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| February 19, 2008 | Tuesday | Safar 11, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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Castro resigns as Cuban president HAVANA, Feb 19 (AFP): Fidel Castro resigned Tuesday as president and commander in chief of Cuba in a message published in the online version of the official daily Granma. “I neither will aspire to nor will I accept - I repeat - I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief,” wrote the Cuban leader, who had been in power for almost 50 years. (Posted @ 12:35 PST)
PPP wants coalition minus Musharraf allies: Zardari ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (Reuters/AFP): The party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto will try to form a coalition goverment without the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday. “For now, the decision of the party is that we are not interested in any of those people who are part and parcel of the last government,” Zardari told a news conference in Islamabad, adding the PPP would try to persuade PML-N, the party of Nawaz Sharif, to join the PPP in power. “We will form a government of national consensus which will take along every democratic force,” Asif Ali Zardari said at the news conference in Islamabad a day after the parliamentary elections. Asked if he would include members of the defeated Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which backs President Pervez Musharraf, he replied: “We are not interested in any of those people who are part and parcel of the previous government.” (Posted @ 20:25 PST)
India police seize 4kgs of uranium from smugglers PATNA, Feb 19 (Reuters): Police in eastern India have seized around 4 kgs of low-quality uranium after they arrested a gang of smugglers near Nepal's border. The seizure was made in Supaul district in the eastern Indian state of Bihar late on Monday, police said. “We pounced upon them while they all were striking a deal near the border,” senior district police official told Reuters by telephone from Supaul, north of Bihar's state capital Patna. India has a major uranium mine, Jaduguda, in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand. “They are interrogating the arrested smugglers to find out where the seized uranium was actually being supplied,” he said. Police said one Indian and five Nepalese were arrested. (Posted @ 20:10 PST)
US 'pleased' with Pakistan election WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (AP/Reuters): The Bush administration has praised Pakistan's election was a step toward restoring democracy in the country, but is holding off on a definitive assessment until final results are in. A State Department spokeswoman said the US is pleased Monday's vote came off relatively peacefully and without major apparent fraud. In Islamabad, a U.S. senators team that observed the vote said on Tuesday the election was credible and legitimate. Senator John Kerry, referring to the violence during polling in which 27 people were killed, told a news conference the election had not been perfect, but met the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of Pakistani people and those of us who observed it. Kerry observed polling with Senators Joseph Biden, Chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee, and Chuck Hagel. Biden said that, while he expected complaints, it was a credible election.(Posted @ 19:35 PST)
Two dozen cities will switch off lights in gesture on global warming SYDNEY, Feb 19 (AP): Two dozen cities around the world plan to turn their lights off for one hour later this year in a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about global warming, organisers said Wednesday. The World Wildlife Fund, the event's organiser, said so far, 24 cities have agreed to take part in this year's event, scheduled for March 29.(Posted @ 18:30 PST)
Feared Afghan militia chief suspended from govt post KABUL, Feb 19 (AFP): Afghanistan's attorney general has suspended militia leader Abdul Rashid Dostum from his government post for not cooperating with an investigation into a raid on a rival, an official said Tuesday. Dostum, one of the most ruthless warlords to emerge from Afghanistan's decades of conflict, holds the largely symbolic post of chief of staff to the military's commander-in-chief, President Hamid Karzai.(Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Gunfire, dancing welcome election losses by religious parties PESHAWAR, Feb 19 (AFP): Celebratory gunfire and dancing in the streets greeted heavy election losses Tuesday by Pakistan's main alliance of religious parties in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. The MMA alliance lost many seats, winning just three seats in Monday's parliamentary elections, according to unofficial results. “These people did nothing for us during their five-year tenure and just strengthened the hands of Islamists and those supporting militancy,” said a property businessman. An auto-rickshaw mechanic called the mullahs “religious fanatics” and said a vote for them would be wasted. “These mullahs made our lives miserable,” he said.(Posted @ 17:40 PST)
