Over 40,000 dead, missing or buried in China earthquake
DUJIANGYAN, May 14 (AFP): More than 40,000 people are dead or missing after China's devastating earthquake, officials said Wednesday. Rescue teams who punched into the quake's stricken epicentre reported whole towns all but wiped out. State media quoted Sichuan Vice Governor Li Chengyun as saying that based on “incomplete” figures, 14,463 people were confirmed dead in the province as of mid-afternoon Wednesday. Nearly 26,000 were buried in rubble and nearly 15,000 missing, he added. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said 100,000 military personnel and police had been mobilised. Wednesday's leg of the Olympic torch relay in eastern Jianxi province began with a minute's silence before the runners set off. (First Posted @ 10:20 PST, Updated @ 19:50 PST)
Pakistan moves troops in tribal region amid peace talks
PESHAWAR, May 14 (AFP): Pakistan has moved its troops away from villages and towns in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan as a peace process moves forward, officials said Wednesday. The new government in North West Frontier Province has launched peace talks with the militants led by Baitullah Mehsud, local officials said. “Talks are being held behind closed doors,” a senior government official told AFP. “Some progress has been made,” he said. A source close to Mehsud confirmed both sides were engaged in talks to restore peace in the region. As part of the peace process, some 30 tribesmen held in various prisons were freed Tuesday in return for the release of 55 soldiers detained by pro-Taliban militants, a senior security official said. He said troops were also moved from two villages in rugged South Waziristan tribal district in connection with the peace talks. Meanwhile, Pakistan's military said troop positions across the restive region were being “readjusted,” with soldiers being moved away from towns and villages. The moves were mainly to facilitate the return of people who had fled the area due to previous unrest, the military said. (Posted @ 19:50 PST)
Militant peace talks in Pakistan produces prisoner exchange
ISLAMABAD, May 14 (AP): The Pakistan army said that prisoners had been exchanged as part of peace talks with Taliban militants. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said tribal elders mediating in the talks on Wednesday secured the release of seven security personnel, including two army officers. In return, Abbas said authorities released 30 people who had been detained in Waziristan. (Posted @ 20:05 PST)
NATO concerned Pakistani agreements with militants increasing Afghan violence
BRUSSELS, May 14 (AP/AFP): NATO says it's seeing a sharp rise in attacks by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan and is concerned the violence is the result of agreements between authorities and militants in Pakistan. Alliance spokesman James Appathurai said Wednesday attacks in the eastern sector of Afghanistan were up 50 percent in April, compared to the same period last year. He said the alliance is taking up the issue with Pakistan's authorities and that NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer plans to travel to Islamabad soon for talks with the government. The NATO spokesman urged Pakistan to improve security on its border with Afghanistan following a rise in cross border attacks. (Posted @ 22:35 PST)
Mob burns, kills three criminals in Karachi
KARACHI, May 14 (AP): Residents of an apartment building attacked and set fire to three robbers Wednesday, killing them all, police said. Police officer Amir Shaikh said the residents heard gunshots from an apartment where a neighbor resisted thieves trying to steal his possessions. His neighbours confronted the thieves and beat them with burning wood from the oven of a nearby bakery, setting them on fire. Two of the thieves were dead when police arrived and the third died later in hospital. It was unclear if they died from the beating or the burns. (First Posted @ 17:20 PST; Posted @ 19:30 PST)
India says Pakistan violated truce, Islamabad rejects claim
SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 14 (Reuters): The Indian army accused Pakistan on Wednesday of violating a ceasefire by firing across the Line of Control line in Kashmir. Pakistan, however, denied that any firing had taken place. “Last (Tuesday) evening, Pakistan army resorted to unprovoked firing in Kupwara sector, our troops did not retaliate, no one was hurt,” said Indian army spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel A.K. Mathur. “This is a ceasefire violation by Pakistani army.” Pakistan's military said no such incident took place. “It's incorrect. We have refuted it and informed India at a high level there has been no such incident,” said Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas. He said a Pakistani army commander in the area was contacting his Indian counterpart to inform him there had been no violation of the ceasefire by Pakistani troops. (First Posted @ 15:40 PST, Updated @ 16:35 PST)
