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| December 27, 2007 | Thursday | Zilhaj 16, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Benazir Bhutto dies ISLAMABAD, Dec 27: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto succumbed to her injuries in the hospital, tv channels reported. She had received grievous bullet injuries in the neck region and head injuries from the bomb blast at the election meeting at Liaquat Bagh which also claimed at least 20 more lives. (Posted @ 18:28 PST)
About 20 killed in blast after Benazir rally RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 27 (AP) An explosion went off shortly after opposition leader Benazir Bhutto addressed a political rally in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh, killing at least 20 people, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter at the scene could see body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of Liaquat Bagh. He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded people. Police official Abdul Karim said Benazir had already left the area in her vehicle when the blast went off. (First Posted @ 16:05 PST Updated @ 17:34 PST)
Four dead, several hurt in Pakistan election violence RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 27 (Reuters) Four people were killed and several others injured on the outskirts of Rawalpindi city early Thursday afternoon when gunmen opened fire on supporters of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, security officials and TV channels said. “The shooting began when Nawaz workers tried to hang a banner near an opposing candidate's office,” said a security official, requesting anonymity. According to him, “three people, Nawaz workers, were killed and two wounded,” while TV channels said four were killed and several injured. Sharif blamed PML-Q supporters for the violence but a PML-Q spokesman denied the charge. Details of the incident were awaited. (First Posted @ 15:30 PST, Updated @ 16:30 PST)
Revolution must to keep country's solidarity intact: Nawaz GUJAR KHAN, Pakistan, Dec 27 (APP): Revolution is the only option to keep the solidarity of the country intact, former Prime Minister and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif said at a huge election meeting in Gujjar Khan town of Punjab province on Thursday. He alleged that the government has targeted the judiciary, media and democratic institutions in the country. “I would not have lived in exile, had I compromised eight-years back” he claimed. “It is unfortunate that real leaders were either deported or sent to jails and charges of corruption were framed against them.” He accused MQM for Karachi carnage and noted that celebrations were held in the Federal Capital on that black day. Nawaz Sharif urged the people not to vote for elements responsible for price hike, unemployment and the worst kind of law and order situation. PML-N leader also declared January 8 elections as referendum against these elements. He also highlighted the achievements during his tenure as prime minister and particularly cited the nuclear capability, road networks and public oriented projects. He condemned the treatment meted out to nuclear scientist Dr Qadir Khan and the superior court judges and pledged to continue the movement till their restoration. Other party leaders including Raja Zafarul Haq, Barrister Sultan Mehmood and Chaudhry Mohammad Riaz, PML-N candidate for NA-51, also addressed the gathering. (Posted @ 17:36 PST)
President Karzai urges Pakistani business community to invest in Afghanistan ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (APP): Afghan President Hamid Karzai Thursday urged the Pakistani business community and investors to take advantage of the trade potential present in Afghanistan to promote bilateral trade. Addressing a select gathering of Pakistani business community at a gathering organised jointly by the Board of Investment and Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry here at a local hotel, Karzai said the investors from Pakistan could invest in any field. “The promotion of business and trade between the two countries have grown not rapidly but 'drastically' in the last six years,” said Karzai. He said the trade which was just $ 25 million in 2001 has increased to $ 1.3 billion that include mainly exports from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Regarding complaints of cement exports to Afghanistan, Karzai said there are no restrictions on import of cement as due to massive development projects, Afghanistan needs more cement. He however said there have been some duty adjustments for the import of beverages to protect the local industry. