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| August 07, 2008 | Thursday | Sha’aban 4, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Coalition decides to impeach Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: The Co-chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party Mr Asif Zardari said the ruling coalition had decided to start proceeding to impeach President Musharraf, a local tv channel reported. Mr Zardari was addressing a press conference in Zardari House in Islamabad. The PMl-N chief Mr Nawaz Sharif was sitting alongside Mr Zardari when he made the announcement. Mr Zardai said General Musharraf’s policies had weakened the federation of Pakistan and brought the economy to an impasse. Mr Zardari said the coalition believes it has become imperative to remove General Musharraf as President and will initiate proceedings under Article 47 of the constitution. AFP adds: The landmark agreement came after three days of marathon talks between coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. “We have good news for democracy,” Zardari said at a joint news conference with Sharif in Islamabad. “The coalition believes it is imperative to move for impeachment against General Musharraf.” The government had summoned the National Asembly to sit on August 11 and could begin the impeachment proceedings then, a senior coalition official said. (First Posted @ 18:54 PST Updated @ 19:32 PST)  Punjab Assembly passes resolution to remove Article 58-2B LAHORE, Aug 7 (APP): Punjab Assembly through a unanimously passed resolution here on Thursday recommended to the federal government to take initiative for removing article 58-2B from the constitution of Pakistan. The PML-Q (forward block) member Raja Shaukat Aziz moved the resolution while none of his colleagues from opposition benches opposed it. The mover observed that the said article empowers one man to dissolve assemblies and what he termed it as 'kill' democracy and public opinion. He said Article 58-2b negates the spirit of democracy and is a clear contradiction of the concept of Islamic Democratic Republic of Pakistan. The article should be removed at the earliest, he added. (Posted @ 18:56 PST) PM Gilani to replace President Musharraf at Olympics ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (AFP): Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has cancelled a trip to the Beijing Olympics and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will travel to China instead, the foreign ministry said Thursday. “Yes, the president has cancelled his visit to China and the prime minister is now going,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told AFP. Musharraf was initially scheduled to leave on Wednesday for the Olympic opening ceremony but cancelled the flight. The foreign office had earlier announced that he was due to leave on Thursday. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)  10 paramilitary soldiers, 25 militants killed in Bajaur clash KHAR, Pakistan, Aug 7 (AFP/Reuters): At least 10 paramilitary soldiers were killed in fierce clashes with Taliban militants in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said Thursday. Officials announced earlier that 25 militants and one soldier were killed in the Bajaur tribal zone, a known haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. “There has been intense fighting in Bajaur. Up to 25 militants were killed and 10 Frontier Corps soldiers have also been martyred. Some are critically wounded,” a top security official told AFP. Earlier reports said, at least 25 pro-Taliban militants and two Pakistani soldiers were killed in fierce clashes in a tribal region along the Afghan border, government officials said Thursday. The clashes erupted late Wednesday when militants intercepted a security vehicle in the Loi Sum area in troubled Bajaur tribal agency. “We have reports of 25 militants killed. Two paramilitary soldiers were also killed and three wounded,” a senior government official told Reuters requesting anonymity. The fighting continued overnight as army helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in the mountainous region. Separately militants ambushed a security vehicle with a remote-controlled bomb early on Thursday near Khar, the main town in Bajaur, killing two soldiers, officials said citing an intelligence report. (First Posted @ 11:30 PST Updated @ 18:18 PST) Lahore police clash with protesters LAHORE, Aug 7 (Reuters): The government's move to dismiss 80,000 employees of the National Commission for Human Development sparked a clash between protesters and police Thursday that injured six people, officials said. Police used batons to disperse some 100 of the employees protesting in Lahore. Officer Ishtiaq Khan said police were trying to restrict protesters to the side of a road when scuffles broke out. (Posted @ 15:25 PST) Two killed in clashes in eastern India CALCUTTA, Aug 7 (AP): Two people were killed in fresh clashes in an area of eastern India over now-defunct government plans to seize land for industrial development, police said Thursday. A supporter of the governing Communist Party was shot dead by