17 injured in road accident in Punjab
ARIFWALA, May 14 (APP): Seventeen persons were injured, seven of them seriously when a bus turned turtle at Sahiwal-Arifwala road on Wednesday. Police said the bus was on going to Faisalbad from Bahawalnagar when it overturned at a curve near Chak 34/EB while overtaking another bus. The injured were rushed to a government hospital. (Posted @ 18:55 PST)
Power crisis forces Pakistan to put clocks forward
ISLAMABAD, May 14 (Reuters): Pakistan is switching to daylight saving time next month to reduce the impact of acute power shortages in the country, a cabinet minister said Wednesday. Electricity supplies to homes, businesses and factories across Pakistan have been cut for several hours a day over the past few months as the country faces a 4,000 MW power deficit. The situation is likely to worsen as summer intensifies, when air conditioners are switched on full blast. The government has decided that clocks would be moved forward an hour, to GMT+6, on June 1 to ensure maximum use of daylight, Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said. He said markets and shops would be closed by 9.p.m. for three months through August to reduce power consumption. (Posted @ 23:00 PST)
Palestinians express outrage at Bush visit
JERUSALEM, May 14 (AFP): Palestinians expressed outrage on Wednesday as US President George W. Bush began a visit to Israel on the eve of their commemoration of the “catastrophe” that followed the birth of the Jewish state. Bush will address Israel's Knesset on Thursday, the day Palestinians commemorate the Naqba, or “catastrophe,” of the Jewish state's creation, the 1948 war and the expulsion or flight of more than 760,000 people. The people who fled or were driven from their homes in 1948 have since given rise to a UN-registered refugee population of 4.5 million in camps across the Middle East, including more than one million in the besieged Gaza Strip. “While we mark the Naqba, President Bush comes to join Israelis in celebrating the creation of their state, forgetting that there is a Palestinian people that is still the victim of an injustice,” said Azzam Al-Ahmad, a senior official in president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Afghanistan to ask donors for $50 billion to fund 5-year aid plan
KABUL, May 14 (AP): Afghanistan will ask international donors next month for $50 billion to fund a five-year development plan, a presidential aide said, despite growing criticism that aid money is being wasted. About $14 billion is to go toward improving deteriorating security, but the key target is reviving the decrepit agricultural sector, Ishaq Nadiri, senior economic adviser to President Hamid Karzai, told reporters late Tuesday. The plan will be presented to international donors June 12 in Paris. (Posted @ 21:30 PST)
Myanmar death toll rises to 38,491: state radio
YANGON, May 14 (AFP): The death toll from Cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar on May 3 has risen to 38,491, with 27,838 people missing, state radio said Wednesday. The new toll was raised from figures of 34,273 dead and 27,836 missing which were issued on Tuesday. However, the United Nations has warned the number of dead likely exceeds 100,000, and that many more may die unless vital aid reaches up to two million survivors. (Posted @ 20:55 PST)
Blast at Israeli mall near Gaza, several hurt: medics
JERUSALEM, May 14 (Reuters): An explosion at a shopping mall in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, north of the Gaza Strip, wounded at least three people on Wednesday, Israeli media and emergency service officials said. The blast came as U.S. President George W. Bush met Israeli leaders in Jerusalem to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of their state -- an event Palestinians commemorate as the “Nakba”, or catastrophe, for their people. (Posted @ 20:30 PST)
No. 1 Justine Henin retires from tennis immediately
LIMELETTE, Belgium, May 14 (AP): Justine Henin is retiring from tennis with immediate effect. The 25-year-old Belgian has won seven Grand Slam titles and is the world's top-ranked woman player. She made the announcement Wednesday, less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. She has won that clay court tournament four times, including the last three years. Henin won 10 tournaments last year, but has been in one of the worst slumps of her career this season. (Posted @ 19:45 PST)
