Muslim World News

By KUNA Gaza : Israeli Foreign Ministry said Monday evening Israel would have to launch military operations against the Palestinians in response to the deadly attack that took place earlier today at a shopping center in the southern town of Dimona. Amira Uron, the ministry spokesperson, condemned the attack as "regrettable terrorist act," according to reports reaching here from Israel. "The terrorist attack, targeting Israeli civilians is nothing new to the terrorist leaders ruling Gaza Strip at present," she said.

By IANS/WAM, Madrid : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Spain have agreed to strengthen bilateral economic ties at a meeting of the representatives of the two countries here Thursday. UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Al Mansouri and Miguel Sebastian, Spainish minister of industry, tourism and commerce, issued a joint statement marking the close of the first meeting of the UAE-Spain Joint Economic Committee.

By SPA Washington : President George W. Bush met with top U.S. military commanders Wednesday to hear their recommendations on Iraq amid a growing consensus in favor of a “pause” in reducing the number of U.S. forces there, officials said. The two-hour meeting at the Pentagon was the latest in a series of formal consultations that Bush has scheduled with U.S. military leaders this week on Iraq.

By NNN-KUNA Baghdad : The Iraqi cabinet has condemned the Turkish military incursion into north Iraq and called for the immediate withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the region. While expressing understanding of the motives of Turkey, the cabinet protested against the infringement by the northwestern neighbour on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq, government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh said in a press release following the cabinet meeting here Tuesday.

By Xinhua, Jerusalem : The Israeli military Sunday said it launched an airstrike to hit back at Gaza militants' rocket attacks earlier Sunday after the Jewish state announced a unilateral truce late Saturday night. A spokesman from the military said that Israeli aircraft hit the launchers in the Gaza Strip that had fired rockets into Israel. The retaliation came after southern Israel was pounded by a number of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip in the morning, hours after an Israeli unilateral ceasefire came into effect.

By Manish Chand, IANS,

By Xinhua, Gaza : A Fatah leader on Thursday said Hamas Islamists can not uproot his movement in Gaza Strip they control. "Fatah is the Palestinian people's movement and the pioneer of its struggle since 44 years," said Ibraheem Abu al-Naja, a Fatah leader based in the Hamas-controlled Gaza. Hamas arrested hundreds of Fatah supporters and leaders, including Abu al-Naja, in Gaza following a blast that killed a girl and five Hamas members on the beach last month. Hamas accused Fatah of being responsible.

By IANS, Dhaka : The parliamentary polls in Bangladesh scheduled for December may be held without lifting the curbs imposed under a national emergency, going by the largely trouble-free civic polls held Monday that saw the Awami League emerge victorious. Holding an election under the national emergency was "no longer an issue", Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M Shamsul Huda was quoted as saying.

By IANS, Oslo: Norwegian killer Anders Breivik has told a court in Oslo that he picked up strategies from the Al Qaeda and said it could serve as inspiration to European far-right militants.

By IANS/RIA Novosti,

By IANS, Kuala Lumpur : Buoyed by the decision of arch rival Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi to quit next March, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has set another deadline for his Pakatan Rakyat alliance to wrest control of the Malaysian government - before the end of the year. He said Badawi's decision to step down by March and hand over to his deputy, Najib Tun Razak, would not halt the takeover plan.

By IANS,

By IANS, Islamabad : Pakistan's chief justice has withdrawn from a case relating to the appointment of Supreme Court and high court judges after the declaration of the November 2007 emergency. He has appointed a five-member bench for hearing the case. "Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has separated himself from the bench that will hear the unconditional apology and contempt of court cases of PCO (Provisional Constitution Order) judges, including (former chief justice) Abdul Hameed Dogar and that of former attorney general Latif Khan Khosa," Geo TV reported Friday.

By IANS/WAM, Dubai: More than 750 firms from 42 countries will showcase their yachts and recreational boats during the international boat exhibition that begins in Dubai Tuesday.

By IRNA, Islamabad : Pakistani journalists on Monday called for a free media, saying that there should be no restriction on freedom of expression. They told IRNA that Pakistan is certainly enjoying more freedom of expression than any other Islamic country but it has yet to achieve international press freedom level. Mazhar Abbas, a senior Pakistani journalist said in Pakistan the situation of media is far better as compared to the rest of the Islamic world.

By IANS, Kuala Lumpur : A Malaysian parliamentary forum has highlighted the continuing dissatisfaction among the Indian community a year after a Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally to voice their problems was suppresed. Participants at the forum chaired by Charles Santiago, a lawmaker from Klang Valley, said neither the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) nor the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have addressed the issues of poverty, unemployment, low wages and poor education facilities that face the Indian community.

By IRNA London : Five years since US invasion of Iraq, presidential candidate John McCain said Friday that an "early" military pull-out will cause "genocide" and represent a defeat for the American government. "If we do that then al-Qa'eda wins, we have chaos and genocide throughout the region and they will follow us home," McCain said, believing calls for the US to get out of Iraq will be one of the debate at the presidential elections in November.

