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| June 15, 2008 | Sunday | Jamadi-us-Sani 10, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Pakistan PM warns Afghanistan on cross-border attacks ISLAMABAD, June 15 (AFP) - Pakistan will not allow anyone to interfere in its internal affairs, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Sunday after Afghan President Hamid Karzai said cross-border attacks on militants were justified. ”We will neither interfere in the internal affairs of any country, nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our affairs,” Gilani told private a private TV channel. Such statements will not help in the normalisation of friendly relations between the two countries and will hurt the sentiments of people on both sides of the border,” he said, however adding he wanted “friendly” ties with Kabul. Gilani countered that Pakistan was taking all possible measure to stop militant activity across the long, rugged frontier. “We are not fighting this war for America but it is our own war and we want to eliminate extremism and terrorism which is the root cause of all evils,” he said. (Posted @ 19:54 PST)  Afghanistan says attacks into Pakistan justified KABUL, June 15 (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday threatened to attack Taliban insurgents on Pakistani soil, saying his war-torn country had a right to do so out of “self-defence. “Afghanistan has the right to destroy terrorist nests on the other side of the border in self-defence,” Karzai told a news conference in Kabul. “When they cross the border from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and coalition troops, it gives us exactly the right to go back and do the same,” he added. Karzai also sent a specific warning to fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Pakistan Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, saying “Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house.” “Fazlullah and Mehsud or any one behind them must know this, that today's Afghanistan is not the voiceless Afghanistan of yesterday. Today it has both the voice, the tools and courage for action,” Karzai said. “We'll defeat them and we'll avenge all that they've done in Afghanistan for the past so many years,” he said. Karzai's government suffered a blow on Friday when Taliban militants blasted open the prison in Kandahar city, freeing more than 1,100 prisoners including hundreds of insurgents, according to NATO-led forces. (Posted @ 17:08 PST)  Punjab, Sindh, NWFP budgets on Monday ISLAMABAD, June 15 (APP):- The budgets for the next financial year of the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and NWFP will be presented tomorrow (Monday). Punjab Finance Minster Tanvir Ashraf Kaira will be presenting the budget in the Punjab Assembly which has been called in session at 11.00 A. M. on Monday. The total volume of the budget amounts to about Rs 380 billion, a private TV channel reported. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who also holds the finance portfolio, will present the budget in the provincial assembly at 5.00 P.M.. Sindh Budget is estimated at Rs 265 billion, which includes Rs 65 billion annual development programme. NWFP Finance Minister Hamayun Khan will present the budget in the provincial assembly at 4.00 P.M. (Posted @ 18:20 PST) Indian troops martyr two more innocent Kashmiris ISLAMABAD, June 15 (APP): In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops martyred two more innocent Kashmiri youth in Shopian district. Their bodies were recovered from the debris of a house destroyed by the troops of 44-Rashtriya Rifles with heavy mortar shelling during siege and search operation at Narpora in the district, KMS reported. Separately, three civilians including a child and a woman were injured in a grenade blast near Secretariat area of Srinagar. (Posted @ 18:10 PST) Pakistan: Top lawyer promises more anti-Musharraf rallies until judges are restored ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 15 (AP)- President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Aitzaz Ahsan, Sunday promised more, larger rallies on the heels of a massive protest in the capital demanding the government restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf. Aitzaz Ahsan gave no date for the future protests, but his comments indicated that the lawyers did not intend to ease their campaign for the restoration of the judges. “There will be other marches ... there will be bigger marches,” Ahsan told The Associated Press. He said lawyer leaders would soon meet to discuss fresh protests. (Posted @ 17:54 PST) Cricket: New Zealand 193 all out v England 307-5, 1st ODI England, June 15, (REUTERS) - New Zealand were all out for 193 after 42.5 overs chasing England's 307 for five wickets in the first one-day international at Chester-le-Street, Durham, England on Sunday. Scores: New Zealand 193 all out v England 307-5 (K.Pietersen 110 not out, P. Collingwood 64). (Posted @ 23:45 PST) 22 including women, children injured in road mishap KALAT, June 15 (APP): At least 22 persons including nine women and five children were injured, five of them