Pakistan's ruling parties fail to reach accord on judges as deadline day looms
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 11, (AP) - Pakistani leaders failed Sunday to reach a deal on restoring judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, increasing the likelihood the ruling coalition could shatter after just six weeks in power and plunge the country back into political turmoil. Negotiators from the two main ruling parties held talks in London throughout the weekend, ahead of a self-imposed Monday deadline to resolve the issue. But officials said Sunday night they were heading back to Pakistan without a deal. Representatives of the junior party that of ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said members would meet Monday to consider whether to stay in the coalition. The party has already threatened to quit the Cabinet. “We are still trying to take this matter to a satisfactory conclusion,” said Husain Haqqani, one of the negotiators for the larger party, that of Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto. Nawaz Sharif's brother Shahbaz, who also was involved in the talks, said both sides had made sincere efforts to come to an agreement. “We will support the government issue to issue _ we will not let the government destablize,” he said. “I pray we could iron out these differences and give a good news to the nation tomorrow.” (First Posted @ 22:26 PST Updated @ 22:52 PST)
Pakistani minister warns of political crisis over deadlocked judges issue
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 11 (AP) Pakistan risks political crisis unless its ruling coalition can agree on how to restore judges ousted by President Pervez Musharraf, Education Minister Ahsan Iqbal said. Doubts arose after there was no progress at talks in London between the two main ruling parties' leaders, Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Ahsan Iqbal, a key Sharif aide, forecast however that the two sides would hammer out a compromise by Monday _ the second self-imposed deadline for action to restore the judges. “I think there will be an acceptable solution,” he said. Party leaders were staying on in London to continue their negotiations, he said. (Posted @ 11:45 PST)
Indian Army kills six in occupied Kashmir
SRINAGAR, occupied Kashmir, May 11 (AP): Indian occupation forces and militants seeking to free Kashmir clashed Sunday in two places in Indian-occupied Kashmir, killing six people including two civilians and a news photographer, the army said. A soldier and two militants were killed in a gunbattle which raged for six hours. The first clash occurred in Kehli Mandi, 350kms south of Srinagar, when soldiers confronted militants. Two civilians were killed and two injured in the gunbattle. During the heavy exchange of fire, a soldier was killed and a newspaper photographer fatally injured. In the second clash, two militants were killed in a gunbattle in the forest area of Darsun, about 120 kilometers north of Srinagar. (First Posted @ 11:50 PST; Updated @ 15:10 PST)
Eight killed, 30 injured in pickup-coach collision in Sindh
KHAIRPUR, May 11 (PPI): Eight persons were killed and 30 injured on Sunday morning in a head-on collision between a pickup and a coach on the National Highway near Ubauro. The pickup was taking a family of singers to village Mahesaro in Taluka Kandhkot when it collided with a coach going to Rawalpindi from Karachi near Marri Chowk Ubauro. Six people were killed on the spot. (Posted @ 15:56 PST)
Al-Qaeda says key member killed in Afghanistan: web
DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters): A prominent member of Al-Qaeda was killed in fighting with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, the group said in a statement posted on a website on Sunday. Abu Suleiman al-Otaibi, formerly one of the group's leaders in Iraq, was killed in a fierce battle in Paktia, it said without giving the date of the battle. Another Al-Qaeda member, identified as Abu Dejana al-Qahtani, also died in the fighting, it added. (Posted @ 23:12 PST)
6 Indian citizens killed in crash while travelling to Niagara Falls
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Pennsylvania, May 11 (AP): Six citizens of India on their way to visit Niagara Falls were killed when their minivan spun out of control and was hit by an oncoming car on a Pennsylvania highway, police said Sunday. The minivan had just passed the Pennsylvania-Ohio border on Saturday afternoon when it crossed the highway median and began flipping and rolling, coming to rest on its roof, authorities said. It was then struck by an oncoming westbound car. The sole survivor in the minivan was sitting in the front passenger seat. (Posted @ 22:02 PST)
Iran, IAEA resume nuclear talks on Monday
TEHRAN, May 11 (AFP): Iran and the U.N. nuclear agency watchdog, IAEA will resume talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme in the Iranian capital on Monday, an Iranian official said on Sunday. Iran said it will unveil its own ideas to help end the dispute. Iran rejects incentives: An AP report filed from Tehran said Iran says it won't consider any proposals in talks with the West that would require it to stop enriching uranium. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said “no incentive weighs equally with the rights of Iranian nation.” He also told reporters Sunday in Tehran that uranium enrichment was an “undisputable right” for Iran. (Posted @ 21:42 PST)
Blackouts hit Gaza after sole power plant shuts down
GAZA CITY, May 11 (AFP): The Gaza Strip faced new blackouts Sunday after its only power plant shut down after receiving no fuel from Israel in four days, officials said. “There is a very serious crisis with respect to electricity,” Jamal al-Dardasawi, spokesman for the Gaza electrical distribution company, told AFP. “With the power station shut down, we are only receiving 120 megawatts from Israel and we need 250 megawatts. There is a shortfall of 50 percent,” he said. By Sunday afternoon bakeries across Gaza City were closing for lack of electricity to power their ovens. The Gaza plant provides 30 percent of the territory's electricity, with most of the rest directly supplied by Israel and a small amount coming from Egypt. (Posted @ 21:22 PST)
