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| December 15, 2008 | Monday | Zilhaj 16, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
IMF chief sees economic recovery from late 2009 Monday, 15 Dec, MADRID: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief warned on Monday of a global recession but said the world economy could begin to recover in late 2009 or early 2010 after ‘a very difficult year.’ ‘The global outlook will continue to deteriorate,’ IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. ‘The possibility of global recession is really in front of us.’ He said declining growth in emerging countries such as China would not make up for recessions in developed countries. (Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Palestinians celebrate release from Israeli jails Monday, 15 Dec, RAMALLAH: Israel released 224 prisoners in a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, prompting joyous family reunions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Families sang and danced as prison buses rolled up full of newly freed men, shouting and waving from the windows, and mothers wept as they embraced their children. (Posted @ 18:17 PST)
Hauliers refuse to transport supplies to Afghan troops Monday, 15 Dec, PESHAWAR: Haulage companies in Pakistan have stopped delivering to foreign troops in Afghanistan after a major deterioration in security along the key supply route, an association official told AFP Monday. The decision follows a series of major raids by suspected Taliban militants on international military supply depots in northwest Pakistan in the past two weeks in which hundreds of NATO and US-led coalition vehicles were destroyed. (Posted @ 17:49 PST)
40 Taliban killed in Afghan-NATO operation Monday, 15 Dec, KABUL: A joint Afghan-NATO operation in a volatile region in the country's dangerous south has killed 40 militants, including the Taliban's leader in that region, a government official said Monday. The operation in the Nad Ali and Murja districts of Helmand province began on Thursday and continued through Monday, said Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for Helmand's governor. Ahmadi said that 40 militants have died in the operation, though he said that government officials had recovered only seven bodies, which were given to tribal elders for burial. Ahmadi said the government knows another 33 fighters were killed through intelligence sources. (Posted @ 17:00 PST)
Yemen tribesmen abduct three Germans Monday, 15 Dec, SANAA: Yemeni tribesmen have abducted three Germans to press for an end to a land dispute with another tribe, a security official said on Monday. The government has established contact with the tribe to secure the release of the hostages, one of whom works for the United Nations, he said. The UN employee and her visiting parents were on an excursion in the outskirts of the capital Sanaa when they were seized by the armed tribesmen, the official told Reuters. (Posted @ 16:41 PST)
India beat England in Chennai thriller Monday, 15 Dec, CHENNAI: Sachin Tendulkar stroked his 41st test century to help India record the fourth-highest successful run chase in test cricket and beat England by six wickets in a sensational match on Monday. A game which looked in serious jeopardy after the Mumbai gunmen attacks last month ended in jubilation for the home side after India clinched the most unlikely of wins having been set 387 for victory. No test side on India soil has made more runs in the final innings for victory. (Posted @ 16:03 PST)
Shares trade lower after floor lifted Monday, 15 Dec, KARACHI: Shares fell two per cent on Monday to end at their lowest in two years after a four-month floor was removed on Karachi Stock Exchange’s main index, sending the rupee to a 4-week low on capital outflow concerns. The KSE 100-index lost 2.8 per cent or 259.7 points to a provisional 8,927.4. Only a handful of stocks were traded, masking sharp losses expected when more stocks begin to trade, brokers said. (Posted @ 14:48 PST)
New Zealand, West Indies draw first Test Monday, 15 Dec, DUNEDIN: Rain forced the abandonment of the final day’s play in the first test between New Zealand and the West Indies Monday, leaving the first of two matches to end in a draw. The second test at McLean Park in Napier begins on Friday. New Zealand was due to resume its second innings at 44 for 2 Monday, leading overall by 69 runs after dismissing the West Indies for 340 in reply to its first innings of 365. (Posted @ 14:04 PST)
Shares trade lower after floor lifted Monday, 15 Dec, KARACHI: Stocks fell in early trade on Monday after the removal the trading floor placed under the KSE-100 index almost four months ago. The floor was placed on the index on August 28 at 9,144 points after it fell nearly 35 per cent on the year. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) issued a directive on Thursday for it to be removed on Monday. ‘There are no buyers in the market right now,’ said Shuja Rizvi, director broking operations at Capital One Equities. (Posted @ 13:38 PST)
