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| April 22, 2008 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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 Oil prices hit 118 dollars for first time LONDON, April 22 (AFP): The price of New York crude oil surged past 118 dollars per barrel for the first time Tuesday, lifted by unrest in key producer Nigeria and the weak dollar, traders said. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, struck a new peak at 118.05 dollars. At the same time, London's Brent North Sea crude for June hit a historic pinnacle at 115.03 dollars a barrel. (Posted @ 14:25 PST)  Zardari, Nawaz reiterate commitment to restore deposed judges ISLAMABAD, April 22 (APP): Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif Tuesday reaffirmed commitment to restore the deposed judges in line with the March 9 Bhurban declaration. They reiterated the resolve at a news conference after two days of talks at Punjab House during which they discussed proposals to implement the pledge. “Political forces are in harmony and pursuing legal process to implement the Bhurban Declaration in letter and spirit,” said the PPP co-chairman. Nawaz Sharif said a resolution would be presented to parliament soon. Mr Sharif said the PDA government fully stands by the Bhurban Declaration. (Posted @ 18:10 PST) 14-member Punjab cabinet takes oath LAHORE, April 22: A 14–member Punjab cabinet took oath at Governor’s House in Lahore on Wednesday evening, a local television channel reported. The cabinet comprises eight ministers from PML-N and six ministers from PPP. The oath was administered by Punjab Governor Lt General Khalid Maqbool administered the oath. Many of the political parties workers present at the oath-taking ceremony shouted ‘Go Musharraf go’ slogans as soon as the ceremony was over. (Posted @ 18:28 PST) Indian oil minister visits Pakistan Wednesday for talks on Iran pipeline NEW DELHI, April 22 (AFP) - India's oil minister Murli Deora will hold talks in Pakistan this week on a seven-billion dollar transnational gas pipeline from Iran, a senior oil ministry official said Tuesday. Deora's three-day visit, starting Wednesday, is the first contact between the two South Asian states since the new coalition government took office in Islamabad last month. He was also to explore the possibility of India exporting diesel to Pakistan, the official said. Meetings between the two oil ministers starting Wednesday will focus on resolving differences over transit and transportation fees to be levied by Pakistan for allowing the pipeline through its territory, said the official who declined to be named. (Posted @ 09:55 PST)  Gunmen shoot dead Balochistan University pro vice chancellor QUETTA, April 22 (AFP): Gunmen late Tuesday shot dead the Pro Vice Chancellor of Balochistan University, police said. Safdar Kiyani, 59, was gunned down near the campus in Quetta when he was returning to the university after his routine evening walk, senior police officer Qazi Abdul Wajid told AFP. “The assailants opened fire before he could enter the campus,” Wajid said, adding that Kiyani died on his way to hospital. The attack was claimed by a militant group, Balochistan Liberation Army. “He had been working for the intelligence agencies and we had already warned him,” the group's spokesman Beeberg Baluch told reporters in phone calls from an undisclosed location. (First Posted @ 19:52 PST Updated @ 21:18 PST) Egypt detains 105 Eritrean migrants in south CAIRO, April 22 (Reuters): Egypt has detained 105 Eritrean migrants who slipped across the border from northern Sudan, security sources and rights groups said Tuesday. The migrants were caught on Sunday and are at a detention centre in Aswan province, which borders Sudan, they said. (Posted @ 23:06 PST) PKK separatists kill 3 Turkish soldiers TUNCELI, Turkey, April 22 (Reuters): Three Turkish soldiers were killed when their vehicle drove over a mine laid by Kurdish separatist guerrillas near the Iraqi border on Tuesday, security sources said. The explosion, in Hakkari province in Turkey's southeast corner, also wounded two soldiers, the sources said. Late on Monday, another soldier was killed in the same province also by a mine blast, the General Staff said on its website. (Posted @ 22:24 PST) Five US troops killed in Iraq BAGHDAD, April 22 (AFP): A suicide car bomb and roadside bombings killed five US troops, including three marines, the American military announced Tuesday. Two marines were killed and three others wounded when a bomber slammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint near the western city of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province around 0430 GMT, the military said. Two Iraqi policemen and 24 civilians were also wounded in the attack. A third marine was killed and another wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Basra on Monday, the military said. (First Posted @ 10:25 PST Updated @ 20:22 PST) 
