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| December 01, 2008 | Monday | Zilhaj 2, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Opposition supports govt to defuse tension with India Monday, 01 Dec, ISLAMABAD: The opposition will extend unconditional support to the government in its efforts to defuse tension with India generated by accusations of Islamabad’s involvement in the Mumbai blasts. 'This is a national issue and we will extend full support to the government , setting all political differences aside,' Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali told a press conference after a PML-N delegation led by him held a meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Monday. The delegation also included Ahsan Iqbal and Sardar Mehtab Abbasi. (Posted @ 21:01 PST)
Protest lodged with Pakistan over Mumbai attacks Monday, 01 Dec, NEW DELHI: India's foreign ministry on Monday summoned Pakistan's ambassador to lodge an official protest over the Mumbai attacks, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said. In New Delhi's first formal complaint to Islamabad, Pakistani High Commissioner Shahid Malik was handed a message concerning his country's alleged 'failure to curb terrorism emanating from its soil.' (Posted @ 19:24 PST)
International force stops pirates hijacking cruise ship Monday, 01 Dec, COPENHAGEN: International coalition warships stopped Somali pirates from hijacking a luxury cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden at the weekend, the Danish navy said Monday. A Danish navy spokesman refused to name the vessel involved but a Danish media report said the cruise ship Nautica, carrying 400 passengers and 200 crew was the target of the latest attack by Somali pirates. (Posted @ 18:50 PST)
Turkey explosions kill two, injure 15 Monday, 01 Dec, ANKARA: An explosion injured five people outside an office for Turkey's ruling party in Istanbul, the Dogan news agency said. The agency, citing witnesses, said the blast occurred Monday at the entrance of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party branch in the downtown Sisli district. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. (Posted @ 18:15 PST)
Three children among nine killed by suicide blast Monday, 01 Dec, MINGORA: A suicide car-bomber killed nine people - including three school-children - on Monday in an attack aimed at a military checkpost in northwest Pakistan’s Swat Valley, AFP quoted military officials as saying. Al Qaeda and Taliban militants have stepped up attacks on security forces, especially in the northwest where Pakistan is trying to eliminate militant strongholds from where they orchestrate violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Posted @ 18:12 PST)
Muslim graveyard refuses to accept Mumbai attackers Monday, 01 Dec, MUMBAI: As authorities finished removing bodies Monday from the bullet- and grenade-scarred Taj Mahal hotel, a Muslim graveyard refused to bury nine gunmen who terrorized this city over three days last week, leaving at least 172 people dead and wreaking havoc at some of its most famous landmarks, AP reported. In Mumbai, security forces declared the landmark 565-room Taj Mahal hotel cleared of booby traps and bodies. The hotel was the scene of the final battle Saturday morning. (Posted @ 17:26 PST)
India warns of 'grave setback' to Pakistan ties Monday, 01 Dec, MUMBAI: India warned Monday that the Mumbai attacks were a major setback to relations with Pakistan and promised a 'stern' response, as Washington urged Islamabad to cooperate fully with investigations. 'What has happened is a grave setback to the process of normalisation of relations and the confidence-building measures,' Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told AFP. (Posted @ 17:09 PST)
Home Minister briefs Sindh PA on Karachi violence Monday, 01 Dec, KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza told the Sindh Assembly on Monday morning that he had issued written orders to the Police and Rangers to shoot anyone carrying arms on the streets, reports APP. He said that he had earlier given shoot-on-sight orders verbally, but given the continued violence in the city he asked the Home Secretary to issue written orders this morning (Monday) to the effect. (Posted @ 16:49 PST)
Bombs kill at least eighteen in Baghdad Monday, 01 Dec, BAGHDAD: At least 15 people were killed and dozens wounded when a suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded in quick succession outside Iraq’s police academy in the heart of Baghdad on Monday, AFP quoted officials as saying. Another three people were killed in a roadside bombing in the Iraqi capital targeting a senior defence ministry general working on the government’s national reconciliation project who was wounded on the attack. (Posted @ 16:03 PST)