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Ambassador Durrani confident on US aid as bill is signed WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (APP): Pakistan's ambassador to the United States Mahmud Ali Durrani voiced confidence in continued flow of US security assistance for Pakistan despite the recent Congressional restriction placed on a portion of counterterrorism fund for the new fiscal year even as he expressed Pakistan's opposition to any such measure . He was commenting on last week's legislation that says Secretary of State should report to lawmakers about Pakistan's progress in war on terror and democratic development before release of a tranche of $ 50 million out of $300 million counterterrorism assistance in the fiscal year 2008 that started on October 1, 2007. “We certainly are not comfortable with the restriction - but in all fairness the restriction is such that it does not affect the flow of assistance in any form or matter,” Durrani stated at a press briefing. President Bush Wednesday signed into a law the $ 555 billion omnibus appropriation bill that contains assistance for foreign countries. He said the Bush Administration greatly values Pakistani anti-terror efforts over the years and acknowledges the sacrifices it has made. He said the US assistance extended to Pakistan over the years has been spent on fighting terrorism and enhancing Pakistan’s counterterrorism ability. The envoy brushed aside as “speculative and untrue” a weekend story in The New York Times that alleged diversion of counterterrorism assistance. “This is untrue- this does not reflect the view of the Pentagon and it does not represent the view of the US administration.” (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
Pakistani sectarian clashes kill about 40 tribesmen PARACHINAR, Pakistan, Dec 27 (Reuters): Pakistani authorities tried Thursday to get warring Pashtun tribes to settle their differences after five days of clashes that have killed about 40 people, officials said. About 150 people have been killed in the Kurram tribal region since mid-November. The fighting had died down and the two sides had even agreed to a truce but it flared again at the weekend. Authorities said they were hoping peace could be restored at a jirga. “We have called a jirga, we're trying to defuse the situation,” said political administrator Zahir-ul-Islam. Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said about 40 people had been killed in these days, he said. Troops sent to the region in November were still there but there was a limit to how much they could do, he said. “We are helping the local administration but basically it's the jirgas which are the ultimate solution,” Arshad said. (Posted @ 14:35 PST)
Four members of a family die as bomb explodes in Pakistan Multan, Pakistan, Dec 27 (PPI): Four members of a family died when a hand grenade exploded in village Sukkar near Taunsa Thursday morning. DPO Dera Ghazi Khan, Inkisar Khan told that four children and their uncle found a mini-football like hand grenade and started playing with it. It exploded violently resulting in their deaths. Bomb disposal squad said it was a high intensity locally manufactured hand grenade. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Expelled EU, UN diplomats leave Afghanistan KABUL, Dec 27 (AFP): A United Nations official and an EU diplomat ordered out of Afghanistan on the charge of posing a national security threat flew out of Kabul on Thursday, the two organisations said. The UN employee, a British national, flew out on a UN flight, his organisation said. The European Union official, an Irish national who is the institution's second most senior representative here, also left, the EU said. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Road collision kills 25 in Central African Republic BANGUI, Dec 27 (Reuters) - At least 25 people were killed and 19 injured in Central African Republic when a truck loaded with passengers and luggage collided with a tanker vehicle on a bend on a road 90 km north of the capital, Bangui, police said on Thursday. (Posted @ 22:42 PST)
Cricket-SAfrica 122-5 v West Indies (408), first test Port Elizabeth, SOUTH AFRICA, Dec 27 (Reuters) - South Africa were 122-5 at the close after the West Indies were all out for 408 on the second day of the first test on Thursday Brief scores: West Indies: 408 all out (S. Chanderpaul 104, M. Samuels 94; A. Nel 3-85); South Africa: 122-5 (H. Amla 29; D. Powell 3-40). (Posted @ 22:35 PST)
Four Bugti tribesmen killed DERA MURAD JAMALI, Pakistan, Dec 27 (APP): Four Bugti tribesmen were gunned down in an ambush in Sui tehsil of Dera Bugti on Wednesday. They were proceeding to Yaro Pat from Sui town in a pickup. Near Goth Musa Khan unidentified armed assailants opened fire at their vehicle with automatic weapons, killing all four of them. Police has attributed the incident to an old enmity. (Posted @ 20:50 PST)