Jammu/New Delhi: Pakistani troops opened unprovoked firing at Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district Friday, a...

By SPA Baghdad : A suicide bomber killed nine people and wounded 30 others at a funeral in Diyala province north of Baghdad on Friday, a senior Iraqi security official said, according to Reuters. The bomber struck as people gathered at a cemetery in the city of Baquba for the funeral of a policeman who had been killed on Thursday, said Abdul Kareem al-Rubaie, commander of Diyala security operations.

Ramallah:Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Saturday that the unity government, which will be formed within five weeks, will adopt his strategy of recognising Israel...

By NNN-APP, Lahore : Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that provinces would be given autonomy at the earliest to enable them to decide about utilization of their resources. He said this in a meeting with PPP MNAs and MPAs including women and other party office-bearers at the State Guest House here on Sunday. The Prime Minister said federal cabinet would be expanded and working of standing committees would be improved further to grasp the real problems of the common man.

By NNN-Bernama, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia : The labour and human rights of non-citizens -- migrant workers, asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons --must be safeguarded, regardless of their immigration status in the country. Migration Working Group (MWG) co-ordinator Alice Nah listed out common violations of labour and human rights as cheating by agents; wrongful arrest and detention; unpaid wages; wrongful dismissal; and wrongful deduction of wages, among others. She urged the government to ensure that the right to redress for all non-citizens was protected.

By Omar Khalid, IANS, Karachi: Pakistan's tennis officials Thursday decided to call off two international junior tennis tournaments in capital Islamabad because of growing threat of terrorism. Rashid Khan, the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) secretary, said in a statement that the back-to-back world ranking tournaments scheduled to get underway from October 25 have been cancelled in the wake of the twin suicide bombing at the International Islamic University earlier this week.

Jakarta : The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the highest Muslim organisation in the country, Thursday banned Muslims from taking part in the activities of...

By WAM New York : The United Nations Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities will go into force next moth, as it has been ratified by 20 countries including United Arab Emirates. The convention will ensure equal rights to 650 million disabled people across the world. Ecuador became the 20th country to ratify the convention on Thursday, giving the UN the necessary authority to put it into force 30 days after the ratification. The convention makes it mandatory to ensure equal rights to the disabled people in work, education and social, political and economic life.

By DPA Jerusalem : It was Iran's responsibility to convince the world that it was not building atom bombs, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday in the Israeli parliament. "The world must not prove to Iran that Iran is building an atom bomb. Iran must convince the world that it does not want a bomb," Merkel said in an historic address to the Knesset. She also expressed unequivocal support for Israel's security.

By IANS, Islamabad: A massive fire gutted at least 127 shops in a market in Pakistan's Rawalpindi city, a media report said Saturday.

By IANS, Islamabad : Pakistan's power shortfall has reached 4,000 MW with outages ranging up to 17 hours in rural areas and up to 12 hours in urban areas. The current demand for electricity is 11,500 MW while generation has reduced to 7,500 MW from 8,000 MW, Online news agency reported. This has forced outages that are badly affecting industrial and domestic consumers. Consumers have now demanded that PEPCO divide the shortfall equally among the four provinces and the VVIP feeders to end the outages.

By IRNA, Berlin : Germany's migrant community does not trust the country's media because of its pro-Israel bias, the German press agency dpa quoted an expert saying Wednesday.

By IANS,

By IANS, Sana'a: The United Arab Emirates's Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Humanitarian Foundation has distributed 10,000 food parcels among the needy families in Yemen's capital Sana'a.

By IANS,

By IANS, Islamabad : The week-long toll in the violence in Pakistan's port city of Karachi rose to 83 Monday after two more people were shot dead in target killings.

By IANS/WAM, Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Belarus have held talks over bilateral cooperation and reviewed a number of important economic issues.

By Xinhua, Islamabad : The Pakistani army said Saturday that they killed over 30 militants in the restive Swat valley in the northwest. The News Network International (NNI) news agency quoted Major Nasir Ali, who is in charge of the army's media center in Swat, assaying that the security forces launched a major operation in Kanju and Kabbal area of Swat early Saturday morning. Ali said over 30 Taliban were killed during the operation and two soldiers also lost their lives.

By DPA, New York : The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki charged Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza Strip, citing the Goldstone report on the December-January fighting between Israel and Hamas. Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev countered Al-Malki, rejecting the use of the council meeting by governments to discuss the report as counterproductive to the Middle East peace process. Israel has rejected the report as one-sided and biased.

By NNN-APP London : Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon congratulated Pakistan on the conduct of relatively peaceful elections held on Monday. “These elections are an important step in Pakistan ‘s journey towards full democracy,” said the Secretary-General in a statement Wednesday adding “The people of Pakistan have spoken and their voice must be heard and respected.”

By P.Vijian, NNN-Bernama, New Delhi : World largest kenaf producer Bangladesh will jointly conduct research with Malaysia to develop new high-yielding kenaf seedlings, a viable alternative for Malaysian tobacco farmers. Plantation Industries and Commodities deputy minister Senator A. Kohillan Pillay said Bangladesh Jute and Textile Ministry has agreed to collaborate with Malaysian scientists to develop the new variety.

