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| March 30, 2008 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan militants say ready to talk INAYAT KALLAY, Pakistan, March 30 (Reuters): The Pakistani Taliban welcomed on Sunday the new government's readiness to negotiate an end to a spreading conflict in Pakistan, but vowed to continue fighting American forces in Afghanistan. “We're ready for talks and to extend all kind of cooperation to the government to bring peace in the tribal areas,” Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban, told Reuters. “But our fight against American and other foreign forces in Afghanistan would continue,” he said at a gathering of several thousand tribesmen in Bajaur region. Maulvi Omar said talks could be possible if Musharraf's policies were ditched. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)   Punjab police-bandits gun battle injures10 persons DASKA, March 30 (APP): Six women and three children were injured in a gun battle between police and bandits in a busy market of Daska in Sialkot district on Sunday. A bandit was among the injured. A police official said they received a tip-off about bandits roaming in a stolen car. The police intercepted the vehicle in the main market and the bandits opened fire at the police. Civilians were caught in the gun battle and six women, three children were injured. A bandit was also shot in the encounter. Officials said two of the three children were severely injured but were out of danger. (Posted @ 18:32 PST) PM meets proposed Cabinet members ISLAMABAD, Mar 30 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that in order to provide immediate relief to common man every member of the forthcoming Cabinet would be required to closely adhere to the 100-day programme of the government. He was talking to members of the prospective federal Cabinet here at the PM House this evening. The Prime Minister said the whole nation is looking forward to the policies that would be made by this Cabinet for bringing about improvement in their life. (Posted @ 23:04 PST) APHC terms Pakistan Prime Minister's statement on Kashmir realistic NEW DELHI, March 30 (APP): All Parties Hurriyat Conference while terming the statement of Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in National Assembly on Kashmir as realistic and positive asked the Indian government to show positive attitude to resolve the Kashmir issue. In a statement issued in Srinagar on Sunday, the APHC hoped India would come forward to settlement this dispute for sake of peace. (Posted @ 21:36 PST) Two small bombs explode in Spain's Basque region MADRID, March 30 (AP): Two small bombs exploded Sunday near the town of Azpeitia in Spain's northern Basque region, causing minor damage near a television transmitter, regional police said. No injuries were reported. A telephone warning claiming to come from the Basque separatist group ETA was received at 0900 GMT by a road emergency service saying an explosive device had been placed near the transmitter. (Posted @ 20:00 PST) 11 killed in Iraq attacks SAMARRA, March 30 (AFP): Insurgents opened fire on an Iraqi police patrol on Sunday, killing six policemen, and launched a suicide car bomb attack on anti-Qaeda members in central Iraq, killing five, officials said. The attack on the police patrol occurred near Dhuluiyah, about 70 kilometres north of Baghdad, a police spokesman told AFP. (Posted @ 19:50 PST) Small plane crashes near London LONDON, March 30 (AP): London police say a small plane has crashed into a residential area southwest of the British capital. Police said a private plane crashed into a residence in Farnborough, about 60 kilometers southwest of London at 1400 GMT Sunday. Emergency services are on the scene but there are no reports of casualties. (Posted @ 19:44 PST) One dead, 122 arrested in Chile’s night of protests SANTIAGO, March 30 (AP): Violent overnight clashes between police and protesters commemorating the killing of two brothers during Chile's 1973-90 dictatorship left one person dead, nine officers injured and 122 demonstrators arrested, police said Sunday. The protests broke out Saturday night and lasted into Sunday morning in several working-class neighborhoods in Chile's capital. (Posted @ 19:14 PST) Spanish police seize euro83 million in assets bought with drug money MADRID, March 30 (AP): Spanish police seized property, luxury goods and cash worth euro83 million that was linked to drug trafficking, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. Among items seized were 102 properties, including luxury seaside mansions, which the ministry said traffickers had bought to try to launder the proceeds of drug dealing. Spain is Europe's largest consumer of drugs such as cocaine and hashish, the U.S. State Department said last month. It is also a major transit point for narcotics shipments from South and Central America, it said. (Posted @ 19:12 PST) Greece hands over Olympic flame amid pro-Tibet protests ATHENS, March 30 (AP): Greek officials handed over the Olympic flame to organizers of the Beijing Games on Sunday amid small protests by a pro-Tibetan group. The ceremony was held at the marble Panathenian Stadium, where the first modern Olympics were staged in 1896. Outside the stadium, police scuffled with pro-Tibet demonstrators and prevented others from unfurling protest banners. Twenty-one demonstrators were detained --seven Indians, one Nepalese and 13 Greeks-- and were all due to be released without charge, police said. (Posted @ 19:10 PST) Thirty trapped in collapsed Angolan police station LUANDA, March 30 (Reuters): At least 30 detainees, among them 10 women, remained trapped on Sunday in the rubble of a seven-storey police building that collapsed in the Angolan capital Luanda, killing four people and injuring 106 others, Angola's Interior Ministry said. State news agency Angop said rescue workers tried through the night to reach ground floor cells where the women were being held when the National Criminal