PAKISTAN
Editor Jang Online Rana Khalid passes away
(Updated at 2345 PST)
Karachi: Editor Jang Online Rana Mohammed Khalid passes away in a local hospital after brief illness here on Tuesday. He was 50.
He was shifted to Liaquat National Hospital last week after pneumonic complaints. He was shifted to Chest Ward from ICU but Tuesday morning his condition deteriorated and was again shifted to ICU where he breathed his last on Tuesday night.
Rana Muhammad Khalid joined journalism 20 years back. He is survived by a widow, two daughters and a son.
New education policy draft ready by June'06: Javed Ashraf
(Updated at 2130 PST)
KARACHI: Federal Minister for Education, Lt Gen (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi here on Tuesday said that the new education policy draft would be ready by June next year. He was addressing a news conference after the conclusion of the 9th meeting of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers at the Sindh Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by the Education Ministers from the Punjab, Mian Imran Masood, Minister for Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Punjab, Hussain Jahanian Gardezi, NWFP's Maulana Fazal-e-Ali Haqqani, Baluchistan's Maulana Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, AJK's Ch. M. Aziz, Sindh's Dr. Hameeda Khuhro, Minister of State and Chairman National Commission for Human Development, Dr. Nasim Ashraf, secretary education of the respective provinces and the concerned officials.
The Federal Education Minister said that it is expected that the draft of the new policy would be ready by June next year and then it would be presented before the federal cabinet and would also be placed before the National Assembly for passage. " We also discussed as what elements should be included in the new education policy", he remarked.
He stated that later an action plan would be framed and thus the process would be carried forward. Javed Ashraf informed that the on-going education census in the country would be completed by June next year. This would be fed into the National Management Information System (NMIS). This data already exists in the provinces but was not on the national level. " We want to tie-in so that everyone should have complete data and planning is undertaken on reliable data", the Federal education Minister further remarked. He pointed out that the colleges would be handled by the provincial government and the Executive District Officers (EDOs) and district governments would handle only the schools. To a question, he maintained that our schools are not geared for the semester system.
Sindh Local Government (amended) Ordinance issued
(Updated at 1600 PST)
KARACHI: Governor of Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad has issued the Local Government (amended) Ordinance 2005.
According to the amended ordinance, voting for election of Naib Nazims in all districts and talukas of Sindh will not be held by secret ballot but by raising hands.
In the Ordinance 2005 a word ‘secret’ was deleted. According to the amended law council members will elect Naib Nazims by raising hands.
Hashmi sees bright chances of electoral alliance with PPP
(Updated at 1510 PST)
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (N) Acting President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi has said there were bright chances of an electoral alliance of his party with Pakistan Peoples Party.
He was talking with newsmen on his arrival to Lahore’s Services Hospital for dental checkup.
Peoples Party and Muslim League (N) are engaged in a joint struggle for restoration of democracy, said Hashmi, and both want to contest next election from a joint platform.
Replying a question he said London is relatively more open place than Jeddah and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will overtly take part in political activities over there.
Hashmi emphasized on the need of national consensus for Kalabagh Dam project saying that the government policies are creating disunity.
He also demanded for appointment of a permanent election commissioner after consultation with political parties for the sake of holding fair and impartial elections.
Mild quake hits Mansehra
(Updated at 1120 PST)
MANSEHRA: Mild quake tremors were felt at Mansehra this morning but no fatalities were reported.
The magnitude 4 tremors at the Richter scale jolted Mansehra Tuesday morning at 7:35 am.
WORLD
Death toll in Iraq suicide bombing rises to 36
(Updated at 0115 PST)
BAGHDAD: Death toll in a double suicide bombing in Baghdad, carried out by two Iraqi policewomen officers, Tuesday rose to 36, as insurgents claimed the kidnapping of an American amid further violence just nine days before key elections.
The blasts, on the same day that eight other Iraqi security personnel were killed in various incidents, came as the trial of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein continued.
The bombing at the Baghdad police academy was the worst attack on security forces in weeks and exacerbated concerns about stability ahead of elections for a permanent parliament.
Police said at least 36 officers and students were killed, with 72 other people wounded. Among those hurt was a US contractor.
An Iraqi civilian was killed and 10 wounded when a makeshift bomb exploded near a popular restaurant in southern Baghdad during the evening, police said.
Policewomen carried out Baghdad blasts: minister
(Updated at 0045 PST)
ABU DHABI: The double suicide bombing that killed 36 people at a police academy in Baghdad Tuesday was carried out by two female police officers, Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Baker Solagh said.
US blasts Egypt over elections
(Updated at 0010 PST)
WASHINGTON: The United States, in a marked change of tone, expressed serious concern Tuesday over the conduct of Egypt's parliamentary elections and said it sent the "wrong signal" about Cairo's commitment to democracy.