By Prensa Latina, United Nations : United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned violence in Lebanon and expressed his solidarity with the Lebanese people and government. In a statement released here Ban called for calm and control as well as an immediate halt of violence. He called on all parts to start a national dialogue and reiterated the need for a political process in that nation to conclude with the election of the president and a solution to end the long crisis in the country.

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama says, if elected, turning around the economy and energy independence would be his priorities, besides stabilising Afghanistan and checking resurgence of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan. "[The] top priority may not be any of those five. It may be continuing to stabilise the financial system. We don't know yet what's going to happen in January," he told CNN Friday when asked to pick from taxes, health care, education, energy policy and immigration.

Washington: Veteran journalist Brian Williams, the popular host of NBC's nightly prime time newscast, has apologised after admitting that he made up the story...

By IRNA, Baghdad : At least 40 pilgrims have been killed by a female suicide bomber south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said on Friday. 80 people were also injured in the attack in Iskandiriya, 40km (25 miles) south of Baghdad. The blast targeted Shia pilgrims, many of whom have been traveling south to the city of Karbala to take part in an annual religious ceremony. It is the third day of attacks on Shia pilgrims, with dozens killed in Baghdad and Mosul.

Islamabad : The Pakistani state is clueless how to fight terrorist groups holding the country to ransom, a leading Pakistani daily said Monday following...

By NNN-Bernama Kuala Lumpur : The Barisan Nasional (BN) returned to power in Saturday's general election but lost its two-thirds majority for the first time in history and suffered shock defeat in Penang, Kedah, Selangor and Perak. Voters handed the 14-party coalition its biggest electoral defeat since ruling the country for the past 50 years as the four key states fell to the loose opposition pact of DAP, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in a tsunami-like wave.

By Xinhua, Beirut : Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Monday that his group will prevent to use weapons in the internal disputes. "The resistance weapons are directed towards the enemy," Nasrallah addressed at the occasion of the "resistance liberation anniversary," which marks the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in June 2000. He said he accepts what was agreed on in Doha concerning the prohibition of using arms for political gains.

By Xinhua, Islamabad : Taliban militants in Pakistan Saturday suspended the peace talks with the government, blaming it for launching military operations in several parts of the country, AAJ TV reported. Tribal leader Baitullah Mehsood said the security forces had launched "unjustified" operations against the Taliban, saying that the operations were negation of the government's pledges to resolve the problems through dialogue.

By IANS,

By DPA, Tehran : An Iranian passenger plane Wednesday crashed in Qazvin province northwest of the capital Tehran, the news network Khabar reported. The plane belonged to Caspian Airlines and was flying with 150 passengers to Yerevan, Armenia. It crashed 16 minutes after take off over Takestan in Qazvin province.

By IRNA Kabul : Iran's Embassy in Kabul issued a communique here Friday announcing Iran is surveying Afghan Government's proposal for nomination of Sima Samar a candidate for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. According to IRNA office in Kabul, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan invited the foreign countries' ambassadors and charge d'affaires in Kabul to introduce Sima Samar, the US Special Reporter on Human Rights in Darfur, Sudan, and the Head of Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission, as nominee for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

By IANS, New Delhi : With the UN Security Council (UNSC) Wednesday imposing fourth round of sanctions against Tehran, India has no choice but to implement new measures but New Delhi has let it be known that there is no alternative to dialogue to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. "Being a UN member, India will have to abide by the UNSC resolution. But we continue to advocate, as we have always done, dialogue and diplomacy to resolve issues relating to the Iranian nuclear programme," official sources said.

By KUNA, Gaza : Indirect peace talks with Syria are making progress, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said on Wednesday. In a statement to the Israeli Radio, Regev expressed satisfaction for the course of negotiations mediated by Turkey. He acknowledged that these negotiations have made "substantial progress" at the same time contending that "direct negotiations with Syria could make the desired progress aimed to reaching a peace agreement with Israel."

By TCN News, New Delhi: Aaghaz-e-Dosti, an Indo-Pak Friendship initiative of India based Mission Bhartiyam and Pakistan-based The Catalyst – TC, organized Aman Chaupal on 4th October at two centres - Hastal Village and Jeevan Park, of AAM Foundation, an NGO that provides free English classes.

By IANS/AKI,

By Xinhua, Kabul : Forty Afghan civilians were killed and 28 others injured when coalition forces mistakenly bombed a wedding party in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, officials and witnesses said Wednesday. The US-led coalition forces backed by helicopter gunships pounded on the Taliban positions in Shah Wali Kot district after militants attacked them. One of the bombs mistakenly hit a wedding party in Wech Baghtu village, killing and wounding dozens as a result, witnesses said.