seriously, when a Quetta-Kalat bound passenger van turned turtle due to over speeding near Mastung on Sunday, police sources told APP. (Posted @ 23:16 PST) Cricket: Australia set West Indies 475 to win third Test BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, June 15, (AFP) - Australia have set West Indies 475 to win the third and final Test. The Aussies, leading by 35 runs from the first innings, declared their second innings on 439 for five during the lunch interval on the fourth day at Kensington Oval. Australia lead the three-Test series 1-0, after they won the opening Test at Sabina Park in the Jamaica capital of Kingston by 95 runs. (Posted @ 22:56 PST) IED explosion claims 4 lives in Kurram PARACHINAR, June 15 (APP): Four persons were killed and another man sustained serious injuries when suspected militants on Sunday targeted a vehicle with Improvise Explosive Device (IED) coupled with firing at Shorki area of Kurram Agency. Political Administration said the incident occurred when the victims were going to Shorki area for some work. (Posted @ 22:26 PST) President National Assembly Vietnam given warm welcome at Chaklala Air Base ISLAMABAD, Jun 15 (APP): President of the National Assembly Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Tron had a brief stop-over at Chaklala Air Base on his official visit to European countries. (Posted @ 21:44 PST) Tennis: Nadal wins Queen's Club title LONDON, June 15, (AFP) - Spain's Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 to win the Queen's Club grasscourt title here on Sunday. (Posted @ 21:02 PST) Nepal palace reopens as a museum KATHMANDU, June 15 (AFP) - The massive Kathmandu palace of Nepal's deposed king was opened to the public as a national museum on Sunday, just four days after he surrendered the throne following the abolition of the monarchy. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala hoisted the country's national flag above the sprawling palace, as an army band played the new national anthem -- which does not mention the king. The key tourist attractions at the museum will likely be the diamond- and emerald-adorned crown, sceptre and gilded royal throne, as well as a Mercedes-Benz given to Gyanendra's grandfather by Adolf Hitler, officials said. (Posted @ 20:24 PST) Bush arrives in London LONDON, June 15 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush arrived in Britain on Sunday to hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on issues including Iraq and Iran's suspect nuclear programme. He came to Britain after stops in Slovenia, Germany, Italy, the Vatican and France on a European trip that will take him to Belfast on Monday. (Posted @ 19:44 PST) Six killed in Iraq attacks BAGHDAD, June 15 (AFP) -Insurgents killed at least six people in Iraq on Sunday, including an army captain and a science professor, officials said. An Iraqi official, his wife and mother were killed when gunmen broke into their home in western Baghdad's Al-Jamiyah neighbourhood and shot them.The officer's 12-year-old son was also wounded, they said. In Mosul, science professor Waleed Sadallah al-Maullah was shot dead in broad daylight by gunmen as he was driving his car with his two children, police said. The youngsters were injured. One Iraqi soldier and a civilian were also killed in Kirkuk when a roadside bomb struck a passing military patrol, police said. Two soldiers were also wounded. (Posted @ 18:36 PST) Thirty-one killed in two Indian accidents GUWAHATI, India, June 15 (Reuters) - At least 31 people were killed in separate accidents in two Indian mountain states on Sunday. Officials said 15 people, including seven women, were buried alive by landslides triggered by heavy overnight rain in Arunachal Pradesh state early on Sunday. “We are getting more reports of fresh landslides from far flung areas,” a senior government official said from Itanagar, capital of the mountainous state bordering China. In the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, at least 16 people were killed when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a gorge on Sunday, a senior police officer told reporters. (First Posted @ 17:20 PST Updated @ 17:44 PST) Rice warns settlements could harm Mideast peace talks JERUSALEM, June 15 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday warned that Jewish settlement expansion could harm peace talks. “I am very concerned that at a time when we need to build confidence between the parties, the continued building and the settlement activity has the potential to harm the negotiations going forward,” she told reporters. Rice said she would also press Israel to take concrete steps to ease freedom of movement in the occupied West Bank, including lifting more of the over 500 roadblocks and checkpoints scattered across the territory. (Posted @ 17:26 PST) Sri Lanka hit Tiger logistics base, 17 dead in clashes COLOMBO, June 15 (AFP) - Sri Lankan war planes destroyed a suspected Tamil Tiger logistics base in Mullaitivu district early Sunday after ground battles left 15 guerrillas and two soldiers dead, the defence ministry said. On Saturday, security forces captured the area near