Pakistan not to allow any intrusion into its territory: Foreign Minister
By IRNA
Islamabad : Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan would not allow any country to take action inside its territory.
The American CIA chief said this week that the U.S can strike Pakistani territory if it receives information about the presence of al-Qaeda leaders there.
"We cannot allow any other country to take action within our territory. This is the matter of our sovereignty and we cannot compromise on it," Qureshi said in a private television interview.
He said the features of new government's policy vis a vis counter terrorism are very clear.
Pakistan hints to lift restrictions on detained nuclear scientist
By IRNA
Islamabad : Pakistan's Foreign Minister hinted on Monday to lift restrictions on the country's nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has been under detention since January 2004.
Khan was put under house arrest after he was produced on the state-run television to say that he exported nuclear technology outside Pakistan.
But Khan said in recent interviews that he had taken responsibility of nuclear transfer only to save the country.
Pentagon files charges again an Afghan detainee in Guantanamo
By KUNA
Washington : The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) declared on Monday charges against a Guantanamo detainee from Afghanistan.
"Mohammed Kamin provided material support to terrorism by joining the terrorist organization al Qaeda and receiving training at al Qaeda training camps on making remote detonators for improvised explosive devices (IEDs)", said the Pentagon in a statement.
Latest Israeli-Palestinian round of talks centers on basic issues — official
By KUNA
Gaza : A senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday that talks that were held between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams on Tuesday addressed a host of issues namely those related to the final status.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told Voice of Palestine Radio that the discussions that involved him, along with the head of the Palestinian team, Ahmad Qurei, and the Israeli team, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, centered on final-status issues.
The three-hour meeting, held in Jerusalem, was attended by experts from the two sides, he added.
Police: 10,000 workers protest in Bangladesh
By SPA
Dhaka, Bangladesh : An official says about 10,000 textile workers have clashed with police near Bangladesh's Capital during protests demanding better wages to meet higher food prices, the Associated Press reported.
Dozens of people including at least 20 police officials have been injured in violence Saturday, police station Official Angur Akhter said by telephone.
The protesters are demanding better wages so that they can face higher food prices, she said.
Israeli missile targets Palestinians in eastern Gaza — sources
By KUNA
Gaza : A Palestinian was injured early on Sunday after a missile fired by Israeli ground forces targeted Shejaeya district in eastern Gaza.
Palestinian security sources said the Israeli forces stationed at Nahal Azor, eastern Gaza, launched a missile towards a number of Palestinian citizens on Al-Mantar Street in Shejaeya, where one of them was injured. The sources added that ambulances rushed to the site and medics transferred the injured Palestinian to the Al-Shefa Hospital in Gaza to receive treatment.
Cyclone Bijli hits Bangladesh coast
By DPA,
Dhaka : Cyclone Bijli hit the Bangladeshi coast late Friday night, but the tropical storm had weaken slightly before reaching the southeastern shoreline, officials said.
A Bangladesh meteorological department statement said that the cyclone - with a wind speed of 90 km per hour - would take five to six hours to cross the coast.
Several thousand inhabitants of islands in the Bay of Bengal were already evacuated earlier Friday, ahead of the storm.
10 militants killed in Afghanistan
By Xinhua,
Kabul : Ten Taliban militants were killed in fighting with the security forces in southern Afghanistan Friday, officials said.
The incident took place in Ghanzi province in southern Afghanistan.
"Our policemen came in contact with the Taliban rebels in Gilan district early Friday and 10 enemies (Taliban militants) were killed," provincial police chief Khayalbaz Shirzoi told Xinhua. There were no casualties on the police side, he said.
Will fraud mar credibility of Afghan elections?
By DPA,
Kabul : Afghanistan observers say they expect irregularities in the voting for Thursday's presidential elections but added that their concern lies in whether the problems would rise to a level that would impact the credibility of the balloting.