Somalia death toll nears 100 with fresh fighting MOGADISHU, April 22 (Reuters): Militias backed by the Somali government recaptured a southern port from militants on Tuesday, taking the death toll from an upsurge of fighting in recent days to nearly 100, witnesses said. The militias recaptured Guda town, which had been taken by the Al Shabaab wing on Monday. In Mogadishu, eight more corpses were found where Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government clashed with militants over the weekend, taking the total death toll to 98, according to a rights group. Branded terrorists by Washington, Al Shabaab has led an Iraq-style insurgency against the government and its Ethiopian allies since early 2007. (Posted @ 18:58 PST) Turkish court convicts Kurdish politician; 2 soldiers killed in rebel violence ANKARA, April 22 (AP): A Turkish court convicted a Kurdish politician Tuesday and sentenced him to 15 months in prison for inciting hatred after he suggested that Kurds would fight Turkey if it ever attacked Kurds in Iraq. Hilmi Aydogdu was found guilty of threatening public safety after he warned Turkey against taking any action in the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The court in Diyarbakir, also barred Aydogdu from holding public office. Meanwhile, violence blamed on Kurdish rebels killed a soldier and injured three others over the past two days, according to Turkey's military and a news report. (Posted @ 18:44 PST) EU's Solana says no Pakistan talks with Al-Qaeda ISLAMABAD, April 22 (AFP) European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Tuesday he backed the new Pakistani government's moves to hold talks with Taliban militants, but ruled out any negotiations with Al-Qaeda. “It is up to the country to give benefit to those who want to contribute to the well-being of the country by participating in a dialogue which is under the umbrella of the constitution of the country,” Solana told reporters. But he told a joint press conference with foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that peace talks with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network were out of the question. “The answer is no,” he said when asked whether he would accept negotiations with Al-Qaeda. The new government Monday released militant leader Sufi Mohammad under a peace deal which includes a pledge that his group will not fight security forces. Qureshi described it as “a good confidence-building measure.” He said the government had “other options” if it felt that the other side tried to exploit the arrangement. “The government would want to give dialogue and reconciliation its utmost, a full chance. But on the other hand if we feel that spirit behind this initiative is not being met well other options are always there,” he said. (Posted @ 17:58 PST) Four security men injured in landmine explosions in Dera Bugti DERA MURAD JAMALI, Pakistan, April 22 (APP) Four security men were injured in four landmine blasts which occurred in various parts of Dera Bugti Tuesday, sources said. The explosions took place in Godi, Sangsilla, Dodi Wadh and RD-298 areas of the district. One security officer was injured in each explosion. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) 
Hamas signals new willingness for cease-fire only in Gaza GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, April 22 (AP) Hamas has softened its position and is prepared for a cease-fire with Israel that would begin only in the Gaza Strip, a senior representative of the group said Tuesday, dropping a demand that any agreement also immediately include the West Bank. Hamas official Ghazi Hamad said Hamas has agreed to a cease-fire that ''would begin in Gaza, and then move to the West Bank,'' rather than include both areas simultaneously. Hamad said his group has relayed its position to Egypt, and was now waiting for Israel's response. As part of a cease-fire, Hamas will demand that Israel and Egypt open Gaza's border crossings, Hamad said. (Posted @ 16:36 PST) Lebanon parliament fails to elect president again BEIRUT, April 22 (Reuters) Lebanon's parliament failed to hold a session to elect a president Tuesday - the 18th time the chamber has been unable to hold a vote derailed by the worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri did not set a new election date and instead called on rival leaders to hold roundtable talks. “In one, two or three days at most if I don't find a (positive) response for the dialogue, I will set a new session,” Berri, also an opposition