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| May 21, 2008 | Wednesday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
 Oil hits record above $132 LONDON, May 21 (Reuters): Oil prices surged more than $3 to a record above $132 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. data revealed a sharp drop in fuel inventories. U.S. crude was trading $2.82 a barrel higher at $131.80 by 1504 GMT, just off a new high of $132.08. London Brent gained $3.56 to $131.40. (First Posted 14:20 PST; Updated @ 20:15 PST)  Significant progress in peace talks, say Indian, Pakistani foreign ministers ISLAMABAD, May 21 (AFP/APP): India and Pakistan wrapped up their latest round of peace talks on Wednesday, saying that they had made significant progress and had signed a pact on giving consular access to prisoners. “We made a lot of progress in our interaction and we hope to maintain this in the next round of talks which is expected in mid-July,” Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee. “Talks are progressing in a constructive manner on the issue of Kashmir,” Qureshi said. Both foreign ministers said Pakistan and India agreed to carry on the peace process by holding the fifth round of the composite dialogue. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he will visit New Delhi in June for paving the way for the holding of the next round by mid July. (First Posted @ 12:35 PST, Updated @ 20:00 PST) Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee meets President Musharraf ISLAMABAD, May 21 (AFP): India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee held talks with President Musharraf Wednesday as the nuclear rivals expressed optimism about their four-year-old peace process. Mukherjee is in Islamabad for the first time in more than a year to resume the dialogue between the feuding neighbours, which was launched in 2004. Musharraf and Mukherjee met for around an hour at the presidential palace in Islamabad but details of their discussions were not immediately available, officials told AFP. Pakistan Television said Mukherjee also called on Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. (First Posted @ 12:05 PST, Updated @ 13:25 PST)  Pakistan agrees peace deal with militants in Swat Valley: minister PESHAWAR, May 21 (AFP): Pakistani authorities reached a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants in the troubled northwestern Swat Valley on Wednesday after months of unrest, a provincial minister said. Troops will gradually withdraw from Swat and Islamic law will be imposed in the former tourist region, while rebels will close down training camps and halt suicide attacks, North West Frontier Province minister Bashir Bilour said. Under the 15-point agreement, troops will withdraw from Swat and Sharia law will be imposed in the valley. In return, the rebels will close training camps and halt suicide attacks on government installations and security forces. “The agreement was signed today between the government committee and representatives of local Taliban. We are very positive that this agreement will end violence and ensure lasting peace in the region,” an official told AFP. The announcement comes a day after Washington said it was concerned by the new Pakistani government's decision to negotiate with militants in the North West Frontier Province and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. (First Posted @ 18:47 PST; Updated @ 19:15 PST) Two hurt as Taliban, LEA men trade fire in Mohmand Agency MOHMAND AGENCY, May 21 (PPI): Two pedestrians were injured on Wednesday during a gunbattle between local Taliban and Mohmand Rifles personnel at Saagi Check Post in Tehsil Lakro of Mohmand Agency, said sources. The Peshawar-Bajaur Road was closed for half an hour due to intense firing. (Posted @ 18:26 PST) Extremists kill policeman in Swat Valley ISLAMABAD, May 21 (AP): A suspected militant attack on a security post in Swat Valley killed one policeman, the military said Wednesday. Assailants fired at the joint army and police checkpoint Tuesday, prompting security forces to respond, a military statement said. It did not say whether the assailants suffered casualties. One policeman died and another was wounded, the statement said. Also Wednesday, gunmen killed the son and three other relatives of a legislator as they were traveling in the northwest, an official and a family friend said. Senator Hafiz Abdul Malik's relatives were attacked in their vehicle in the Jamrud area of the Khyber tribal region, said a close family friend. (Posted @ 15:55 PST) Balochistan cabinet being expanded; three more ministers to take oath QUETTA, May 21 (APP): The Balochistan cabinet will expand further with the induction of three more ministers. This will raise the strength of the cabinet to 44 members. The new ministers to be sworn in include Mrs Ruqqaya Hashmi, Salim Ahmed Khosa and Ms Rahila Durrani who was earlier sworn in as advisor to the CM. (Posted @ 14:40 PST) Thousands of Kashmiris mourn slain leaders SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 21 (AFP): Thousands of mourners shouting “We want freedom” packed a graveyard on Wednesday in Indian Kashmir to commemorate two separatist leaders slain on the same day a dozen years apart. The rally came as a strike called to mark the assassinations paralysed life in Srinagar, summer capital of the region where a liberation movement against New Delhi's occupation has raged since 1989. The