailants firebombed four cars belonging to foreign diplomats in Athens early Monday but no one was injured, police said. Cars belonging to staff of the embassies of Italy, Turkey and the Philippines were set ablaze by home-made gas canister devices shortly after midnight, a police official said. The cars, two of them owned by Turkish embassy staff, were parked on Athens streets and had diplomatic licence plates but no country markings. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)
Thirteen killed in Sri Lanka violence COLOMBO, Dec 10 (AFP): At least 13 people have died in fresh violence in northern Sri Lanka including 11 Tamil Tiger rebels, the government claimed Monday. Eleven Tiger rebels were killed in separate clashes with troops in the Mannar and Vavuniya districts in the 24 hours to Monday morning, the defence ministry said, adding that a government soldier was also killed. An ethnic Tamil civilian was also shot dead by suspected rebels in the Jaffna peninsula Sunday afternoon, the ministry said. There was no immediate word from the LTTE. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Four killed in crash of Afghan army helicopter KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec 10 (AP): An Afghan army helicopter crashed in central Afghanistan Monday, killing four people, officials said. Defence Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the helicopter went down in Salar district of Wardak province. At least four people were killed, Wardak’s provincial police chief said. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Nepal Cabinet minister, three lawmakers resign over ethnic violence KATMANDU, Dec 10 (AP): A cabinet minister from Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party, and three members of Parliament from other parties resigned Monday over the government's failure to settle violence in the south, parliament speaker Subash Nemwang said. iolence in southern Nepal by several groups demanding more rights has killed at least 80 people this year. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Mortar shells hit Baghdad prison killing seven inmates BAGHDAD, Dec 10 (AP/Reuters): Mortar shells slammed into an interior ministry prison on Monday, killing at least seven inmates and wounding 23, police and a hospital official said. The shells hit a prison made up of several cell blocks, each containing prisoners accused of terrorism-related crimes or civil offenses, police said. Police said American troops have sealed off the area and were investigating the bombardment. Refinery bombed: A rocket attack sparked a big fire at a domestic oil refinery in southern Baghdad Monday but the plant was still operating, Iraqi police and officials said. Firemen were fighting the blaze, which was set off when a Katyusha rocket hit the facility at about 0300 GMT. There were no reports of casualties. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
UN chief warns Myanmar world's patience running out BANGKOK, Dec 10 (AP): U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned Myanmar that the international community is running out of patience, saying Monday the junta must embrace democracy and stop inflicting suffering on its own people. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Laptop stolen from Indian mission in Islamabad NEW DELHI, Dec 10 (AFP): Thieves stole a laptop computer and a briefcase from the tightly-guarded residence of India's ambassador to Pakistan last month, a report Monday said. India said in November it had lodged an official complaint with Islamabad over the incident, but did not provide any further details at the time. The Times of India reported Monday that two items had been taken from the house. The paper said it was “unclear what the laptop contained. ”Although India earlier called the incident a “break-in,” a Press Trust of India agency report has said that the burglary was now believed to have been done by an insider. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)
China, Iran sign $2bn agreement on developing Yadavaran oilfield SHANGHAI, Dec 10 (AP): China's biggest refiner, Sinopec, and Iran have signed a $2 billion agreement on developing the Yadavaran oil field, reports said Monday, firming Beijing's business links with Tehran despite U.S. calls for sanctions over Iran's nuclear program. The agreement signed Sunday in Tehran completes a 2004 memorandum of understanding for state-owned Sinopec Group to help develop the huge oilfield. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
British PM say Basra transfer to Iraq in 15 days LONDON, Dec 10 (AFP): Britain will hand over Basra province to Iraqi control within two weeks, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said during a surprise trip to southern Iraq Sunday, his Downing Street office said. Addressing troops in Basra, Brown said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was recommending “a move to provincial Iraqi control within two weeks”, a spokesman in London said. “The prime minister came to address the troops,” a British military spokesman told AFP. “He was here for less than two-and-a-half hours and wanted to show his gratitude to the troops.” (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
Indian train with soldiers derails, one killed KOLKATA, Dec 10 (Reuters): A train carrying passengers and soldiers from India's troubled northeast jumped the rails, killing at least one and injuring dozens, a railway official said Monday. The Brahmaputra Mail, travelling from Dibrugarh to New Delhi, derailed shortly before Sunday midnight, disrupting the rail connection to the northeast region. Television pictures showed rescue workers struggling to free trapped people. The official said sabotage couldn't be ruled out. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Seven dead in two shootings in Colorado COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, Dec 10 (AFP): Seven people were killed Sunday in two separate shootings at religious establishments in Colorado state, local authorities said. The first shooting occurred in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, in the early hours of Sunday when a young gunman opened fire at a Christian missionary center. Two staff members in their mid-20s were killed and two others wounded. The gunman fled before authorities reached the scene. About 12 hours later five people were killed including the suspected attacker in a shooting near a church in Colorado Springs. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
World divided over value of free Press: poll LONDON, Dec 10 (AFP): The world is divided over the importance of press freedom, with not everyone sharing the Western notion that it is crucial to a free society, a poll said Monday. The survey, covering 14 countries, also found that confidence in media reporting varies widely, with the Russian Press along with British and US media among the least trusted while countries like India and Kenya score strongly. While overall 56 percent believe media freedom is very important for a free society, 40 percent think social harmony is more important, even if reporting suffers, said the survey by the GlobeScan polling institute. (Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 97.74, points: KARACHI, Dec 10: At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14571.64, up 97.74, points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Dec 10: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.4, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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