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| March 12, 2008 | Wednesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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 Twelve killed in fresh Pakistan violence: officials KHAR, March 12 (AFP): Eight people including a child died when mortars fired by security forces hit a house in northwest Pakistan, while four people were killed by bomb blasts, officials said Wednesday. The mortar incident happened in Bajaur tribal agency overnight after a paramilitary vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb, deputy local administration chief Jamil Khan said. “They fired mortars at militant positions in retaliation for the IED (improvised explosive device) blast but one of them hit a house in Nawagai area of Bajaur,” Khan told AFP. “Eight people were killed including a child. One died in hospital today. Another six people were wounded,” the official said in Khar, the region's main town. State media said the deaths occurred during a five-hour firefight sparked when militants armed with rocket launchers and small arms ambushed a rescue team sent to assist the team hit by the roadside bomb. (Posted @ 18:48 PST)  
Four killed in northwest Pakistan blasts PESHAWAR, Pakistan, March 12 (AFP): Two policemen were killed as they tried to defuse a roadside bomb in northwestern Pakistan’s Swat Valley, officials said. A police patrol spotted the roadside bomb planted near Charbagh village on the main road through the valley, local police officer Jan Bahadur said. “A police bomb disposal unit was trying to defuse it when it exploded, killing two officials and wounding two others,” Bahadur told AFP. The police official added that two militants were killed overnight in an explosion in their house in Kabal district in the Swat region. “They were probably making a bomb when it exploded prematurely, killing the house owner and another man staying with him,” Bahadur said. (First Posted @ 10:30 PST, Updated @ 13:45 PST) Police open probe into twin suicide attacks that killed 24 in Pakistan LAHORE, March 12 (AP): Police opened an investigation into twin suicide attacks in Lahore that killed 24 people and injured more than 200 Tuesday, a top investigator said Wednesday. The blasts happened about 15 minutes apart in different districts of Lahore. On Wednesday, Tasadaq Hussain, a senior police investigator, said police collected remains of the two suicide attackers, and efforts were under way to trace and capture those who orchestrated the attacks. He provided no further details. (Posted @ 11:15 PST)  Pakistan asks India to explain death of cricket fan ISLAMABAD, March 12 (Reuters): Pakistan has asked India to explain why one of its nationals, who went to India to watch a cricket match in 2005, was arrested and later died in an Indian prison, a Foreign Office spokesman said Wednesday. Khalid Mahmood, 30, died on Feb. 12 but his family in Pakistan was only informed of his death on March 4. The family said he had been imprisoned as a spy and tortured to death. A Foreign Office spokesman said the Indian authorities did not inform Pakistan about Mahmood's arrest until he died in what the spokesman said were mysterious circumstances. (Posted @ 18:08 PST) Tremors rock Chaman QUETTA, March 12 (PPI): Tremors rocked the border town of Chaman on Wednesday afternoon. People said they felt jolts in the city but there was no report of any loss or casualty. The Seismic Observatory Peshawar told PPI that tremors of low intensity were felt in Chaman which were not recorded by them. Their intensity was less than 4 on the Richter scale. This was third tremor during the past two weeks felt in Chaman located about 120kms north of Quetta along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. (Posted @ 22:42 PST) 
'Islamophobia' a threat to world security, say Muslim states DAKAR, March 12 (AFP): The world's Muslim countries warned Thursday that an “alarming” rise in anti-Islamic insults and attacks in the West has become a threat to international security. The Organisation of Islamic Coutries (OIC) called on Europe and America to take stronger measures against 'Islamophobia' in a report prepared for a summit of the group's 57 members in Dakar on Thursday and Friday. The report by a special OIC monitoring group said the OIC was struggling to get the West to understand that Islamophobia “has dangerous implications on global peace and security” and convince western powers to do more. (Posted @ 22:08 PST) New York governor quits over sex scandal NEW YORK, March 12 (AFP): New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation Wednesday, succumbing to threats of impeachment and media pressure over his involvement in a prostitution scandal. Spitzer is to be replaced by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, who becomes the state's first black governor and the first blind US governor. (Posted @ 21:48 PST) India's industrial production slows sharply in January NEW DELHI, March 12 (AFP): India's industrial production dropped unexpectedly sharply in January, fuelling worries about slowing