|
| February 16, 2008 | Saturday | Safar 08, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
|
|
Satellite Parameters for DAWN NEWS Satellite: Intelsat 10, Band -C Downlink Frequency: 4126.05 Mhz Symbol rate: 3255 Ks/s FEC: 3/4 Polarization: Horizontal 
Audio
|
Gulgee, wife and maid murder case solved: driver arrested KARACHI, Feb 16 (APP): Karachi Police solved the mystery shrouding the murder of Pakistan’s noted artist Gulgee, wife Zarin Gulgee and maid Aasia and arrested the victim’s driver and his accomplice on a murder charge. (Posted @ 23:06 PST)
Suicide attack on PPP rally kills 37 in Parachinar PARACHINAR, Pakistan, Feb 16 (AFP) A suicide car bomber struck a Pakistan People’s Party rally in Parachinar Saturday, killing 37 people. “It was a suicide attack, there were people outside the candidate's house when this man attacked,” interior minister Hamid Nawaz told AFP. Thirty-seven people were killed and 93 wounded in the blast, interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said, adding: “It was a vehicle-borne suicide attack.” Security officials earlier told AFP that the suicide bomber attacked a Pakistan People's Party meeting outside the office of local candidate Riaz Shah. Shah's family said he was safe. “A man with long hair drove a car into the crowd and blew himself up. There were bodies and blood everywhere,” a witness told AFP. Police in Hyderabad meanwhile said they had arrested a suspected militant equipped with a suicide jacket and explosives who was planning an attack during the polls. Some 81,000 army and paramilitary soldiers have fanned out across the country to maintain peace and security during the election, chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said. Qaiser Tareen, commander of the paramilitary Punjab Rangers, said troops have been ordered to “shoot on sight” those who try to hamper the voting or disrupt peace on election day. (First Posted @ 17:15 PST Updated @ 20:28 PST)
Musharraf launches Korakorum Highway expansion project ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 16 (APP):President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday launched the project to expand Korakorum Highway, aimed at improving trade and commercial activity particularly with neighbouring China. The 335 kilometre long road from Rai Kot to Khunjrab will be widened by 7.3 metre. The project worth 30 billion rupees will be completed by December 2011. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Maoist rebels launch coordinated attacks on Indian police compounds, killing 13 BHUBANESWAR, India, Feb 16 (AP) - Hundreds of Maoist rebels attacked six police compounds in Nayagarh district in Orissa state in carefully coordinated attacks, killing 12 police personnel and one civilian and injuring another 12 besides seizing at least 1,000 stolen pistols. The Friday night attacks were on four police stations, one training academy and an, said Gopal Chandra Nanda, director general of the state police. Nanda said about 400 Naxalites were involved. Press Trust of India news agency reported the rebels took away the stolen weapons in a bus that they hijacked earlier. The guerrillas have been fighting for more than three decades in 29l Indian states, demanding land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor. (First Posted @ 09:30 PST; Updated @ 11:20 PST)
Seven Palestinians killed, 50 injured in Israeli Gaza raid BUREIJ, Gaza Strip, Feb 16 (AFP) - Seven Palestinians were killed and at least 50 wounded on Friday night when Israeli warplanes launched a raid on a building in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, medics and witnesses said. The Israeli aircraft targeted the home of top Islamic Jihad militant Ayman al-Fayed in the Bureij Palestinian refugee camp south of Gaza City, killing him and two of his children, a boy and a girl, they said. A woman was among the other four dead, the medics said, adding that the fate of Fayed's wife and three other children was not known. A military spokeswoman denied Israeli forces had attacked the house. Around 50 people, including around 20 children, were wounded when the building was hit by a missile, the Palestinian medics added. The Fayed house was completely destroyed in the attack and at least 10 other houses were damaged by the blast, witnesses and an AFP correspondent said. Medical sources identified Fayed, 42, as a top commander from the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. The group's spokesman Abu Ahmad confirmed his death. The impoverished Gaza Strip is home to eight refugee camps, and Bureij is both the smallest and the most populated. (Posted @ 10:55 PST)
Two road accidents in Syria kill 16 people, injure 33 DAMASCUS, Feb 16 (AP): Sixteen people were killed and 33 injured in two road accidents in central Syria on Saturday, the official SANA news agency reported. A minibus with 14 passengers collided head-on with an incoming truck on the Damascus-Palmyra road, some 100 kilometers north of Damascus, killing 12 people and seriously injuring two. Elsewhere, four people were killed and 31 injured some seriously, on the Damascus-Homs highway, some 50 kilometers north of Damascus. (Posted @ 23:18 PST)
Four militants killed in Chechnya clash ROSTOV-ON-DON, Feb 16 (AP): A wanted rebel leader and three members of his group were killed in a clash with army and interior troops in Chechnya, the regional Interior Ministry said Saturday. The clash in Shatoi region broke out Friday night after a group of four rebels fired at a military motorcade, the ministry said. (Posted @ 23:10 PST)
Magnitude 6.0 quake hits Bolivia-Chile border WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Bolivia in the region of Potosi near the border with Chile Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake struck at 1445 GMT at a depth of 83 miles, the survey said. The agency said the quake struck about 105 miles northeast of Calama, Chile. (Posted @ 21:56 PST)
