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| May 20, 2008 | Tuesday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
 Oil price reaches 129 dollars for first time LONDON, May 20 (AFP): The price of oil rocketed to a record high of 129 dollars per barrel on Tuesday on concerns about tight global supplies of crude, traders said. New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, surged about two dollars since Monday's closing value. (Posted @ 18:42 PST)  India, Pakistan say satisfied with peace process ISLAMABAD, May 20 (AFP): India and Pakistan expressed satisfaction Tuesday with the progress of their slow-moving peace process as they held the first talks since a new government took power in Islamabad. Top foreign ministry officials discussed thorny subjects including the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir and terrorism, which have troubled the feuding neighbours since they launched a dialogue in January 2004. Indian foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon - the country's top foreign ministry bureaucrat - met his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir to review the four rounds of talks held over the past four years, officials said. “The foreign secretaries expressed satisfaction at the progress made so far and exchanged views on carrying forward the composite dialogue process,” a Pakistani foreign ministry statement said. “The talks were held in a friendly and constructive atmosphere.” Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi are set to meet Wednesday for a final review of the peace process. Pakistan meanwhile announced that it would release 96 jailed Indian fishermen and three civilians Saturday “as a gesture of goodwill” to mark the Indian minister's visit, a Pakistan interior ministry statement said. The talks this week are the first high-level contact between the two sides since February 2007, when Mukherjee travelled to Pakistan. (First Posted @ 12:25 PST, Updated @ 16:00 PST)  Roadside bomb wounds 10 in northwest Pakistan PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 20 (AFP) - Ten people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a military vehicle in the garrison town of Kohat in North West Frontier Province on Tuesday, the third blast to hit the country in three days, police said. “Six paramilitary personnel and four civilians were wounded. It appears to have been caused by a remote-controlled improvised explosive device which was planted on the roadside,” police official Nizam Khan told AFP. “It exploded at a main road junction as the military vehicle was turning. A cycle rickshaw and another car were also damaged,” he added. A suicide attack on a bakery in Mardan killed 13 people on Sunday, while three more people died in a bomb blast outside a mosque in the tribal zone of Bajaur on Monday. The attacks occurred after a pilotless predator fired two missiles on a town in Bajaur tribal area and killed over a dozen persons last week. (First Posted @ 11:35 PST, Updated @ 12:10 PST) Pakistan band to play for peace in occupied Kashmir SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 20 (AFP) - Pakistan's top rock band will play a concert this weekend in insurgency-hit occupied Kashmir, the biggest musical event in the disputed valley for decades, organisers said Tuesday. Sufi rock band Junoon, one of South Asia's most popular acts, will play on Sunday on the banks of Dal Lake -- where Ravi Shakar taught Beatle George Harrison to play the sitar in the 1960s. “We have organised the concert to push peace in the region,” said Prasad Rao, whose non-governmental South Asia Foundation (SAF) is organising the event. The concert will take place in an auditorium on the banks of the picturesque Dal Lake, situated on the edge of Srinagar. Rao said senior state and central government ministers -- possibly including Indian President Pratibha Patil -- would be among the audience. “We have also extended our invitation to President Patil. Her participation has to be cleared by her security,” Rao said. (Posted @ 12:20 PST) Rocket attacks in Peshawar; no casualties ISLAMABAD, May 20 (APP): Two rockets were fired Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, however, no loss of life was reported in the incidents. SSP Peshawar Mohammad Imtiaz Shah said the first rocket landed at a government official’s residence on Mall road in the Cantonment area. The other rocket landed in the house of a WAPDA official on Jalil road. There was no loss of life in both rocket attacks, a private television channel reported. Shah said initial investigation showed rockets were fired from the Bara area. (Posted @ 16:10 PST) India, Pakistan should work