economic growth in Asia's third-largest economy. Annual industrial output growth tumbled to 5.3 percent in January on the back of aggressive monetary tightening after rising by 11.6 percent in the same month last year. Industrial growth grew by a revised 7.7 percent in December. (Posted @ 21:14 PST) UN war crimes court sentences Rwandan priest to life ARUSHA, Tanzania, March 12 (AFP): A UN war crimes court increased a Roman Catholic priest's sentence to life imprisonment Wednesday after upholding his conviction for his part in the genocide of 800,000 fellow Rwandans. In April 1994, when pro-government Hutu militiamen were rounding up ethnic Tutsis for slaughter across Rwanda, some 1,500 of Father Athanase Seromba's parishioners took shelter in his church in the western town of Nyange. Rather than protect his flock, the ethnic Huti priest had the church levelled by bulldozers and ordered extremist gunmen to shoot any Tutsis who tried to flee the carnage, the court heard. There were no survivors. (Posted @ 20:58 PST)
Afghan unrest kills five civilians, four NATO soldiers wounded KANDAHAR, March 12 (AFP): Bomb blasts struck two NATO convoys in Afghanistan Wednesday, wounding four foreign soldiers, while five Afghan civilians were killed in separate incidents, officials said. A suicide car bomb struck a Canadian armoured vehicle driving through Kandahar city, the Canadian military said. An Afghan man was killed and at least one civilian wounded. A Canadian soldier was also injured, said an ISAF spokesman. A roadside bomb, struck a vehicle of Romanian troops wounding three of them, the Romanian defence ministry said in Bucharest. The soldiers were hit on a road linking Kandahar to neighbouring Zabul province, it said. ISAF also reported that its troops killed two Afghan women and two children Tuesday when troops returned fire at militants who had attacked them. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) German soldiers convicted in abuse scandal MUENSTER, March 12 (AFP): Five German soldiers were handed prison sentences and one fined Wednesday for abusing recruits in one of the biggest criminal cases involving the military in post-war Germany. The five non-commissioned officers were jailed for between 10 and 22 months by a court in Muenster for abusing and degrading 163 recruits at a base in the western town of Coesfeld during simulated hostage-taking exercises. (Posted @ 20:04 PST) Cricket: South Africa win series in Bangladesh DHAKA, March 12 (Reuters): AB de Villiers hit an unbeaten half century to steer South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh on Wednesday and an unassailable 2-0 lead in their one-day series. JP Duminy added an unbeaten 49 for a 119-run fourth wicket partnership to seal the three-match series. Despite losing early wickets and playing under pressure from spin bowlers, South Africa faced an easy target of 174.South Africa beat Bangladesh by nine wickets in the first one-dayer in Chittagong on Sunday. (Posted @ 19:56 PST) Taliban destroy another Afghan cell phone mast HERAT, March 12 (AFP): Taliban fighters destroyed another cell phone mast in Afghanistan, police said Wednesday, the fifth such incident since warning they would target communication technology. The latest attack was in the western province of Herat late Tuesday, a police spokesman said. Phone users reported interrupted services in some areas but it was unclear if this was related to the attacks or claims that companies were turning off signals at night as demanded by the Taliban. (Posted @ 18:34 PST) France's last World War I veteran dies PARIS, March 12 (AP): France's last World War I veteran, Lazare Ponticelli, has died at the age of 110. No cause of death was given. France planned a national funeral ceremony honoring the last “poilu” meaning hairy or tough as French World War I veterans were known. Germany's last veteran from the war died on New Year's Day this year. (Posted @ 18:30 PST) AU begins deploying troops to Comoros for attack MORONI, Comoros, March 12 (AP): An African Union-backed attack was imminent to force a military-backed leader to relinquish control of one of the Comoros islands, state radio Radio Comore said. It advised the island’s residents to stay out of harm's way. More Tanzanian troops arrived Wednesday following a first batch as part of an African Union force that will try to force out the Anjouan island's President Mohamed Bacar, the radio said. Sudanese troops also arrived Tuesday, it said, adding that Senegalese soldiers are expected Wednesday. The station did not give details of the troop numbers, only saying the AU will send about 1,700 troops. (Posted @ 18:26 PST) Nine Bangladesh militants jailed for life DHAKA, March 12 (AFP): A Bangladesh court sentenced nine Islamic militants to life in prison on Wednesday for blasts carried out as part of nationwide bomb attacks that shook the country in 2005, police said. Six of the nine militants of the banned group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were present in the courtroom in Barguna district when the judge announced the verdict, a