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| January 06, 2008 | Sunday | Zilhaj 26, 1428 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Hillary Clinton proposes joint oversight of Pakistan nukes MANCHESTER, New Hampshire, Jan 6 (AFP) - US White House hopeful Hillary Clinton late Saturday said she would propose a joint US-British team to oversee the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if she is elected president. “So far as we know right now, the nuclear technology is considered secure, but there isn't any guarantee, especially given the political turmoil going on inside Pakistan,” she said during a Democratic debate here. If elected president, the US senator said, “I would try to get Musharraf to share the security responsibility of the nuclear weapons with a delegation from the United States and, perhaps, Great Britain, so that there is some fail-safe.” (Posted @ 11:35 PST)
Benazir may have been shot: Musharraf WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (AFP) - President Pervez Musharraf has admitted for the first time that opposition leader Benazir Bhutto may have been shot by a gunman, but said she bore responsibility for her death. Musharraf told the US television network CBS in an interview that the former prime minister should not have stood up in her car as she left a rally. “For standing up outside the car, I think it was she to blame alone. Nobody else. Responsibility is hers,” he told CBS, according to a partial transcript of an interview to be broadcast Sunday. Musharraf admitted to the CBS programme “60 Minutes” that a gunshot could, in fact, have been the cause of Bhutto's fatal injuries. Asked if Bhutto might have been shot, Musharraf answered: “Yes, absolutely, yes. Possibility.” He added that his government did everything possible to protect Bhutto, in the face of death threats she had received. “You have to remember: She had the threat. So she was given more security than any other person,” the Pakistan president said. (Posted @ 09:50 PST)
Pakistan says it will not allow US forces to hunt militants on its soil ISLAMABAD, Jan 6 (AP): Pakistan reiterated Sunday that it will not let American forces hunt Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on its soil, after a news report said Washington was considering expanding U.S. military and intelligence operations into Pakistan's tribal regions. The Foreign Ministry dismissed as “speculative” a story in the New York Times on Sunday saying U.S. President George W. Bush's top security officials discussed a proposal Friday to deploy American troops to pursue militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border. “We are very clear. Nobody is going to be allowed to do anything here,” said Major General Waheed Arshad, the army's top spokesman. “The government has said it many times,” Arshad said. “No foreign forces will be allowed to operate inside Pakistan.” In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai's spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment. (Posted @ 17:28 PST)
One killed in Pehawar blast PESHAWAR, Jan 6 (AFP): A bomb blast outside a music shop and hair salon in northwestern Pakistan killed a security guard early Sunday, police said. The blast in the Sheikh Mohammadi suburb of Peshawar, took place around 2300 GMT. “Militants planted a bomb outside a music centre and a barber shop and the blast destroyed the shops and injured a security guard posted outside,”a police official told AFP. “The guard later succumbed to his wounds in Lady Reading hospital.” (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
PPP to seek U.N. probe if it wins power KARACHI, Jan 6 (Reuters): The Pakistan People’s Party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will call on the United Nations for an inquiry into her assassination if it forms a government after elections next month, Farhatullah Babar a senior party official said Sunday. The PPP has aired deep suspicions over the motives and identities of Bhutto's assassins. “If the PPP comes to power, we will ask the U.N. to hold an inquiry,” he said. The party accuses the government of screening the real culprits. “The government's position on the assassination has been shifting from day to day,” he added. (Posted @ 18:04 PST)
Three caretaker federal ministers visit Naudero, offer condolence Naudero, Jan 6 (PPI): Three federal caretaker ministers- Salim Abbas Jilani, Defence, Sikandar Jogezai, Culture & Tourism, and Ansar Burney, Human Rights, visited Bhutto House on Sunday and condoled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s death with PPP leaders Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Aftab Shaban Mirani, Faryal Talpur and Farhatullah Baba. The ministers had come in a special flight from Islamabad. Later, a 50-member delegation of Rawalpindi Press Club, led by their president Afzal Butt, also offered condolence. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
24 killed, 40 injured in four accidents in Punjab Lahore, Jan 6 (PPI): At least 24 persons were killed and 40 injured in four separate road accidents at different places in Punjab. Of these 13 were killed and 30 others wounded in a collision between a passenger coach and a trawler on Indus highway near Shahwali in Rajanpur. The injured were shifted to hospitals. Four persons were killed and 10 others sustained injuries in a collision between a bus and an oil tanker on Multan-Muzaffargarh road on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, four persons of a family were killed in a road accident at GT road near Patoki on Sunday. In another accident near Pindi Bhattian three persons including two officers of Highway Department and driver were burnt to death when their jeep caught fire after it overturned. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Intermittent rains, snowfall continue in various parts of country ISLAMABAD, January 6, (PPI) - Intermittent rains and snowfall is continuing in various parts of the country which would increase water storage and bring good impact on crops. Director General Meteorological Office Dr. Qamaruz Zaman Chaudhry said this weather system which is persisting in the country for last 48 hours; there is rain especially in Balochistan and its adjoining areas. (Posted @ 23:36 PST)