together to combat terror: Pranab Mukherjee ISLAMABAD, May 20 (PPI): Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday the two countries should work together to combat terrorism, and underlined that future of talks would depend on an “atmosphere free from terrorism, violence or the threat to it. “We congratulate people of Pakistan for the successful conduct of general election,” he said as he arrived here by a special aircraft for two days of talks with Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “The present environment, I am sure, will help us in addressing various issues related to peace, stability and economic development,” Mukherjee said. (Posted @ 23:22 PST) Heavy fighting erupts in Sudan oil town KHARTOUM, May 20 (Reuters): Heavy fighting erupted between Sudan's army and southern Sudanese forces in the disputed oil-rich town of Abyei on Tuesday, leaving at least 100 injured and an unknown number dead, aid workers said. Analysts warned the fierce fighting in Abyei -- an area claimed by both Khartoum and the semi-autonomous south -- threatened a key north-south peace deal and risked reigniting a two-decade civil war. The United Nations said the fighting had practically destroyed the impoverished central Sudanese town and disrupted emergency efforts to supply food, water and medical care to up to 50,000 people who fled earlier fighting. (Posted @ 23:06 PST) China says over 70,000 dead or missing from quake CHENGDU, May 20 (Reuters): China raised the number of dead or missing from a devastating earthquake to more than 70,000 on Tuesday, as rescuers found more survivors eight days after the huge tremor hit. A government statement said the number killed had now topped 40,000, and state news agency Xinhua reported that a further 32,000 were missing. Authorities had previously said they expected the final death toll to exceed 50,000. More than 247,000 were injured. (Posted @ 22:42 PST) China says 5 million left homeless in quake CHENGDU, May 20 (AP): China said it was struggling to find shelter for many of the 5 million people whose homes were destroyed in last week's earthquake, while the confirmed death toll rose Tuesday to more than 40,000. The confirmed death toll increased to 40,075, said the State Council, China's cabinet. Officials have said the final number killed by the quake was expected to surpass 50,000. Meanwhile, rescuers pulled a 31-year-old man to safety, the second known case of someone being found alive a week after the May 12 earthquake struck Sichuan province. (Posted @ 22:25 PST) S. Africa violence forces 13,000 to flee homes GENEVA, May 20 (AFP): A wave of violence against foreigners in South Africa has forced 13,000 people to flee their homes and seek shelter in churches and other social centres, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday. “Thirteen thousand people had to flee their homes to seek refuge in churches and parish centres, and most didn't take anything with them,” IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy told AFP. (Posted @ 22:04 PST) Britain gives go-ahead for new aircraft carriers LONDON, May 20 (Reuters): Britain is set to sign a long-awaited 4 billion pound ($7.8 billion) deal to build two aircraft carriers, which will be the Royal Navy's largest ever ships and are set for 50 years of service. The 65,000-tonne carriers, due to be called Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales and enter service in 2014 and 2016, are expected to each carry 36 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter combat jets and four early warning aircraft. (Posted @ 21:46 PST) AG Sindh resigns: Yusuf Leghari appointed new AG KARACHI, May 20 (APP): Dr Farogh Nasim, Advocate General Sindh tendered his resignation on what he called personal grounds. He called on Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan at Governor House and handed over his resignation which was accepted. Meanwhile, the governor approved the appointment of Yusuf Leghari as new Advocate General Sindh. (Posted @ 21:02 PST) Olmert loses first legal challenge in bribery case JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters): Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lost his first court challenge on Tuesday against a bribery investigation that could force him from office. The Supreme Court, rejecting Olmert's petition, cleared the way for a lower court to hear preliminary testimony from a U.S. businessman who prosecutors said handed the veteran politician cash-filled envelopes before he became prime minister. Before the three-justice panel announced its decision, police said they planned to question Olmert for a second time, on Friday. (Posted @ 20:38 PST) Orthodox