Rival groups urged to end Karachi clashes Monday, 01 Dec, KARACHI: Political parties in Pakistan's biggest city must help stop violence between rival ethnic-based factions, a provincial minister said on Monday, after days of bloodshed in which at least 32 people have been killed. 'We have confirmed reports of 32 people killed since Saturday in Karachi,' the city's police chief Waseem Ahmed told AFP, adding some of the 55 people injured in the violence had been shot. (Posted @ 15:37 PST)
Troops kill 15 militants in Bajaur Agency Monday, 01 Dec, KHAR: Pakistani jets and artillery killed 15 militants linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in a tribal area near the Afghan border, an official said on Monday. The clashes took place in several areas of the Bajaur tribal region where troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with rebels since the launch of an army operation in August. (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Mumbai attacks death toll revised down to 172 Monday, 01 Dec, MUMBAI: The death toll from a wave of coordinated attacks on the western Indian city of Mumbai has been revised downwards to 172, officials on said on Sunday. The disaster management cell of the Maharashtra state government said the lower figure -- down from 195 -- was due to 'double-counting' of the dead at hospitals in the wake of the militant strikes. But an official told AFP that the figure could rise again, as more bodies were found. (Posted @ 15:00 PST)
Mumbai attackers trained by former Pak officer: report Monday, 01 Dec, HONG KONG: All the gunmen who carried out the Mumbai attacks that left 172 people dead were from neighbouring Pakistan, India’s deputy home minister told the BBC in an interview on Monday. ‘The terrorists who have been killed in these encounters in Mumbai in the last few days were of Pakistani origin,’ Shakeel Ahmad said. (Posted @ 14:45 PST)
Suicide blast kills 10, injures 27 in Afghanistan Monday, 01 Dec, KABUL: A suicide attack against police forces Monday killed 10 people including two policemen and wounded another 27 in southern Afghanistan, AFP quoted the police chief of Helmand province as saying. ‘Ten people including two policemen were killed and another 27 including two policemen were wounded in the suicide attack today,’ provincial police chief Assadullah Shairzad told AFP. (Posted @ 14:30 PST)
Rice urges 'absolute' Pakistan cooperation in Mumbai probe Monday, 01 Dec, LONDON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday called on Pakistan to show 'absolute' cooperation and 'total transparency' with India in the investigation of who was behind the Mumbai attacks. 'I don't want to jump to any conclusions myself on this, but I do think that this is the time for a complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation and that is what we expect,' she told reporters accompanying her. (Posted @ 14:21 PST)
Rockets hit Nato trucks in Peshawar Monday, 01 Dec, PESHAWAR: Insurgents attacked a terminal used by trucks ferrying supplies to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan on Monday, destroying three and wounding one person, police and a witness said. An AP Television News reporter saw two Humvee military vehicles on board the trucks on fire following the attack in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The city, which sits along the supply route from Pakistan to Afghanistan, has seen an upsurge in violence in recent weeks, including the slaying of an American working on a US-funded aid project. Police officer Kashif Alam said the attackers fired a rocket into the Fasial terminal, while a witness said he heard several gunshots. Alam said one person at the terminal was wounded, but had no more details. (Posted @ 12:22 PST)
Nine killed, 49 wounded in suicide blast in Swat Monday, 01 Dec, MINGORA: A suicide car-bomber killed nine people on Monday in an attack aimed at a military checkpost in northwest Pakistan’s Swat Valley, AFP quoted military officials as saying. Al Qaeda and Taliban militants have stepped up attacks on security forces, especially in the northwest where Pakistan is trying to eliminate militant strongholds from where they orchestrate violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The bombing took place at a security checkpoint in the town of Mingora in scenic Swat valley, which has been rocked by a violent campaign to impose Islamic laws. 'According to initial reports, nine people were killed and 49 others were injured in the suicide blast at the checkpost,' a security official told AFP. (Posted @ 11:12 PST)
