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| April 30, 2008 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
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 Sharif, Zardari talks continue even after five hours DUBAI, April 30 (AFP): Leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif held talks in Dubai on Wednesday amid a deadlock over the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf. The two leaders were still locked in talks more than five hours after they started a second meeting at around 1130 GMT in a Dubai hotel, following a shorter meeting earlier the same day. “We are still talking,” Sharif told reporters between the two sessions. (First Posted @ 17:00 PST; Updated @ 21:55 PST)  Talks between PPP-MQM finalized: MQM to get 13 ministries KARACHI, April 30 (APP): Following successful finalization of ongoing dialogue between PPP and MQM for power sharing in Sindh province, the MQM will get 13 ministries besides having one Advisor and one Special Assistant. The talks between the two political parties reached conclusion in the final round of talks held at Governor House Monday night. Sindh Senior Minister, Pir Mazharul Haque, a member of the negotiation committee from PPP, and Farooq Sattar from MQM held a joint press conference at the Chief Minister House and briefed newsmen about the negotiations. Pir Mazharul Haque announced the portfolios which will go to MQM as a result of the power sharing formula. MQM will have the portfolios of (1) Health, (2) Industries and Commerce, (3) Information Technology, (4) Environment and Alternate Energy, (5) Sports, (6) Youth Affairs, (7) Rural Development, (8) Public Health Engineering, (9) Auqaf, (10) Bureau of Supply and Prices (11) Human Rights. Remaining two Ministers and Advisor have not been assigned any portfolio yet. Regarding the names of the ministers, Pir Mazhar said these will be finalized by MQM. (Posted @ 13:50 PST)  Six die in S. Waziristan tribal clash ISLAMABAD, April 30 (APP): Six persons were killed and seven others injured in a clash between two tribes over land dispute in Spainwam area of South Waziristan. According to a private TV news channel, clashes erupted once again between the Hasankhel and Mandikhel tribes over the ownership of a mountain. Both tribes are using heavy weapons against each other. The Assistant Political Agent Asmatullah said that a tribal jirga had been convened and had started talks for a ceasefire. (Posted @ 15:05 PST) Four killed in Pakistan’s Khyber Agency ISLAMABAD, April 30 (APP): Four persons were killed in an exchange of fire between two armed groups in Tehra Valley in Khyber Agency, private television channels reported. Political administration has started investigations. (Posted @ 12:20 PST) Senior journalist, wife shot dead in Islamabad ISLAMABAD, April 30 (APP): Senior Journalist Khalil Malik and his wife were shot dead Wednesday morning at their residence in Islamabad, a police official said. (Posted @ 12:15 PST) Palestinians accept Israel truce proposal: MENA sources CAIRO, April 30 (AFP): All Palestinian militant groups meeting in Cairo have accepted an Egyptian-mediated proposal for a truce with Israel, the official MENA news agency said on Wednesday, citing well-informed sources. “All Palestinian factions, forces and parties have accepted Egypt's proposal on truce with Israel,” MENA quoted the sources as saying, referring to Hamas, Fatah and the 12 factions currently in Cairo. The deal on a period of calm with Israel has already been accepted by the Islamist movement Hamas, while Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, from rival Fatah, on Sunday gave the negotiations unconditional support. MENA said an official statement would be released later in the day once Egyptian intelligence chief and chief mediator with Israel Omar Suleiman finishes his two days of talks with the factions on Wednesday. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Sri Lanka military seizes key rebel base COLOMBO, April 30 (AP): Sri Lanka's military says it has overrun a key Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country's north and has fought for hours in surrounding villages, killing at least 51 insurgents. A military official said the “18 Base” in northern Mannar district fell in a clash that killed 40 insurgents. He saids other clashes in surrounding villages since dawn Wednesday killed 11 rebels. The rebel spokesman was not immediately available for comment. (Posted @ 23:30 PST) Israeli strike kills Palestinian in Gaza: medics GAZA, April 30 (Reuters): An Israeli missile strike killed a Palestinian militant and wounded three others including a child, in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medical officials said. Officials said the militant was killed when an Israeli missile slammed into a metal foundry in the southern town of Rafah. (Posted @ 23:00 PST) 