13 Tamil rebels killed in Sri Lanka fighting
COLOMBO, May 14 (AP): Air force jets pounded a Tamil Tiger rebel training base in northern Sri Lanka, and troops killed 13 guerrillas in other fighting, the military said Wednesday. A military spokesman said soldiers captured a defence line in northern Mannar district, after a fight that killed one rebel. Another rebel died in a separate clash in Welioya. Ground battles Tuesday killed 11 rebels on the civil war's fronts in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya. A cabinet minister's adviser was killed late Tuesday when Tamil Tiger gunmen dressed as security officers burst into her mother's home and shot her in Jaffna. The rebel spokesman could not be reached for comment. (Posted @ 19:37 PST)
Asia scholar William Holland dies at 100
AMHERST, Massachusetts, May 14 (AP): William Lancelot Holland, professor emeritus of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia who was associated for three decades with the international Institute of Pacific Relations, has died at the age of 100. Holland died on May 8 in Amherst, his daughter, Patricia G. Holland, announced Tuesday. (Posted @ 19:00 PST)
China says troops rush to plus dangerous cracks in dam near quake-hit town
DUJIANGYAN, May 14 (AP): State media says Chinese troops have rushed to plug “extremely dangerous” cracks in a dam upriver from the earthquake-hit town of Dujiangyan in Sichuan province. The official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday that 2,000 troops had been sent to work on the Zipingku Dam. Dujiangyan is just north of the provincial capital of Chengdu. It was rattled by Monday's earthquake with buildings collapsing and services cut off. (Posted @ 18:40 PST)
13 Taliban, 2 police killed in clashes in southern Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, May 14 (AP): Clashes in southern Afghanistan have killed 13 Taliban militants and two policemen, said Helmand provincial police Chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal. He said six other officers were wounded in the clashes. He said 10 militants were killed in Helmand's Marja district after they attacked a police checkpoint late Tuesday and killed two officers. Five other officers were wounded in the attack. Three militants died in another attack on police in the same region Tuesday that left one police officer wounded, he added. (Posted @ 18:20 PST)
Four killed during poll violence in eastern India
KOLKATA, May 14 (Reuters): At least four people were killed on Wednesday after rival parties contesting local elections in the east Indian countryside threw crude bombs, fired guns and set fire to a village, police said. Communist-run West Bengal state is holding an election for the running of the network of village councils. The election is seen as a barometer of the fortunes of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- which helps prop up the ruling national coalition -- after a year of often violent protests from many villagers against the government's seizure of their land for industry. The third and final round of polling is due on May 18. (Posted @ 18:10 PST)
Police orders thousands of displaced Kenyans to leave refugee camp
NAIROBI, May 14 (AP): Kenyan officials backed by armed police are forcing thousands of Kenyans displaced by post-election violence to leave a refugee camp, a resident and an international aid worker said Wednesday. They said local officials accompanied by armed police officers were going from tent to tent Wednesday in a camp housing 9,000 people in the western town of Kitale, and ordering people to leave in a matter of hours. (Posted @ 18:00 PST)
Two arrested after Jaipur bomb blasts
JAIPUR, May 14 (AFP): Indian police on Wednesday arrested two men after eight near-simultaneous bombings killed 63 people and wounded 216 in the Rajasthan tourist city of Jaipur, the state chief minister Vasundhara Raje said. “We have arrested two people and have detained several more for questioning,” she told a press conference. State home minister Gulab Chand Kataria earlier told AFP around a dozen people had been detained. Among those detained in the city, which was under a day-time curfew, were one of the wounded and a rickshaw puller, a police official said. Kataria had initially put the death toll at 80 and 200 injured while the Press Trust of India reported an “unofficial” toll of 85 dead. (Posted @ 17:05 PST)