People, organizations asked to contact investigations team to share evidence ISLAMABAD, Jan 6 (APP) - The individuals and organizations in possession of any evidence of the terrorist attack on Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi were asked to share it with the investigation team. The Ministry of Interior through a press release issued here on Sunday has requested the individuals and organizations in possession of any evidence in the form of clips on mobile phone, video or camera to contact the investigation team and share this evidence which can help in the investigations of the terrorist attack on Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. (Posted @ 22:18 PST)
Scotland team re-examines vehicle of Benazir Bhutto RAWALPINDI, Jan.6 (APP) - The Scotland Yard investigators on Sunday visited the police line to re-examine the vehicle, in which former Premier Benazir Bhutto was killed, while leaving Liaqat Bagh after addressing an election rally on December 27. This was the second visit of David Keith led Scotland Yard detectives since the team began investigations into the assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. (Posted @ 20:46 PST)
Britain to invest 107 million euros in Pakistan to fight terrorism, extremism London, Jan 6 (PPI): Britain will invest 107 million euros in Pakistan over the next three years in order to fight terrorism and extremism there, Foreign Secretary David Milliband wrote in The Sunday Times. Britain is to station more diplomats in Middle East and South Asia as part of the fight against extremism. The number of diplomats in these areas will be increased by 32 percent, Miliband said. (Posted @ 19:30 PST)
Three Palestinians killed in latest Israeli raid in Gaza GAZA CITY, Jan 6 (AFP): Three Palestinians including a teenager were killed Sunday in the latest Israeli military operation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said. Four other people were wounded during the operation that involved Israeli jeeps, armoured vehicles and bulldozers backed by helicopters, they said. Later on Sunday a missile slammed into a house east of Al-Bureij, killing two people and wounding six, medics said. (Posted @ 19:22 PST)
French newspaper says Sarkozy could wed on Feb. 9 PARIS, Jan 6 (Reuters): French President Nicolas Sarkozy could marry Italian singer and former model Carla Bruni early next month, a French newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting unidentified sources. In a report widely picked up on French radio and television, the Journal du Dimanche said Sarkozy had given Bruni a diamond engagement ring and received a watch from the exclusive Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe in exchange. “They are getting married! February 9?” the newspaper said in a front-page headline. (Posted @ 19:15 PST)
Two Jordanian air force pilots killed in fighter jet crash AMMAN, Jan 6 (AP): Two Jordanian air force pilots were killed Sunday when their aircraft crashed outside the capital Amman, the official Petra news agency reported. It was the second air force crash in a week. In a brief dispatch, Petra said the crash took place at noon. It quoted an unnamed military source as saying the aircraft was on routine training mission. (Posted @ 19:10 PST)
Pakistan will hit economic targets despite unrest: minister ISLAMABAD, Jan 6 (AFP): Pakistan will still hit its economic targets this year despite a wave of unrest and turmoil following the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, the caretaker finance minister Salman Shah told AFP Sunday. The caretaker finance minister he remained sure original targets could be reached. “Pakistan can achieve the 7.2 percent economic growth target if elections are held in a smooth manner,” he said. (Posted @ 18:26 PST)
Flights cancelled as heavy snowfalls hit Iran TEHRAN, Jan 6 (Reuters): Some of the heaviest snowfalls in years caused severe transport disruptions Sunday in Iran, forcing the cancellation of most flights and the closure of many roads, Iranian media said. All international and domestic flights to and from Tehran were cancelled and some northwestern cities saw their first snow in 20 years, state radio said. (Posted @ 18:22 PST)
Seven dead in New Delhi slum blaze NEW DELHI, Jan 6 (AFP): At least seven people were killed when a fire tore through a slum Sunday in the Indian capital New Delhi, the fire department said. Ten others were injured as the inferno engulfed hundreds of make-shift huts in the overcrowded old city commercial district, city fire department chief R.C. Sharma told reporters. “Seven people were charred to death and almost all the 300 huts completely gutted in the fire,” he said. (Posted @ 17:55 PST)
Three bomb attacks kill 14 in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Jan 6 (AFP): A spate of bombings, including a suicide attack on Iraqi soldiers attending an Army Day ceremony, rocked Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 32, Iraqi officials said. The suicide attack on the soldiers took place in Karrada. Interior and defence ministry officials said nine people were killed and at least 17 more wounded. In another attack in Al-Qahira district, Baghdad, four people were killed and 11 wounded in a vehicle bomb explosion. In a third attack, one person was killed and four injured when four improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated in the Al-Nahda vehicle market in the city centre, police said. (First Posted @ 15:55 PST Updated @ 17:50 PST)
Tiger military intelligence head killed, says Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Jan 6 (Reuters): The Tamil Tigers' military intelligence chief was among 34 rebels killed in heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka on Saturday, the military and a pro-Tiger Web site said, amid signs the 25-year civil war was escalating. Colonel Charles was killed in clashes in Mannar district, where fierce fighting has been focused for months, the military said Sunday. (Posted @ 16:50 PST)