court inspector said. Three others were tried in absentia, he added. (Posted @ 17:10 PST) NATO force welcomes Norwegian as top UN envoy KABUL, March 12 (AFP): A NATO force deployed in Afghanistan welcomed Wednesday the appointment of a Norwegian diplomat as new UN envoy, saying he would hopefully boost “vital coordination” among partners here. Kai Eide was appointed new UN representative to Afghanistan after President Hamid Karzai rejected the first choice, British politician Paddy Ashdown. NATO welcomed Eide “in the most highest possible way,” the alliance's spokesman in Afghanistan told reporters in Kabul. (Posted @ 16:55 PST) US ambassador quits Belarus amid diplomatic row: embassy MINSK, March 12 (AFP): The US ambassador to Belarus left Minsk on Wednesday, the embassy said, amid a diplomatic row between Belarus and the United States over US economic sanctions on the isolated ex-Soviet state. “The ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Belarus, Karen Stewart, departed the embassy at 1100 GMT Wednesday, en route to Washington,” said a statement on the US embassy website. (Posted @ 16:45 PST) Cypriot leaders to meet on March 21: UN NICOSIA, March 12 (Reuters): New Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will meet on March 21 to try to relaunch talks to reunite the island, a United Nations spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Cyprus told Reuters Wednesday. “We will be announcing the meeting shortly. The date of the meeting has been set for March 21st,” the spokesman said. (Posted @ 16:15 PST) Hamas sets terms for ceasefire with Israel GAZA, March 12 (Reuters): Hamas set terms on Wednesday for a ceasefire with Israel, calling for an end to Israeli raids in Palestinian territory and a reopening of Gaza border crossings. (Posted @ 15:50 PST) Russia to extradite Israeli wanted by Colombia MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters): Russia will extradite to Colombia a former Israeli army officer where he was convicted of training paramilitaries, a Moscow city court spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Russian police detained Yair Gal Klein at Moscow airport following a tip-off from Interpol. A Colombian court sentenced Klein in absentia in 2001 to 10 years in jail for training paramilitaries in “terrorist techniques”. He was also accused of working as a mercenary for the Medellin drug cartel in the 1980s, a charge he denied. (Posted @ 15:45 PST) 
Two dead, two injured in shooting at a Bulgarian orphanage SOFIA, March 12 (AFP): A 15-year-old Bulgarian girl was shot dead on Wednesday and two teenagers injured when a man opened fire in an orphanage in the western town of Trun and then killed himself, officials told AFP. “A 67-year-old man opened fire with a rifle in the orphanage in Trun,” said a doctor at the Sofia-based National Medical Coordination Centre, which coordinates medical emergencies around the country. “A 15-year-old girl was shot and killed on the spot. A 12-year-old boy and another 15-year-old girl were injured. The man then shot himself,” he said. (Posted @ 15:35 PST) Jordan releases leading Al-Qaeda mentor AMMAN, March 12 (Reuters): Jordanian authorities on Wednesday released Jordanian Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, a leading al-Qaeda mentor, after several years’ imprisonment without trial, security sources said. They said Maqdisi, who was regarded as the spiritual mentor of slain Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been in solitary confinement since he was rearrested in July 2005 following his acquittal at a trial of Al-Qaeda sympathisers. “He was released,” said one security source without elaborating on the circumstances of the release. (Posted @ 15:25 PST) UK defence secretary visits Iraq LONDON, March 12 (Reuters): British Defence Secretary Des Browne made an unannounced visit to the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Wednesday, the defence ministry said. A spokesman gave no further details of the visit. Britain still has about 4,000 troops at an air base outside Basra, Iraq's second largest city. (Posted @ 15:05 PST) Wild elephant kills three, including boy, in Nepal KATHMANDU, March 12 (Reuters): A wild elephant strayed into a village in east Nepal and trampled three people to death including a nine-year-old boy, forest officials said on Wednesday. “It first threw the boy...and then trampled him to death,” a forest official said from Jhapa, 275 km southeast of Kathmandu. (Posted @ 14:50 PST)