the Periyamadu irrigation tank -- the key source of water for residents of the rural farming area -- following clashes in the adjoining district of Mannar in the north. Twelve Tamil rebels and two soldiers were killed in the fighting, the ministry said, adding that several soldiers were also wounded. Three more rebels were killed in fighting in the Weli Oya region, along the northeastern side of the island. There was no immediate word from the Tigers about the latest fighting. (Posted @ 17:16 PST) Saudis willing to act to bring oil prices down: UN chief JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, June 15 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia views skyrocketing oil prices as “abnormally high” and is willing to do what it can to bring them down, visiting UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday. Briefing reporters on his meeting with Saudi King Abdullah on Saturday, Ban said they spent a great deal of time focusing on the link between the soaring crude prices and the worsening food crisis as well as climate change. “He acknowledged that the current oil prices are abnormally high due to speculative factors and some other national government policies,” the UN secretary general said in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. Media reports have suggested Riyadh plans to raise output next month by about half a million barrels a day to 10 million barrels, a possible sign it is becoming nervous about the political and economic effect of high prices. Saudi Arabia is also hosting a summit in Jeddah on June 22 for consumer and producers to discuss oil prices. (Posted @ 17:12 PST) Bangladesh plans to free ex-PM Khaleda Zia to break poll deadlock: minister DHAKA, June 15 (AFP): Bangladesh's emergency government plans to free former premier Khaleda Zia, a minister said Sunday, in a bid to avert a boycott by her party of upcoming elections. The announcement came days after ex-premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed was released from nearly a year of detention on graft charges and allowed to fly to the United States for medical treatment. “We are looking at ways to free her (Zia) on humanitarian and medical grounds,” interim commerce minister Hussain Zillur Rahman told AFP. Zia has been held, also on corruption charges, since last September. (Posted @ 13:20 PST) 34 injured as female suicide bomber strikes Iraqi soccer fans near Baghdad BAGHDAD, June 15 (AP): A female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq's win in a World Cup qualifier, wounding at least 34 people near a cafe north of Baghdad, police said. The young woman was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack Saturday as dozens of cheering young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in the town of Qara Tappah. The woman told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, according to the town's top administrator. Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, he said. (Posted @ 13:20 PST) German wins race up world's tallest skyscraper TAIPEI, June 15 (AFP): A German athlete sprinted up 91 floors in 10 minutes and 53 seconds on Sunday to win the Taipei 101 race -- a leg-burning effort that took him to the top of the world's tallest skyscraper. Thomas Dold, a specialist at stair racing who also won this year's New York Empire State Building run-up, bounded up 2,046 steps to claim 200,000 Taiwan dollars (6,600 US) in prize money. About 2,500 people took part in the annual race to the top of the Taipei 101 building. In the women's event, Lee Hsiao-yu of Taiwan, won in 14 minutes and 53 seconds. (Posted @ 13:15 PST) 15 militants killed during US-Afghan hunt for escaped inmates KABUL, June 15 (AP): The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said more than 15 insurgents were killed by Afghan army and coalition forces in Kandahar province during a search for escaped prisoners. The U.S. said it was not confirmed that any of the 15 dead were escaped prisoners. Five militants were also been taken into custody after the Saturday operation. Afghan officials said 870 prisoners escaped from the Kandahar prison. (Posted @ 13:10 PST) Western powers warn Iran of more sanctions TEHRAN, June 15 (Reuters): Western powers warned Iran of further sanctions if it rejected an incentives offer and pressed on with sensitive nuclear work. On Saturday, Iran again ruled out suspending uranium enrichment despite the offer by six world powers of help in developing a civilian nuclear programme if it stopped activities the United States and others allege are designed to make bombs. “I believe a rejection of this package would lead to further isolation of Iran and to further international sanctions,” a senior U.S. State Department official in Washington said, declining to be named. A top British official said before Solana's Tehran trip: “If they were to reject this initiative, then we would expect further EU sanctions imposed before the end of July.” (Posted @ 12:45 PST) Three found dead at Japan hot spring resort TOKYO, June 15 (Reuters): Three people were found dead under the rubble of an inn on Sunday in a hot spring resort swamped