Curfew imposed on Jaipur after bombings kill 80
JAIPUR, India, May 14 (AP): Police imposed a daylong curfew in the western Indian city of Jaipur on Wednesday to prevent any retaliatory violence after a series of blasts in crowded areas left at least 80 people dead. Authorities suspect militants were behind the blasts, and they moved quickly to stop any potential clashes between the city's Hindu majority and its sizable Muslim minority. Police were deployed in force and people kept off the streets of Jaipur's old walled city, where all seven bombs went off on Tuesday. The bombers may have been aiming “to create communal tension,” said Vasundhara Raje, the chief minister of Rajasthan state, of which Jaipur is the capital. “But there is peace in the city. The curfew is a precaution.” (Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Cricket: Harbhajan banned for five one-dayers over slap
MUMBAI, May 14 (Reuters): The Indian board banned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh for five one-day internationals on Wednesday for a slapping incident involving Shanthakumaran Sreesanth during a domestic Twenty20 league match last month. A statement from the board said the disciplinary committee, which met on Wednesday, had decided to invoke Rule 3.2.1 of the BCCI regulations wherein the maximum punishment is 'a ban up to a maximum of five ODIs and/or three test matches'. “The committee accordingly decided to ban Mr. Harbhajan Singh for five one-day internationals, starting May 14, and observed that any further instance of misconduct will invoke a life ban,” the statement said. (Posted @ 16:20 PST)
Bangladesh journalists call for end to emergency rule, greater press freedom
DHAKA, May 14 (AP): Senior editors and journalists from more than a dozen leading Bangladesh newspapers and television stations have demanded an end to the country's state of emergency and called for greater press freedom. The journalists met in Dhaka on Tuesday to discuss threats to the media, said Ataus Samad, a former BBC Bengali service reporter who chaired the meeting. In a statement, they called for government agencies to stop interfering in the media's work. “Regular interference in day-to-day work of the media is not acceptable,” the journalists said. They decided to create a committee to deal with the matter. The information ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment Wednesday, while a military spokesman declined to comment. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)
Paris court convicts 7 men linked to Iraq recruitment cell
PARIS, May 14 (AP): A Paris court on Wednesday convicted seven men of terrorism for helping funnel fighters to Iraq, a case that exposed how the war there has sucked in radical youths from Europe. The judge handed down sentences of up to seven years in prison. All seven suspects --five Frenchmen, a Moroccan and an Algerian-- were convicted of “criminal association with a terrorist enterprise,” a blanket charge used in many French terrorist cases. (Posted @ 15:55 PST)
China earthquake could cost $20 bn, says AIR
LONDON, May 14 (Reuters): The cost of the devastating earthquake in China, which killed nearly 15,000 people, is likely to exceed $20 billion, according to leading disaster modelling firm AIR Worldwide. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake, which struck to the northwest of Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu on Monday, was the worst to hit China in 32 years. (Posted @ 15:25 PST)
Tajikistan seizes $10 million opium haul
DUSHANBE, May 14 (Reuters): Tajikistan's security forces seized a large quantity of drugs with an estimated European street value of $10 million, anti-drugs service officials said. The State Drug Control Agency said on Wednesday it seized 424 kilos of opium in a truck heading out of the mountainous country on May 11. The impoverished republic lies on the main trafficking route out of neighbouring Afghanistan -- the world's top producer of opium and its refined form, heroin -- to western Europe. (Posted @ 15:20 PST)
Iran arrests 15 over mosque bomb blast: minister
TEHRAN, May 14 (AFP): Iran has arrested a total of 15 people over a deadly mosque bombing in April in the southern city of Shiraz, the intelligence minister said on Wednesday. Iran has accused the United States and Britain of training and financing people behind the April 12 bombing which killed 13 people and injured more than 200. “So far 15 people have been arrested and all the ones involved in this incident are our country's nationals,” Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie told the Fars news agency. “The agents of this incident intended to bomb a Russian consulate in Iran,” he added. (Posted @ 15:05 PST)