Media group protests Afghan journalist’s detention at US mly base KABUL, Feb 17 (AP): The Committee to Protect Journalists is asking the U.S. military to charge an Afghan journalist held at the Bagram military prison with a crime or to set him free. CPJ said it is “greatly concerned” by the detention of Jawed Ahmad, a journalist for Canadian Television (CTV) in Kandahar since October over allegations he had contacts with Taliban militants. “We are deeply troubled that Jawed Ahmad has been secluded in a U.S. military base for nearly three months without charge,” Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based group, said in a statement. (Posted @ 17:15 PST)
NATO called in as Kosovo Serbs attack border posts JARINJE, Kosovo, Feb 19 (Reuters): Kosovo police called for help from NATO peacekeepers on Tuesday after Serbs opposed to Kosovo's newly declared independence burned down one border crossing and attacked another. Kosovo police took shelter in a tunnel at a border post near Zubin Potok in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north as more than 1,000 protesters tried to tear it down. “We asked NATO to send a helicopter to evacuate our officers,” a police source told Reuters in Pristina. Other reports said groups of “angry” Serbs set fire Tuesday to two border crossings linking the north of newly independent Kosovo with southern Serbia. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Cricket: India beat Sri Lanka in one-day match ADELAIDE Feb 19 (AFP): India beat Sri Lanka by two wickets in their tri-series one-day match here Tuesday. India made 239 for eight in response to Sri Lanka's 238 for six. (First Posted @ 12:25 PST, Updated @ 16:45 PST)
India kills 35 rebels in four-day anti-Maoist crackdown BHUBANESWAR, Feb 19 (AFP): Indian security forces said Tuesday that 35 Maoist rebels have been killed in a four-day crackdown in eastern India following a major insurgent attack at the weekend. A senior police officer in Orissa state said 35 bodies had been recovered as New Delhi rushed federal commandos to bolster local security forces. A senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said the 35 bodies recovered Tuesday included those of 20 killed over the weekend. Three security personnel had also been killed, he added. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Six Somalis killed in latest fighting MOGADISHU, Feb 17 (AP): Heavy fighting killed at least six people in the Somali capital overnight, sparking cordons and search operations by government troops and their Ethiopian allies, witnesses said Tuesday. A local resident Asha Yusuf said he saw four soldiers among the six dead. (Posted @ 16:17 PST)
Floods kill 10, force thousands to flee in Philippines MANILA, Feb 19 (Reuters): Flash floods have killed at least 10 people in the central Philippines and forced tens of thousands to flee to higher ground after three days of heavy rain, the head of the local Red Cross said on Tuesday. “Ten people have drowned,” said Richard Gordon, appealing for food, medicine, warm clothes and materials for temporary shelter. He said nearly 30,000 families, or 140,000 people, have been affected as collapsed bridges, landslides and floodwaters isolated Eastern Samar province, a poor rural area facing the Pacific Ocean in the central Philippines. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Blast hits Kandahar KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 19 (Reuters): A loud explosion Tuesday hit the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, witnesses said. Tuesday's blast happened in an area inside Kandahar city, but it was not immediately clear what caused it and if there were any casualties, they said. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
13 slightly injured when two trains collide near Turkish capital ANKARA, Turkey, Feb 19 (AP): An empty commuter train rammed into an intercity passenger train at a station near the Turkish capital Tuesday, slightly injuring 13 people, railway authorities said. The passenger train, arriving in Ankara from Istanbul, had stopped at the station in Sincan, a suburb of the capital, when the commuter train crashed into it. Thirteen people were slightly injured in the accident, authorities said. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)
Bush arrives in Rwanda KIGALI, Feb 19 (AFP): US President George W. Bush Tuesday arrived in Rwanda, the third stop in his five-nation African tour and where he is to visit a genocide memorial in the capital, state media announced. Bush was met at the Kigali airport by his host Paul Kagame on his arrival from neighbouring Tanzania. The two leaders are to discuss the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region where the Bush administration says a “genocide” is being carried out. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Israeli troops kill gunman in Gaza firefight GAZA CITY, Feb 19 (AFP): Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian gunman during a firefight in the northern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, medics and the army said. Ismail Jadallah, 25, was killed near the Kissufim crossing into Israel, Palestinian medics said. (Posted @ 12:25 PST)