Jewish youths burn New Testaments in Israel JERUSALEM, May 20 (AP): Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land. The books were dumped into a pile and set afire in a lot near a synagogue. The Israeli Maariv daily reported Tuesday that hundreds of Jewish religious school students took part in the book-burning. Israeli authorities and Orthodox Jews frown on missionary activity aimed at Jews. (Posted @ 20:24 PST) Quake shakes Alaskan islands WASHINGTON, May 20 (AFP): A strong earthquake shook the Aleutian Islands in southern Alaska early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. The 6.0 magnitude quake hit at 1353 GMT, in the Rat Islands, part of the Aleutian chain, 409 kilometers from Attu Stations, Alaska. (Posted @ 20:18 PST) Iraqi troops move into Sadr City to seize control BAGHDAD, May 20 (AP): Thousands of Iraqi troops moved unchallenged into Baghdad's Sadr City Tuesday to seize the Mahdi Army militia stronghold, in the largest attempt yet by the government to impose control, an Iraqi military spokesman said. The large Iraq force backed by tanks entered the sprawling district before dawn, with troops taking up positions, residents said. (Posted @ 20:06 PST) 15 civilians, 2 NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan violence KABUL, May 20 (AFP): Attacks around the country killed 17 people while police stopped a suicide bomber from driving a stolen police jeep packed with explosives into a base in Delaram district, officials said Tuesday. A policeman spotted the bomber and shot at him before he could enter the police camp in Farah province, the deputy provincial governor told AFP. Two police officers including the one who fired, were slightly injured, he said. The British defence ministry announced late Monday that one of its troops was killed in Helmand province. Another NATO soldier was killed in a separate incident the same day, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. Six militants were killed in a two-hour gunbattle south of Kabul in Wardak province. Also in Wardak, a mine apparently intended for police exploded under a civilian car Tuesday and killed two people, he said. Police found the decapitated body of a police officer in Farah province. In Nimroz province, five men and several sheep were killed when a mine exploded under a truck. A tanker driver working with an agency was killed in eastern Khost. (First Posted @ 15:25 PST Updated @ 19:50 PST) French dock workers clash with police, fishermen block oil terminal MARSEILLE, May 20 (AP): French dock workers hurled chairs and bottles at riot police firing tear gas during protests in Marseille on Tuesday over planned port privatizations. It was the latest outbreak of mounting unrest at ports along France's coasts. One police officer suffered head injuries and a police car was set ablaze during Tuesday's demonstration in front of Marseille City Hall, city police said. (Posted @ 19:46 PST) One killed, 18 injured in London bus crash LONDON, May 20 (Reuters): A woman was killed and 18 people were injured on Tuesday when a double-decker bus hit a tree in central London. The incident on Tower Bridge Road smashed glass in the front windows of the route 188 bus and damaged part of one side. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said she was believed to have been a passer-by and not a passenger. Nine people were taken to hospital for treatment, four with more serious injuries. (First Posted @ 15:20 PST Updated @ 18:56 PST) Fire breaks out at Berlin Philharmonic building BERLIN, May 20 (AP): A fire broke out Tuesday at the home of the Berlin Philharmonic, sending thick smoke pouring from the crest of the iconic downtown building. The blaze broke out beneath the roof of the building. The cause was not immediately clear, fire officials said. Some 110 firefighters and 120 trucks were sent to the scene, fire officials said. (Posted @ 18:48 PST) Russian police raid BP office in Moscow MOSCOW, May 20 (AFP): Russian police raided the office of British oil major BP in Moscow on Tuesday, a spokesman for the company told AFP, two months after similar raids by Russia's secret service. (Posted @ 18:36 PST) Three Palestinians killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza GAZA CITY, May 20 (AFP): A 13-year-old boy and two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as talks continued in Egypt on a proposed truce, medics and witnesses said. The teenager, Majd Khalil Abu Okal, was killed in an air raid on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, said the head of Gaza emergency services. Palestinian medics said 11 people were wounded by Israeli fire. The Israeli military admitted it had conducted