Rice signs deal for US military bases in Romania
(Updated at 2300 PST)
BUCHAREST: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a deal with Romania on Tuesday allowing the United States to set up military bases in the country, the first such facilities in the former Soviet bloc.
Top UN election official fired for sexual harassment
(Updated at 2220 PST)
UNITED NATIONS: The top UN election official, Carina Perelli of Uruguay, has been summarily dismissed for "misconduct, including sexual harassment," effective immediately, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
Death toll now 128 in Iranian plane crash
(Updated at 2145 PST)
TEHRAN: Death toll climbed to 128 people following the C-130 plane crash into a 10-story apartment building as it was trying to make an emergency landing Tuesday, ripping open the top of the structure and igniting a huge fire.
At least 128 people were killed. All 94 people on the plane were killed, most of them Iranian journalists heading to cover military maneuvers in the south, and 34 residents of the apartment building also died, with 90 injured, Tehran state radio said.
Former Indian FM resigns over Iraq oil-for-food
(Updated at 2130 PST)
NEW DELHI: Former Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh Tuesday resigned from the cabinet in the wake of charges that he and the ruling Congress party skimmed the UN
oil-for-food scheme in Iraq.
Britain wanted to improve EU budget proposals
(Updated at 2100 PST)
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that she wanted to see "improvements" in Britain's proposals for the European Union's 2007-2013 budget.
President Musharraf arrives holy Madina
(Updated at 2020 PST)
MADINA, Saudi Arabia: President Pervez Musharraf has arrived the holy city of Madina, srouces reported.
The president was received with warm welcome by Governor Madina Abdul Aziz Bin Majid here at the city’s international airport.
President Musharraf is touring Saudi Arabia with regard to summit of the Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC).
The president also performed prayers in the world’s holiest Masjid-e-Nabvi and visited the most sacred mausoleum of holy prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
US closes Manila embassy after bomb threat
(Updated at 2000 PST)
MANILA: The US embassy shut its doors to the public on Tuesday after a bomb threat, with Philippines police warning of potential suicide attacks by Jemaah Islamiah, a regional network of militants linked to Al Qaeda.
On its Web site -- the embassy said the temporary closure was due to ''plausible threat information'', which it did not describe.
A police bomb squad with sniffer dogs searched the exterior of the heavily fortified compound, after not being allowed inside, but officers said nothing unusual had been found.
Inspector Oscar Enciso, head of the Manila bomb squad, said a US official asked for assistance on Monday evening after a mobile phone text message was received from someone named ''Evita'' threatening to blow up the embassy.
''We thought we needed to take the necessary steps, which meant we had to close the public services,'' Matthew Lussenhop, an embassy spokesman, told reporters without specifying the nature of the threat. ''They'll be closed again tomorrow.'' The Philippines government, fighting homegrown Muslim and communist insurgencies as well as Jemaah Islamiah, is a staunch American ally.
But anti-American sentiment in the Philippines, a former US colony, has risen in recent weeks with six visiting US soldiers being investigated over allegations of rating a Filipino woman on Nov 1 after joint military exercises.
''An attack on any US embassy in the world is every Islamic militant's dream,'' said a Philippines intelligence official, adding that two leading foreign militants hiding in the southern island of Mindanao wanted Indonesians to carry out attacks.
Citing information shared by Jakarta, the police official said Dulmatin and Umar Patek had asked a contact in central Java, Abdullah Sunata, to send Indonesian recruits to Mindanao to launch suicide bombings in the Philippines.
EU faces mission impossible to break budget deadlock
(Updated at 1830 PST)
BRUSSELS: The EU faces an almost impossible task to strike a budget deal at a summit next week after new British plans were widely criticized, but a last-ditch deal cannot be ruled out, analysts said Tuesday.
Britain's European Union (EU) partners also continued to pour cold water on London's plans, unveiled on Monday in a bid to break a bitter deadlock over the 25-nation's funding plans for the 2007-2013 period.
"This deal will not go through," said Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies thinktank, referring to the chances of an accord when EU leaders gather in Brussels next Thursday and Friday.
"For the time being one must say it might be useless for them to meet," he added.
He was speaking after Foreign Secretary Jack Straw presented proposals to cut overall spending plans, notably to the bloc's newest members, while offering to forego some of Britain's long-cherished rebate.
Overall the proposals would cap EU spending in 2007-13 at 1.03 percent of the 25-nation bloc's gross national income, or an estimated 846.8 billion euros.
While there has been some praise for London's olive branch on its rebate, critics have slammed the plans to cut funding to poorer EU newcomers, most of them ex-communist states in central Europe who joined the bloc last year.