Investigation Department (DNIC) building collapsed shortly before dawn on Saturday. (Posted @ 18:10 PST) Iraq's Sadr orders fighters to withdraw from streets NAJAF, March 30 (AFP): Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday ordered his fighters to withdraw from the streets of all neighbourhoods where his militiamen are engaged in fierce clashes with security forces. “We want the Iraqi people to stop this bloodshed and maintain Iraq's independence and stability. For that we have decided to withdraw from the streets of Basra and all other provinces,” Sadr said in a statement released by his headquarters in Najaf. (Posted @ 17:38 PST) Death toll from Mogadishu market blasts hits 17 MOGADISHU, March 30 (Reuters): Hospitals in Mogadishu overflowed with the wounded on Sunday and the death toll from mortar strikes on the city's main market reached 17. Scores of civilians at Bakara Market were hurt Saturday when Ethiopian troops at the presidential palace returned fire against militants who attacked it, witnesses said. Residents said Ethiopian soldiers began launching shells into Bakara in the city below. Seven people were killed in the part of the market used by money changers, witnesses said, while four others died in its food section. One victim said “the Ethiopian troops targeted Bakara deliberately.” (Posted @ 17:34 PST) Bangladesh ex-PM Hasina appears before graft court DHAKA, March 30 (Reuters): Former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina appeared before a graft court on Sunday soon after being released from hospital, officials said. Her lawyers quoted her telling the court she was still sick, her treatment was incomplete and that she had been forced to appear before the court. The court heard the graft charge in the presence of her lawyers, some party leaders and relatives, a court registrar said. She was then taken to a special prison nearby in Dhaka's sprawling parliament compound. (Posted @ 16:52 PST) Sri Lanka says new wave of fighting kills 32 COLOMBO, March 30 (AP): A series of battles between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels across Sri Lanka's north killed 28 rebels and four soldiers, the military said Sunday. Troops fought gunbattles in Wanni region that killed 15 Tamil rebels and a soldier, a military spokesman said. In Welioya region, a clash left three soldiers and one rebel dead, he said. On Saturday, the army destroyed two rebel bunkers and killed 10 rebels in Mannar district, while in northern Jaffna peninsula, two more rebels died. The rebel spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment. (Posted @ 16:34 PST) 
Asian PMs kick off Mekong summit VIENTIANE, March 30 (AFP): The prime ministers of China and five other Mekong River countries on Sunday kicked off a two-day summit in the Lao capital on closer regional integration. “The development of this subregion involves six countries, therefore it is a win-win development,” China's Wen Jiabao told a youth forum ahead of the formal meeting. (Posted @ 16:00 PST) US, Iraq forces find 14 bodies in mass grave BAGHDAD, March 30 (Reuters): U.S. and Iraqi security forces found 14 bodies in a mass grave north of Baghdad and some showed signs of torture, the U.S. military said on Sunday. U.S. forces said the grave was discovered in a neighbourhood near Muqdadiyah, 90 km northeast of Baghdad. A similar grave of 37 bodies was found nearby on Friday. (Posted @ 15:45 PST) Afghanistan's Hazaras protest over pastures KABUL, March 30 (AFP): More than 2,000 mainly ethnic Hazaras, many of them livestock farmers, marched through the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday to demand authorities stop nomads from using their grazing lands. The demonstrators, some of whom travelled from poverty-hit central Afghanistan, alleged that ethnic Pashtun nomads, called Kuchi, are using their pastures. “We want the government to stop Kuchis grabbing our pastures,” a protester told AFP. The Kuchi, estimated to number 2.4 million, move around Afghanistan in search of pastures for the animals on which they depend. (Posted @ 15:45 PST) 
Cricket: First India-South Africa Test drawn CHENNAI, March 30 (AFP): The first Test between India and South Africa ended in a draw here on Sunday. Brief scores: South Africa 540 and 331-5; India 627. The second match of the three-Test series begins in Ahmedabad on April 3. (Posted @ 15:15 PST) US troops enter Basra fray BAGHDAD, March 30 (AFP): A team of American special forces has joined the battle in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, combining with Iraqi troops in an operation that killed 22 militants, the military announced on Sunday. The joint operation on Saturday was in western Basra, a military statement said. (Posted @ 15:10 PST) Two Gaza militants killed in Israeli air strike GAZA CITY, March 30 (AFP): Palestinian medics said on Sunday they had recovered the bodies of two Palestinian militants killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip. Another four Palestinians were wounded in the Saturday evening strike near the northern town of Jabaliya in the Hamas-ruled territory, medics said. (Posted @ 15:05 PST)