air raids targeting Palestinian militants. (First Posted @ 11:30 PST Updated @ 18:34 PST) Explosion kills 5 in Somali capital MOGADISHU, May 20 (AP): An explosion killed at least five soldiers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu on Tuesday, witnesses said. Hassan Mohamed said he saw the bodies of two Somali soldiers and three of their Ethiopian allies. He said Ethiopian forces opened indiscriminate fire in the immediate confusion following the deadly blast. (Posted @ 17:30 PST) Arabs give Lebanese rivals till Wednesday to agree DOHA, May 20 (Reuters): Arab mediators Tuesday set Wednesday as a deadline for rival Lebanese leaders to agree on one of two proposals they have put forward to end a political crisis that has brought the country to the brink of a new civil war. Lebanese leaders meeting in Qatar had yet to respond to the Arab proposals and one side had asked for more time, Ahmad Abdullah al-Mahmood, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, told reporters. “The committee approved (that request) giving until tomorrow,” he said, reading a statement. He said details of the proposals would not be disclosed. (Posted @ 16:55 PST) Afghan foreign minister says Pakistan’s Taliban 'appeasement' dangerous KABUL, May 20 (AFP): Afghanistan's foreign minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said Pakistan's policy of “appeasing” the Taliban is dangerous, reiterating concern that peace talks between Islamabad and the militants would see more cross-border attacks. “Anyone thinking that they are able to reach peace in the region through what we call an appeasement policy - we consider it is a wrong and dangerous policy,” Spanta told reporters. He said the government was “extremely and infinitely concerned” about Islamabad's moves. He cited media reports saying Taliban had said they wanted peace in Pakistan so they would be able to continue jihad in Afghanistan. “No doubt reconciliation is a key part in the fight against terrorism,” he said. But he added: “If we are to fight them, we have to fight together. War and peace at the same time is impossible.” (Posted @ 16:55 PST) Death toll from tainted liquor in southern India rises to 90 NEW DELHI, May 20 (AP): Locally brewed liquor apparently tainted with lethal chemicals killed another 20 people in southern India, bringing the death toll from the past four days to 90, police said Tuesday. Bootleggers began selling the deadly brew Saturday after police shut authorized liquor shops in parts of the Karnataka state because of voting for the state government, said Sri Kumar, the state police chief. Since the liquor went on sale, 90 people, mostly poor laborers, have died and more than a dozen have been hospitalized, a police officer in Bangalore said. The officer said 56 deaths occurred in and around Bangalore, and 21 died in neighboring Kolar district. Another 13 people died in a village just across the border with Tamil Nadu state. (Posted @ 16:25 PST) Quake death toll in China’s Sichuan hits 39,577 CHENGDU, China, May 20 (AFP): The confirmed death toll in China's Sichuan province from last week's earthquake has risen by more than 6,000 to 39,577, a government official said Tuesday. Another 236,359 people have been injured, Li Chengyun, the vice governor of Sichuan, told a news conference. The central government earlier Tuesday said that more than 66,000 people were dead or missing from the May 12 earthquake, which registered 8.0 on the Richter scale. The central government's confirmed death toll in Sichuan and neighbouring areas Tuesday was lower - at 32,361 - than the figure given by Li. (Posted @ 15:15 PST) Iraqi court resumes trial of Aziz, others over merchant slayings BAGHDAD, May 20 (AP): An Iraqi court resumed hearing the case against Tariq Aziz and seven other former regime officials who face charges in the 1992 execution of dozens of merchants. Aziz, 72, the former deputy prime minister and one of Saddam Hussein's lieutenants, walked into the court Tuesday using a cane. The other defendants include Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali, for ordering chemical attacks on Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s. He has already been sentenced to death in another case. The eight defendants are facing charges stemming from the 1992 executions of 42 merchants accused by Saddam's government of profiteering when the country was under strict U.N. sanctions. (Posted @ 13:45 PST) Two shot dead in southern Thailand NARATHIWAT, Thailand, May 20 (AFP): Suspected separatist militants shot dead two men including a senior Muslim scholar in separate attacks Tuesday in southern Thailand, police said. A 50-year-old teacher and member