strike,was called to honour Molvi Mohammed Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone. “We've gathered here to remember our martyrs and make a fresh pledge to take the struggle to its logical conclusion,” Umar Farooq, head of the moderate wing of the political movement, told mourners. (Posted @ 23:45 PST) Bootleg liquor kills 150 in southern India BANGALORE, May 21 (Reuters): At least 150 people have died in southern India after drinking bootleg liquor laced with chemicals, and another 88 are seriously ill, police said Wednesday. They said mostly labourers in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu bought the liquor, sold in plastic pouches from illegal shops, at the weekend and immediately fell sick. On Wednesday, authorities said seven dealers in Karnataka were arrested and nine officials were suspended. “Investigations are on to trace the source of the liquor,” the director general of police in Karnataka said. (Posted @ 23:30 PST) Israel PM wants US naval blockade of Iran: report JERUSALEM, May 21, 2008 (AFP): Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has urged the United States to impose a naval blockade on Iran to pressure it to stop its controversial nuclear programme, the Haaretz daily reported on Wednesday. Olmert raised the issue during a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the newspaper said. “The present economic sanctions on Iran have exhausted themselves,” Olmert was quoted as telling the California Democrat. (Posted @ 23:00 PST) N. Korea to blow up nuke plant tower in symbolic gesture SEOUL, May 21 (AFP): North Korea plans to blow up the cooling tower at its Yongbyon atomic complex to symbolise its commitment to nuclear disarmament, a senior South Korean official said Wednesday. The tower will be toppled soon after the communist state hands over a long-awaited declaration of its nuclear activities, Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Sook told reporters. (Posted @ 22:28 PST) More than 20 Sudan soldiers killed in Abyei fighting KHARTOUM, May 21 (AFP): Twenty-two Sudanese soldiers were killed and 45 wounded in fighting with former rebels in Abyei, the town at the centre of an oil district claimed by north and south, an army commander said Wednesday. “From our side, 22 people were killed and 45 injured,” Brigadier General Muntasir Sabier, commander of government troops in Abyei, told AFP by telephone. He said the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had suffered many more losses. (Posted @ 22:00 PST) Guinea's president fires prime minister CONAKRY, May 21 (AP): Guinea's President announced through a presidential decree that he had fired his prime minister, after an uneasy 15-month power-sharing agreement. President Lansana Conte chose Lansana Kouyate as prime minister last year after he was forced to pick from a list of five potential premiers approved by the country's unions. The decree, read on national TV late Tuesday night, announced that Kouyate would be replaced by Ahmed Tidiane Souare, a former minister of mines and a confidant of Conte. (Posted @ 21:35 PST) Senior IRA man Brian Keenan dies in Belfast DUBLIN, May 21 (AP): The Sinn Fein party has announced that senior IRA commander Brian Keenan has died of cancer. The 66-year-old Belfast native died Wednesday. He was a key figure throughout the Irish Republican Army's epic journey from war to peace. (Posted @ 21:20 PST) Pepper spray attack injures 19 in Austrian subway VIENNA, May 21 (AP): Police say a woman wielding pepper spray injured herself and 18 others in a Vienna subway car when she attacked a man who complained she was talking too loudly on her cell phone. Authorities say the incident Wednesday injured 17 schoolchildren, their teacher and the cell-phone talker herself. All were taken to the hospital. (Posted @ 21:00 PST) Eight hurt in land dispute near Khipro Khipro, May 21 (PPI): Eight men were seriously injured as two rival groups clashed over a land dispute in village Sher Muhammad Soomro on Wednesday. The members of the Soomro and Shar tribes attacked each other with axes and clubs.Some of the wounded men suffered serious injuries and taken the civil hospital. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) Swedish police hold two men over nuclear plant scare STOCKHOLM, May 21 (Reuters): Swedish police detained two men on suspicion of planning to sabotage a nuclear power station on Wednesday after one of them was discovered entering it with small amounts of a highly explosive material. “Two men taken in for questioning this morning have now been detained on suspicion of preparing for sabotage,” said a police spokesman. Police were alerted shortly before 8 a.m. by the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant, about 360 km south of Stockholm, that a man had been found with traces of explosives. He was carrying small amounts of the highly explosive material TATP, police said. (First Posted @ 14:50 PST; Updated @ 19:43 PST) Kenya mob burns 15 women to death over witchcraft NYAKEO, May 21 (AFP): A rampaging mob in western Kenya burnt 15 women accused of witchcraft to death, a local official and villagers told AFP Wednesday. “This is unacceptable. People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspect someone,” said the head of Nyamaiya district. “We will hunt the suspects down,” he added. (Posted @ 19:15 PST) Sweden railway bridge collapse kills 1, injures 4 STOCKHOLM, May 21 (AP): Police