Pakistan postpones new Taliban offensives by six months
By IANS,
Islamabad : The Pakistan Army has ruled out new offensives against the Taliban in the next six months, instead it would try to consolidate recent gains made in anti-terror operations.
Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, Director General Inter Service Public Relations, said this in a press conference with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
The announcement comes as a disappointment to the US, which has pushed Pakistan to expand its operations against militants staging cross-border attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Medvedev, Abbas to discuss Middle East peace process
By RIA Novosti,
Sochi (Russia) : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday to discuss the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks, a Kremlin source said.
Abbas, who is currently on a three-day visit to Russia, will meet Medvedev in the southern Russian city of Sochi. The previous meeting between the two leaders was held in Moscow in April 2009.
The talks will focus on the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which have seen a lack of progress due to the Jewish outpost expansion in the West Bank.
Zardari wants partners help Pakistan
By IRNA,
Islamabad : Asif Ali Zardari has said Pakistan looks forward to its partners in this war to assist the country in overcoming over difficulties so that the goal of democratically elected government to meet the expectations of the people of Pakistan could be achieved.
"Pakistan needs trade and market access for its product in order to set its economy on the path of stability and prosperity," the President said during meeting with the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Halbrooke, the Presidential spokesamn said.
Two Israeli soldiers indicted for actions during Gaza offensive
By DPA,
Tel Aviv : Israeli military prosecutors indicted two Israeli soldiers Thursday for allegedly ordering a Palestinian child to open bags suspected of containing explosives, during Israel's Gaza Strip offensive last year, a military statement said.
The statement said that while searching a building in Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, the two soldiers ordered the child to open bags thought to be booby-traps.
German daily highlights Israel’s systematic misuse of Holocaust
By IRNA,
Berlin : The German daily Die Tageszeitung (taz) on Wednesday highlighted Israel's systematic instrumentalization of the Nazi-era Holocaust for its own political goals.
"Israel's right-wing government is instrumentalizing the Holocaust for its policy. No Israeli government has ever misused the Holocaust as much as the present one to justify its policies," the paper said in an editorial.
It added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been using the Holocaust to justify any Israeli aggression as "an act of self-defense."
NATO soldier, 35 insurgents killed in Afghan clashes
By DPA,
Kabul : A NATO soldier and 35 Taliban insurgents were killed in clashes in Afghanistan, the military alliance said Tuesday.
"A NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan Tuesday," a military statement said without revealing the deceased's nationality.
Over 450 international troops, most of them from the US, have been killed in the conflict this year.
Pakistan to seek UN help in hijacked crewmen release
By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistan Friday said it may seek the help of the UN for safe release of the Pakistani crew on board a hijacked Panama-flagged cargo vessel.
Somali pirates hijacked the MV Suez ship off the Gulf of Aden early this month with 23 crew members from Egypt, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.
The ministry of foreign affairs is exploring avenues for seeking UN assistance for the release of Pakistani nationals, an official spokesman was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Israeli illegal settlements ‘highly provocative,’ says UK minister
By IRNA,
London : Foreign Office Minister Lord Howell has accused the Israeli regime of being “highly provocative” by continuing to build illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.
Zardari stays execution of Christian woman
By Awais Saleem,IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Friday stayed the execution of a Christian woman who was sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy.
Iran opposition vows protests until leaders are freed
By DPA,
Berlin : The Iranian opposition said Monday that its protests would continue until the release of two of its main leaders, according to messages on its websites.
Italian jailed in Dubai for molesting air passenger
By IANS,
Dubai : An Italian man was Tuesday sentenced to four months in jail by a Dubai court for molesting a woman traveller on a flight from Jakarta to Dubai.
NATO Libya mission to continue as long as necessary: Rasmussen
By IRNA,
Berlin : NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen vowed Thursday to keep up military pressure on the regime of Libyan dictator Moammar Qadhafi 'as long as necessary.'
Yemen may witness signing of power transition plan Saturday
By IANS,
Moscow : A power transition plan between Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the opposition could be signed Saturday in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Al Jazeera reported.