By DPA, Jerusalem : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Israel Saturday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in efforts to revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Clinton arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday night and met with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, before meeting with Netanyahu. In a joint press conference in Jerusalem with Netanyahu, Clinton played down conditions for the talks, and instead emphasized along with Netanyahu the need to "get on the path" to talks.

By Xinhua, Jerusalem : The release of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit plays a key role in resolving the security situation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday. Barak made the remarks during a meeting at his Tel Aviv residence with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, whose visit to Israel on Monday may lead to progress in terms of the Shalit issue, as Suleiman serves as the main contact with Hamas and the soldier's kidnappers, who abducted Shalit in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

By IANS, Chandigarh : After a long wait of 61 years, Pakistani national Mohammad Yusuf finally returned to his native village Kamalpur, near Rupnagar town, Friday. The 80-year-old Yusuf was accompanied by his son Arshad who is a DSP in Pakistan police. Yusuf's family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 after India's partition. It was an emotional reunion for Yusuf meeting his childhood mates, Jaggu Ram and Ram Sarup, who had especially come from Kurukshetra town in Haryana to meet their old pal. Yusuf was honoured by the villagers at a function held in the village gurdwara Sunday.

By NNN-WAFA, Ramallah : President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that the security of Israel is linked to Palestine independence and security, adding that the continuity of occupation and al-Nakba could not bring security for each and ending the occupation could only bring security.

By Xinhua, Jerusalem : Visiting U.S. President George W.Bush on Thursday said in an address delivered to Israeli Knesset (parliament) that the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. "Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations," the U.S. president said, adding that for the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

By NNN-APP, Islamabad : Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman said that the government, opposition and the masses are united on the issue of national security and nobody would be allowed to use Pakistan territory for terrorism and nor anybody would be allowed to commit aggression against our country. Talking to mediapersons at Parliament House, she said that it was time to adopt a joint strategy for defence of the country.

By DPA Washington : The outcome of Iran's parliamentary elections are "cooked" because the regime refuses to allow opposition candidates a spot on the ballot, the US State Department said. "They're cooked in the sense that the Iranian people weren't able to vote for a full range of people," spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday. "Essentially, they're given the choice of choosing between one supporter of the regime or another supporter of the regime."

Islamabad : Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif why he is not speaking up against Indian "aggression" along...

By DPA, Jerusalem : Visiting US President George W. Bush expressed unequivocal support for Israel Thursday, saying it had a right to defend itself against attacks by extremists and had American backing in opposing Iran's nuclear ambitions. "We believe that targeting innocent lives to achieve political objectives is always and everywhere wrong. So we stand together against terror and extremism, and we will never let down our guard or lose our resolve," he said in an historic speech to the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem.

By WAM Dubai : A military strike against Iran is apparently ?imminent? and the recent spate of militia attacks that threaten to refute US claims of peace in Iraq could provide the casus belli, according to the Khaleej Times. "Just when the divide between American lawmakers over the situation in Iraq seems to be widening, such claims of Iran fuelling unrest in the war-ravaged nation could be used as a means to bring the sparring groups together to support the campaign against Iran," it remarked.

By Xinhua, Baghdad : Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay a visit to Iraq soon to enhance bilateral ties. During a meeting in his office with heads of Iraqi media organizations on Thursday, Talabani reviewed security, economic and political issues in Iraq in addition to his country's relations with neighboring countries, Talabani's office said in a statement obtained by Xinhua on Friday.

By Xinhua, Baghdad : A U.S. marine was killed and two others were injured when their unit came under small-arms fire from an "enemy force" in Iraq's western province of An bar, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. The attack occurred on Sunday while the soldiers' unit was conducting clearing operations in a village in northern the province, the military said in a statement. The name of the deceased soldier is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, it added.

By Awais Saleem, IANS,

By IANS, Islamabad : The Taliban have claimed responsibility for kidnapping about 30 Pakistani children who mistakenly crossed into Afghanistan while on a picnic, a media report said.

By KUNA Islamabad : The two US envoys Wednesday visited Pakistans volatile tribal region along Afghan border in an effort to boost security and development of the impoverished region, once known as a safe heaven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. Johan Negroponte, US Deputy Secretary of State, and Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, arrived here on Tuesday morning on a two-day unannounced visit to hold talks with the new Pakistani government.

By Xinhua, Kabul : Gunmen killed a judge of local court and his son outside their house Saturday in Kandahar city, provincial capital of south province Kandahar, a provincial police chief said. "Two killers riding a motorbike reached the judge's house and knocked at the door at about 1 p.m. local time," Matiullah Khan told Xinhua, adding the judge and his son were killed when they answered the door out of the house.

By IRNA, Berlin : The number of German tourists visiting Iran this year has increased by a whopping 91 percent, dpa cited a leading German tour operator as saying Thursday. The Munich-based Studiosus Reisen Travel Agency which is the largest tour operator of culture and nature special interest group tours in Germany, said Iran has become the top destination for German tourists in the Middle East. Studiosus is in charge of the travel arrangements of more than 100,000 tourists every year.