Benazir seriously injured in election meeting bomb blast ISLAMABAD, Dec 27: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was seriously injured at Liaquat Bagh election meeting in Rawalpindi which was marred by a suicide bombing that killed at least 20 and injured many others Thursday afternoon, Dawn News TV said. It said she was rushed to the hospital with bullet injuries in the neck region and also head injuries on account of the blast. According to reports, she had not yet regained full consciousness. Another report said that party spokesperson Sherry Rehman was also injured. (Posted @ 18:26 PST)
Karzai lays floral wreath at Pakistan Monument ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (APP): Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Thursday visited the Pakistan Monument and placed floral wreaths. Later, he planted a sapling of 'Magnolia Grandiflora' at Shakarparian hills. (Posted @ 17:56 PST)
Suicide bombing at Benazir rally: Interior Ministry RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec 27 (AFP) The explosion that hit a campaign rally Thursday for opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was a suicide attack, the interior ministry told AFP. “It was a suicide attack. We don't know the number of casualties as yet. It happened just outside the venue. The attacker blew himself up when people were dispersing after the rally,” ministry spokesman Javad Iqbal Cheema said. (Posted @ 17:54 PST)
Neelum-Jhelum dam project to be completed in 93 months BEIJING, Dec 27 (APP) - Gezhouba Corp, one of China's largest civil engineering companies which has won the $1.5 billion contract to build Neelum-Jhelum dam in Pakistan has said it will complete the project within 93 months to generate 969 megawatts of electricity. The project involves tunnelling of 47 km for diversion of the water from Nosairi to the power station. (Posted @ 17:50 PST)
Renewed violence between Hindus and Christians breaks out in eastern India NEW DELHI, Dec 27 (APP/AP) Hindu extremists burned down the house of a prominent Christian politician in eastern India Thursday, officials said, as gangs of Hindus and Christians clashed in defiance of a curfew imposed after two days of attacks on Christians and their churches by Hindu hardliners. A mob of Hindus torched the house of Radhakant Nayak, a member of India's upper house of parliament and a Christian leader in the area, Nayak told the CNN-IBN news channel. Also, a group of Christians burned down several homes of Hindus in an apparent retaliation for the attack on churches in the state of Orissa, police said. (Posted @ 17:42 PST)
Israel captures Islamic Jihad members in West Bank NABLUS, West Bank, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Israeli troops captured two top members of the Islamic Jihad in raids in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said. They were identified as Mohammad Assayda, who was released from Israeli jail in September, and is a lecturer at al-Najah University, and Samer al-Saadi who was captured in a separate raid in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. (Posted @ 17:26 PST)
US forces kill 11 militants in Kut Baghdad, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. forces killed 11 militants early on Thursday in the city of Kut, 170 km southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The operations targeted “special groups criminal networks,” a term it often uses to describe members of Mehdi army militias. Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded near a mini-bus, killing two passengers and wounding 10 in Baladiyat district of eastern Baghdad, police said adding that another roadside bomb wounded two people in Karrada district of central Baghdad. (Posted @ 17:22 PST)
Turkish troops attack PKK rebels near Iraqi border DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Dec 27 (Reuters) Turkish forces, backed by helicopter gunships, launched fresh operations against Kurdish separatist rebels in southeastern Turkey on Thursday, military sources said. They said the army also sent thousands of soldiers to reinforce troops in the Sirnak, Hakkari and Tunceli provinces near the Iraqi border, where PKK guerrillas have been attacking security forces and troops. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
More than 130 feared dead after Indonesian rains TAWANGMANGU, Indonesia, Dec 27 (AFP): Indonesian rescuers pulled corpses from mud Thursday as they hunted for victims of landslides and floods on Java island that have left more than 130 people feared dead, officials said. Landslides hit two districts in Central Java in the early hours of Wednesday morning, engulfing entire homes and blocking key access roads, while floods swelling in East Java swept away a bridge, leaving an estimated 50 missing. Thousands of displaced people shifted into makeshift shelters at official buildings and houses of worship, as food aid was rushed from Jakarta. (First Posted @ 11:55 PST, Updated @ 15:15 PST)
