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| January 09, 2009 | Friday | Muharram 10, 1430 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
‘Hard’ to spare civilians in Gaza: Condoleezza Rice Friday, 09 Jan, WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday 'it's hard' for Israel to shield civilians in the Gaza Strip because the area is so densely populated and Hamas uses people as human shields. 'It is very difficult in circumstances like Gaza, which is a very densely populated area,' Rice told reporters when asked if Israel is living up to its humanitarian obligations during its two-week military offensive in Gaza. 'I might note it's also an area in which Hamas participates in activities like human shields, using buildings that are not designated as military buildings to hide their fighters. So it's hard,' Rice said. Rice spoke to reporters in Washington after returning from New York where the United States abstained in a vote for a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. (Posted @ 22:48 PST)
Obama names top intelligence chiefs Friday, 09 Jan, WASHINGTON: US president-elect Barack Obama on Friday named retired admiral Dennis Blair to be the country's top spymaster as his director of national intelligence and Leon Panetta as the new head of the CIA. 'Good intelligence is not a luxury. It is a necessity,' Obama said as he unveiled his nominations to the two key posts. 'The men and women of the intelligence community have been on the front lines in this world of new and evolving dangers. They have served in the shadows, saved American lives, advanced our interests, and earned the respect of a grateful nation.' (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Five blasts in Lahore Friday, 09 Jan, LAHORE: Five explosions occurred in Lahore late Friday. Four blasts took place inside the al-Falah theatre hall, while one explosion occurred near the Tamasil theatre, police and witnesses said. Windows were shattered in buildings in the area, police said. 'Four minor blasts occured inside al-Falah theatre hall but luckily there was no serious damage,' Lahore police chief Pervaiz Rathore told AFP. 'There is no loss of life reported so far — the al-Falah theatre was closed for the night,' said Shaukat Javed, the police chief of Punjab province. Javed told AFP that initial indications suggested the blasts at al-Falah were caused by fire crackers. (Posted @ 20:52 PST)
Biden discusses India, extremism with Zardari, Gilani ISLAMABAD: US vice president-elect Joe Biden Friday met Pakistan's leaders to discuss tensions with India and the anti-terror fight in South Asia, 11 days before he takes office with Barack Obama, officials said.Biden, outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sat down with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the start of a regional tour with Republican senator Lindsey Graham.(Posted @ 20:10 PST)
Bomb attack kills one, wounds five in Assam GUWAHATI: One person was killed and five others wounded on Friday when separatist militants triggered a powerful bomb blast in restive northeast India's Assam state, police and witnesses said.Police said the bomb was planted on a bicycle in a crowded market in Maligaon area of Guwahati, the biggest city in the region.(Posted @19:50 PST)
Shares gain as bargain hunting continues KARACHI: Pakistani shares gained for a third straight trading session on Friday, adding 1.13 per cent as bargain hunters eagerly bought up stocks that bottomed out late last year, dealers said.The Karachi Stock Exchange’s KSE-100 index gained 68.94 points to close at 6,143.81.(Posted @ 19:25 PST)
Pakistan must rid the region of extremism: Boucher MUMBAI: Top US diplomat Richard Boucher on Friday praised Pakistan for its crackdown on militants blamed for the Mumbai attacks, but called for its government to go further to rid the region of the scourge of extremism.Assistant Secretary of State Boucher praised Islamabad for arresting key leaders of Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) and closing the offices of Jamaatud Dawa, which is widely believed to be a front for the banned group.(Posted @ 18:45 PST)
Sri Lankan troops seize key Elephant Pass COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops on Friday handed the Tamil Tiger rebels their second major defeat in a week, capturing the strategic Elephant Pass base that links the main island to the Jaffna Peninsula, the president said. 'Today evening our troops liberated Elephant Pass fully,' President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a televised address, exactly a week after he announced the capture of the separatist rebels' self-proclaimed capital of Kilinochchi.(Posted @17:45 PST)
Fierce Kashmir gunbattle ends as militants flee SRINAGAR: A fierce gunbattle between Indian forces and militants holed up in icy Himalayan caves for nine days in Indian-administered Kashmir has ended after about a dozen militants escaped, the army said on Friday.They said soldiers had begun mop up operations in the rugged mountains of Poonch near the Line of Control, a military control line that divides disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan.(17:45 PST)
ISI responds to India, border situation fragile ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday the situation was ‘fragile’ on the border with India, and regretted the suspension of peace talks following the militant attacks in Mumbai in November.Gilani said that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) has given India information about the Mumbai terror attacks, while denying media speculation of a rift between him and the president.(Posted @ 16:35 PST)
Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call GAZA CITY: The UN Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early on Friday and Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.‘Israel has acted, is acting and will act only according to its own considerations, the security of its citizens and its right to self defence,’ Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in a statement from her office ahead of the meeting.(Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call GAZA CITY: The UN Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early on Friday and Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.‘Israel has acted, is acting and will act only according to its own considerations, the security of its citizens and its right to self defence,’ Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in a statement from her office ahead of the meeting.(Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call GAZA CITY: The UN Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early on Friday and Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.‘Israel has acted, is acting and will act only according to its own considerations, the security of its citizens and its right to self defence,’ Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in a statement from her office ahead of the meeting.(Posted @ 16:25 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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