masked gunmen on Wednesday and a second party activist was shot and killed Thursday in subsequent protests, said West Bengal Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia. (Posted @ 23:42 PST) Maldives clears way for multi-party elections: minister COLOMBO, Aug 7 (AFP): The president of The Maldives on Thursday ratified a new constitution that will for the first time allow multi-party elections to be held in the Indian Ocean island chain. Under the statute, the tourist getaway must hold a national vote to elect a new president and parliament, legal reforms minister Mohamed Nasheed told AFP by telephone from the capital of Male. The government has told western diplomats that it plans to hold the presidential election around September, with a parliamentary poll due early next year. (Posted @ 23:18 PST) Three killed, 44 injured as bus rams into truck SAHIWAL, Aug 7 (APP): Three persons including a woman were killed and 44 others injured when a rashly driven bus rammed into a parked truck near Kameerke on Arifwala Road here Thursday. Police said a bus (LOT-7200) was heading towards Faisalabad from Bahawalnagar when it rammed into a parked truck (LXV-4332) near Kameerke. As a result, three persons identified and a woman died on the spot while 44 others sustained injuries. (Posted @ 22:56 PST) Algeria bus collision kills 18, injures 25 ALGIERS, Aug 7 (Reuters): A collision between a passenger van and a bus in northwest Algeria left 18 people dead and 25 injured on Thursday, official news agency APS reported. Seven injured were taken to hospital in a serious condition after the crash which happened on a main road in Mascara province, APS quoted emergency services as saying. (Posted @ 22:34 PST) Handcart bomb kills three police in Iraq MOSUL, Aug 7 (AFP): Three policemen were killed by a bomb in the heart of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday, police said. The device had been placed in a handcart and exploded as a patrol arrived to remove the body of a man found nearby. On Wednesday three people were killed and 14 wounded in a suicide car bombing which targeted an army patrol in Mosul. (Posted @ 22:06 PST) Mauritanian police break up anti-junta demo, coup chief leads march in capital NOUAKCHOTT, Aug 7 (AFP/AP): Mauritanian police on Thursday used tear gas to break up a rally in support of deposed President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, leaving one person injured, a spokesman for his party told AFP. “We wanted to organise a peaceful demonstration, our protesters were only armed with slogans and portraits of the president. The police stopped us by firing tear gas,” party secretary general Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Dahmane said. Meanwhile, the general who toppled Mauritania's government staged a show of force Thursday, leading several thousand supporters in a march through the capital while the police fired tear gas at the few who protested the coup. (Posted @ 21:40 PST) Indian inflation crosses 12 percent NEW DELHI, Aug 7, (AFP) - India's annual inflation accelerated to more than 12 percent for the first time in over 13 years, official data Thursday showed, stoking expectations of further monetary tightening to tame prices. (Posted @ 21:10 PST) More attacks on Kashmiri drivers as Indian Punjab joins blockade ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (APP): Kashmiri truck drivers and passengers are now facing the wrath of Hindu fanatics in several areas of Indian Punjab after facing days of loot and arson on Srinagar- Jammu highway from Patnitop to Lakhanpur. Dozens of truck drivers who reached Indian occupied Srinagar since Tuesday complained that they were attacked by mobs in several areas of Punjab, the Kashmir Media Service (KMS) reported. We were heading towards Jammu via an alternate route through Gurudaspur when a mob attacked us,” said a truck driver adding, “We managed to save our lives but they damaged the truck.” Eyewitnesses said that some 70 trucks that crossed the Jawahar Tunnel were badly damaged by the rioters. Reports said three Kashmiris were critically injured and admitted in a Jammu hospital after a mob tried to burn them alive on Jammu-Punjab border. (Posted @ 20:54 PST) Israel okays new West Bank settlement construction JERUSALEM, Aug 7 (AFP): Israel on Thursday approved construction of 400 new homes in annexed east Jerusalem that it has turned into a Jewish neighbourhood and invited bids for construction of another 416 settler homes in the occupied West Bank. The interior ministry announced that a committee had approved a plan first unveiled in March to build 400 housing units in the Jewish neighbourhood of Neve Yaakov, in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem. Israeli authorities also called for bids for the construction of 286 homes in Beitar Ilit, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, just south of Jerusalem. (Posted @ 20:40 PST) Seven police, three dozen Taliban killed in Afghanistan KANDAHAR, Aug 7 (AFP): The Afghan government said Thursday seven policemen were killed when militants stormed their post in the troubled south, while nearly three dozen