Stand by Pakistan’s security forces: Malik tells countrymen
By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has urged the people not to criticise the military, and to stand by the country's security forces.
4,000 bottles of liquor seized in Pakistan
By IANS,
Islamabad : More than 4,000 bottles of foreign branded liquor valued at Rs.20 million (around $220,000) has been seized in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
Quirks of History: How Jinnah forestalled Fazlul Haq’s gambit
By Prof. Refaqat Ali Khan,
Write Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, an NGO, invited me to attend the SAARC Literary Festival in Dhaka on 27-28 February, 2014. Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives were participants. The seminar / festival proposed a discussion / review “Beyond Borders, Trust and Reconciliation”.
‘More than 150,000’ killed in Syrian conflict
Istanbul : More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights said in a new figure released Tuesday.
40 suicide jackets seized from Afghanistan border
Islamabad : At least 40 suicide jackets were seized by security forces at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, media report said Monday.
Official sources said the jackets...
Muslim Organizations in Mumbai send memorandum to Egypt’s Ambassador to India
By A. Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Expressing their concerns for the violation of Human Rights in Egypt, some Muslim organizations in Mumbai has sent a combined memorandum to the Egypt’s Ambassador to India. These organizations have also appealed Government of India to bring the matter before United Nations and help restore democracy in Egypt.
Of Pakistan’s Punjab and high levels of drug use
By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: When it comes to drug use, Pakistan’s province of Punjab due to its large share of the population, has the highest number of people who use and inject drugs with 2.9 million people using illicit substances in the past year and approximately 260,000 people who currently inject drugs.
Pakistan’s SC orders formation of national council for protecting minorities’ rights
By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday ordered the federal government to form a national council of minorities' rights for protection of minority rights and ensuring religious harmony.
Love Thy Neighbor: Nawaz Sharif’s Visit to India
By Ram Puniyani,
India Pakistan relations have always been mired with in various controversies, which have been preventing the friendly relations with our neighbor, who in ‘popular perception’ is seen as an enemy. It is due to this that while all the members of SAARC countries have been invited, the one to draw maximum popular attention has been the coming of Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. In a deft move India’s the then Prime Minister designate sent an invite to all the heads of SAARC countries for his swearing in ceremony, (16 May 2014)which was held with great pomp and show.
“We are all Palestinians” Chant tens of thousands in London
By M Ghazali Khan,
London: Thousands of protesters, estimated around 100,000, have demonstrated outside the Israeli Embassy against Israeli aggression on Gaza and the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.
Obama’s Eid greeting to Muslims backfires
Washington : A White House message on Twitter wishing “Muslims in the United States and around the world a blessed and joyous celebration” of...
Pakistan lodges protest with India over firing across ‘working boundary’
By Aslam Chandio, TwoCircles.net,
Islamabad: The Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Monday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and lodged a protest over what it called...
Malaysia top favorite ‘halal holiday’ destination
By IINA,
Jeddah : Malaysia tops the world’s favorite destinations for Muslim travelers, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates and Turkey...
Eight security personnel killed in Peshawar blast
By IANS,
Peshawar : Eight security personnel were killed when an abandoned car they sought to check exploded on the outskirts of Pakistan's Peshawar city Saturday.
Residents of Badahber village had alerted the police to the car parked on a roadside with a man's body inside. As the police team approached it, the vehicle blew up, the authorities said.
A media report identified the dead as five policemen and three Frontier Constabulary soldiers. At least six people were injured.
Dawn News quoted a police official as saying that a remote-controlled bomb was planted in the car.
KABUL, Afghanistan, February 08, SPA -- Bitter cold, nowstorms and avalanches have killed at least 654 people in Afghanistan this winter, a government official said.
Weather-related incidents have also left 84 people injured and killed at least 100,000 cattle, said Abdul Matin Edrak,
head of the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Commission.
Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries and is largely mountainous, with winter temperatures often plunging well below freezing, the Associated Press reported.