Czech government survives no-confidence vote PRAGUE, April 30 (Reuters): The Czech government survived a tight no-confidence vote on Wednesday initiated by the left-wing opposition in protest of its fiscal reforms and plans to host part of a U.S. missile defence system. The motion from the opposition Social Democrats won only 98 votes in the 200-member lower house, short of the 101 needed to oust Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's cabinet. (Posted @ 22:30 PST) Belarus expels 10 US diplomats: embassy MINSK, April 30, 2008 (AFP) - Belarus on Wednesday expelled 10 US diplomats amid an escalating diplomatic row over alleged human rights abuses, the head of the US mission in Minsk said. “The foreign ministry gave us a list of 10 diplomats who are considered persona non grata and should leave the country in the space of 72 hours,” Jonathan Moore told journalists at a briefing in Minsk. (First Posted @ 20:20 PST; Updated @ 21:55 PST) Bavarian police seize Latin American artefacts collection believed worth $100 million MUNICH, April 30 (AP): Munich police said Wednesday they had seized a large collection of Aztec, Incan and Mayan cultural artifacts that Costa Rican authorities say were illegally taken from their country. Art theft specialists from Bavaria's criminal investigations office estimate that the collection, which includes around 1,100 masks, necklaces and statues, is worth about $100 million said a spokesman for the office. (Posted @ 21:40 PST) Remains confirmed as last tsar's children: reports MOSCOW, April 30 (APP/AFP): Forensic testing of bone fragments found in Russia's Ural Mountains region has confirmed they belonged to the last tsar's murdered children Alexei and Maria, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday. “Now we have found the entire family,” Sverdlovsk regional governor Eduard Rossel was quoted as saying by Interfax. He said that the DNA analysis had been carried out by a laboratory in the United States. (Posted @ 21:35 PST) Mauritania captures five Al Qaeda suspects in sweep NOUAKCHOTT, April 30 (AP): Mauritanian security forces recaptured a fugitive Al Qaeda member accused of killing four French tourists, in a security sweep on Wednesday that also caught four more suspected militants, the chief prosecutor said. Those arrested in Wednesday's early morning security operation included Sidi Ould Sidna, a key suspect in the slaying of the French tourists, whose escape from police custody outside a courtroom this month led to a nationwide manhunt. He was detained along with another key suspect, Khadim Ould Semane. (Posted @ 21:10 PST) Two battalions to join Darfur peace force in June KHARTOUM, April 30 (Reuters): About 1,600 troops will join Darfur's U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in June as part of plans to deploy 80 percent of the force by the end of the year, the head of the mission said on Wednesday. Four months after assuming peacekeeping responsibilities in Sudan's lawless west, the force has deployed only one third of its planned strength and failed to prevent attacks that are hindering the world's largest aid operation. “We are expecting one battalion from Ethiopia and one battalion from Egypt ... in June,” Rodolphe Adada told reporters in Khartoum. (Posted @ 20:45 PST) Ethiopian forces kill 12 civilians in Somalia attack: witnesses MOGADISHU, April 30 (AFP): Ethiopian troops Wednesday sprayed gunfire on Somali civilians, killing at least 12 after a roadside bomb blast hit a water truck in the southwestern town of Baidoa, witnesses said. “At least 12 people were killed and nine others wounded by fire from Ethiopian soldiers,” a witness told AFP, adding that three of the wounded appeared to have been severely hurt. The fatalities came as the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that the humanitarian crisis in Somalia had reached a new low, threatening millions of people. (Posted @ 20:00 PST) Afghan spy chief claims Karzai plot hatched in Pakistan, Islamabad rejects claim KABUL, April 30 (Reuters): The plot to kill President Hamid Karzai over the weekend was hatched in lawless tribal areas of neighboring Pakistan, the Afghan intelligence chief claimed on Wednesday. Intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh said there was no evidence that Pakistan's government or its intelligence agencies were involved. He claimed the militants involved in the weekend plot were in phone contact with people in Pakistan's Bajaur and North Waziristan tribal areas and the main northwestern city of Peshawar, he said. In an initial reaction, Pakistan army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the allegation that the attack on Karzai had its roots in Pakistan's tribal areas appeared “baseless.” “Anybody can say that militants (in the tribal areas) have done this or that,” Abbas said. “How can one validate such claims?” (Posted @ 19:35 PST) Pakistan to continue support to Kashmiris: PM Gilani MUZAFFARABAD, April 30 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday reiterated Pakistan's political, moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris and said it will continue efforts for resolution of the dispute according to the aspirations of its people. Talking to a delegation led by Convener of All Parties Hurriyat Conference of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Syed Yousuf Naseem, Prime Minister said Pakistan's stance on Kashmir is clear and unequivocal. (Posted @ 19:20 PST)
