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| August 10, 2008 | Sunday | Sha’aban 7, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (06:00 GMT)
 Over 100 militants, 9 soldiers killed over four days in Bajaur clashes ISLAMABAD, Aug 10 (Reuters): More than 100 militants and nine Pakistani soldiers were killed in fierce fighting over the last four days in Bajaur tribal area, a military spokesman said on Sunday. The clashes broke out on Wednesday after pro-Taliban militants attacked a security checkpost in Loi Sum, about 12 km west of Khar, the main town of the region. “Fighting is still continuing and forces backed by helicopter gunships are targeting militants' positions mainly on the mountains. We have reports of over 100 militants dead,” said a spokesman for Pakistan's Frontier Corps. Nine soldiers also died during the fighting, he said. Residents said Pakistani troops were bombarding the militants' hideouts and positions with mortar and artillery and many villagers had fled to safer places in the region. (Posted @ 16:15 PST)  Pakistan diplomats visit US-held Aafia Siddiqui ISLAMABAD, Aug 10 (AP): The U.S. authorities have allowed Pakistani diplomats to visit Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday. Two diplomats visited Aafia Siddiqui over the weekend at a detention facility in New York, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said. Pakistani state media reported she had requested a copy of the Holy Quran, religiously appropriate food, and assurances of a fair trial. “Pakistan will provide all possible assistance to her,” Sadiq told The Associated Press. (Posted @ 17:25 PST)  Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai wants 'war on terror' in Pakistan KABUL, Aug 10 (AFP): Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday urged his Western military allies to change their strategy in the war on terror and instead target extremist hideouts in neighbouring Pakistan. The American-backed Karzai said, “the strategy in the war on terrorism must be changed. The world must focus on terrorist bases, hideouts and training camps,” he told reporters in his fortified palace in Kabul, referring to the Pakistani tribal belt. Karzai accused the international community, mainly Western powers which have propped up his regime and have a military presence in Afghanistan, of not listening to him. (Posted @ 20:10 PST) One killed in Quetta police station explosions QUETTA, Aug 10 (APP): A prisoner was killed and two policemen were hurt when powerful explosions occured in a police station in Quetta. The explosions took place in the armoury of the Crimes Branch police station in Cantonment area in the early hours of Sunday, police officials told APP. The explosions continued for more than two hours and destroyed a portion of the police station building completely and damaged many vehicles, besides smashing windows of nearby buildings. The serial blasts could be heard in far off places and spread panic in the area. The CCPO Quetta Muhammad Akbar Arain told APP the cause could not be ascertained immediately. He dispelled the rumours that a rocket had hit the police station. (Posted @ 17:15 PST) Cricket: England chase 197 to win fourth test LONDON, Aug 10, (Reuters) - England need 197 with all second innings wickets in hand to win the fourth and final test against South Africa after dismissing the visitors for 318 on the fourth day at the Oval on Sunday. AB de Villiers scored 97 and completed a 95-run eighth wicket partnership with Paul Harris (34) to keep South Africa in the game. South Africa have already clinched the series 2-0. England were nought for no wicket in their second innings when rain ended play prematurely. (Posted @ 23:46 PST) India detains Kashmiri Muslim leaders to deter rally SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, Aug 10 (AP): Indian authorities placed two Muslim leaders under house arrest on Sunday in Indian occupied Kashmir to prevent them from leading a march to Azad Kashmir, to protest a Hindu trade blockade, police and one of the detainees said. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omer Farooq; All Parties Hurriyat Conference, leaders, were placed under house arrest, said a senior police official requesting anonymity. “Police and paramilitary soldiers cordoned my home and prevented me from attending the Hurriyat meeting,” Farooq told The Associated Press by phone from Srinagar. Traders have warned Kashmir faces food and medicine shortages because of the blockade of the main highway linking Kashmir Valley to the rest of India, from where much of Indian occupied Kashmir's supplies come. Hurriyat leaders, an alliance of non-violent groups seeking independence from Indian occupation and a merger with Pakistan, have planned a Monday march to Azad Kashmir to protest the blockade and collect essential supplies. “Come what may, we'll hold our march,” Farooq said. Geelani said the marchers would also take trucks laden with fruit from the Kashmir Valley that they cannot sell in India because of the blockade. Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil visited Srinagar on Sunday and appealed to traders not to join the march. He promised to restore normalcy quickly. (Posted @ 23:20 PST) Bangladesh re-introduces “Mujib” holiday DHAKA, Aug 10 (Reuters): Bangladesh's army-backed interim government s re-introduced an Aug. 15 public holiday to mark the death of the country's founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, officials said on Sunday. The Bangladesh High Court ruled late last month that a previous government's cancellation of the holiday was illegal, and asked the new interim government to rectify it. “The government has decided to abide by a recent high court ruling in this regard,” chief spokesman for the head of the interim government, told reporters. The Aug. 15 holiday was scrapped in 2002 by the government of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, after she won a 2001 election by defeating Mujib's daughter Sheikh Hasina, another former prime minister. (Posted @ 23:02 PST) Georgia calls ceasefire, offers Russia talks: ministry TBILISI, Aug 10, (AFP/Reuters): Georgia on Sunday ordered its forces to cease fire in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and offered to immediately begin talks with Russia to end hostilities, the Georgian foreign ministry said in a statement. “Georgian armed forces ceased fire in the Tskhinvali region,” the statement said, adding that President Mikheil Saakashvili had ordered the ceasefire and that his message had been sent to the Russian side. “Georgia expresses its readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on a ceasefire and termination of hostilities,” the statement said. U.S. to present U.N. resolution condemning Russia: WASHINGTON: The United States will offer a U.N. Security Council resolution later on Sunday condemning Russian military action against Georgia as unacceptable, a U.S. spokesman said. The spokesman told Reuters: “We will offer a resolution today that makes clear that the Russian actions in Georgia are unacceptable to the international community.” (First Posted @ 12:25 PST Updated @ 22:42 PST) Nine killed in Iraq attacks BAGHDAD, Aug 10 (AFP): Bomb attacks across Iraq on Sunday targetting a bank, a town hall and a string of military patrols killed at least nine people and wounded more than 50, security and hospital officials said. Four military patrols were attacked in succession in Baghdad, they said. In Khilani, a car bomb exploded as a military patrol escorting a finance ministry convoy passed by, killing an Iraqi soldier and two civilians, a security official said. At least nine people including four soldiers were injured in the attack. At Maidan in southern Baghdad, an Iraqi soldier was killed and five others injured when their patrol was hit by car bomb. In Kadhamiyah, northwestern Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded as a joint Iraqi-US military patrol passed by wounding three soldiers, the official said, without providing their nationalities. (First Posted @ 16:25 PST Updated @ 22:18 PST) Propane explosion in Toronto causes evacuation TORONTO, Aug 10 (AP): Police evacuated thousands of people in an entire section of Toronto's north end after a series of explosions at a propane facility. Police ordered the immediate evacuation of residents within a one mile radius of Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases in the Keele and Wilson area of northwest Toronto following the 0750 GMT blast. A no-fly zone was ordered above the site of the explosion, and the city's busiest highways were ordered shut, snarling traffic for travelers unable to exit Highways 401 and 400 for miles. (Posted @ 20:38 PST) Two journalists killed in South Ossetia conflict: radio station MOSCOW, Aug 10 (AFP): Two journalists have been killed while covering the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, the Echo of Moscow radio station said Sunday. The journalists were Alexander Klimchuk and Grigol Chikhladze, the station was told by a journalist for the Russian edition of the US newsmagazine Newsweek. Both reported victims were thought to be Georgian, with Chikhladze being a journalist for Newsweek. (Posted @ 20:16 PST) Bomb kills five Afghan labourers: police KANDAHAR, Aug 10 (AFP): A roadside bomb apparently intended for Afghan soldiers blew up a vehicle of labourers headed to grape fields in southern Afghanistan Sunday, killing five of the men, police said. The blast occured in Zhari, Kandahar province, the same area where a Canadian soldier was killed in an attack announced Saturday. The Canadian soldier became the 154th international troop to die in Afghanistan this year. Other soldiers in the nearly 40-nation International Security Assistance Force were wounded in ambushes Saturday in Kapisa province, ISAF told AFP without giving details. Two insurgents were killed in return fire, an ISAF press officer told AFP. The Afghan interior ministry said four insurgents were killed while the defence ministry said 10 were dead or wounded. (Posted @ 20:06 PST) At least 140 dead or