by a massive landslide after a powerful earthquake that rocked rural northern Japan, a local government official said. They were among seven people believed trapped in the two-storey inn, whose first floor completely collapsed when the quake hit on Saturday. The three deaths took the toll from the 7.2 magnitude quake to nine, the official said. (Posted @ 12:30 PST) 2 killed, 12 wounded in southern Nepal bomb explosion KATHMANDU, June 15 (AP): A bomb explosion at a busy bus station in southern Nepal killed two people and wounded 12 others, officials said Sunday. The bomb, hidden in a bag, exploded Saturday night as passengers were waiting for the bus during a downpour in Chandranigahapur town, about 250 kilometers south of the capital, Kathmandu. Rautahat district's chief official said two of the 12 wounded were in critical condition and the remaining 10 were in serious condition at a hospital. (Posted @ 12:20 PST) Australia wants global fight on Afghan, Pakistan border SYDNEY, June 15 (AFP): Australia on Sunday called for greater engagement with Pakistan on fighting insurgents along the Afghan border, saying unrest there could spread elsewhere in the world. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said militants in the tribal area were posing a threat to foreign troops in Afghanistan. “We are very worried about conditions in Pakistan on that border area,” Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “I think we've got to start looking at the border between Afghanistan not just as a bilateral issue between those two nations, but a regional issue in which the international community has to play a role. I think the Pakistan government is well aware of the significant Australian and international community concern about what is occurring in that border region.” Smith said. Violence in the tribal zone posed a potential threat beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan, he added. (Posted @ 12:10 PST) Bomb kills Afghan police chief in Helmand KANDAHAR, June 15 (AFP): A police chief was killed and a governor injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, police said Sunday. The officials were on a river bank when the remote controlled bomb exploded in Marja district on Saturday, provincial police chief, Mohammad Hussein Andiwal said. “The bomb was detonated remotely. The district police chief Tor Jan was martyred and the district chief, Juma Gul was wounded,” Andiwal told AFP. (Posted @ 11:30 PST) Heavy rains in China leave at least 62 dead or missing BEIJING, June 15 (AFP): Heavy rains that hit southern and eastern China have left at least 62 people dead or missing, while over one million residents have been evacuated, the government and state media said Sunday. Rains were expected to continue to pound southern China through Tuesday with water levels in major rivers threatening towns in Jiangxi, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, the state meteorological bureau said. (Posted @ 10:50 PST) More secret British government files left on train LONDON, June 14 (Reuters): Secret British government documents detailing the fight against terrorist financing have been found on a train, a newspaper reported Saturday, the second time in a week that top-secret files have been mislaid. The Independent on Sunday said the papers divulged Britain's policy on fighting global terrorist financing, drugs trafficking and money laundering, and analysed how Iran could contravene international financial rules to finance weapons. The newspaper did not reveal any details in the documents and said it had handed them back to authorities. (Posted @ 10:35 PST) Kurdish rebels detonate three bombs in southeast Turkey ANKARA, June 15 (AP): Kurdish rebels detonated three remote-controlled bombs on Saturday in southeast Turkey, wounding three soldiers in an attack against a military vehicle and damaging a freight train in a separate assault, authorities said. Turkish troops launched an anti-rebel offensive in the province of Siirt after the military vehicle came under a roadside bomb attack, authorities said. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Bosnian Muslims seek justice for Dutch troops 'failure' THE HAGUE, June 15 (AFP): Bosnian Muslims who lost family members in the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica will seek justice from a court in The Hague this week for the alleged failure of Dutch troops to protect their loved ones. “My family were expelled from the Dutch base and handed over to the Serbs ... by Dutch soldiers,” said Hasan Nuhanovic, one of the complainants in the civil case to be argued against The Netherlands in a district court on Monday. “It happened before my eyes. I was even asked to translate for them, to tell them to leave. And after that moment I never saw them again,” he told AFP. Srebrenica was a United Nations-protected Muslim enclave until July 11, 1995, when it was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces who loaded thousands of men and boys onto trucks, executed an estimated 8,000 and threw their bodies into mass graves. (Posted @ 09:25 PST)
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