Bomb explosion in south Thailand kills 3 policemen, wounds 5 others PATTANI, April 30 (AP): Suspected insurgents killed three policemen and wounded five other people in a bomb attack Wednesday in southern Thailand, police said. The policemen were on a routine patrol in Pattani province's Yarang district when a bomb hidden on the road exploded as their vehicle passed, police said. The assailants detonated the bomb by remote control after luring the police onto the route by setting fire to a nearby telephone booth. (First Posted @ 10:00 PST; Posted @ 19:00 PST) Militants kill ministry spokesman's nephew BAGHDAD, April 30 (AP): Militants killed the nephew of the Interior Ministry spokesman and hung his body from an electric pole in Baghdad, the prime minister said Wednesday. The attack Tuesday was in apparent retaliation for the spokesman's role in a government crackdown against Shiite militias. Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf's nephew was killed in Sadr City district. (Posted @ 17:35 PST) Bear mauls five people to death in India BHUBANESWAR, April 30 (Reuters): A bear jumped on a group of people passing through a cashew plantation in eastern India, killing five and injuring several, police said on Wednesday. Police later shot the bear dead after the incident late on Tuesday in Orissa state, a senior government official, said on Wednesday. (Posted @ 17:15 PST)
US Marines seize Afghan town centre from Taliban KABUL, April 30 (Reuters): U.S. Marines captured a town centre from Taliban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday, their first large operation in Afghanistan since arriving to reinforce NATO troops last month. A US Marines spokeswoman said the marines were in control of Garsmir town. The Marines began pushing into Garmsir early on Tuesday, securing routes into the town in the south of Helmand province, the world's biggest opium producing region. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Three Uzbek men stabbed to death in Moscow MOSCOW, April 30 (AP): Three Uzbek nationals were killed in the Moscow region amid a spike in racially motivated crimes, police and rights defenders said Wednesday. A 32-year-old man was killed after assailants cut his throat Tuesday night in the northern village of Ivakino. Two other Uzbek men, aged 23 and 30, were killed in a similar manner and their bodies discovered early Wednesday, a police spokeswoman said. (Posted @ 16:20 PST) Police gun down top Colombia drug trafficker BOGOTA, April 30 (AFP): One of Colombia's most powerful drug traffickers, for whom the United States had offered a five million dollar reward, has been shot and killed by police, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos announced Tuesday. Miguel Angel Mejia Munera was gunned down Tuesday in Taraza town, in northwestern Antioquia department, in a police operation in which three people were killed. (Posted @ 16:15 PST) Seven killed in raid on Karzai attackers: spy chief KABUL, April 30 (AFP): Afghan security forces Wednesday killed two rebels involved in an attack on President Hamid Karzai, while a woman and a child and three agents also died, the country's spy chief said. “Two terrorists were killed in an operation on a very sophisticated terrorist cell in Kabul. Unfortunately three agents were also martyred,” spy chief Amrullah Saleh told reporters. A Taliban spokesman earlier said the two militants were involved in the weekend attack. (Posted @ 15:55 PST) UK's Prince William on secret Afghan trip LONDON, April 30 (Reuters): Prince William, second in line to the British throne, paid a secret visit to Afghanistan to meet frontline British troops, his office said on Wednesday. A spokesman said the 25-year-old prince, recently awarded his Royal Air Force (RAF) wings after a training course, flew a military transport plane for part of the journey to Kandahar. He spent three hours with British service personnel at the airfield before returning home, the spokesman said. (Posted @ 15:40 PST) Father of LSD, Albert Hofmann dies at 102 GENEVA, April 30 (AFP): Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the now-banned hallucinogenic drug LSD that was an icon of the Hippy movement, has died at the age of 102, authorities said on Wednesday. The scientist, born in Baden in northern Switzerland in 1906, worked for chemicals company Sandoz from 1929 to 1971. He discovered LSD by chance while researching medicinal plants, trying to synthesise their active components in the hope of discovering a stimulant for the respiratory and circulatory systems. (Posted @ 15:30 PST) Two car bombs hit Yemen capital SANAA, April 30 (AFP): Two car bombs exploded Wednesday inside the compound of customs headquarters, located next to the Italian embassy in Sanaa’s Al-Safia district, as at least seven soldiers were killed in a rebel ambush in the countryside, officials said. There were no casualties in the blasts, which happened shortly before offices were due to open. An interior ministry official said bombs had been placed in two cars parked inside the compound of the customs offices and a few dozen metres from the wall separating it from the embassy. (First Posted @ 10:50 PST, Updated @ 13:35 PST) Five militants blow themselves up in Kabul siege KABUL, April 30 (Reuters): Five suspected Taliban militants blew themselves up in a house close to Kabul's old city Wednesday, avoiding capture by besieging Afghan security forces, an Interior Ministry official told Reuters. Security forces surrounded a house where the suspected militants were holed up during the night and clashes erupted. The five militants inside blew themselves up as security forces closed in on them, said an Interior Ministry official who requested anonymity. (First Posted @ 09:45 PST, Updated @ 12:10 PST) Chief of militant group killed in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, April 30 (Reuters): Security forces in occupied Kashmir shot dead a senior leader of a militant group late Tuesday, police said. Police identified the dead militant as Sajad Afghani, “chief operations commander” of the Harkat-ul Mujahideen militant group. Afghani was killed in an abandoned hospital building in Sopore town, north of Srinagar. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)