militants died in various clashes. The policemen were killed in an attack late Wednesday on their post near Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, a provincial government spokesman told AFP. “We lost seven police officers. Two others were injured,” he said. Afghan government officials also reported that three dozen Taliban had been killed in various clashes with security forces overnight, including in Helmand, neighbouring Kandahar and the western province of Badghis. (Posted @ 20:04 PST) 25 dead in Sri Lanka fighting: military COLOMBO, Aug 7 (AFP): At least 23 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers have been killed in the latest fighting in Sri Lanka's north, the defence ministry said Thursday. Government troops kept up attacks against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mullaittivu, Weli Oya and Vavuniya, with 75 rebels and three soldiers also wounded during Wednesday's clashes. The LTTE did not comment on military casualty claims. However, the rebels did say they ambushed an army truck in the government-held eastern district of Batticaloa, killing 23 soldiers and wounding four in a roadside mine attack on Tuesday. (First Posted @ 11:55 PST Updated @ 19:44 PST) Strong Indonesian quake causes damage, injuries JAKARTA, Aug 7 (AP): A strong earthquake rattled Indonesia's eastern Sumbawa Island early Thursday, damaging around 1,200 buildings and injuring at least five people, officials said. The magnitude 5.7 quake struck at 6:41 a.m. local time (2241 GMT) just off the coast of Sumbawa island, about 1,000 kilometers east of the capital, Jakarta, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was relatively shallow at about 10 kilometers. (Posted @ 19:05 PST) 21 wounded in fighting around South Ossetia TBILISI, Georgia, Aug 7 (AP): Heavy shelling overnight in the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia wounded at least 21 people, officials said Thursday. Tensions in the region have soared, stoking fears of full-scale war. Georgian and South Ossetian officials were scheduled to meet Thursday to try to find a resolution, but separatist officials said the meeting was off. The South Ossetian separatist government said the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, and nearby areas came under heavy artillery and mortar shelling from Georgian-controlled territory, injuring 18 people. The Georgian authorities said South Ossetian separatist forces started firing on Georgian troops in the area and they had to retaliate. (Posted @ 18:40 PST) 5.0-magnitude quake hits China's Sichuan province BEIJING, Aug 7 (AFP): A 5.0-magnitude earthquake hit Thursday in southwest China's Sichuan province, an area rattled repeatedly by aftershocks following a massive tremor in May, the US Geological Survey said. The quake hit 87 kilometres north of Mianyang city at a depth of 10 kilometres at 4:15 pm (0815 GMT), according to a statement on the USGS website. “The aftershock could be felt in many places in Sichuan,” the sina.com website reported. (Posted @ 18:10 PST) Eight members of Iraqi family killed by old landmine NASIRIYAH, Aug 7 (AFP): Eight members of ane Iraqi family, including three woman and two children, were killed Thursday when an old mine brought home by one of their children exploded inside their house, police said. The incident occurred in the morning in al-Bataha, a rural area near Nasiriyah, about 350 kilometres south of Baghdad, a police officer with the city's bomb disposal unit, told AFP. One other family member was injured, he added. (Posted @ 17:56 PST) Three hurt in Istanbul explosions ISTANBUL, Aug 7 (AFP): Three people were slightly injured in three explosions outside a municipal building in Istanbul on Thursday, officials and media reports said. Witnesses said unidentified assailants hurled explosives at the building in Uskudar, on Istanbul's Asian side, but the police cautioned against early conclusions. One blast occurred in a garbage-collecting truck in the car park of the building, while two others ripped through a neighbouring cemetery, Uskudar mayor Mehmet Cakir told Anatolia news agency. “Three workers were slightly injured,” Istanbul’s police chief said. (Posted @ 17:24 PST) US says submarine leaked radiation in 3 Japan ports TOKYO, Aug 7 (Reuters): A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine which has steadily been leaking a small amount of radiation for over two years stopped at three Japanese ports, as well as Guam and Pearl Harbour, the United States and Japan said on Thursday. Japan was notified by the United States last week that the nuclear-powered USS Houston had been leaking water containing a small amount of radiation, but was told at the time that it was unclear when the leak had started. A statement from the U.S. government on Thursday said the Houston had been leaking radiation from June 2006 to July 2008. (Posted @ 17:00 PST) Three hurt as police defuse bomb on Srinagar airport road SRINAGAR, Aug 7 (AFP): Three Indian policemen were injured Thursday after they defused a large bomb planted alongside the road leading to occupied Kashmir's high-security airport, officials said. “The