Commandos called in to free Sri Lanka minister held by reporters COLOMBO, Dec 27 (AFP): Sri Lanka sent a crack commando unit to the Rupavahini television network station Thursday to rescue Sri Lanka’s Labour Minister Mervin Silva seized by journalists for allegedly assaulting a colleague, officials told AFP. An anti-hijacking and hostage rescue squad of army commandos was deployed at the television station to free Silva who had allegedly stormed the studios with body guards and attacked journalists, officials said. Un-edited footage broadcast over the state television showed army officers and police escorting Silva out of the building. One of the bodyguards accompanying the minister was roughed up by staff before television cameras. Police said they had “arrested” Silva's son who had taken part in the alleged assault. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Australia 32-0 &(343) v India (196), first test - close MELBOURNE, Dec 27 (Reuters): Australia were 32 for no wicket in their second innings at the close of play on the second day of the first test against India on Thursday. Scores: Australia 343 all out (M.Hayden 124, P.Jaques 66; A.Kumble 5-84, Z.Khan 4-94) & 32-0 v India 196 all out (S.Tendulkar 62; S.Clark 4-28, B.Lee 4-46) (First Posted @ 08:55 PST, Updated @ 12:35 PST)
Kenyans pick new president in tense vote NAIROBI, Dec 27 (AFP): Kenyans flocked to the polls Thursday in the nation's closest-ever presidential race, with the ageing incumbent and a fiery opposition leader neck-and-neck and tensions simmering over alleged fraud. Mwai Kibaki, 76, is seeking a second term, boasting a solid economic record and continued stability, while former political prisoner Raila Odinga, 62, aims to clinch the job that has eluded him and his father for so long. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
Sri Lanka says fighter jets destroy Sea Tiger base COLOMBO, Dec 27 (Reuters): Sri Lankan jets bombed and destroyed a northern Tamil Tiger naval base in Mullaittivu on Thursday, the military said, a day after a fierce sea battle that left up to 51 rebels and navy sailors dead. The bombing raid is the latest in a series of air strikes in recent months as President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government seeks to destroy the Tigers militarily to end a 25-year civil war. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)
Two US soldiers killed in Iraq: military BAGHDAD, Dec 27 (AFP): Insurgents shot dead two US soldiers in Nineveh province on Wednesday, the US military said. Three other soldiers were wounded, it added. The latest fatalities brought the military's overall losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,898, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Boat capsizes off Cuba with 28 aboard, few survive: relative HAVANA, Dec 27 (AFP): A boat carrying 28 Cubans trying to reach Miami overturned off the north coast of Cuba, and only three passengers are said to have survived, the relative of a victim told AFP on Wednesday. Cuban authorities have not announced the incident, which reportedly occured in the predawn hours of December 21, after the boat set sail from the coastal town of Santa Cruz del Norte near Havana late on December 20. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Earthquake rattles central Turkey WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (AFP): A 5.3-magnitude earthquake rattled central Turkey on Thursday near Ankara, the US Geological Survey reported. The earthquake, which struck at a depth of 10 kilometers was located 50 km southeast of Ankara, 127 km southwest of Cankiri and 138 km northeast of Usak, the USGS said. The earthquake was recorded at 2347 GMT Wednesday. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Strong earthquake strikes Alaska WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (AFP): A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Wednesday near a chain of islands in Alaska, the US Geological Survery said. The earthquake, which was 35 kilometers deep, took place at 2205 GMT about 50 km southeast of Nikolski, a town in the Aleutian Islands, the USGS said. (Posted @ 09:10 PST)
Six members of family slain in northwest US killings SEATTLE, Washington, Dec 27 (AFP): Six members of a family were shot dead on Christmas Eve in a rural community in the northwestern US state of Washington, police said Wednesday. A King County Sheriff's Department spokesman told AFP the bodies of six people -- including a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy -- were discovered Wednesday. (Posted @ 09:05 PST)
Karachi Stocks down 42.77 , points: KARACHI, Dec 27: At the close of trading the KSE-100 index was at 14772.08 , down 42.77 , points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Dec 27: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 61.15, to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
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