New Sri Lanka fighting kills 23 Tamil rebels, one soldier COLOMBO, April 30 (APP/AP): A round of new battles in northern Sri Lanka has killed 23 Tamil Tiger rebels and one soldier, the Sri Lankan military said. A defence ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the latest fighting took place Tuesday along the front lines separating government-controlled territory with the rebels' de facto state in the north. There was no immediate comment from the rebels. (Posted @ 12:00 PST) Olympic torch arrives in Hong Kong HONG KONG, April 30 (AFP): The Olympic flame arrived in Hong Kong Wednesday to begin its journey through China after troubled legs around the world, an AFP photographer witnessed. A plane carrying the flame arrived at Hong Kong International Airport shortly after 2:00 p.m. from Hanoi ahead of its run through the city Friday, the photographer said. The flame was carried down the plane's steps and across a red carpet as children waved flags on one side and a band played on the other, he said. The flame was then taken by bus to an undisclosed location. (Posted @ 11:50 PST) Militant camp on remote southern Philippine island overrun by army after battle MANILA, Philippines, April 30 (AP): Troops captured a camp that housed a bomb-making factory of al-Qaeda-linked militants Wednesday after heavy fighting in the southern Philippines, a military commander said. Troops bombarded the Abu Sayyaf camp on Jolo island before dawn with artillery and mortar fire. About 300 Philippine marine and army commandos battled around 200 militants, overrunning the camp by 7 a.m., said marine Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of military forces on the island. There were no immediate reports of casualties, or of militants being captured. (Posted @ 11:10 PST) Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad BAGHDAD, April 30 (AFP): Insurgents killed two US soldiers Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad in separate attacks of small arms fire and a bomb blast, the American military said Wednesday. One soldier was killed at around 8:50 p.m. in small arms fire and the other died when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle at around 10:15 pm, the military said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST) Senate intelligence panel votes to limit CIA interrogations, ban waterboarding WASHINGTON, April 30 (AP): The Senate Intelligence Committee voted Tuesday to limit CIA interrogators to techniques approved by the military, which would effectively bar them from waterboarding prisoners, congressional officials said. The vote, taken in secret as the committee debated legislation to authorize money for intelligence operations in 2009, marks at least the second attempt by intelligence overseers in Congress to regulate CIA questioning of detainees. Committee officials refused to comment because deliberations over the bill were continuing. The bill was expected to be completed this week. (Posted @ 09:45 PST) New U.S. carrier in Gulf a 'reminder' to Iran: Gates MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Reuters): The U.S. Navy has temporarily added a second aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a “reminder” to Iran, but this was not an escalation of American forces in the region, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. Speaking to reporters during a trip to Mexico, Gates flatly denied a suggestion that the presence of two U.S. carriers in the Gulf could be a precursor to military action against Tehran. “This deployment has been planned for a long time,” Gates said. “I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder.” (Posted @ 09:15 PST) Turkey’s parliament approves free speech reform ANKARA, April 30 (Reuters): Turkey's parliament approved a long-awaited revision of a law criticised by the European Union for limiting free speech in the candidate country, but writers and activists say the reform does not go far enough. State news agency Anatolian said the reform to article 301 of the penal code was approved early Wednesday with 250 votes for and 65 against. The article has been used to prosecute hundreds of writers, including Nobel Literature Laureate Orhan Pamuk, for “insulting Turkishness”. (Posted @ 08:50 PST) Karachi Stocks down 194.83 points: KARACHI, April 30: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 15122.47, down 194.83 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:13 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, April 30: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 65.1 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:13 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
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