said part of a railway bridge under construction in northern Sweden collapsed, killing one person and injuring four. A police spokeswoman said part of the bridge that is being built over a bay north of Harnosand fell into the water on Wednesday. (Posted @ 18:50 PST) China to spend $13 billion on quake relief BEIJING, May 21 (AFP): China announced Wednesday it would spend over 13 billion dollars on relief and reconstruction work following last week's earthquake disaster that left more than five million people homeless. (Posted @ 18:30 PST) Indonesia to raise fuel prices by 28.7 percent: report JAKARTA, May 21 (AFP): Indonesia's finance minister said fuel prices will be hiked by an average 28.7 percent, a report said Wednesday, despite widespread protests against the move ahead of elections next year. The price increase is designed to limit the impact of record world oil prices, which are blowing out the government's multi-billion-dollar fuel subsidy scheme and sucking state money out of social programmes. “The figure is relatively final, it will be 28.7 percent,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani was quoted as saying on the state-run Antara news agency. (Posted @ 18:22 PST) Strike against Maoists shuts down Nepali capital KATHMANDU, May 21 (Reuters): Police lobbed tear gas shells to break up an anti-Maoist rally during a day-long strike in the Nepali capital on Wednesday in a protest over the killing of a businessman by Maoist former rebels, police and organisers said. A restaurant owner was abducted and killed in southern Nepal earlier this month. Maoists said some of their members killed him, but they were not acting on the party's orders. They have vowed to bring the culprits to justice. (Posted @ 18:05 PST) 37Tamil rebels killed in Sri Lanka fighting COLOMBO, May 21 (Reuters): Sporadic clashes in the last two days between Tamil Tiger rebels and the military killed 37 rebels, the military said on Wednesday, as land, sea battles and air raids continued in Sri Lanka's far north. The fighting came amidst news that Tamil Tiger second-in-command, Brigadier Balraj, died from a heart attack in rebel-held north on Tuesday. “Troops killed 25 LTTE terrorists in fighting on Tuesday,” said a military spokesman who asked not to be named. The military also said 12 rebels were killed and three soldiers died in fighting on Monday. (Posted @ 17:50 PST) 11 killed in attack near Baghdad BAGHDAD, May 21 (AFP): At least 11 people were killed on Wednesday in gunfire that followed a roadside bombing targeting US troops and Iraqi police near a militia bastion in Baghdad, police and military sources said. Another three people were wounded in the morning incident in the Al-Obeidi neighbourhood, just southeast of Sadr City where a truce between troops and the militia has taken effect. (Posted @ 17:35 PST) Bomb attack foiled on German troops in Afghanistan: Berlin BERLIN, May 21 (AFP): Two men were arrested for planning an attack on German troops in northern Afghanistan after they were found in a car stuffed with 220 kilos of explosives, German officials said Wednesday. Afghan police arrested a Pakistani and a Tajik after intercepting the vehicle last Thursday near the town of Masar-i-Sharif, the main base of Germany's 3,200 troops in Afghanistan, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP. According to German television channel N24 the two men have confessed and have been sentenced to be hanged. (Posted @ 17:00 PST) Five Palestinians including 5-month-old baby wounded in Israeli airstrike GAZA CITY, May 21 (AP): Hospital officials in Gaza said five Palestinians, including a 5-month-old baby girl, were being treated for wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military claimed they hit militants who had just fired rockets into southern Israel. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Heavy gunfire breaks out along border between Georgia, Abkhazia TBILISI, Georgia, May 21 (AP): Heavy gunfire broke out Wednesday along the administrative border separating Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia, wounding several people who were trying to vote in parliamentary elections, a Georgian official said. A Georgian Interior Ministry official said that Abkhazian forces fired on a bus carrying Georgian residents from Abkhazia's Gali district across the border to a village in Georgia's Zugdidi district. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Lebanese leaders sign deal averting civil war DOHA, May 21 (Reuters): Rival Lebanese leaders signed a deal on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict, pulling their country away from the brink of civil war and paving the way for the election of a new president. Parliament will be convened on Sunday to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as head of state, aides to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Reuters in Qatar. (First Posted @ 09:10 PST, Updated @ 16:25 PST) Two NATO soldiers, 14 militants killed in Afghanistan KABUL, May 21 (AP): Violence in Afghanistan left 18 dead, including two NATO soldiers and 14 militants. A NATO statement Wednesday said an explosion killed a soldier and civilian interpreter on patrol in Ghazni province. Two NATO soldiers were wounded, one of whom later died at a military hospital. In neighboring Zabul province, deputy governor Gulab Shah Alikhel said air strikes and a three-hour gunbattle Tuesday killed an Afghan army