Pakistani court quashes graft charge against Asif Ali Zardari ISLAMABAD, March 12 (AP): Lawyers say a court has quashed another graft charge against Asif Ali Zardari. A judge in an anti-corruption court Wednesday terminated a case relating to alleged kickbacks on a government contract with a Swiss firm when Benazir Bhutto was in power. Defence attorney Farooq Naek says the court will rule Friday on the last charge outstanding in Pakistan against his client. The court quashed five charges against Zardari last week under an ordinance passed last year by President Musharraf. (Posted @ 13:55 PST) Death toll from Iraq’s Kut city clashes rises to 17 KUT, Iraq, March 12 (AFP): At least 17 people have been killed, including five children, in fierce clashes between militants and Iraqi and US forces in the city of Kut, a local medic told AFP Wednesday. “Seventeen people have been killed, including five children and a female college student. Others are young men,” Mamoon Ajil, registrar at Kut's Al-Zahra hospital said. On Tuesday, Iraqi police said at least 10 people were killed in the clashes which broke out during a raid in three neighbourhoods of the city to arrest wanted militiamen. Earlier Wednesday, the US military said its troops killed several militants who attacked Iraqi troops in Kut. The military said Iraqi forces were patrolling the city Tuesday when they were attacked by several “enemy fighters”. (First Posted @ 10:50 PST, Updated @ 13:50 PST) Sri Lanka says 28 more Tigers killed in fresh fighting COLOMBO, March 12 (AFP): At least another 28 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by security forces in fresh fighting across Sri Lanka's embattled north, the defence ministry said Wednesday. The overnight clashes were in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar, the ministry said adding that four soldiers were wounded in the fighting. (Posted @ 13:40 PST) Cricket- Bangladesh make 173 in South Africa one-dayer DHAKA, March 12 (AFP): Bangladesh were bowled out for 173 in 48.2 overs after electing to bat in the second one-day international against South Africa here Wednesday. South Africa lead the three-match series 1-0 after winning the opener in Chittagong by nine wickets. (Posted @ 12:20 PST) Israeli army kills Palestinian militant in West Bank NABLUS, West Bank, March 12 (AFP): A Palestinian militant from the Islamic Jihad group was killed early Wednesday by the Israeli army in northern West Bank, witnesses and security sources said. Saleh Karkur, 22, was killed in exchanges of gunfire with Israeli troops who had surrounded a house where he was in the village of Seida, near the town of Tulkarem, they said. (Posted @ 12:20 PST) Four Afghan civilians killed in NATO operation KABUL, March 12 (Reuters): Two women and two children were killed during a NATO operation against suspected Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan Monday, the alliance said. One child was also wounded, NATO said late Tuesday. (Posted @ 10:25 PST) Bomb blast kills US soldier in Iraq BAGHDAD, March 12 (AFP): A roadside bomb killed an American soldier and wounded two others in central south Iraq Tuesday, the US command in the country said Wednesday. The device exploded during a combat patrol near the city of Diwaniyah, about 180 kilometres south of Baghdad, a statement said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST) Obama wins Mississippi, as new race row rocks Democrats BILOXI, Mississippi, March 12 (AFP): Barack Obama Tuesday beat Hillary Clinton in Mississippi's Democratic primary. With 80 percent of precincts reporting in Mississippi, Obama had won 59 percent of the vote compared to 39 percent for Clinton. According to a tally by RealClearPolitics.com, the Mississippi victory gave Obama 1,606 delegates compared to 1,484 for Clinton - both still well off the 2,025 necessary to clinch the party's nomination. (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Helicopter disappears in Peru with 10 on board LIMA, March 12 (AFP): A helicopter with two pilots and eight passengers on board disappeared Tuesday in northern Peru during a routine Rio Tinto mining company flight, the company said in a statement. The chopper lost contact with air traffic after it took off Tuesday morning from the gold and silver mining project of La Granja for Chiclayo, 780 kilometres north of Lima, Rio Tinto said. (Posted @ 09:00 PST) Canadian soldier found dead at Afghanistan's Kandahar base OTTAWA, March 12 (AFP): A 22-year-old Canadian soldier was found dead Tuesday at Kandahar military base in southern Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry, adding that “enemy action” was not the cause of death. (Posted @ 08:55 PST) Cricket- Australian FM denies IPL behind Pakistan tour delay SYDNEY, March 12 (AFP): Australia's foreign minister Wednesday denied a cricket tour to Pakistan was scrapped so players could participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Cricket Australia (CA) made its decision to postpone the tour independently on the basis of security concerns. “I have seen suggestions that somehow the decision by Cricket Australia and the Pakistan Cricket Board is related to proposed Twenty20 games in India. I absolutely reject that suggestion,” Smith told reporters. (Posted @ 08:55 PST) Karachi Stocks up 227.64 points: KARACHI, March 12: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 15171.42, up 227.64 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, March 12: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 63 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:15 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
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