Philippine troops kill two communist guerrillas
MANILA, May 14 (AFP): Philippine troops killed two communist guerrillas and captured another in a clash Wednesday on the central island of Panay, the military said in a statement. An army patrol encountered 14 members of the communist New People's Army (NPA) outside Igbaras town sparking a gunbattle that left two rebels dead, it said. One female guerrilla was also captured along with two rifles and ammunition, the military added. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Jordan sentences three over Bush attack plot
AMMAN, May 14 (AFP): Jordan's state security court on Wednesday sentenced to jail three Jordanians for plotting an attack against US President George W. Bush when he visited the kingdom in 2006, a court spokesman said. The three men were sentenced to 15 years each for conspiracy to plot “terrorist attacks” against Bush, in a ruling handed down on the day the US president returned to the region for a five-day tour. (Posted @ 14:20 PST)
Bush lands in Israel at start of Mideast trip
BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel, May 14 (AFP): US President George W. Bush arrived in Israel Wednesday on a visit aimed at pushing forward the slow-moving peace process. Bush was to hold separate talks with Israeli president Shimon Peres and prime minister Ehud Olmert later Wednesday. (First Posted @ 09:10 PST, Updated @ 13:50 PST)
Russia says “Six” could guarantee Iran security
YEKATERINBURG, Russia, May 14 (Reuters): The six nations negotiating with Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment programme could guarantee Tehran's security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters Wednesday. “I think the 'Six' could make the following step: directly put concrete offers on the negotiating table, give Iran security guarantees and ensure a more distinguished place in negotiations on the situation in the Middle East,” Lavrov said. “I am convinced that this is an effective way of relieving tensions in the region and regulating the situation surrounding Iran's nuclear problem,” he said. The six nations negotiating with Iran to suspend its nuclear programme are Russia, the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany. (Posted @ 13:45 PST)
Five Palestinians killed, two wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, May 14 (AP): Two Palestinian civilians and three militants were killed and two others were wounded Wednesday in Israeli military raids on the Gaza Strip, medics said. One dead was a 17-year-old riding his bike, doctors added. (First Posted @ 10:15 PST, Updated @ 13:40 PST)
Gunmen in Nigeria hijack boat with 11 crew onboard
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, May 14 (AP): Gunmen in Nigeria's southern oil region Tuesday hijacked an oil-services vessel with 11 crewmembers onboard, Military spokesman Maj. Sagir Musa said. The unknown hijackers are demanding about US$250,000 for the release of the boat and the crew, including one Portuguese and one Ukrainian. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)
Five dead, ten wounded in Pakistan road accident
KHUZDAR, Pakistan, May 14 (APP): At least five people were killed and ten others sustained critical injuries in a head on collision between a passenger wagon and a trailer at Loghey, some 35 kilometres from Khuzdar Wednesday, police said. (Posted @ 13:20 PST)
Baghdad fighting kills six
BAGHDAD, May 14 (Reuters): Clashes between U.S. and Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite gunmen killed six people and wounded 28 in Baghdad’s Sadr City overnight, Iraqi police said Wednesday. Five people were killed and 22 wounded overnight, police said. Fighting also erupted in western Baghdad's Shula district, another bastion of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia. On Wednesday, heavy automatic weapon fire echoed through the streets of Shula as U.S. Apache attack helicopters hovered overhead. Police said one person was killed and six wounded in the Shula fighting, which began Tuesday. (Posted @ 13:15 PST)
Austrian axe man kills five
VIENNA, May 14 (Reuters): A 39-year-old man killed five members of his family, some apparently with an axe and reported the deaths to police himself, police said Wednesday. The dead were his wife, daughter aged 7, and his parents and father-in-law. The man went to police early Wednesday and they found the bodies of the wife and daughter in an apartment in Vienna. They may have been killed with an axe, Austrian news agency APA quoted police as saying. He admitted the other killings and the bodies were found outside Vienna in Upper Austria. (Posted @ 13:05 PST)