By IANS,

By Xinhua Ramallah : Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei severely criticized Israel after 17 Palestinians were killed and more than 40 others wounded in the Gaza Strip early on Tuesday. Qurei said in a written statement sent to reporters that he condemns and strongly opposes to what he called "the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces this morning in Gaza."

Srinagar : There was pandemonium in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative council here Wednesday over the tabling of a resolution seeking resumption of India-Pakistan...

By NNN-Bernama Dubai : Efforts to promote Malaysia as an educational hub among Middle East and North African countries are bearing fruit, judging from the increasing number of students from the region who have opted for Malaysian institutions of higher learning over the past few years. Malaysia Education Promotion Centre (MEPC) Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, Shushilil Azam Shuib, said the number of students grew from some 2,000 in 2000 to 6,000 in 2005, 7,800 in 2006 and more than 11,000 in 2007.

By DPA, Rome: Four Serie A games were called off over the weekend due to heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures, local media reported Sunday. The Sunday afternoon game between Genoa and visiting Bari was the last game to be postponed, despite clear skies at the seaside town, as freezing temperature made access to the stands dangerous for the fans at the Luigi Ferraris stadium. Udinese-Cagliari, which was scheduled in the north-eastern town of Udine, was cancelled earlier Sunday due to frozen snow on the pitch at the Friuli stadium.

By SPA, Beirut : The New Lebanese government headed by Fuad Siniora won today the confidence-motion in Parliament by a majority of votes of the deputies after several days of discussion on the ministerial statement of the Government in the House of deputies. As many as 100 Deputies voted in favor of the government out of a total of 107 Deputies who attended today's session of the Parliament. Five Deputies voted no confidence while 2 abstained.

By IRNA, New York : Iranian Ambassador to United Nations Eshaq Ale Habib on Friday urged the Security Council to take immediate action to alleviate sufferings of people living in Gaza Strip. He said in his statement to United Nations Security Council meeting that humanitarian situation in Gaza Strip, has reached a disastrous point and the people living there are subject to untold Israeli crimes, and are enduring a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the last several decades.

By IANS, Doha : Qatar would donate $100 million to Japan to help in the country's reconstruction after the devastating earthquake in March, a media report said.

By SPA, Baghdad : U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday, Reuters reported. Six people were killed in overnight clashes in the East Baghdad Enclave, the sprawling Sadr City slum, police said. Rice praised Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's security efforts and said that she was in Iraq to help promote reconciliation among factions.

By Awais Saleem, IANS,

By IANS, Islamabad : The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has received three F-16 fighter jets after the aircraft were upgraded in Turkey.

By IRNA, Islamabad : Pakistani Prime Minister, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, on Thursday hit out at his British counterpart, David Cameron, who accused Islamabad of exporting terrorism to Afghanistan and the world. Gilani, while speaking in the Senate, warned that criticizing role of Pakistani agencies would affect the war on terror. The opposition leader Raja Zafarul Haq raised the issue of the remarks of British Prime Minister during his visit to India also accused Islamabad of having links with terrorist groups.

By DPA, Baghdad : A mass grave of around 100 Kurdish bodies has been discovered in the southern Iraqi city of Diwaneya, the Buratha news agency reported Wednesday. The discovery came following a tip received by Iraqi intelligence indicating the site of the grave, according to Fadel al-Sagheer, head of the human rights office in the city.

By IANS, Islamabad : A Pakistani policeman Thursday committed suicide after killing a fellow constable and another man, police said.

By IINA, Jebaliya : Surrounded by mountains of rubble that were once their homes, two dozen children sat on a rainbow-colored blanket and drew with crayons. They quickly filled the pages passed around by trauma counselors with pictures of Israeli tanks, dead bodies and Palestinians firing assault rifles scenes they saw when Israel's war on Hamas came into their neighborhood. “We felt we will die soon," 11-year-old Sharif Abed Rabbo told the group, describing his family's escape. “And I am sad I lost my house."

By KUNA, Gaza : Five Palestinian missiles were fired on Monday from Gaza Strip targeting several areas in southern Israel, the Israeli Army said in a statement. The army spokesman told a local radio that one of the missiles landed in an area near the demarcation line of Gaza Strip, destroying a car and causing damage. No casualities were reported. He said four other missiles exploded in several areas in southern Israel. Two targeted the Israeli settlement of Sderot.

By Bernama Sana'a : South Korea has raised its support for Yemen from $55 million promised at the Donor Conference held in 2006 in London to $100 million for 2007-2010, Yemen's official news agency Saba reported. The director general of the International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation Omer Abdul Aziz said that this illustrated the developed relations between the two countries, particularly after the successful visit of president Ali Abdullah Saleh to South Korea in April, 2005.

By Xinhua Beirut : Lebanese Parliament Speaker and opposition leader Nabih Berri has said that his call for a national dialogue among rival leaders should be favored by all sides particularly the ruling majority, local As Safir daily reported Friday. "The issue of resuming dialogue depends on the consensus of different parties especially the pro-government side," Berri, who returned late Thursday to Beirut from a European tour, was quoted as saying.