Intense fighting southeast of Beirut
BEIRUT, May 11 (AFP): Fierce clashes erupted Sunday in mainly Druze areas southeast of Beirut between government supporters and rivals from the Hezbollah-led opposition, prompting appeals for calm from rival Druze leaders. Heavy machine-gun fire and loud explosions echoed through several villages in the district of Aley, including Aaytat and Baysur. Intense fighting was also reported in Shwayfat. (Posted @ 20:40 PST)
U.N. asks Israel to probe killing of Palestinian teacher
GAZA, May 11 (Reuters): A United Nations agency called on Israel on Sunday to investigate the death of a Palestinian teacher employed by the agency who was killed in her home during an Israeli raid last week in the Gaza Strip. “We're calling on the Israelis for an impartial investigation,” said a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for which Wafa al-Daghma worked as a teacher at an elementary school for refugee children. “We want to see accountability.” (Posted @ 19:34 PST)
At least 20 dead in storms in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia
PICHER, Oklahoma, May 11 (AP): A deadly storm system rumbled across southern U.S. over the weekend where severe weather killed at least 20 people in three states. A tornado devastated the mining town of Picher in Oklahoma. The same storm system then moved into southwest Missouri where tornadoes killed at least 12 other people, authorities said. On Sunday, storms rumbled across Georgia, killing at least one person, authorities said. Officials said at least 80,000 residents are without electricity across the state. (First Posted @ 11:10 PST Updated @ 18:56 PST)
Arab foreign ministers convene over Lebanon crisis
CAIRO, May 11 (Reuters): Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Sunday for emergency talks to try to find a solution to the most serious crisis in Lebanon since the 1975-90 civil war that has sparked five days of fighting. Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, whose country holds the League's rotating chair, said he told the opening session that political disagreements needed to be resolved peacefully “because at the end it is the Lebanese people who will pay the terrible price”. Lebanon has been in political deadlock for 18 months over opposition demands for a greater say in government. An Arab League official in Cairo said the foreign ministers would call for an immediate deal on forming a Lebanese national unity government and the election of army chief General Michel Suleiman as president. (Posted @ 18:34 PST)
China launches homegrown jumbo jet manufacturing company
BEIJING, May 11 (AP): China established a homegrown company Sunday to make passenger jumbo jets _ a step forward in the country's quest to become less dependent on Boeing and Airbus. China Commercial Aircraft Co. was established in Shanghai with registered capital of 19 billion yuan (US$2.7 billion), the official Xinhua News Agency and state broadcaster CCTV said. (Posted @ 18:06 PST)
Mynamar death toll rises to more than 28,000: TV
YANGON, May 11 (Reuters): The death toll from Cyclone Nargis reached 28,458 with 33,416 missing, state-run Myanmar TV reported on Sunday. The brief broadcast did not elaborate except to say that 1,403 people had been injured in the May 2 storm. Boat with first Red Cross aid for Myanmar sinks: BANGKOK: A cargo boat carrying the first Red Cross aid to survivors of Cyclone Nargis sank on Sunday, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) said. The boat carrying relief supplies for more than 1,000 people was believed to have hit a submerged tree trunk in the Irrawaddy Delta and started taking on water, an IFRC official in Bangkok said. (Posted @ 17:28 PST)
Jailed Taliban suspects on hunger strike in southern Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, May 11 (AP): Afghan politicians have said more than 200 Taliban suspects are on a hunger strike in Kandahar prison. Provincial council member Bismillah Afghanmul said the prisoners are demanding an independent committee be set up to hear their cases. They have not eaten for about six days. He and other provincial council members met the prisoners to try to resolve the situation, but the hunger strike was continuing Sunday. He said he saw about nine prisoners who had taped their mouths shut, with three in poor condition. (Posted @ 16:54 PST)
Hezbollah foiled US coup bid in Lebanon: Syrian news report
DAMASCUS, May 11 (AFP): Syrian official daily Al-Baath on Sunday said Hezbollah had foiled a US-planned coup to seize control of Lebanon during the deadly gunbattles which rocked the country. “The Americans launched a pre-emptive strike against opposition nationalist forces, starting with the (Hezbollah) resistance, and attempted a Washington-planned coup but were taken aback by the opposition, which restored order in Lebanon,” the paper said. The Lebanese opposition aimed to “remove foreign interference and stop the plots to transform Lebanon... into an Israeli protectorate and new focal point of US links in the region,” the ruling party's paper added. (Posted @ 16:30 PST)
Nepalese police detain more than 600 female Tibetan protesters
KATHMANDU, May 11 (AP): Police say more than 600 female Tibetan protesters, many of them nuns, were detained in Nepal's capital while demonstrating against China's crackdown in their homeland. The protesters held three separate rallies in Kathmandu on Sunday but were stopped by police. A police official said more than 600 protesters were detained. (Posted @ 16:10 PST)