Iran plane incident: death toll climbs to 100
(Updated at 1800 PST)
TEHRAN: At least 100 people were killed Tuesday when an Iranian military C-130 transport plane crashed into a residential area of the capital Tehran, official media and local officials said.
Ten dead as military plane crashes into Tehran high-rise
(Updated at 1720 PST)
TEHRAN: An aging Iranian military C-130 transport plane with close to 100 people on board crashed into a 10-storey building in a densely populated residential area of the capital Tehran on Tuesday.
At least 10 people are known to have died, state radio said. State television said the plane encountered a "technical problem" immediately after take-off from Tehran's Mehrabad airport, which handles domestic, international and military flights.
It said there were 94 people -- 10 crew and 84 passengers -- on board the flight, which was heading for the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
After failing to make an emergency landing at Mehrabad, the plane went down in the Yaftabad district in the south of the sprawling city, which is currently enveloped in a blanket of thick smog.
According to foreign official, the plane crashed into a 10-storey building. The agency added the high-rise was in flames.
Emergency services were at the scene, state television said. Iran's air force is believed to have no more than around 15 of the US-made C-130s in operation, having acquired the planes, which are also known as Hercules, before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Since then, Iran has been subject to tough US sanctions, hindering the purchase of critical spare parts for all US-made planes in its air force and the civilian flag carrier Iran Air.
A C-130 crashed near Tehran due to technical problems in June 2003, killing seven people.
In 1997, a C-130 crashed near the northwestern city of Mashhad after encountering engine trouble, killing 86 people, and in February 2000 another air force C-130 crashed on take-off and collided with an Iran Air Airbus 300, killing ten people.
27 killed in twin suicide attack on Baghdad police academy
(Updated at 1615 PST)
BAGHDAD: At least 27 Iraqi police officers and cadets were killed on Tuesday when two women suicide bombers blew themselves up in a Baghdad police academy classroom, the US military said.
“Two suicide bombers attacked an Iraqi police academy in east Baghdad around 12:45 pm," said the US military.
According to initial reports, at least 27 police officers and academy students were killed and another 32 wounded in the attack, which comes just nine days before Iraq holds parliamentary elections.
"Two females, each wearing a suicide vest, walked into a classroom at the academy and detonated in the midst of students," the statement said.
Iraqi army colonel gunned down in Iraq
(Updated at 1555 PST)
BAQUBA: An Iraqi army colonel and his driver were found shot dead on the road between Baghdad and Baquba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north, said police.
The two men, who were not in uniform and in a private car, were killed in a drive-by shooting at around 10:00 am (0700 GMT), added police. They were believed to be headed for Baghdad.
Small aftershocks felt in Congo
(Updated at 1500 PST)
KINSHASA: Residents of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said on Tuesday they had felt three small aftershocks from a powerful earthquake that rocked east and central Africa 24 hours earlier.
People living in the town of Kalemie, where at least one person was killed and two wounded when several buildings collapsed during Monday's quake, said the minor tremors came at intervals lasting as long as six hours.
Two rebels killed, 7 soldiers injured in Algeria
(Updated at 1440 PST)
ALGIERS: Two rebels were killed and seven Algerian soldiers injured in clashes between the armed group and an army patrol in southwest Algeria over the weekend, local media reported on Tuesday.
The attack took place in Hassasna in the region of Saida, about 430 kilometers southwest of the capital Algiers.
Two killed in Russia helicopter crash
(Updated at 1340 PST)
MOSCOW: The Mi-8 helicopter was flying from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur to the town of Bogorodskoye, when it crashed onto the ice-covered river, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov.
The helicopter was on a mission to pick up patients from a local hospital and was only carrying a crew of three at the time of the crash, Beltsov said.
At least two crewmembers died, he said. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the accident.
20 bodies found in western Iraq
(Updated at 1300 PST)
FALLUJA: Police said on Tuesday they had found the bodies of 20 people dumped in two separate locations in an area of western Iraq well known for insurgency
violence.
Eleven men in civilian clothes were found on Monday dumped next to the main highway that links Baghdad to the border with Jordan in Iraq's west, police said.
The bodies were found near the town of Rutba, 370 km (230miles) west of Baghdad, in the mainly Sunni Arab desert province of Anbar. The bodies all had their hands tied and the men appeared to have been killed three days ago.Their identities were not clear.
Also on Tuesday, police said the bodies of nine civilians had been found a day earlier beside a road near Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad. All nine had gunshot wounds.
US embassy in Philippines closes
(Updated at 1210 PST)
MANILA: The US embassy in the Philippines said on Tuesday it had temporarily closed to the public due to what a spokesman called a "plausible threat to the security" of the
mission.
"We got some information and we thought that the sources were credible enough to merit the closing of the services of the embassy," said spokesman Matt Lussenhop.
He would not disclose the nature of the threat or who had provided the intelligence to the embassy.