Somali president unhurt in mortar attack on presidential palace MOGADISHU, Feb 16 (Reuters) Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf escaped unhurt from a mortar attack on his official residence in the capital Saturday, hours after returning to Mogadishu from an overseas trip, one of his aides said. “Four mortars were fired at the presidential palace. Three of them landed outside, while one landed inside the compound. No one was hurt,” the aide, who requested anonymity, told Reuters. He confirmed that Yusuf was in the heavily guarded presidential compound at the time of the shelling. (Posted @ 21:32 PST)
Aitezaz Shah admits involvement in Benazir murder conspiracy RAWALPINDI, Feb 16: Aitezaz Shah, an accused in Benazir Bhutto murder case, admitted his involvement in Benazir Bhutto’s murder conspiracy before Anti-terrorism court magistrate Saturday, private television channels reported. (Posted @ 21:28 PST)
Kosovo PM confirms independence to be declared on Sunday PRISTINA, Serbia, Feb 16 (APP/AFP) Prime Minister Hashim Thaci confirmed Saturday that Kosovo would declare its independence from Serbia Sunday, the day when the “will of the citizens of Kosovo” would be implemented. “Tomorrow will be a day of calm, of understanding, and of state engagements for the implementation of the will of the citizens of Kosovo,” he told reporters after a meeting with religious leaders from around the province. (FirstPosted @ 10:20 PST Updated @ 21:10 PST)
Bush blames Democrats for 'greater' terror risk WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (AFP) President George W. Bush Saturday pressed his attack against Democratic lawmakers, saying that political deadlock over a controversial wiretap law put the United States at greater risk of a terror attack. “House leaders chose politics over protecting the country -- and our country is at greater risk as a result,” Bush said in his weekly radio address, which he recorded before leaving on a five-nation trip to Africa Friday. “At midnight, the attorney general and the director of national intelligence will be stripped of their power to authorize new surveillance against terrorist threats abroad,” he said. “This means that as terrorists change their tactics to avoid our surveillance, we may not have the tools we need to continue tracking them - and we may lose a vital lead that could prevent an attack on America. “Because Congress failed to act, it will be harder for our government to keep you safe from terrorist attack.” (Posted @ 20:48 PST)
In Africa, Bush pushes Kenya deal DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 16 (AFP) President George W. Bush Saturday launched a five-country Africa tour, highlighting US-backed victories against disease and poverty and pushing for an end to deadly violence in Kenya. During an hours-long stop in the west African country of Benin, Bush threw his weight behind former UN chief Kofi Annan's efforts to broker a power-sharing deal in Nairobi to end clashes that have killed 1,000 people. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, expected in Kenya Monday, will deliver a “clear message” that Washington backs Annan's plan for ending the crisis that began with a disputed December 27 presidential election, said Bush. “The key is that the leaders hear from her first hand US desires to see that there be no violence and that there be a power-sharing agreement that will help this nation resolve its difficulties,” he said. (First Posted @ 13:10 PST Updated @ 19:26 PST)
Seven dead, four injured in apparent drag-racing crash in Maryland ACCOKEEK, Maryland, Feb 16 (AP) A car plowed into a crowd that apparently gathered to watch an illegal drag race on a suburban road early Saturday, killing seven people and injuring at least four, police said. The car went out of control on Route 210 around 3:40 a.m. and hit people standing on the roadside, Prince George's County Police Cpl. Clinton Copeland said. A tractor-trailer that came by shortly afterward may also have struck someone on the road as it tried to avoid the crash, he said. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
100 miscreants surrender in Swat SWAT, Pakistan, Feb16 (APP) About 100 miscreants Saturday surrendered themselves to the District Police and laid their arms and pledged to live in peace and to work for maintenance of the harmony in their district. They were also later presented to the local media at Police Line Mingora at a special ceremony held in connection with their surrender. The surrendered miscreants were later released on three personal surety bonds. (Posted @ 19:18 PST)
Four additional judges IHC take oath ISLAMABAD, Feb 16 (PPI) Four additional judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC) were sworn in here Saturday morning. Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam administered oath to four judges, Justice Munir Paracha, Justice Dr. Sajid Qureshi, Justice Qalb-i-Hassan and Justice Raja Saeed Akram. (Posted @ 19:08 PST)
Democracy only way to ensure country's prosperity: President Musharraf RAWALPINDI, Feb 16 (APP) President Musharraf Saturday termed democracy the only way to ensure sustainable progress and prosperity in the country. Talking to a delegation of international election observers of Centre for Media and Democracy (CMD) here, he said international observers had been invited to witness the polls, which would be held in a free, fair, transparent and peaceful manner. The President said Election Commission had independently formulated the strategy and details for ensuring transparency and impartiality of election process. He said the caretaker government being non-political and neutral in character was mandated to carry out governance process in an impartial way. (Posted @ 19:02 PST)