US to try satellite shoot-down Thursday; Russia wary WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (AFP): The United States will take its first shot at an out-of-control spy satellite on Thursday, trying to knock it into the sea before it crashes to Earth, possibly causing damage, CNN news reported Monday. A second attempt would be possible if the first misses, the channel said, citing military sources. Pentagon officials were not immediately available for confirmation. Without intervention, the crippled satellite is due to break into the Earth's atmosphere on March 6 and crash down at an unpredictable spot, risking rupturing its tanks of toxic fuel, US authorities warned last week. A US warship will fire a surface-to-air missile at the satellite at a specific point in its orbit that ensures any Earth-bound debris will splash into the ocean. The shoot-down plan drew criticism Sunday from Russia, whose defence ministry said in a statement it looked like a veiled weapons test and an “attempt to move the arms race into space.” (Posted @ 11:05 PST)
Atlantis undocks from International Space Station WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (AFP): The US space shuttle Atlantis successfully undocked early Monday from the International Space Station, its commander reported. During Atlantis's stay at the station, astronauts conducted three spacewalks to install a new European-built laboratory named Columbus and prepare it for scientific work. If everything goes as planned, the orbiter will land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Armenians vote for president YEREVAN, Feb 19 (Reuters): Armenians voted Tuesday in a presidential election that Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan is expected to win. Voters trickled to polls as they opened at 8 a.m. Polling stations close at 8 p.m. in the country of 3.2 million people and first results are expected Wednesday. (Posted @ 10:35 PST)
Sri Lanka says 12 killed in battle for bunkers COLOMBO, Feb 19 (AFP): At least 10 Tamil Tiger rebels and two government soldiers were killed in intense fighting for the control of a bunker line in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Tuesday. Security forces launched a multi-pronged offensive against positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and captured several bunkers Monday evening, the ministry said. “Ground troops have claimed that 10 terrorists were killed and an equal number injured,” the ministry said. “Also, two soldiers were killed and nine sustained injuries in the clashes.” There was no immediate comment from the Tigers. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)
China road accident kills 15 BEIJING, Feb 19 (Reuters): A bus crashed into the rear of a tanker, causing an explosion that engulfed three other vehicles already involved in an accident in southern China, killing 15 people Monday, the Xinhua news agency said Tuesday. The accident happened in Chenzhou in Hunan province, which had been heavily hit by unusually cold weather and snow, the report said. A further 25 people were injured. (Posted @ 08:45 PST)
Militant leader believed killed in Philippines ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, Feb 19 (AFP): A militant wanted in connection with the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and with links to Al-Qaeda is believed to have been killed in the Philippines, the military said Tuesday. The body of a man thought to be Indonesian bomb expert Dulmatin, one of those behind the nightclub attacks that killed hundreds, was recovered from a shallow grave in the island of Tawi-tawi, said Major General Ben Dolorfino. (Posted @ 08:40 PST)
Belgrade pulls ambassadors as nations recognise Kosovo PRISTINA, Feb 19 (AFP): Serbia withdrew its ambassadors from Washington and other major capitals as the United States and several European powers led international moves to recognise Kosovo's independence. And in a speech to the United Nations Security Council, Serbian President Boris Tadic warned that backing Kosovo set a dangerous precedent that would threaten the world order. Serbia has recalled its ambassadors from all countries that recognise Kosovo's independence, Beta news agency reported. (Posted @ 08:35 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 443.63 points: KARACHI, Feb 19: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14797.47 up 443.63 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
Forex update: KARACHI, Feb 19: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 63.35 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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