However, security sources in Manila said the threat was made by telephone, and that the caller mentioned specific information about the embassy's premises.
Blast in Bangladesh injures three
(Updated at 1025 PST)
DHAKA: A bomb exploded outside a scrap metal shop in Bangladesh's capital, injuring three workers, police said on Tuesday.
The blast in Dhaka's Lalbagh commercial district occurred late on Monday as the workers were unloading a cargo of scrap metal from a tricycle rickshaw, a police official said.
One injured man was being treated in a hospital, while the two others were released after treatment for minor injuries, theofficial added.
He said police were investigating whether the bomb was hidden in the metal scrap or thrown at the workers.
Landmine kills seven Sri Lankan soldiers
(Updated at 0925 PST)
COLOMBO: At least seven Sri Lankan soldiers were killed on Tuesday when a landmine exploded in the northern Tamil town of Jaffna, military officials here said.
Six men and one officer were riding in a tractor-trailer near a landmark Hindu temple when a claymore mine went off some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Colombo, the officials said.
"The soldiers were on a routine patrol when they were caught up in the blast," said one official.
NKorea demands U.S. lift financial sanctions before talks
(Updated at 0840 PST)
SEOUL: North Korea said Tuesday that multinational talks on eliminating its nuclear weapons programs won't resume unless the United States lifts financial sanctions against the communist country.
Washington slapped sanctions in October on eight North Korean companies it said acted as fronts for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The United States also suspects North Korea of counterfeiting and money-laundering. North Korea denies the allegations.
OIC foreign ministers meeting today
(Updated at 0715 PST)
JEDDAH: An emergent meeting of foreign ministers of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will be held on Tuesday while their summit on Wednesday.
President General Pervez Musharraf would lead the Pakistan delegation in the very important meeting which is being held to find ways of tackling religious extremism, social challenges and political divisions which Saudi Arabia says have plunged the Islamic world in crisis.
The aim of the two-day summit “is to restore the image of Islam, harmed by terrorist attacks carried out in the name of this righteous religion,” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal said.
Two documents reinforcing Islam’s moderate image will be submitted to the summit to be held here, said OIC spokesman Atta Al Mannan. The two documents are to lay the foundations for “a moderate and enlightened Islamic line of conduct in order to confront extremism in and against Islam,” said Mannan.
Saud Al Faisal said the summit will see “a proposal to create a fund within the Islamic Bank for catastrophes and humanitarian issues in the Islamic world.” Attendees will also confirm a name change for the body to become the Organisation of Islamic Countries.
Vanuatu evacuates thousands as volcano threatens major explosion
(Updated at 0700 PST)
PORT VILA: Authorities in Vanuatu are evacuating thousands of villagers from homes near a volcano spewing ash and steam on the island of Ambae amid fears of a major eruption, officials said Tuesday.
Mount Manaro began tossing out ash and a plume of steam on Nov. 27 and local volcanologist Douglas Charlie said Tuesday the volcano ``is one of the most dangerous in the world as it's situated below a lake.''
Lake Vui, which lies in the crater of Mount Manaro, could have its bottom torn open by the trembling mountain, causing ``a gigantic explosion'' as the water hits hot volcanic magma or rock inside the volcano, Charlie said by telephone from Ambae.
The volcanic lake also is being forced up toward the rim, sparking fears of a lahar or mud flow if the lake wall bursts, which could drown the villages that surround the mountain.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Ham Lini has yet to declare a state of emergency on the island but said he would do so if the situation worsens.
Officials, meanwhile, ordered 5,000 people living in 15 villages in a so-called ``red zone'' round the mountain to move to the island's coast.
There, local schools and halls are being used to accommodate displaced villagers as some 2,000 tons of ash a day fall round the mountain base and white steam billows 1,500 meters (4,500 feet) above its cone.
Charges dropped against Army officer accused of killing Iraqis
(Updated at 0605 PST)
TOPEKA, Kansas: The Army dropped murder charges against an officer accused of giving soldiers in his platoon permission to kill two Iraqi civilians.
Second Lt. Erick J. Anderson, 26, of Twinsburg, Ohio, could have gotten life in prison if convicted.
``Today's a pretty good day,'' Anderson said. ``Right now, shock and awe is pretty much still in effect.
``It's been a long 18 months that this has all been going on,'' he said. ``The reality of it still hasn't hit that it's done and over with.''
All charges were dropped after an Army investigator who presided over a hearing last month recommended that Anderson not face a court-martial. At the hearing, one soldier who had accused Anderson changed his story, and another refused to testify. Anderson was a platoon leader in an infantry regiment in August
2004.
Four men in his 36-member platoon were convicted of murdering unarmed Iraqis during operations near Sadr City, a Baghdad slum.
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