today pakistan & world news by j.iqb

Police, protesters clash in Islamabad Normalcy returns after administration allows agitators to hold rally By Shakeel Anjum & Muhammad Anis ISLAMABAD: A four-hour hide and seek was played between police and protesters who managed to break all barriers to enter the federal capital on Sunday. Danish newspaper apologises for caricatures ISLAMABAD: The Danish newspaper that first published the blasphemous caricatures that sparked violent protests across the Muslim world apologised again to Muslims. Pakistan test-fires Abdali missile RAWALPINDI: Pakistan on Sunday test-fired an indigenously developed short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Hatf-II Abdali. Abdali can reach targets up to 200 kilometres and carry nuclear and other types of warheads. Two churches, school torched in Sukkur By Waseem Shamsi SUKKUR: Two churches, a school and other public property were ransacked and torched during violent protests sparked by the alleged desecration of the Holy Qur’aan by a Christian family in the Freek Hill area here on Sunday. Musharraf in Beijing for wide-ranging talks BEIJING: President Pervez Musharraf arrived here on Sunday, undertaking an important five-day state visit to China, aimed at consulting with the Chinese leaders to further promote cooperation and understanding in bilateral, regional and international affairs. Huge anti-cartoon protest in Turkey ISTANBUL: Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul on Sunday to protest blasphemous sketches, chanting slogans against Denmark, Israel and the United States. Nationwide protest on 24th: Qazi By our correspondent LAHORE: Jama’at-e-Islami Ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad, who was put under house arrest on Sunday, said a countrywide protest day will be observed on Friday (Feb 24) to condemn the police torture during the Shan-e-Risalat (SAW) rally in Islamabad. He also said that on March 3 a complete strike would be observed. MMA rally makes future political landscape clearer By Fasihur Rehman Khan ISLAMABAD: February 19 was no ordinary day for the future political landscape of the country. As the sun set over Islamabad a lot had already changed. The religious right, having taken a lead on the blasphemous caricatures issue across the country, did not take a long time to come out openly with their designs to divert the public outrage to fuel its campaign to dislodge President Pervez Musharraf. Countrywide ban on hunting of migratory birds By Munawar Hasan LAHORE: Pakistan has imposed a countrywide ban on hunting of migratory birds as a precautionary measure against possible spread of deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. Shutter-down in Khairpur against cartoons KHAIRPUR: On the call of Anjuman-e-Tajiran Khairpur, a complete shutter-down strike was observed here on Sunday against the publication of blasphemous caricatures in European newspapers. Shaukat stresses collective strategy to prevent blasphemy Says sacrilegious sketches hurt every Muslim ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said the publication of balsphemous cartoons in some European newspapers had hurt the feelings of every Muslim and stressed a collective strategy for the whole of Ummah to deal with such situaion in future. MMA asks govt to resign Fazl says thousands of workers arrested; ARD to launch anti-govt drive By Muhammad Anis ISLAMABAD: Terming its "Shan-e-Mustafa" (PBUH) rally a success, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) on Sunday demanded of the government, particularly the interior minister, to resign. Iran sticks to nuclear ‘right’ on eve of Russia talks TEHRAN: Iran said on Sunday that it was standing by its "right" to enrich uranium on its own soil, just a day before talks with Russia aimed at finding a compromise on the ultra-sensitive nuclear work. Three Afghan policemen killed in Taliban attack KABUL: Taliban attacked a police checkpost in Helmand province on Sunday, killing three policemen, while a rocket was fired at a top hotel in the capital, officials said. Nigerian militants threaten to target oil tankers WARRI, Nigeria: Militants who kidnapped nine foreign oil workers and forced a 20 per cent cut in Nigerian crude exports vowed on Sunday to escalate the violence, threatening for the first time to fire rockets at international oil tankers. US freezes assets of Hamas-linked NGO WASHINGTON: US authorities said on Sunday they have frozen the assets of a non-governmental organisation, KindHearts, which they say is linked to Hamas, the Palestinian group it accuses of backing terrorism. 25 hurt in blast at Ahmedabad railway station AHMEDABAD: Twenty-five people were injured in a bomb blast at the main railway station in Ahmedabad city on Sunday, police said.