Senator Kerry wants ISI under civilian control Monday, 15 Dec, NEW DELHI: US Senator John Kerry visited India on Monday and put fresh pressure on Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks, saying the ISI ‘must be brought under control.’ Ahead of talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Kerry said the ISI must stop operating independently of the government and end its links with militant groups. (Posted @ 13:22 PST)
Gunmen kill seven from Iraqi family Monday, 15 Dec, MOSUL: Gunmen killed seven people from a single family, members of the minority Yazidi sect, when they stormed into their home in northern Iraq on Monday, police said. Police said a woman, her husband, and the couple's adult children were shot dead in the attack, which took place after midnight in the town of Sinjar, which is located west of Mosul, a city around 390 km north of Baghdad. Violence in Iraq has declined sharply in the last year, but ethnically and religiously mixed Mosul remains the country's most violent city, with car bombs, roadside blasts and shootings still taking place on a regular basis. (Posted @ 12:58 PST)
Hauliers refuse to transport supplies to Afghan troops Monday, 15 Dec, PESHAWAR: Haulage companies in Pakistan have stopped delivering to foreign troops in Afghanistan after a major deterioration in security along the key supply route, an association official told AFP Monday. The decision follows a series of major raids by suspected Taliban militants on international military supply depots in northwest Pakistan in the past two weeks in which hundreds of NATO and US-led coalition vehicles were destroyed. ‘We have stopped supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan from today,’ Mohammad Shakir Afridi, president of the Khyber Transport Association, told AFP Monday in the northwestern city of Peshawar. (Posted @ 12:49 PST)
Ideological struggles take time: George Bush Monday, 15 Dec, KABUL: US President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday, holding talks with President Hamid Karzai and warning of a long struggle ahead to quell insurgent violence. Fresh from a secret trip to Baghdad, Bush arrived in the pre-dawn darkness, virtually all lights on his Air Force One airplane turned off as part of the thick shroud of secrecy that also enveloped his stop in Iraq. (Posted @ 10:46 PST)
Pakistani shares trade lower after floor lifted Monday, 15 Dec, KARACHI: Pakistani stocks fell in early trade on Monday after the removal a trading floor placed under its benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) almost four months ago, Reuters reported. The floor was placed on the KSE index on Aug. 28 at 9,144 points after it fell nearly 35 percent on the year. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) issued a directive on Thursday for it to be removed on Monday. ‘There are no buyers in the market right now,’ said Shuja Rizvi, director broking operations at Capital One Equities. ‘There are sell orders at shares’ lower locks but noone is buying.’ The KSE 100-share index had fallen 0.42 percent, or 38.80 points, to 9,148.30 points on turnover of 30,880 shares by 9:56 a.m. (Posted @ 10:26 PST)
Thai parliament starts voting for new PM Monday, 15 Dec, BANGKOK: Thailand's parliament began voting Monday for a new prime minister, with opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva the front-runner to head up a shaky coalition government. MPs convened for a special session nearly two weeks after a court disbanded the former ruling party linked to ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and banned Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics for five years. The 44-year-old Abhisit's Democrat party says it is confident it has wooed enough lawmakers to win the 220 seats necessary to form a government. (Posted @ 08:50 PST)
Fifty dead or missing as ferry capsizes in Philippines Monday, 15 Dec, MANILA: At least 28 people were killed and 22 others were missing after an inter-island ferry capsized in the northern Philippines, the coast guard said on Monday. The vessel, 'Maejan,' carrying at least 96 passengers, was on its way to the town of Aparri when it was hit by large waves just off the coastal town of Ballesteros late Sunday, a statement said. Forty-six survivors have been rescued from the area, the statement said. (Posted @ 08:39 PST)
US, Iraq sign security pact during Bush farewell visit Monday, 15 Dec, BAGHDAD: US President George W. Bush on Sunday made a farewell visit to Iraq, a place that defines his presidency, just 37 days before he hands the war off to a successor who has pledged to end it. In a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Bush admitted: ‘There is still more work to be done,’ reports AFP. As he and Maliki signed a security pact setting out new guidelines for US troops in Iraq, the president said: ‘The war is not over, but with the conclusion of these agreements... it is decisively on its way to being won.’ (Posted @ 05:00 PST)
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