missing in Vietnam floods HANOI, Aug 10 (AP): The death toll from floods and landslides in northern Vietnam rose to 93 after 31 more bodies were recovered, officials said Sunday. At least 47 others were reported missing. Eleven more bodies were recovered in the worst-hit province of Lao Cai, bringing the death toll there to 36, said disaster official Pham Van Toan. Eight more bodies were discovered in neighboring Yen Bai province, and two more bodies were found in Phu Tho and Bac Kan provinces, officials said. “We expect the death toll to rise because rescue workers have just begun to reach affected areas, where communication was very limited,” an official said. (First Posted @ 09:50 PST Updated @ 20:02 PST) India's Andaman Islands hit by quakes, no damage NEW DELHI, Aug 10 (AP): Two moderate earthquakes hit India's Andaman Islands, but no serious damage or injuries were reported. An Indian Meteorological Department seismologist said local residents were shaken Sunday by magnitude 6 and 5.6 quakes that hit the region within 35 minutes. The remote islands off the east coast of India were among the regions devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit Dec.26, 2004. (Posted @ 19:54 PST) Turkish journalists injured in South Ossetia ANKARA, Aug 10 (AP): A Turkish television station said two of its journalists were slightly injured after their vehicle came under fire in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. Kanalturk television said two other Turkish journalists working for another network escaped without injuries. It said the injured reporter and camaraman were taken to a hospital and were in good condition. It gave no further information and did not say who fired on the journalists' vehicle Sunday. (Posted @ 19:42 PST) Cricket: India v Sri Lanka third Test scoreboard COLOMBO, Aug 10 (AFP): The scoreboard at stumps on the third day of the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium here on Sunday: India 1st innings 249. Sri Lanka 1st innings 396. India 2nd innings: 161-5. (Posted @ 18:58 PST) Georgia says 10,000 Russian troops enter country TBILISI, Aug 10 (AFP/Reuters): Georgia said Sunday an additional 10,000 Russian troops had entered the country amid the two countries' escalating armed conflict. Russian reinforcements include 6,000 troops who entered the breakaway region of South Ossetia overnight and 4,000 who landed in the western port of Ochamchire in Abhazia, another rebel region, a government statement. Russian warships to block Georgia weapons: MOSCOW: Russian warships arrived at the Georgian Black Sea coast on Sunday with orders to prevent weapons from reaching the Caucasus state, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian navy source as saying. Russia has accused the West and Ukraine of arming Georgia. Russia military commander hurt: The commander of the 58th Army that spearheaded the Russian counter-attack in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was injured by shrapnel and is undergoing treatment in hospital, Itar-Tass news agency said. “General Anatoly Khrulyov was in a military convoy when it came under fire from the Georgians. The commander has shrapnel wounds,” deputy chief of the Russian general staff, Col-Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn told Interfax. (Posted @ 18:05 PST) Burkina mine collapse kills more than 30: authorities OUAGADOUGOU, Aug 10 (Reuters): More than 30 illegal gold miners were killed and more were missing after a mine collapsed in Burkina Faso after heavy rain, authorities in the West African country said Sunday. The miners were working at a site near Boussoukoula village when the mine walls collapsed on Saturday, the state environmental director for Noumbiel province, told Reuters from the provincial capital Batie. Witnesses reported at least 50 people had been working in the mine, roughly 500 kms southwest of the capital Ouagadougou. So far 34 bodies had been recovered. (Posted @ 18:00 PST) Egypt sends 500 policemen to border with Gaza ISMAILIA, Aug 10 (Reuters): Egypt sent around 500 riot police to its border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday, fearing that supporters of Hamas will try to storm the frontier, security officials said. The officials said Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called for a rally on the Palestinian side of the border town of Rafah. One official said more security forces were stationed in the area and would be called upon if necessary. (Posted @ 16:55 PST) Three dead, 55 injured in Hong Kong blaze HONG KONG, Aug 10 (Reuters): Three people were killed and 55 hospitalised after a fire broke out in a karaoke club in a 15-storey residential building in Mongkok district of Hong Kong on Sunday, the government information service said. Two of the dead were firemen, the third an elderly woman. Firemen finally put the fire out almost six hours after it began. (First Posted @ 14:25 PST, Updated @ 16:35 PST) Three dead in southern Philippines fighting MIDSAYAP, Aug 10 (AFP): Three soldiers were killed in the southern Philippines