soldier and 14 imilitants. (Posted @ 15:10 PST) Israel-Syria launch indirect peace talks JERUSALEM, May 21 (AFP): Israel and Syria on Wednesday launched indirect peace negotiations, with Turkey acting as a go-between, the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced. “The two sides indicated they want to lead these negotiations in a serious spirit so as to achieve complete peace,” Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said. Peace talks between Syria and Israel broke down in 2000 over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights plateau occupied by Israel. (Posted @ 14:30 PST) Lebanon's Berri says presidential vote this week DOHA, May 21 (Reuters): Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday army commander General Michel Suleiman would be elected president this week, filling a post vacant since November because of political crisis in the country. Asked by reporters when parliament would convene to elect Suleiman, Berri said: “This week”. Berri also announced an immediate lifting of an 18-month-old sit-in by the opposition in Beirut after an Arab-brokered deal with the government was reached in Qatar. The protest began on December 1, 2006 when the opposition set up a sprawling tent city on streets leading to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's offices in a bid to force him to step down. (First Posted @ 13:15 PST, Updated @ 13:35 PST) Bus falls into gorge killing 16 people in northern India LUCKNOW, India, May 21 (AP): A bus swerved off a mountain road and fell into a deep gorge Wednesday, killing 16 people in northern India, a police official said. Fifteen other people were injured in the accident near Pithorgarh, in Uttaranchal state when the bus they were traveling in rolled down a 200 meter deep gorge and fell into a river, senior police official Kripal Meena said. The bus driver was among those killed, Meena said. The area is 450 kilometers northwest of Lucknow, capital of neighboring Uttar Pradesh state. The accident occurred when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve and the bus fell into the gorge, he said. (Posted @ 12:25 PST) Georgia votes in tense parliamentary polls TBILISI, May 21 (AFP): Georgians began voting Wednesday in parliamentary elections. Polling stations across the strategic ex-Soviet republic of 4.7 million people opened at 8:00 a.m. and were due to close at 8:00 p.m. (Posted @ 11:00 PST) Death toll from weekend storm in Philippines rises to 37, 16 injured MANILA, Philippines, May 21 (AP): The death toll from a tropical storm that battered the northern Philippines over the weekend has risen from 12 to 37, the Philippine disaster agency said. Most of the victims were hit by iron sheets or falling debris blown off houses after Tropical Storm Halong made landfall Saturday in Pangasinan province, northwest of Manila. The National Disaster Coordinating Council said in Wednesday's report that a total of 16 people have been injured and one is missing. (Posted @ 10:45 PST) Six dead, 13 injured after plant fire in eastern China BEIJING, May 21 (AP): A fire at a plant in eastern China left six people dead and 13 injured Wednesday, Xinhua News Agency said. The blaze broke out in the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang province at 2:48 a.m. (Posted @ 10:40 PST) Two Italians among three aid workers kidnapped in Somalia MOGADISHU, May 21 (AFP): Three aid workers, including two Italians, were kidnapped by gunmen Wednesday in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, a security official and a local elder told AFP. “Three aid workers, among them two Italians, a man and a woman, were kidnapped early this morning by armed men who blindfolded them and took them away,” local elder Mohamed Ibrahim Ali told AFP. A local security official confirmed the kidnapping and said the security forces were trying to locate the hostages. The kidnapping took place at around 6:30 am in the village of Awdhegle, 70 kilometres south of Mogadishu. (Posted @ 10:30 PST) Firemen fight big blaze in Sao Paulo SAO PAULO, May 21 (AFP): Fire crews were struggling Tuesday to douse a large blaze in Sao Paulo’s Campo Belo neighbourhood which officers said apparently originated in a pizza shop. Officials denied an initial report by the television network Globo that the fire was caused by a plane crash. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the blaze. Thirteen crews had been deployed to the scene, fire officials said, with a spokesman describing the blaze as being of “big proportions.” (Posted @ 09:30 PST) Clinton takes Kentucky LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, May 20 (AFP): White House hopeful Hillary Clinton Tuesday won a decisive victory over Democratic rival Barack Obama in the Kentucky presidential primary, US media predicted. CNN, MSNBC and CBS television networks all projected that Clinton had won the primary as the polls closed in Kentucky. CNN said the former first lady had defeated Obama by perhaps as much as 30 points, while Fox predicted a two-to-one victory for the New York senator. (Posted @ 09:20 PST) Karachi Stocks up 71.36 points: KARACHI, May 21: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13974.48, up 71.36 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, May 21: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 70.2 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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