Bomb at northern Spain police barracks kills one, wounds four
MADRID, May 14 (Reuters): A car bomb exploded at a police barracks in northern Spain's Basque Country early Wednesday, killing one person and wounding four, police said. The bomb exploded in a Civil Guard barracks in the town of Legutiano just before 3 a.m., a Basque Country police spokeswoman said, and a police rescue team was searching for people trapped in the rubble. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, police said. (First Posted @ 09:25 PST, Updated @ 11:00 PST)
Militants kill 'US spy' in Pakistani tribal area
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, May 14 (AFP): Militants shot dead a man in a Pakistani tribal area after accusing him of spying for US forces across the border in Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday. The body of the unidentified man was found lying in an open area outside Naurak village in the North Waziristan district, a security official told AFP. “The body had bullet wounds and a deep cut on the throat,” the official said. A note found near the body said the man was a “US spy” and had been punished because he was spying on “mujahedin” activities in the area, he said. (Posted @ 10:10 PST)
Bush nominates new US ambassador to Russia
WASHINGTON, May 14 (AFP): US President George W. Bush on Tuesday nominated a new US ambassador to Russia, career diplomat John Beyrle, one day after talking to President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Beyrle, whose nomination requires US senate approval, is currently US ambassador to Bulgaria, and prior to that was the number two in Moscow, the White House said. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Eight killed in Bangladesh train accident
DHAKA, May 14 (Reuters): At least eight people were killed and dozens were injured when two trains carrying hundreds of passengers collided at a station east of the Bangladesh capital early Wednesday, police and witnesses said. The collision took place at Ashuganj station in Brahmanbaria district, more than 100 kms east of Dhaka, when the Sylhet-bound Upaban Express struck a Noakhali-bound train, railway officials said. “So far we have recovered eight bodies and nearly 100 are injured,” said Kamruzzaman, of the Ashuganj Police Station. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
Canada copter crash kills four, including pedestrian
OTTAWA, May 14 (AFP): A helicopter crashed and burst into flames Tuesday in western Canada, killing the pilot, two passengers and a pedestrian in the town of Cranbrook, about 200 kilometers southwest of Calgary, Alberta, an official said. “The pilot, two passengers, and one person on the ground were killed,” Transportation Safety Board spokesman Bill Yearwood told AFP. Witnesses told a local newspaper the helicopter had circled before its engine seemingly cut out and it fell 30 meters to the ground. “The helicopter burst into flame. Everything was utterly incinerated,” said the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. (Posted @ 09:05 PST )
Moderate quake rocks Taiwan
TAIPEI, May 14 (AFP): A moderate earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale rocked southern Taiwan Wednesday, the central weather bureau said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The tremor struck at 2:27 a.m. and was centred 12.1 kilometres southwest of Taitung city at a depth of 10 kilometres, the bureau said. (Posted @ 09:00 PST)
Clinton wins West Virginia
CHARLESTON, West Virginia, May 14 (AFP): Hillary Clinton cruised to a crushing win over Barack Obama in West Virginia's primary Tuesday. Television network projections handed victory to the former first lady as soon as the polls closed. MSNBC and Fox exit polls suggested Senator Clinton would pile up a two-to-one margin in the 95 percent white, mountainous state, which had 28 pledged delegates up for grabs. Exit polls cited by MSNBC showed that Clinton won white voters by 68 percent to 28 for Obama, and won 72 percent of those earning less than 50,000 dollars, compared to her foe's 24 percent. (Posted @ 08:55 PST)
Karachi Stocks up 50.94 points:
KARACHI, May 14: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 14593.44, up 50.94 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:10 PST)
Forex update:
KARACHI, May 14: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 68.7 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:10 PST)
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