Islamabad : The Lahore High Court (LHC) Friday asked the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) to submit written responses during...

By SPA Islamabad : President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan Tuesday at the conclusion of his nine-day four-nation visit to European countries that took him to Belgium, France, Switzerland and United Kingdom, officials said. The President was received at Pakistan Air Force Base Chaklala by caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, caretaker Minister for Information Nisar Memon and Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani besides other senior civil and military officers.

By IANS, Islamabad : The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has emerged as the majority party in Sindh and now looks set to form the government in the province on its own, a media report said.

By Xinhua, Baghdad : At least 54 people were killed and more than 80 injured in two car bombings in northern and western Iraq Tuesday. The first car bomb detonated outside a court building in the northern city of Baquba in Diyala province killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 70, while another car packed with explosives blew up in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in the west, killing 14 and wounding as many, the police said.

By DPA, Sana'a (Yemen) : The US embassy in this Yemeni capital reopened to the public Tuesday after a two-day closure prompted by threats from the regional branch of Al Qaeda, an embassy official said. "The embassy reopened today and resumed its normal operation," the source said on the condition of anonymity. The British and French embassies also reopened Tuesday, but their consular sections remained closed to the public, diplomats said.

By Xinhua, Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will on Friday be put on the grill by police for the fifth time in three months, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday. The questioning session, scheduled on Friday morning at Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem, will also mark the second police interrogation against the probes-laden premier since he announced that he would not contend in his ruling Kadima party's primary and would resign as soon as a new party leader was chosen.

By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS, Islamabad : Human rights activist and former minister Ansar Burney has asked Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani to convert all death sentences to life imprisonment, including that of two Indian nationals. Burney wrote to Gillani and Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, demanding that all death sentences, including that of two Indians Karpal Singh and Sarabjit Singh, be changed to life imprisonment. In his letter sent from here Monday evening, Burney also demanded that all prisoners, including Indians, be released once they had served their sentences.

London : The Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation plans to introduce its own currency and bring back solid gold and silver coins, according to...

By IANS, Islamabad : China is sincere in helping out Pakistan in its economic development and all possible support was being provided in this regard, a top Chinese official has said.

Kabul : The Afghan defence ministry Wednesday lowered the toll in Tuesday's suicide car bomb attack on a crowded market in southeastern Afghanistan from...

By Xinhua, Jakarta : Southeast Asia can play a vital role in bridging the gap and settling the worrisome misunderstandings between the West and Muslim world, the Jakarta Post daily on Thursday quoted the Secretary-General of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Surin Pitsuwan as saying. "I am confident that the road to reconciliation between the West and the Muslim world runs through Southeast Asia," Surin told audience during the third International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS).

By DPA, Washington : The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are meeting here to discuss Iran's failure to cooperate with UN demands that it dismantle its nuclear programme. The talks could include discussion of another possible set of resolutions against Iran, said US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. The meeting comes just days before next week's UN General Assembly debate among heads of state, when US Jewish organizations were planning a major rally Monday against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outside the United Nations.

By NNN-IRNA, Tehran : Some 2.16 million foreign tourists visited the Islamic Republic in the year to March 2008, head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei said. Speaking at a press conference at Tehran's Golestan Palace Sunday, he said that an increase in the number of foreign tourists indicates the development of the tourism industry in the Islamic Republic. Mashaei noted that there are no obstacles to expanding the tourism industry.

By IANS, Islamabad : Two Pakistani judges have been issued show-cause notices for trying to influence the Lahore High court chief justice for their promotion and posting.

By Xinhua, Washington : U.S. officials said Friday that a vessel contracted by the U.S. Navy in the Gulf fired warning shots on two Iranian fast boats Thursday, but Iran denied the claims . The U.S. ship Westward Venture, contracted by the U.S. Military Sealift Command to carry military cargo to Kuwait, fired upon the boats after attempts to get the Iranian boats' attention failed, FOX News quoted Pentagon sources as saying. A U.S. navy security team, armed with M16 rifles and machine guns, was onboard the Westward Venture at the time the warning shots were fired.

By IANS, Islamabad : Pakistan wants new rules of engagement with the US and an assurance of "no Abbottabad-like unilateral action in future", Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.

By Xinhua Ramallah : Palestinian security forces detained six members of Islamic Hamas movement in West Bank on Wednesday night, the Islamic movement said on Thursday. In Salfeet town, the security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah movement arrested two members of a municipal council and a third Hamas local leader, Hamas said in a statement faxed to the press.

By IANS,

By IANS, Islamabad: Taliban militants late Sunday night claimed to have killed 23 security personnel kidnapped in 2010 in the country's northwestern tribal region of...

By IANS, Islamabad : Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has constituted a high-powered committee to resolve the issue of unscheduled power outages in the country.