powerful bomb was concealed in a roadside garbage bin,” a police spokesman told AFP. “It was an 80-kilogramme IED (improvised explosive device) connected to 17 detonators,” he said, adding that a major tragedy had been averted. He said the three police officers were wounded when one of the detonators exploded in a police station in nearby Srinagar while they were inspecting it. (First Posted @ 12:20 PST, Updated @ 16:35 PST) Two dozen Taliban said killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Aug 7 (AFP): More than two dozen Taliban-linked militants were killed and several others were injured in clashes with security forces in insurgency-hit Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday. Eight rebels were killed and seven others injured in a police operation in the southern province of Kandahar Wednesday, the interior ministry said in a statement. Separately six militants were killed after they attacked a military convoy supplying NATO bases in Badghis province in the west, regional police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said. Five policemen who were escorting the convoy and two civilian drivers were wounded in the gunfight, which lasted for nearly two hours, he told AFP. (Posted @ 16:15 PST) Two killed, three wounded in Russia beach blast MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters): Two people were killed and three others injured by an explosion on a beach in Sochi on Thursday, Russia's popular Black Sea resort which will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, Russian news agencies reported. (Posted @ 15:10 PST) Yasin Malik arrested in Srinagar ISLAMABAD, Aug 7 (APP): Indian police raided a hunger strike camp in Maisuma, occupied Kashmir, and arrested the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, Muhammad Yasin Malik. Malik was shifted to the intensive care unit of Soura Hospital in unconscious condition with a heavy contingent of police personnel, KMS reported. The JKLF Chairman had been on fast-unto-death since Tuesday, and his health had considerably deteriorated. (Posted @ 14:15 PST) U.N. atomic inspector in Iran for talks TEHRAN, Aug 7 (Reuters) - A top U.N. nuclear watchdog official arrived in Iran on Thursday for talks on cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, Iran's IRNA news agency reported. Diplomats in Vienna, where the IAEA is based, said the visit was a fresh effort to get Iranian clarification about intelligence reports suggesting it is illicitly trying to design atomic bombs. Iran insists its nuclear work is peaceful. “The two parties will assess the trend of cooperation between Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation and the IAEA,” IRNA said in a report that said Olli Heinonen, the IAEA's deputy director, would hold talks in Tehran on Thursday and Friday. (Posted @ 12:50 PST) India inducts advanced radar to track missiles and jets at high speed NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (APP): The Indian Air Force has inducted advanced radar system which has the capability to track missiles and fighter jets travelling with a speed of over 3000 km per hour. Radar can operate in a range of up to 170 kilometres and at an altitude of 15 kilometres, media reports said. (Posted @ 12:15 PST) Olympic torch takes historic run on China’s Great Wall BEIJING, Aug 7 (AP): The Olympic flame made one of its final relays Thursday on the eve of the Olympic Games opening ceremony as torchbearers carried it along the ancient Great Wall of China. After a short ceremony at the landmark Badaling section of the heritage site, hundreds of fans waving yellow and red pompoms cheered on the first torchbearer, Li Zhonghua. Rousing music blared through speakers, backed by live drums and the crash of cymbals in a carefully choreographed ceremony, in which a local Communist Party secretary was the first to hold the torch aloft as the crowd was showered in confetti. The 15-minute run along the ancient bricks brought the torch one step closer to ending its long and contentious global tour, which officially concludes Friday night with the lighting of the cauldron during the opening ceremonies of the 29th games. Where the flame will rest when it arrives at Beijing National Stadium - known as the Bird's Nest -remains a carefully guarded secret. Eighteen runners carried the torch along the Great Wall amid chants of “Beijing jia you, Aoyun jia you,” - “Go Beijing, go Olympics” - as 2,008 gray pigeons were released in the air. (First Posted @ 11:45 PST, Updated @ 12:05 PST) Election to be held “shortly” in post-coup Mauritania NOUAKCHOTT, Aug 7 (AFP): The junta that took over Mauritania promised to swiftly hold “free and transparent” presidential elections in a statement read on national radio Thursday, as the international community condemned the military coup. The international airport of Nouakchott, closed down Wednesday after the bloodless coup, was reopened in the evening, a security source said. The country's land borders had remained open. The whereabouts of ousted president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi were unknown after the