Three die in Kent motorway car crash LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters): Three people died in an accident on the M20 motorway in Kent Saturday after their car left the carriageway, police said. Two men and a woman died after their blue Ford Focus ended up in a field by the motorway north of Junction 2, near West Kingsdown. Two other people travelling in the same car were injured but survived the crash. No other vehicles were involved, police said. (Posted @ 17:10 PST)
Sri Lanka says jets attack northern rebel base COLOMBO, Feb 16 (Reuters): Sri Lankan military jets bombed and destroyed a Tamil Tiger military base in the island's rebel-held north on Saturday, the military said, in a third successive day of air raids. There were no details of casualties immediately from the strike in Mannar district that followed bombings on rebel positions in Mullaittivu over the past two days, an air force spokesman said. (Posted @ 15:50 PST)
Bangladesh arrests top leader of Islamist group DHAKA, Feb 16 (Reuters): Bangladesh police has arrested a leader of a militant group, Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami, accused of involvement in a grenade attack on a political rally in 2004 in which 23 people were killed, an official said on Saturday. Mufti Abu Zandal and an accomplice were picked up during a raid on a village near Satkhira district town, 350 km southwest of the capital Dhaka, on Friday. More than 40 grenades were found in a hideout in the village. (Posted @ 15:36 PST)
Two shot dead in south Thailand NARATHIWAT, Feb 16 (AFP): Separatist militants shot dead two men in separate attacks on Saturday in Thailand's restive south, police said. A 32-year-old Buddhist was gunned down in a drive-by shooting while riding a motorcycle in Narathiwat, one of three insurgency-torn provinces bordering Malaysia, police said. In nearby Pattani province, militants shot dead a 32-year-old Muslim while he was sitting in front of a tea shop earlier in the day. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Afghanistan's coldest winter kills over 925 KABUL, Feb 16 (Reuters): The death toll from Afghanistan's harshest winter has hit 926, an official said on Saturday, adding the figure could rise as access to remote areas improves with the snow thawing. More than 316,000 head of cattle had perished since the onset of winter in mid December, a National Disaster Management Commission official said. “The figure for human losses stands at 926 today. It could go higher, for roads have been reopened and we will find unreported fatalities,” he said. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
EU approves 2,000-strong Kosovo police mission BRUSSELS, Feb 16 (Reuters): The European Union approved the launch of a 2,000-strong police and justice mission for Kosovo on Saturday on the eve of the breakway province's expected declaration of independence from Serbia. The mission was formally endorsed at 2300 GMT on Friday after none of the EU's 27 member states objected to an operation plan for the mission before an agreed deadline, a diplomatic source said. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
Bangladesh condemns reprinting of blasphemous cartoon DHAKA, Feb 16 (AFP) – Bangladesh government Saturday condemned the reprinting in Denmark of the blasphemous cartoon, saying it would “only spur resentment” in the Islamic world. “We deeply regret the republication of the Danish cartoons. We condemn it,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “We fail to understand how hurting the sentiments of a billion Muslims can advance the cause of freedom of expression.” (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Telephone exchange in Swat damaged ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 16 (APP): Suspected miscreants blew up Allahabad telephone exchange in Swat valley with some explosive device on Saturday, while 10 suspects were arrested by security forces during raids in Tehsil Kabal. The damage to the telephone exchange affected thousands of telephone lines, a private TV channel reported. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Bush arrives in Africa COTONOU, Benin, Feb 16 (AP) - U.S. President George W. Bush began a five-country journey through Africa on Saturday saying that U.S. aid to the continent comes with “great compassion.” “We care when we see suffering,” Bush told Thomas Boni Yayi, the president of Benin. “We believe we are all children of God. ... The American people send their blessings.” Benin is one of Africa's most-stable democracies. The nation has many political parties, a strong civil society and press freedoms, yet is one of world's poorest countries, severely underdeveloped and corrupt. The 2006 elections were nearly derailed when the government ran out of funds to finance its election machinery. Voters stepped in, raising cash, loaning computers and using motorcycle headlights to illuminate ballot-counting centers. (Posted @ 13:10 PST)
Four additional judges of Islamabad High Court take oath ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 16 (APP): Munir Paracha, Dr. Sajid Qureshi, Syed Qalb-e-Hassan and Raja Saeed Akram Khan Saturday took oath as additional judges of Islamabad High Court for a period of one year. Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam administered the oath. (Posted @ 12:05 PST)