By DPA, Kuwait City : Kuwait's Emir has dissolved the parliament following the resignation of the cabinet and interim prime minister, the Dubai-based satellite network al-Arabiya reported Wednesday. Al-Arabiya said Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah had dissolved the parliament Wednesday after the cabinet and prime minister resigned Monday. But National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi Wednesday said he had not been notified of the decision, Kuwait's official KUNA news agency reported.

St. Petersburg: Both Russia and Saudi Arabia signed an inter-governmental agreement on Thursday on cooperation in nuclear energy for peaceful purposes during the International...

By IANS, Dhaka : Bangladesh's anti-corruption commission (ACC) has pressed charges against former prime minister Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman, one of her former ministers and six others in a bribery case to hush up the murder of a local entrepreneur. The anti-graft body said Tuesday that the eight were involved in receiving and giving the bribe to hush up the murder of Humayun Kabir Sabbir, a director of the Basundhara Group. They worked to ensure that Shafiat Sobhan Sanvir did not have to face charges of killing Sabbir whose body was found outside a building July 5, 2006.

By IANS,

By IANS, Islamabad : Pakistan has decided to set up a judicial commission to probe the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.

By IANS/WAM,

By NNN-KUNA, Baghdad : The Iraqi parliament postponed its urgent session Tuesday which was scheduled to discuss the governorates elections law. The session was postponed till Wednesday. Speaker of the Senate Khaled Attiya told the press that the session was postponed due to heated debate amongst political blocs on the UN draft paper which suggested a solution to the problem. The UN paper called for holding elections in all governorates except for Kirkuk, which would hold its elections in December 2009.

By Xinhua, Dhaka : Bangladeshi police rescued six children from Sadipur border with India in Jessore district, 140 km southwest of capital Dhaka, Friday morning while they were being trafficked to India. The six rescued children are from different districts in Bangladesh with ages between seven and 12. Police were quoted by private news agency UNB as saying a gang of human traffickers brought the children to southwestern Khulna district from Dhaka on Tuesday and later took them to the border by a train promising them good jobs in India.

By DPA, Kabul : Twenty-one civilians and four police officers were killed Thursday in a car bombing in the central Afghan province of Logar, police said. "Twenty-one civilians, including school students, and four of our police officers were killed in the blast," said General Mustafa Andarabi, the provincial police chief. The explosives, which were remotely detonated, were placed in a truck that had apparently been overturned purposely on a road in the village of Sheikhak in Mohammad Agha district.

By IANS, Washington : Dozens of Al Qaeda fighters and a handful of the terrorist outfit's leaders are leaving their main haven in Pakistan's tribal areas for Somalia and Yemen, the New York Times reported Friday quoting American officials. In communications that are being watched carefully at the Pentagon, the White House and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the terrorist groups in all three locations are now communicating more frequently, and apparently trying to coordinate their actions, the Times quoted the unnamed officials as saying.

By IANS, Islamabad : Four children were burnt to death when a fire razed a house in Pakistan's Multan city, police said.

By Xinhua, Kabul : Conflicts and battles elsewhere in Afghanistan left 27 persons including 23 suspected Taliban insurgents and four police constables dead on Tuesday, officials said. In the wee hours of Tuesday a group of insurgents came in contact with police in Tanai district of eastern Khost province. "It was very early this morning when police with the support of the U.S.-led Coalition forces and aircraft's backing clashed with Taliban insurgents during which 18 rebels were killed," a senior police officer Gul Dad told Xinhua.

By IANS, Islamabad: A Pakistani court Saturday acquitted all three Pakistani nationals accused in a botched bombing attack in New York, Online news agency reported.

By Xinhua, Jerusalem : Israel closed its border crossings with the Gaza Strip again on Tuesday following another rocket attack from the Hamas-ruled enclave Monday evening. Two Qassam rockets fired from the northern part of the coastal strip landed in an open area in western Negev in south Israel, causing no casualties or damage. No group has claimed responsibility for the fourth such attack since the Egypt-brokered truce went into effect on June 19.

By IANS, Islamabad : Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to enhance cooperation and boost ties, it was reported here.

By IANS, Dubai : Qatar's leading telecommunications provider Qtel finds a mention in the latest edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for auctioning off the world's most expensive mobile number. Though the auction took place two years ago, it finds mention only in the 2009 edition, scheduled for release worldwide Thursday. The number 666-6666 was auctioned for a record 10 million Qatari riyals ($2.75 million according to then exchange rates).

By IANS,

By NNN-APP, Dhaka : Bangladesh Monday put all border outposts of paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) on high alert with neighbouring India as police retrieved a powerful bomb on a timer and two hand bombs in southwestern bordering district of Jessore on Monday. Explosive experts were called in immediately to defuse them, police guarding the spot said.

By IANS, Washington : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit France, Egypt and Tunisia from March 14 to 17, the US State Department has said.

By NNN-PTI, Islamabad : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari pledged to rein in extremist groups but cautioned India not to dictate the course of action as "we shall do it in our own time and not because of your demarche". Accepting that Pakistan had the "cancer" of extremism, Zardari on Saturday said, "We have non-state actors. Yes, they are forcing an agenda on us....We will cure it, we will solve it, we will correct it".