leader, told reporters after parliament failed to hold the vote due to lack of two-thirds quorum. (Posted @ 16:05 PST) Bulgaria reshuffles government amid corruption scandal SOFIA, April 22 (AFP): Bulgaria's ruling coalition, badly shaken by a corruption scandal, approved Tuesday a major reshuffle of key government posts, sources close to the talks told AFP. “The leaders of the three-party coalition approved the replacement of the ministers of interior, defence, farming and healthcare and the appointment of a new deputy prime minister for EU funds,” a source close to the negotiations told AFP requesting anonymity. The reshuffle follows last week's resignation of Interior Minister Rumen Petkov amid a corruption scandal that revealed links between top crime-busters and criminals under investigation, as well as two execution-style killings in Sofia that prompted the European Union to call for “urgent action”. (Posted @ 15:55 PST) Nine Taliban, six police killed in southern Afghanistan KANDAHAR, April 22 (AP): Afghan police killed nine Taliban fighters Tuesday, a day after a militant attack on a checkpoint left six border policemen dead, officials said. About 200 police clashed with militants during the search operation launched following Monday's attack in Arghasan district of Kandahar province, said Gen. Abdul Raziq, a police commander in the area. Authorities recovered the bodies of four dead militants after Tuesday's clash, while the insurgents took away five dead fighters as they retreated, Raziq said. (First Posted @ 13:10 PST, Updated @ 15:30 PST)
Somali forces storm hijacked Dubai ship, arrest pirates MOGADISHU, Somalia, April 22 (AP): Security forces in northern Somalia stormed a hijacked ship Tuesday, rescuing the hostages and arresting seven pirates in an operation that wounded three people, officials said. The Dubai-flagged ship, which was seized Monday, originated from the United Arab Emirates, said Abdullahi Said Samatar, security affairs minister in Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region. ''Our forces rescued a small commercial boat hijacked on Monday off the coast of Bossaso town,'' Samatar told The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear how many people had been held on the ship. (Posted @ 14:40 PST) Turkish soldier killed in land mine blast in southeast ISTANBUL, Turkey, April 22 (AP): A land mine explosion in Turkey's southeast killed a soldier and injured two others Monday, Turkey's military said. The mine exploded while soldiers were patrolling a rural area in Hakkari province near the Turkish border with Iraq and Iran, the military said in a statement. Another Turkish soldier was wounded Tuesday in a land mine explosion in Sirnak province, near Hakkari, the Dogan news agency said. (Posted @ 14:30 PST) Nazim UC among two killed in Swat ISLAMABAD, April 22 (APP): Two persons, including Union Council nazim Kabal of Swat, were killed and one other injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on their car, private television channels reported. The assailants opened fire on Mohammad Hussain, nazim Union Council Kabal, killing him and another Mohammad Ishaq, whereas one person sustained serious injuries. (Posted @ 14:00 PST) Five Sadr City fighters killed overnight: U.S. military BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters): The U.S. military said Tuesday they had killed five militants overnight in Baghdad’s Sadr City. Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Stover said U.S. soldiers in an M1 Abrams tank and Bradley fighting vehicle had shot and killed three militants late Monday after a U.S. route clearance vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. In another Monday night incident, a U.S. Apache helicopter fired a missile at gunmen in Sadr City who were carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, killing two, Stover said. (Posted @ 13:25 PST) Two Indian construction workers kidnapped in western Afghanistan KABUL, April 22 (AP): Gunmen kidnapped two Indian road construction workers and a taxi driver in western Afghanistan’s Herat province Monday, police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said. The Indians were abducted while travelling on the main highway toward Kabul, Ahmadi said. (Posted @ 13:15 PST) Fighting in Sri Lanka kills 17 rebels, one soldier COLOMBO, April 22 (AP): A series of battles along the front lines of Sri Lanka's civil war killed 17 ethnic Tamil rebels and one soldier, the military said Tuesday. In the worst of the fighting Monday in Sri Lanka's northern jungles, government forces killed nine Tamil Tiger fighters in the Welioya area, the military said in a statement. A battle in Vavuniya killed four guerrillas and a clash in the Mannar area killed four other rebels and a soldier, the military said. In a separate battle in Jaffna, troops destroyed four rebel bunkers, the military said. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment. (Posted @ 13:00 PST) Israeli troops kill three Palestinian militants in Gaza GAZA CITY, April 22 (AFP): Israeli troops killed three Palestinian militants in overnight clashes in the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday after they attacked an Israeli intelligence post near the border, the armed groups said. (Posted @ 12:50 PST) Iraqi PM urges neighbours to forgive loans, open missions KUWAIT CITY, April 22 (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Tuesday urged neighbouring Gulf states to help stabilise Iraq by living up to pledges to forgive his country's debt and reopen embassies in Baghdad. “The bill of debt and compensation Iraq is paying is causing a heavy damage to our infrastructure and national economy,” Maliki told the opening session of a ministerial conference on Iraq. “We are still waiting for implementing pledges and commitments made to waive loans and compensation,” said the Iraqi premier. (Posted @ 12:00 PST) Road accident claims three lives in Pakistan VEHARI, Pakistan, April 22 (APP): An Excise Inspector, his wife and mother-in-law were killed when their car hit a bull-cart in Vehari in Punjab province. The accident occurred on Khanewal-Vehari road. The car hit the bull-cart and then creashed into a tree. The deceased official was elder brother of Dad Kameera Union Nazim, Mian Nasir Masood. (Posted @ 11:25 PST) Olympic torch arrives in Jakarta JAKARTA, April 22 (APP/AFP) - The Olympic flame arrived in Jakarta from Malaysia early Tuesday for the Indonesian leg of its relay, which will be held under tight security and confined to the capital's main sports stadium. In Malaysia, it had a trouble-free run on Monday. (Posted @ 10:30 PST) British soldier killed in blast in Afghan south KABUL, April 22 (Reuters) - A British soldier was killed in Helmand province when his vehicle was hit by a suspected minestrike, the British Ministry of Defence said late on Monday. The vehicle was providing security to a resupply convoy travelling from the district of Gereshk to Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, the ministry said. Three soldiers from the NATO-led ISAF were also wounded in two separate explosions in the south of the country, the ISAF said but gave no further details. (Posted @ 10:15 PST) Men's Olympic field hockey draw BEIJING, April 22 (AFP) - The following is the draw for the men's Olympic field hockey tournament: Pool A - Germany, Spain, South Korea, New Zealand, Belgium, China. Pool B - Australia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Britain, South Africa, Canada. A round robin will be played with the top two teams in each pool progressing to the semi-finals. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
London Summit to develop plan to tackle rising food prices LONDON, April 22 (AFP) -British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday hosts a summit of policymakers and experts, including the head of the UN food agency, to kickstart a plan to tackle rising food prices worldwide. According to a Downing Street spokesman, a complete set of proposals would be taken to a European Union meeting of heads of state and government in June, the Group of Eight industrialised countries the following month, and the United Nations in September, though no final plan will be presented after the summit. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Era of cheap food over: ADB SINGAPORE, April 22 (AFP) - The era of cheap food is over, Rajat Nag, the ADB's managing director general, said Tuesday. A variety of factors have contributed to soaring food prices which, even if they ease, will not return to the lower levels which the world became used to. The ADB last week said soaring food prices have hampered Asia's fight against poverty and some countries may need foreign aid to feed their hungry millions. Nag cited a variety of factors for rising food prices. These include escalating prices of oil and other production costs, conversion of arable land to urban development and biofuel production, and environmental problems such as drought in Australia. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Karachi Stocks down 111.27 points: KARACHI, April 22: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 15543.52, down 111.27 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, April 22: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 64.7 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:20 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
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