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| August 01, 2008 | Friday | Rajab 28, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Pakistan proposes defence deal with Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Aug 1 (AFP): Pakistan, a key supplier of small arms to Sri Lanka, proposed a defence pact to boost military cooperation between the two countries, Pakistani officials said Friday. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the offer to his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollegama on the sidelines of a South Asian meeting in Colombo, the officials said. “A (draft) defence cooperation agreement has been given to Sri Lanka,” said a senior Pakistani official who requested anonymity. “We want Sri Lanka to quickly move on that (the draft agreement),” the Pakistan diplomatic official said, adding the pact was intended to bring the two sides closer. There was no immediate comment from Sri Lankan authorities on the Pakistani proposal. Details of the defence pact offer were not immediately available. (Posted @ 16:25 PST)  Culture not conflict urged in India-Pakistan row COLOMBO, Aug 1 (Reuters) Trade and cultural similarities are the best ways to improve relations between Pakistan and India, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Friday. “If the Berlin Wall can fall so can these troubles that we have that are keeping us apart,” Qureshi said on the sidelines of a summit of South Asian leaders in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. “I think trade will build new bridges, which are so important between us. I say we have been looking at divergences, look at the convergences we have, look at the language, culture, dress,” he said at a seminar with Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee. Qureshi and Mukherjee met Thursday amid an escalation in border skirmishes and a string of bomb attacks on Indian cities and interests abroad that together killed more than 100 people. Qureshi said “a lot steam had been let out” at that meeting. Qureshi said the region had to resolve its conflicts if the SAARC was to help lift millions of people out of poverty and push up living standards. (Posted @ 20:52 PST) Pakistan rejects US news report ISLAMABAD, Aug 1 (AP): Pakistan on Friday angrily denied a newspaper report that its intelligence service helped plan a bombing of India's embassy in Kabul that killed at least 41 people. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq described the report as “total rubbish.” Sadiq said there was no evidence of ISI involvement. “The foreign newspapers keep writing such things against ISI, and we reject these allegations,” he said by telephone from a summit of South Asian leaders in Sri Lanka. (Posted @ 11:45 PST) Pakistan denies ISI behind Indian embassy attack ISLAMABAD, Aug 1, (Reuters) Pakistan rejected a New York Times report Friday that said U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded members of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) helped plan the suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month. “Rubbish,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi responded when asked to comment on the report while in Colombo, where South Asian leaders were attending a regional summit. “Such news items keep appearing,” Qureshi said. “No one has given any evidence to us. It's just an allegation,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told Reuters from Colombo. Before his departure for Colombo, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan wanted the eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to become an effective grouping and wanted to bolster relations with all of its neighbours. “We have bilateral relations with all neighbours. We want good relations with India, with Afghanistan, with all neighbours,” he told reporters. (First Posted @ 10:45 PST Updated @ 19:50 PST)  Two civilians, five militants killed in overnight clashes in Swat PESHAWAR, Pakistan, August 1 (AFP): Two civilians were killed and five children wounded when a shell hit their house in Matta district of Swat valley, security officials said Friday. “The shelling was very heavy, it repeatedly lit the sky and thuds of the mortar burst echoed the area,” a resident of Matta said by telephone. Troops continued to pound suspected positions of militants overnight, also killing five rebels, a security official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP. (Posted @ 15:30 PST) Militants kidnap two police in northwestern Pakistan KHAR, Pakistan, Aug 1 (AP) Militants overpowered a security post in northwestern Pakistan and kidnapped two officers, police said. About 35 militants kidnapped the policemen Friday on the outskirts of Khar, the main town in the Bajaur tribal region, local police chief Fazal Rabi said. Police have launched a search operation for the missing men. (Posted @ 15:00 PST) Leaders arrive for SAARC summit in Colombo COLOMBO, Aug 1 (AFP) South Asian leaders Friday began arriving in Sri Lanka ahead of an eight-nation