Eight killed, 28 wounded in suicide blast in NW Pakistan Monday, 01 Dec, MINGORA: A suicide car-bomber killed eight people on Monday in an attack aimed at a military checkpost in northwest Pakistan’s Swat Valley, Reuters quoted military officials as saying. Al Qaeda and Taliban militants have stepped up attacks on security forces, especially in the northwest where Pakistan is trying to eliminate militant strongholds from where they orchestrate violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ‘The attacker was riding in a car packed with explosives. He blew up the car a few hundreds metres before the checkpost,’ said one of the military officials in the valley, who declined to be identified. Seven civilians who happened to be passing by at the time were killed, as well as one soldier, the official said.Earlier on Monday, two drivers of trucks transporting supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan were killed in a grenade and gun attack near the Pakistani city of Peshawar, a transport company official said. (Posted @ 11:12 PST)
Space shuttle Endeavour returns to Earth Monday, 01 Dec, EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE: Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts safely returned to Earth on Sunday, taking a detour to sunny California after storms hit the main landing strip in Florida. Endeavour wrapped up a 16-day trip that left the international space station freshly remodeled and capable of housing bigger crews. The shuttle dropped off all kinds of home improvement equipment, including a new bathroom, kitchenette, exercise machine, two sleeping quarters and a recycling system designed to convert astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water. But the mission wasn't without its problems. Astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper let go of a $100,000 tool bag during the first spacewalk, muttering ‘Oh, great’ as it floated away. And Endeavour's astronauts also had to put in extra effort to get the urine processor working. (Posted @ 05:31 PST)
World leaders pledge support for Pakistan Monday, 01 Dec, ISLAMABAD: Germany, Turkey and the Czech Republic on Sunday offered Pakistan their support for normalizing relations with India, in an effort to maintain peace in the region. German Chancellor Angela Markel, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip and Czech Prime Minister Mirk Keplonic telephoned Prime Minister Gilani and discussed the tense regional situation following the Mumbai carnage.According to a handout issued by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the three leaders hailed Pakistan’s efforts for being a frontline state against terrorism. (Posted @ 04:52 PST)
Gilani summons national security conference Monday, 01 Dec, ISLAMABAD: The political and diplomatic activities revolving around the Mumbai carnage and its possible fallout acquired feverish pace on Sunday. President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani went all out to try and defuse the tensions that many believe have once again brought South Asia to the verge of an ugly conflict. With disturbing signals emanating from New Delhi, suggesting the Indian government’s the two leaders managed to secure support from a large number of politicians, including the Mian Nawaz Sharif, over their handling of the situation. (Posted @ 04:05 PST)
Association rejects closure of CNG stations Monday, 01 Dec, RAWALPINDI: The All Pakistan CNG Association has out rightly rejected the proposal of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen for the closure of CNG stations for two months. If the government decides to close CNG stations for two months, 2.1 million vehicles running on gas would come to halt – a decision which a democratic government – cannot afford since people would come out on the streets to protest. The possible closure of CNG stations would give birth to the worst-ever crisis, the Association stated in a statement. (Posted @ 03:17 PST)
No alarming Indian military buildup: ISPR Monday, 01 Dec, ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army has so far not observed any military buildup by India on the western border, Director General Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) Major-Gen Athar Abbas said. Talking to Dawn on Sunday the ISPR chief said: ‘We are closely monitoring the Indian military movements at the international border and no unusual activity has been witnessed so far.’ (Posted @ 02:29 PST)
Government reduces petrol, diesel prices Monday, 01 Dec, ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday reduced prices of petrol and high octane blending component (HOBC) by Rs9 a litre each. Prices of kerosene oil and light diesel oil (LDO) were also slashed by Rs5 a litre each, while high speed diesel (HSD) was cut by Rs4 per litre. Now the prices of a litre of diesel (Rs57.14) and petrol (Rs57.66) are almost equal. A month ago, diesel was Rs12 a litre cheaper than petrol. (Posted @ 01:53 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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