of Narathiwat's provincial Islamic committee was killed in a drive-by shooting as he travelled to a religious school in Yala province, local authorities said. Meanwhile a 46-year-old man, who police said was a government informant, was shot dead along the Malaysia-Thailand border in Narathiwat. (Posted @ 13:40 PST) Bus crash in Nepal kills up to 45 KATHMANDU, May 20 (AFP) - Twenty-five Buddhist pilgrims were killed in a bus crash in Nepal and around 20 more were missing and presumed dead, police said Tuesday. The bus was carrying around 100 passengers when it sped off the road and plunged 100 metres into the fast-flowing Rapti river on Monday. “We fear there are about 20 bodies in the submerged bus,” Tej Prasad Poudel, a senior local official said. (First Posted @ 10:35 PST, Updated @ 11:25 PST) Nawaz Sharif says resolving judiciary key to addressing problems Lahore, May 20 (PPI): Pakistan Muslim League-N chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif maintains that reinstating the judges is directly linked to resolving the country's other problems. “People want to see the change that they voted for in February elections,” he said in interview with VOA's Barry Newhous. “Of course, first change they wanted to see and still want to see is to have a new president of this country. Because they are absolutely certain that eight years of Musharraf's rule have brought them a lot of problems.” Nawaz Sharif dismissed suggestions the government had ignored serious problems while it remains deadlocked on the judges' issue. “This issue I think can, God forbid, make or break a democratic Pakistan. So if we ignore this issue and just simply allow it to fade out, I think we will be committing the biggest crime in political history of the country.” In long term, Nawaz Sharif said government must emerge from the shadow of President Musharraf, who he says has dominated Pakistan, and its relationship with the United States, for too long. “I think Musharraf is Musharraf, Pakistan is Pakistan,” he said. “They must not equate Musharraf with Pakistan or equate Pakistan with Musharraf. U.S. policy all along has been to support people of Pakistan and to have friendly relations with the country and not with one man.” (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Two dead, 13 hurt in US prison fight CHICAGO, May 20 (AFP) - Two inmates were killed and 13 injured in a fight at a US prison Monday, officials said. “It was a fight. It wasn't a riot,” a spokesman said. “It was over in about five minutes.” Officials do not yet know what sparked the violence. (Posted @ 10:20 PST ) 11 Iraqi soldiers killed MOSUL, May 20 (AFP) - Eleven Iraqi soldiers were killed in an ambush Monday by unidentified attackers in a northern region around Mosul, where a major crackdown against Al-Qaeda began last week, a local leader told AFP. The soldiers' minibus ran into the ambush after leaving their base near Al-Baaj, some 150 kilometres from Mosul, senior town figure Abdul Rahim Shimmari said. He said some of the men were killed execution-style with a bullet to the head. All 11 were new recruits to the army. (Posted @ 10:10 PST ) Taiwan's President Ma calls for dialogue with China TAIPEI, May 20 (AFP): Taiwan's new president Ma Ying-jeou called Tuesday in his inauguration address for a resumption of dialogue with China aimed at bolstering ties and ensuring regional peace. “Taiwan and China in 1992 reached a guideline for bilateral talks -- that each side can interpret the term 'One China' in its own way. I hope we can resume dialogue as soon as possible on the 1992 consensus,” Ma said. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to invade if the island, which split from the mainland in 1949, declares independence. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Bus tumbles off cliff in Mexico, killing 28 PACHUCA, Mexico, May 20 (AFP): At least 28 people were killed and about 20 were injured Monday after a bus plunged off a mountain highway in central Mexico, police said adding that the death toll could rise further. Authorities said the bus careened from a mountain pass connecting Mexico City and Tampico, the main city in northeastern Tamaulipas state, tumbling some 200 meters into a ravine. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Karachi Stocks down 18.24 points: KARACHI, May 20: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13903.12, down 18.24 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:13 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, May 20: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 70 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:13 PST)
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