summit where heightened tensions between India and Pakistan have seized centre-stage, diplomats said. The leaders attending the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit were slated to discuss boosting economic ties. But talks between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan - the highest-level meeting in 15 months between the neighbours - are expected to dominate proceedings. The premiers' talks on issues threatening a four-year-old peace process were expected to take place after the ceremonial SAARC summit opening. Other SAARC members also hope the summit will focus on food security, high oil costs and working on developing alternate energy sources and improving infrastructure in the world's poorest region, home to 1.5 billion people. SAARC, founded in 1985 with the aim of deepening regional economic cooperation groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has imposed unprecedented security for the summit, deploying nearly 20,000 police and troops in Colombo. (First Posted @ 17:14 PST Updated @ 17:38 PST) 10 dead, 17 injured in Pakistan road accident PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 1 (APP) At least 10 persons died and 17 were injured when a passenger pickup plunged into a deep ravine near Badal in Buner district in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Friday, police said. The incident as the driver lost control over the vehicle’s steering wheel. The pick up was on its way from Poran Shangla district to Swari in Buner district. (Posted @ 20:44 PST) Defence rests case in first Guantanamo trial GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, Aug 1 (Reuters) Military defence lawyers finished presenting their case in the trial of Osama bin Laden's driver Friday in the first trial in the U.S. war crimes court at the Guantanamo Bay naval base. Both sides will be allowed to call rebuttal witnesses before the jury of six military lawyers begins deliberating in the trial of Yemeni prisoner Salim Hamdan, who acknowledges working as bin Laden's driver in Afghanistan but denies joining al Qaeda or taking part in its attacks. The defence wrapped up its case with written evidence from accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and an alleged co-conspirator who were asked about Hamdan's role in the bin Laden organization. Hamdan is the first captive tried in the special tribunals created by President George W. Bush to prosecute non-U.S. citizens on terrorism charges outside the regular civilian and military courts. The U.S. government charges that in addition to driving bin Laden, Hamdan occasionally acted as his bodyguard and had two missiles in his car when captured in Afghanistan. (Posted @ 20:16 PST) Four NATO soldiers killed in Afghan blast KABUL, Aug 1 (AFP) Four NATO soldiers were killed in a bomb blast in eastern Afghanistan Friday, the alliance force said. “Four ISAF soldiers and one civilian died following an IED (improvised explosive device) strike in Kunar province August 1,” NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. (Posted @ 20:12 PST) IAEA clears India inspection plan, boosts US-India deal VIENNA, Aug 1 (Reuters) Governors of the U.N. nuclear watchdog approved an inspections plan for India by consensus on Friday, a key step towards finalizing a U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperation deal, diplomats in the closed meeting said. The accord would open up to India the world market in atomic materials and technology for civilian use, but is controversial since New Delhi has conducted nuclear test explosions and never joined the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). With the go-ahead from International Atomic Energy Agency governors, Washington must persuade a 45-nation nuclear supply cartel to grant India a waiver allowing trade with a non-NPT state, then get U.S. Congress ratification, to sew up the deal. The initial Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting on India is expected to be held on Aug. 21-22, diplomats said. (Posted @ 20:08 PST) NATO soldier, five police killed in Afghan violence KABUL, Aug 1 (AFP) A NATO soldier was killed in a bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan Friday, the force said, as authorities announced that five policemen had died in a similar blast. “An ISAF soldier died in an IED (improvised explosion device) attack in Khost province August 1,” the force said in a statement. Five Afghan policemen were killed late Thursday when their jeep was struck by another bomb in the southern Kandahar province, police said. Two other officers were wounded in the blast in Panjwayi, deputy district police chief Bismillah Khan told AFP. (Posted @ 19:44 PST) Russia test fires ballistic missile MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) Russia test fired a ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea Friday, a spokesman for Russia's navy said. The missile was launched from the Ryazan nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea and hit a designated area