Fighting flares in northern and eastern Lebanon, Beirut calm
BEIRUT, May 11 (AP): Heavy fighting broke out between pro and anti-government supporters in northern Lebanon lasting into the early hours Sunday morning, in the latest development in the Lebanese crisis, security officials reported. Beirut, which for four days was the focus of bloody sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, spent a quiet night, though on Sunday morning many of its roads remained blocked, including the one to the airport, by the opposition's civil disobedience campaign. The heaviest clashes took place in the northern city of Tripoli where pro-government supporters in the Tebaneh neighborhood exchanged rocket propelled grenades and heavy machine gun fire with opposition followers in Jabal Muhsin, officials said. (Posted @ 15:40 PST)
Sri Lanka's ruling party wins control of Eastern Province govt
BATTICALOA, May 11 (AP): Sri Lanka's ruling party won control of the country's tense Eastern Province on Sunday following an election that monitors said was marred by voter intimidation and fraud. The election commission said the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance coalition won 52 percent of the vote, giving it 18 seats --plus two bonus seats given to the winner-- on the province's 37-member council. The opposition United National Party won 42 percent of the vote and captured 15 seats, while two smaller parties won one seat each, the commission said. (Posted @ 15:30 PST)
Sri Lanka military says fighting in north kills 29
COLOMBO, May 11 (AFP): Sri Lankan warplanes bombed a rebel arms storage base, while artillery duels between security forces and Tiger rebels killed 29, the defence ministry said Sunday. Airforce fighter jets bombed a rebel ammunition storage dump in guerrilla-controlled Mullaittvu area on Saturday, the military said, adding that “pilots confirmed sporadic explosions” after the raid. Government troops also traded fire with Tiger rebels across the Vavuniya, Mannar and Wanni regions, killing 29 guerrillas on Saturday, the statement said, placing troop casualties at two soldiers injured. There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). (Posted @ 15:15 PST)
Bangladesh says will buy record amount of rice for stocks
DHAKA, May 11 (AFP): Bangladesh will buy a record amount of rice from farmers this year at prices 55 percent higher than 2007 to stimulate production and build emergency stocks, the farm minister said Sunday. The government will build a stockpile of 3.2 million tonnes of rice, nearly double the previous record for emergency stocks, the food and agriculture minister said. (Posted @ 15:10 PST)
Sudan cuts Chad ties after Darfur rebel attack
KHARTOUM, May 11 (AFP): Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Chad on Sunday, accusing its neighbour of supporting a first ever Darfur rebel attack on Khartoum where a curfew was extended indefinitely to capture remaining rebels. The government said it had repulsed the assault by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), allegedly backed by Ndjamena. “Sudan has cut diplomatic relations with Chad because of its support for the attack” on Saturday on the capital's twin city of Omdurman across the river Nile, public radio said. The army spokesman's office said a curfew had been “indefinitely extended to facilitate the capture of those fleeing.” The Egyptian news agency MENA said Khartoum's international airport was closed for security reasons. (Posted @ 14:55 PST)
Seven rebels killed in Afghan army, NATO raids
SHARAN, Afghanistan, May 11 (AFP) - Seven Taliban rebels were killed in two separate raids by Afghan soldiers and their NATO allies in Paktia and Khost provinces, the army said Sunday. Four rebels were killed Saturday in Paktia province, while three militants were killed in the neighbouring province of Khost. (Posted @ 11:55 PST)
6 dead in two-car crash in Pennsylvania
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Pennsylvania, May 11 (AP) Six people died saturday in a two-car accident in Pennsylvania, near the border with Ohio when the minivan they were traveling in crossed the median and hit a car head-on. A seventh person in the van and the woman driving the other car were taken to a hospital. (Posted @ 11:40 PST)
4 killed in Iraq
BAGHDAD, May 11 (AP) The U.S. military says four people, including a woman and a child, have been killed in an operation against al-Qaida near the city of Mosul. The woman and child were riding in a vehicle. Two armed men were also killed. In Sunday's statement, the military regretted killing “civilians” in the operation Saturday against what was described as associates of foreign al-Qaida fighters. (Posted @ 11:30 PST)
Voting begins in Serbian election
BELGRADE, May 11 (Reuters) Serbs began voting on Sunday in an election that will show whether the lure of European Union membership outweighs their anger over the Western-backed secession of Kosovo. Some 6.7 million people are registered to vote, including the defiant Serb minority in Kosovo, Serbia's former province which declared independence in February. (Posted @ 11:20 PST)
Lebanese troops patrol after Hezbollah pullout
BEIRUT, May 11 (Reuters) Lebanese troops patrolled Beirut on Sunday after Hezbollah fighters pulled back from areas they had seized in deadly gunbattles with supporters of the U.S.-backed government. Hundreds of troops backed by armoured vehicles set up roadblocks and took up positions on streets in the mainly Muslim part of the capital. There were no gunmen in sight but youths maintained barricades on some major roads that kept Beirut's air and sea ports closed. While calm was restored in Beirut, clashes raged overnight in the northern city of Tripoli. Security sources said there had been a number of casualties but had no details. (Posted @ 11:00 PST)
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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