Tear gas scatters Malaysian 'flower power' protest KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian police used water cannon and tear gas on Saturday to break up an anti-government protest by about 300 ethnic Indians carrying roses to symbolise a peaceful demand for justice. Children were among the demonstrators at Saturday's protest, where some people carried yellow and red roses, while chanting slogans such as “We love Badawi”. Others wore orange T-shirts printed with the slogan “People Power”. The protesters aimed to march to the Malaysian parliament, but were halted by police a short distance away after being refused a permit to assemble in public. (Posted @ 11:05 PST)
Bomb explodes in Mexico City killing at least one MEXICO CITY, Feb 16 (AFP) - At least one person died and two others were injured after a bomb exploded in Mexico City's central tourist area Friday. “It was a home-made explosive device probably activated by cell-phone and probably made with gunpowder, judging from the smell,” police said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)
Security Council censures Eritrea for obstructing UN force UNITED NATIONS, Feb 16 (AFP) - The Security Council on Friday blasted Eritrea for obstructing the operations of UN troops monitoring the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia and demanded full cooperation from Asmara. The council adopted a toughly-worded, non-binding statement of censure after being told by a senior UN official that personnel of the UN mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) were being prevented from relocating to Ethiopia and were running out of fuel and food. “We are in a situation where it's getting harder and harder to stay (in Eritrea) and it's getting harder and harder to leave and that's an untenable situation,” Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of the UN department of peacekeeping operations (DPKO), told reporters. “It's a very serious situation ... We're running out of fuel, we're running out of food,” he said. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)
Spacewalkers place research equipment on European lab WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (AFP) - A pair of spacewalking astronauts attached Friday two pieces of research equipment on the International Space Station's new European laboratory to study the sun and carry out experiments, NASA said. Astronauts Rex Walheim and Stanley Love floated outside the orbiting ISS for more than seven hours and successfully completed the mission's third and final spacewalk, adding two key pieces of hardware to Europe's Columbus lab. The astronauts installed the SOLAR, an observatory to monitor the sun for two years, and the European Technology Exposure Facility (EuTEF), which will conduct nine experiments needing exposure to space. The space shuttle is scheduled to undock from the ISS Monday at 0926 GMT and land at the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's east coast on Wednesday at 1406 GMT. (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Expelled EU diplomat defends Taliban dialogue LONDON, Feb 16 (AFP) - An Irish diplomat who was expelled from Afghanistan for talking to Taliban-linked insurgents defended his actions Saturday, insisting that dialogue could persuade militants to abandon violence. “There is a critical difference between what is discreet and what is covert,” Michael Semple, who was the second most senior European Union official in Afghanistan, told British newspaper The Guardian in an interview. “What we were doing was simply discreet because that was what was required. But it was totally in line with official policy to bring people in from the cold.” Semple was expelled late last year with Briton Mervyn Patterson, a UN political adviser, for threatening national security by contacting the Taliban in the volatile southern province of Helmand. Semple told The Guardian that they had not opened any such channel with Al-Qaeda-linked Taliban. “There are many people who served with the Taliban regime who are now well-placed inside the Karzai regime or else are pillars of Afghan society,” he said. “Our mandate was to support the government's reconciliation process -- that's what we were doing in Helmand before Christmas. There is no purely military solution to the current insurgency. “There isn't a serious actor in Afghanistan who says the only way forward is to fight your way out.” (Posted @ 10:30 PST)
Denmark vows zero tolerance after week of youth riots COPENHAGEN, Feb 16 (AFP) - Hundreds of youths, some 10 to 12 years old, have taken to the streets in riots across Denmark this week with racism and police harassment suggested as the cause of the discontent as the youngsters remained silent on the motive. Small groups of youths have set dozens of cars and dumpsters ablaze. Police officers and fire brigades have been met with stonethrowing and molotov cocktails in five consecutive nights of violence in the capital that have gradually spread to other Danish towns. Some 50 people, aged 15 to 25, have been arrested during the past week, charged with arson and violence against police officers. While last year's riots were caused by youths angry over the closure of the youth centre, this time around authorities were at a loss to explain the violence. “We don't know exactly what's behind it,” Copenhagen police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch told AFP. The riots began in Copenhagen's heavily immigrant populated neighbourhoods of Noerrebro and Vesterbro, but have since spread to several other areas, including Denmark's second biggest city Aarhus and other regions which have no significant numbers of immigrants. (Posted @ 10:15 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
DAWN Media Group
Haroon House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
Phone:+92 (21) 111-444-777 Fax: +92 (21) 569-3995
webmaster@dawn.com
Make sure to reload these pages so you're viewing the current version.
|
|