in the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula on Russia's Pacific coast. “The ballistic missile was launched from the Ryazan nuclear submarine and the warhead reached the Kura firing range in Kamchatka at the planned time,” said navy spokesman Igor Dyagalo. (Posted @ 19:38 PST) Road crash in Egypt kills 11, injures 19 CAIRO, Aug 1 (Reuters) A head-on collision between a minibus and a truck killed 11 people and injured 19 in central Egypt early Friday, police officials said Friday. The crash took place in the province of el-Minya south of Cairo. (Posted @ 18:38 PST) Cricket: Sri Lanka 215-5 v India 329, close, 2nd day, 2nd test GALLE, Sri Lanka, Aug 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka were 215 for five in reply to India's first innings of 329 at the close of the second day of the second test on Friday. Scores: India 329 (Sehwag 201 not out, Gambhir 56, Mendis 6-117) v Sri Lanka 215-5 (Warnapura 66, Sangakkara 68; Singh 4-71). (Posted @ 18:16 PST) Nepal police clash with Tibetans, detain 162 KATHMANDU, Aug 1 (Reuters) Nepali police detained 162 protesters and Tibetan refugees who tried to storm a Chinese consular office in Kathmandu Friday. The protesters arrived in groups and scuffled with riot police as they tried to proceed towards the Chinese consular office before being hauled into police vans and trucks. (Posted @ 18:14 PST) Eclipse blankets Russia; thousands watch in awe NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, Aug 1 (Reuters) A shadow swept across Russia Friday, delighting skywatchers who flocked to Siberia from around the world to see a rare total eclipse of the sun. The stellar spectacle - when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth - began in Canada, tracked across Greenland and crept into Siberia just after 1000 GMT. It is due to end in China. In the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, which lies directly under its path, thousands of people mixed awe with excitement as day turned into night. In Moscow, which saw a partial eclipse, passers-by froze as they tried to catch at a glimpse of the phenomenon. In China, plane loads of foreign eclipse watchers converged on Jiayuguan, in Gansu Province, and in the hot deserts of Xinjiang, to watch the sky go dark. (Posted @ 18:04 PST) Cricket: England 231 v South Africa 314, third day, third test BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug 1 (Reuters) South Africa were bowled out for 314 before lunch on the third day of the third test against England at Edgbaston on Friday. Scores: England 231 (A. Cook 76, I. Bell 50); South Africa 314 (N.McKenzie 72, J.Kallis 64). (Posted @ 17:46 PST) 16 students killed in Turk dormitory collapse BALCILAR, Turkey, Aug 1 (Reuters): A gas explosion killed at least 16 female students and injured 27 others, wrecking a dormitory at a girls' school in southern Turkey on Friday, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said. Several girls were feared trapped under the rubble of the three-storey building in Balcilar village in the Toros mountain range, some 340 km south of the capital Ankara. “We have been informed that 16 students died and 27 were injured. We think that there are still four or six more children under the rubble,” Atalay told reporters at the scene. (First Posted @ 11:00 PST Updated @ 17:39 PST) Fresh fighting kills 27 in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Aug 1 (AFP): Sri Lankan troops killed 25 Tamil Tiger rebels while two soldiers died in combat in the island's north, the defence ministry said Friday, as Colombo prepared to host a South Asian summit. Troops fought pitched battles with the guerrillas on Thursday in Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaittivu and Weli Oya and recovered arms from fleeing rebels, the ministry said. (Posted @ 16:50 PST) Japan PM reshuffles cabinet TOKYO, Aug 1 (AFP): Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday reshuffled his cabinet, chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura announced. Machimura said that he was retaining the key position of chief cabinet secretary, which makes him number two in the government. Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura also retained his post. Yoshimasa Hayashi, a 47-year-old relative newcomer, was named defence minister, Machimura announced. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) Two Iraqi soldiers killed in roadside bombing KIRKUK, Iraq, Aug 1 (AFP): Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and two others wounded in northern Iraq in a village near Kirkuk Friday when a roadside bomb detonated next to their patrol, police said. “A roadside bomb exploded near Sabanisan village targeting the military patrol while they were doing their job, killing two of them and wounding another two,” said Colonel Feras al-Obeidi, head of a local police district. (Posted @ 16:40 PST) 5.8 earthquake hits southwest China BEIJING, Aug 1 (AP): A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit southwest China's Sichuan province Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake hit 40 miles north of Mianyang in Sichuan at 4:32 p.m. There were no initial reports of casualties. The Xinhua News Agency said a slight tremor was felt in the provincial capital of Chengdu. (Posted @ 16:15 PST) Deadline ultimatum eases for Iran in nuclear showdown WASHINGTON, August 1, 2008 (AFP): The United States and its European allies have pulled back from setting Saturday as a firm deadline for Iran to reply to the latest international offer of incentives for a freeze in its nuclear drive. “I didn't count the days. It's coming up soon,” US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Thursday when asked if August 2 was the deadline for Iran to accept or reject the package. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday that there was no deadline and that his country had already replied. (Posted @ 15:30 PST) Three dead, one hurt in US shootings NIAGARA, Wisconsin, Aug 1 (AP) U.S. authorities were searching Friday for a man wearing camouflage clothing and carrying a rifle after four people were shot, three fatally. The middle-aged man armed with an assault rifle was last seen near the Wisconsin-Michigan state line, said Eric Burmeister, director of emergency management for Marinette County. The shooting started Thursday evening, Chief Deputy Jerry Sauve of the Marinette County Sheriff's Department said. He confirmed three people were killed and one was wounded. (Posted @ 15:15 PST) Small jet crashes in Minnesota; eight killed OWATONNA, Minnesota, Aug 1 (APP/AP) A small jet crashed at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday while preparing to land at a regional airport in Minnesota, killing eight people. Severe weather had been moving through southern Minnesota earlier Thursday, but witnesses and the National Weather Service said the storms were subsiding at the time of the crash. The charter jet, flying from Atlantic City, N.J., to Owatonna, went down in a cornfield northwest of Degner Regional Airport, Sheriff Gary Ringhofer said. (Posted @ 15:10 PST) At least 13 people killed in India train fire HYDERABAD, India, August 1 (Reuters): A least 13 people were killed when a fire believed to have been sparked by a short circuit spread through an Indian train early on Friday while many passengers were asleep, police said. Five coaches of the Gautami Express, which was travelling from Hyderabad to Kakinada on the coast, were gutted in the massive pre-dawn fire.Railway officials have ruled out sabotage and said the fire was apparently caused by a short circuit. (Posted @ 13:40 PST) US anthrax scientist commits suicide as FBI closes in WASHINGTON, August 1 (AP): A top U.S. biodefense researcher apparently committed suicide as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him in the anthrax mailings that traumatised the United States in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said a published report. The scientist, Bruce E. Ivins, 62, worked for the past 18 years at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick, Maryland. (Posted @ 13:20 PST) Bangladesh allows parties to contest local vote DHAKA, Aug 1 (Reuters): Bangladesh's High Court has scrapped an Election Commission rule that barred political parties from participating in local government polls, officials and lawyers said Friday. “The commission will abide by the High Court verdict and has no plan to make an appeal against it,” Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M. Shamsul Huda said after the judgment, which was delivered on Thursday. The commission had barred parties from contesting or directly campaigning for local elections, arguing polls to city corporations and municipalities were “non-partisan” and should be kept free from “undue political influence”. That triggered strong protests from major political parties. (Posted @ 12:05 PST) Communist guerillas kill three Philippine soldiers MANILA, Aug 1 (AFP): Communist guerrillas killed three soldiers and burned a telecoms facility in related attacks in northern Philippines, the military said Friday. The New People's Army (NPA) set fire to the site near the town of Pinukpuk Wednesday and ambushed an infantry unit sent to investigate, said the soldiers' battalion commander. (Posted @ 11:25 PST) U.S. agents can seize travelers' laptops - report WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters): U.S. federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers' laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold then for unspecified periods the Washington Post reported on Friday. Under recently disclosed Department of Homeland Security policies, such seizures may be carried out without suspicion of wrongdoing, the newspaper said, quoting policies issued on July 16 by two DHS agencies. Agents are empowered to share the contents of seized computers with other agencies and private entities for data decryption and other reasons, the newspaper said. (Posted @ 10: 40 PST) Iraq: US soldier dies in non-combat incident BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (AP): The U.S. military said an American soldier had died in a non-combat incident in northern Iraq. The death pushes the U.S. monthly toll for July to at least 10. The military said the soldier died and two others were wounded Thursday during operations in Ninevah province. (Posted @ 10:35 PST) Few US troops for Afghanistan: Gates WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (AFP): No more than 200 US soldiers have been identified for deployment to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, suggesting that more sizeable reinforcements would await troop drawdowns in Iraq. Gates said earlier this month he wanted to send more troops to Afghanistan “sooner rather than later” to deal with rising attacks and border infiltrations by insurgents. But he acknowledged at a Pentagon news conference Thursday that the number of troops raised so far is not significant. “At most, a couple of hundred, maybe,” he said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST) Record Afghan unrest hampering aid: NGOs KABUL, Aug 1 (AFP): Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan hit record highs this year with hundreds of civilians killed, including 19 aid workers, and spreading insecurity hampering relief work, aid groups said Friday. Unrest had spread to once stable areas and welfare agencies were forced to scale back aid delivery even as drought and food price hikes put millions of people in difficulty, the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief said. “So far this year the number of insurgent attacks, bombings and other violent incidents is up approximately 50 percent on the same period last year,” said ACBAR, a grouping of about 100 Afghan and international NGOsThere were 463 insurgent attacks in May and 569 in June, it said in a statement. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) China mine disasters kill 20, landslide buries 10 BEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters): Three coal mine accidents in China killed at least 20 people, while a landslide buried at least 10 villagers, the official Xinhua news agency said Friday. Fourteen miners died in a “coal and gas burst” in the early hours of Friday at a colliery in Yuzhou in central Henan province, Xinhua said. Eleven more remained trapped. In Shaanxi province, a pit collapse on Thursday trapped nine of 38 coal miners, Xinhua said. A moderate mining-induced tremor at a mine in the northeastern province of Liaoning on Wednesday killed six workers and injured one, it said. At least 10 villagers in Loufan county in the northern province of Shanxi were buried by a landslide on Friday morning, Xinhua said. (Posted @ 09:45 PST) Chavez nationalises Bank of Venezuela CARACAS, Aug 1 (AFP): Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez said Thursday he will nationalise the Bank of Venezuela, one of the country's largest, and asked the bank's Spanish owners, Grupo Santander, for a meeting to set a price for the deal. (Posted @ 09:30 PST) Haiti's senate ratifies new prime minister PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 1 (Reuters): Haiti's Senate on Thursday ratified economist Michele Pierre-Louis, President Rene Preval's third choice for prime minister, ending a three-month impasse after the last government was dismissed over food price riots. Twelve senators voted in favor of the nomination of Pierre-Louis, five senators abstained and none voted against the nomination. (Posted @ 09:25 PST) Fishermen survive 44 days lost at sea SAN JOSE, Aug 1 (AFP): Two Caribbean fishermen whose boat ran out of fuel were rescued after surviving 44 days lost at sea on a diet of raw fish and rainwater, reports said Thursday. The pair from the islands of San Vincent and the Grenadines, were rescued Tuesday by the crew of a Costa Rican fishing vessel who found them nearly lifeless in their boat near an island off Costa Rica's Atlantic coast, the newspaper La Nacion said. (Posted @ 09:00 PST) California cuts 20,000 jobs over budget stalemate SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 1 (AFP): California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger axed 20,000 temporary state employees and slashed the pay of 200,000 more workers Thursday in the latest twist to a budget stand-off. Schwarzenegger told a news conference he had signed an executive order to implement the personnel and pay cuts amid ongoing wrangling over how to reduce California's 15.2-billion-dollar budget deficit. The move comes after lawmakers failed to approve a budget at the start of the state's new fiscal year on July 1. (Posted @ 08:55 PST) Karachi Stocks down 412.19 points: KARACHI, Aug 01: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 10171.39, down 412.19 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 13:30 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 01: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 72.3 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 13:30 PST)
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