Bangladesh court defers Hasina Wajed's graft hearing DHAKA, Jan 6 (Reuters): A Bangladesh special anti-graft court adjourned until Tuesday former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's trial on extortion charges because she was sick, court officials said. Jail authorities told the court Sunday that Hasina was unable to attend the trial due to illness, acting chief of her Awami League Zillur Rahman said. She fell sick at court on Dec. 31 and was taken to jail. Her lawyers and physicians said she was suffering from high blood pressure as well as ear and eye problems. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Cricket: India to protest 'incompetent' Test umpiring SYDNEY, Jan 6 (AFP): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will lodge a formal complaint with the International Cricket Council over the “incompetent” umpiring of the second Test against Australia, team management said Sunday. Australia won the Test by 122 runs in the penultimate over of the final day at the Sydney Cricket Ground to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as holders. “I have been informed by the BCCI they are lodging a strong protest with the ICC, so that incompetent umpires do not umpire in the rest of the series,” team manager Chetan Chauhan said at the press conference. “The way the umpiring was, the team is upset. A lot of decisions have gone against us,” he said. Anil Kumble, who was seething over the performances of match umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson, suggested Australia claimed some catches that should not have been appealed. (Posted @ 16:00 PST)
Israeli troops quit Nablus, but 2 killed in Gaza airstrikes NABLUS, West Bank, Jan 6 (AP) - Israeli troops wound up a four-day sweep of wanted men and munitions caches in the West Bank town of Nablus, but not before early Sunday an Israeli aircraft had targeted the northern part of the strip killing one person. One Hamas security man was killed late Saturday in another Israeli strike in the same area and three other Palestinians were critically wounded. (First Posted @ 09:55 PST, Updated @ 11:45 PST)
US soldier killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, Jan 6 (AFP) - A US soldier has been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq's restive Diyala province, the American military announced on Sunday. The soldier died from injuries sustained in the blast near his vehicle while conducting operations in the province on Saturday. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Strong earthquake hits southern Greece ATHENS, Jan 6 (AFP) - A powerful earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter Scale hit the Peloponnese region of southern Greece early Sunday, Greek media reported. There were no immediate reports of victims. The epicenter of the tremor was located 58 kilometres east-northeast of the city of Kalamata and 124 kilometres southwest of Athens. (Posted @ 11:25 PST)
36 Tamil Tiger rebels killed: military COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan 6 (AP) - Soldiers overran separatist Tamil rebel bunkers and traded artillery fire in Sri Lanka's embattled north, leaving 36 insurgents dead, the military said. Troops destroyed four bunkers in the Nagarkovil and Muhamalai areas of Jaffna peninsula Saturday, killing six Tamil Tiger rebels, the Defence Ministry said. Separately, soldiers attacked two bunkers in Mannar district's Adampan village and exchanged artillery rounds with the rebels, killing 10 of them, it said. In Parappaankandal village, also in Mannar, soldiers overran six rebel bunkers and killed 10 guerrillas, the ministry said in a statement. Eight soldiers were wounded in Saturday's clashes, it added. (First Posted @ 10:25 PST, Updated @ 11:50 PST)
Arab foreign ministers back army chief as Lebanon's president CAIRO, Egypt, Jan 6 (AP) - Syria joined other Arab nations in endorsing the head of Lebanon's army as that country's next president, putting pressure on the Lebanese opposition to drop demands that have blocked a compromise over the post. During a meeting Saturday in Cairo, Arab foreign ministers agreed unanimously to back Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman for president and called on Lebanon's rival parties to resolve their political differences. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Small plane crashes in Alaska, killing 5 ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan 6 (AP) - A small plane crashed soon after take off Saturday afternoon in shallow waters off Kodiak island in southern Alaska, killing at least five of the 10 people on board, authorities said. Four people were pulled out from the wreckage while the fifth managed to swim to shore. The pilot was among the dead. Cause of the crash is being investigated. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Strong earthquakes hits Canadian west coast region WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (AFP) - Two strong earthquakes both registering 6.5 on the Moment Magnitude scale struck the western coast of Canada early Saturday, with no reports of casualties or damage, US and Canadian sesimological sites reported. “A strong earthquake has occurred, but a tsunami is not expected along the California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, or Alaska coast. No tsunami warning or watch is in effect for these areas,” read a statement from the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. (Posted @ 10:05 PST)
Cricket: New Zealand beat Bangladesh by nine wickets DUNEDIN, New Zealand, Jan 6 (AFP) - New Zealand beat Bangladesh by nine wickets in the first cricket Test which ended on the third day at University Oval here Sunday. Bangladesh made 137 and 254, and New Zealand 357 and 39 for one. New Zealand lead the two-Test series 1-0. (Posted @ 09:45 PST)
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