coup, while Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf was taken to an army barracks near the presidency, security sources said. (Posted @ 11:25 PST) Landslide in remote Nepal village kills nine KATMANDU, Nepal, Aug 7 (AP): A landslide buried several houses in a remote mountain village in western Nepal, killing at least nine people, an official said Thursday. Hum Prasad Adhikari, the chief government administrator in Bajura district, said the landslide hit Amkot village Wednesday night. The village is about 300 miles northwest of Katmandu. (Posted @ 10:35 PST) Quake shakes Indonesian island, homes destroyed JAKARTA, Aug 7 (AFP): A powerful 6.6-magnitude quake hit eastern Indonesia early Thursday and destroyed more than 100 homes but there were no reports of injuries, meteorologists said. The quake struck at 6:41 a.m. about 51 kilometres northwest of the town of Sumbawa, at a depth of 10 kilometres, the meteorology office said. “Our latest figures indicate 124 houses were destroyed and about 117 others were lightly damaged,” local district chief Abdurahman told AFP. “No people were injured as they quickly fled their houses.” The US Geological Survey said it had registered a 5.7-magnitude quake near Sumbawa, part of an island chain which forms West Nusa Tenggara province. (First Posted @ 09:15 PST, Updated @ 10:20 PST) Russian envoy plays down Iran sanctions talk UNITED NATIONS, Aug 7 (AFP): Russia's UN envoy on Wednesday played down talk of fresh UN sanctions against Iran after its ambiguous response to an offer of technology incentives by six major powers in exchange for a freeze of its uranium enrichment work. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said top diplomats from the six discussed the issue by conference call earlier Wednesday and “agreed that we have no choice but to pursue further measures against Iran as part of this strategy.” ”It may well be that in the course of those discussions some members of the six raised the issue of the sanctions,” Vitaly Churkin said. “But to the best of my knowledge there has been no firm agreement or understanding or concerted work in this regard.” “The main thing to remember is the negotiating track is open ... There are contacts between the parties ... We need to focus very much on the negotiating opportunities,” he added. (Posted @ 10:10 PST) Four die in helicopter crash in Canada BRITISH COLUMBIA, Canada, Aug 7 (AP): Four people died Wednesday after a helicopter crashed into an icy and fast-flowing river in Canada’s British Columbia province. The Victoria Rescue Coordination Center said the chartered Hughes MD-500D helicopter plunged upside down into the Kitsault River near Alice Arm, about 150 kilometers northeast of Prince Rupert in the northwestern part of the province. (Posted @ 09:45 PST) Key US lawmaker threatens to hold up India nuclear deal WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (AFP): Key US lawmaker Howard Berman threatened Wednesday to hold up a landmark US-India nuclear agreement unless nuclear supplier states adopt a provision terminating the deal if India conducted a nuclear test explosion. Berman, chairman of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said if the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) did not impose such a condition, the deal could not be approved before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009. “Given the lateness in the Congressional session, it would be better to review these complex matters in the next Congress when they can receive a full and serious examination,” the Democratic legislator said in a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The US House and Senate will adjourn in late September ahead of the presidential and congressional elections two months later. The Bush administration later this month apparently intends to seek an exemption for India on nuclear commerce guidelines from the NSG with “few or none of the conditions” contained in a special US law governing the deal, Berman said. A key condition under the law “is the immediate termination of all nuclear commerce by NSG member states if India detonates a nuclear explosive device,” he said. (Posted @ 09:30 PST) Nine believed dead in California helicopter crash SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 7 (Reuters) A helicopter taking firefighters to a northern California blaze crashed, and nine people are believed dead, officials said Wednesday. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said four others aboard the aircraft were critically burned in the crash Tuesday evening about 35 miles northwest of Redding in remote terrain. The helicopter, with a two-person crew and 11 firefighters aboard, crashed under unknown circumstances, Gregor said. (Posted @ 09:15 PST) Karachi Stocks up 28.47 points: KARACHI, Aug 07: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 9707.29, up 28.47 points. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST) Forex update: KARACHI, Aug 07: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at Rs 73.3 to the US Dollar in the open market. (Bureau Report) (Updated @ 14:17 PST)
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