Grenade injures 19 at Chechen wedding MOSCOW, March 30 (AFP): Nineteen people were injured when a grenade was thrown in a brawl at a village wedding in the southern Russian region of Chechnya, Russian news agencies quoted officials as saying on Sunday. The incident occurred late Saturday in a village, Sary-Su during a large wedding celebration. “Nineteen people suffered shrapnel wounds from a grenade blast and an injured woman is in critical condition,” the official said. (Posted @ 15:00 PST) Clinton vows to stay in White House race to the end STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania, March 30 (AFP) US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton vowed, in an interview published Sunday, to stay in the race to the very end, despite warnings by prominent party officials that a protracted primary fight could be damaging to Democrats. “I know there are some people who want to shut this down and I think they are wrong,” Clinton told The Washington Post. “I have no intention of stopping until we finish what we started and until we see what happens in the next 10 contests and until we resolve Florida and Michigan”. (Posted @ 12:00 PST) Eight Taliban killed in southern Afghanistan KABUL, March 30 (AFP) - Eight Taliban fighters were killed and four others captured in an operation by Afghan and Western troops after the rebels ambushed a civilian supply convoy in Zabul province, police said Sunday. (Posted @ 12:00 PST) Meaningful steps needed for Palestinians -- Rice ERUSALEM, March 30 (Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday she expected Israel to take what she called meaningful steps to improve the lives of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. “I would hope ... we're going to be able to do some things, or that Israel and the Palestinians together will be able to do some things, that are meaningful both for security (for Israel) and for economic viability (for Palestinians),” Rice told a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. (Posted @ 11:25 PST) President Musharraf stresses on need to promote art, culture and tourism KARACHI, Pakistan, March 30 (APP): President Pervez Musharraf Saturday emphasised the need of promoting art, culture, heritage and tourism while speaking as chief guest at the first convocation of the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) held at the Governor House. He also awarded diplomas to graduating students of the NAPA.(Posted @ 11:15 PST) 26 arrested, weapons seized from China monastery BEIJING, March 30 (AFP) Police Friday arrested 26 people and seized guns and other weapons from a monastery in Geerdeng monastery in Sichuan province, Xinhua news agency said. (Posted @ 11:00 PST) BA admits baggage chaos at London Heathrow LONDON, March 30 (AFP) Passengers grew increasingly more frustrated Saturday at London Heathrow airport's new terminal after British Airways admitted 15,000 bags are lost or stuck in the system on top of more flight cancellations. The national flag carrier cancelled 66 short-haul and European flights Saturday -- 12 more than originally announced and taking the number of cancellations since Heathrow's Terminal 5 opened on Thursday to nearly 250. A further 37 flights are expected to be cancelled Sunday, the airline said. (Posted @ 10:35 PST) Baghdad curfew extended indefinitely BAGHDAD, March 30 (AFP) - The curfew in Baghdad, which was to be lifted on Sunday morning, has been extended for an indefinite period, as violent clashes between Shiite fighters and security forces raged in the Iraqi capital, state television Al-Iraqiya reported. At least 75 people have been killed and nearly 500 wounded in the firefights over the past five days in Sadr City, and nearly 260 people countrywide. (Posted @ 10:30 PST) Muslims outnumber Catholics: Vatican research VATICAN CITY, March 30 (AFP) Muslims outnumber Catholics worldwide, according to the latest count by the Vatican published in its daily newspaper on Saturday. Muslims represent more than 19 percent of the world's 6.5 billion population while Catholics represent 17.4 percent, according to the Vatican's latest yearbook based on 2006 figures, Sunday's edition of the Osservatore Romano reported. Christianity overall was more widespread, however, with Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglicans and other Protestants jointly accounting for a third of the world population, it said. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
Sadr orders militia to reject PM's call to surrender arms NAJAF, Iraq, March 30 (AFP) Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday defied Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's call on his forces to surrender their arms as the premier vowed to press on with his assault against them. “Sadr has told us not to surrender our arms except to a state that can throw out the (US) occupation,” Haider al-Jabari of the Sadr movement's political bureau told AFP in the holy city of Najaf, home to the cleric's main office. On Saturday, clashes erupted in Karbala where 12 “criminals” were killed, police said. At least 75 people have been slain in Sadr City since the fighting erupted after the Basra crackdown. Another 498 people have been wounded, said Qassim Mohammed, a spokesman for Baghdad health directorate. “The hospitals are overflowing with wounded. They can't take any more. Even the medical stores are closed,” he said. “There is no electricity, no water or fuel. We are afraid of gunbattles. The main markets are also closed. (Posted @ 10:10 PST) Opposition claims early lead in Zimbabwe vote HARARE, March 30 (AFP) The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Sunday claimed an early lead ahead of the official announcement of results from the general election where veteran leader Robert Mugabe is fighting for an extended rule. “This far, short of a miracle, we have won this election beyond any reasonable doubt. We have won this election,” MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told a news conference early Sunday. (Posted @ 10:00 PST) Three Muslims killed in Thai south NARATHIWAT, Thailand, March 30 (AFP) Suspected separatists shot dead three Muslim men in separate attacks across the insurgency-hit south of Thailand, police said Sunday. Two men on a motorcycle shot dead a 28-year-old villager in front of his house in Narathiwat province late on Saturday. Hours later in nearby Yala province, the son of a local politician was killed by gunmen, while a third Muslim was shot dead elsewhere in the same province, police reported. More that 3,000 people have been killed since separatist violence erupted in the south in January 2004. The region was once an autonomous Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago, provoking decades of tension. (Posted @ 09:30 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
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