on Sunday as fighting resumed, eyewitnesses said. Frightened residents in Midsayap town on Mindanao Island said the three soldiers were slain by sniper fire from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) militants as scores of villagers fled their homes in terror. Local officials said up to six soldiers had also been wounded as the military exchanged heavy machinegun and mortar fire with MILF forces in Midsayap and nearby towns and villages. (Posted @ 16:35 PST) Algeria suicide bomb kills 8: news agency ALGIERS, Aug 10 (Reuters): A suicide bombing killed eight people east of Algiers late on Saturday, Algeria's official APS news agency reported Sunday. The blast happened at about 2100 GMT in the coastal town of Zemmouri el Bahri 45 km east of the Algerian capital, the agency reported. (Posted @ 16:05 PST) Monsoon rains kill 40 in southern India HYDERABAD, Aug 10 (Reuters): Heavy monsoon rains brought down homes and swamped parts of southern India, killing at least 40 people over the weekend, officials said Sunday. The rains triggered flooding in Andhra Pradesh state and swamped its capital Hyderabad where 14 people were killed, mostly crushed under the roofs of their homes. Two people were electrocuted by uprooted power lines. More than 150,000 people have been shifted to makeshift camps in the state's coastal belt where flood waters damaged homes and crops and washed away roads. The remaining deaths were reported from these areas. “The flood situation is serious,” said a state disaster management official. (Posted @ 14:15 PST) Civilians among 11 killed in Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug 10 (AP) - Airstrikes and clashes near Kapisa, about 60 kilometers north of Kabul, have killed 11 people, officials said Sunday. The provincial deputy governor Rahimullah Safi, said that 11 people were killed and they were all civilians. Three others were wounded after an airstrike in the village of Juibar in the restless Tagab valley of Kapisa province, Safi said. But the provincial police chief, Matiullah Safi, says it was not yet clear if the dead were militants or civilians. (Posted @ 12:30 PST) Sri Lanka makes new push into Tiger territory COLOMBO, Aug 10 (AFP) - Sri Lankan troops launched a fresh advance into Jaffna peninsula’s territory held by Tamil rebels Sunday, killing 15 guerrillas while another 27 combatants were killed in other clashes, the defence ministry said. Fighting since Saturday raised the number of rebels killed by troops to 5,714 since January, while 520 soldiers have died in combat during the same period, according to ministry figures. (Posted @ 10:25 PST) Palestinian national poet dead WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (APP/AFP) - Mahmud Darwish, widely considered the greatest living Palestinian poet, died Saturday in a US hospital following open-heart surgery, hospital officials said. (Posted @ 10:15 PST) At least 31 killed in Burkina Faso mining accident OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, Aug 10 (AP) - At least 31 people died Saturday in a mudslide at an illegal gold mine in Burkina Faso, state-run radio said. Heavy rains caused the landslide in the mining village of Boussoukoula in southwest Burkina Faso. Miners dug through the mud to try to rescue survivors and pull out bodies, state radio said. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Bombings in restive Xinjiang region KUQA, China, Aug 10 (AP) - Attackers hurled homemade bombs at government buildings in western China on Sunday, wounding three officers, state media said. It was unclear how many assailants were involved in the pre-dawn explosions in Kuqa, a county in the restive Muslim region of Xinjiang, but the official Xinhua News Agency said police shot dead five of the suspects. (Posted @ 10:05 PST) Security Council ends South Ossetia meet without truce call UNITED NATIONS, Aug 10 (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Saturday ended a round of informal talks on the fighting between Russia and Georgia in the breakaway Georgian enclave of South Ossetia without adopting an accord on a truce call, diplomats said. (Posted @ 09:55 PST) Russia bombs airfield, masses troops TBILISI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Loud explosions rocked Georgia's capital early on Sunday, and a senior official said Russian warplanes had bombed a military airfield outside Tbilisi. “Three bombs were dropped on a military airfield belonging to Tbilaviastroi plant. There were no casualties,” Georgian Interior Ministryspokesman told Reuters. The plant has been producing Sukhoi Su-25 ground fighters since Soviet days. He said in the past few hours Russia had brought 6,000 troops into Georgia and a further 4,000 troops by sea and Russian forces were preparing to attack at dawn. Russian troops and tanks rolled into ex-Soviet Georgia on Friday after Georgian forces began an assault on the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which wants to become part of Russia. (Posted @ 09:35 PST)
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