By IANS,

By IANS, Dubai : The petrochemical industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is poised for massive expansion aided by large investment and improved availability of feedstock, WAM reported Thursday. "The total global ethylene (a petroleum derivative) capacity is projected to be 160 million tonnes by 2012 with the GCC's share in the market expected to grow to 15 percent in 2012 from seven percent in 2002," Qatar's energy minister Abdulla Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said.

By DPA, Baghdad : At least 25 people were killed and 37 others injured Friday in a series of attacks targeting four mosques in Baghdad, Iraqi security sources said. Police forces cordoned off all the areas around the mosques in different parts of Baghdad. The blasts took place right after the Friday prayers. According to the Voices of Iraq news agency, a car bomb that went off near al-Shroufi mosque in the northern district of al-Shaab left 15 civilians killed and 40 wounded.

By Xinhua, Gaza : Deposed Prime Minister of the Hamas unity government, Ismail Haneya, on Sunday played down Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' recent call for national dialogue. "Abbas' call for dialogue witnessed a change in the language, not the substance," Haneya told a group of journalists in Gaza city. Haneya said Hamas wishes to see an immediate start of the dialogue without any conditions "to surprise Abbas with steps he has never put in his calculations."

By SPA, Gaza : Five Palestinians were killed before dawn on Saturday in two separate Israeli air strikes on Hamas military posts in the two southern Gaza towns, medics and Hamas sources said. Israeli aircraft struck a post belonging to Hamas naval police west of Khan Younis, and then struck another post belonging to Hamas' armed wing in the town of Rafah, Hamas sources were quoted as saying by DPA.

By KUNA Kabul : At least six Taliban militants and one police officer were killed in a clash in southern Afghanistan, police said on Wednesday. The fighting took place in the volatile southern province of Helmand. Provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hussain Andiwal said the fighting erupted when the militants attacked a police post. He said four Taliban and one police officer were killed in the ensuing clash that occured in Marja district of the province.

Tripoli : Libya does not oppose the idea of having Arab, African or UN forces in the country to help the authorities take control...

By SPA, Cairo : Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu announced here today that the next OIC Summit will be held in Egypt in 2011. In a press statement, Ihsanoglu noted that the summit will be preceded by a meeting of Islamic Foreign Ministers in Syria next year. Ihsanoglu, who is participating in the summit of the African Union now in progress in Sharm El-Sheikh as an observer, pointed out that OIC attaches great importance to Africa, adding that 26 African countries are members of the OIC.

By IRNA, Tehran : President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday congratulated his Afghan, Tajik, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbek and Azeri counterparts on the advent of Nowruz (New Year). "Nowruz marks re-birth of love, friendship, and hope in the personal and social lives of human beings.

In the third of the five personal stories of half widows, Raqib Hameed Naik narrates the story of Rafiqa Mushtaq. ...

Kuala Lumpur : One of the two passengers on board the Malaysia Airlines missing airliner travelling on a stolen passport has been identified as...

By IANS/WAM, Dubai : The Middle East's leading CEOs are confident that the region is moving toward economic recovery, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers 13th Annual Global CEO Survey. More than 80 percent of the Middle East based CEOs who responded to the survey said they are confident of their prospects in the next 12 months, and 79 percent are expecting a recovery in their national economies in the next two years.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : Russia was not considering providing political asylum to embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Prime Minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin said.

By Xinhua Dhaka : About 46 children drown in Bangladesh every day and about 17,000 lose their lives annually as the drowning death toll peaks during the floods, according to a study by the United Nations Children's Fund. The Unicef study released here Wednesday said drowning was responsible for 87 percent of the total child deaths caused by the floods in 2007. Given the high prevalence of injury in children, the UN body undertook a pilot initiative to respond to this situation, said Iyorlumun Uhaa, acting country representative of Unicef Bangladesh.

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency may "have lost enormous control over" some terror outfits that it backed "to gain leverage in Pakistan's efforts to wrest Kashmir away from India", the Washington Times said Monday. Although US drone attacks in the tribal belt in Pakistan's northwest have been increasingly successful, militants once supported by the Pakistani spy agency ISI are helping Al Qaeda recruit new operatives, the US daily said citing an unnamed US defence official.

By Xinhua Gaza : Palestinian demonstrators held a symbolic funeral for 60 late patients who died due to an Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip since June 2007. Carrying 60 empty coffins with the names of the deceased patients on it, demonstrators walked through the Gaza streets to protest against Israeli siege on Gaza during which the patients including children and youths lost their lives for not being allowed to go outside for medical care.

By IRNA Islamabad : Pakistan cabinet committee on Tuesday approved the gas sale and purchase agreement of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, an official announcement said. The gas sale and purchase agreement was initiated during talks on December 18, 2007, and to be signed by ISGC on the Pakistan side, a statement from the Prime Minister House said. The approval was accorded in a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC), chaired by Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro.

Vatican City/Baghdad : Pope Francis Thursday expressed concern over the violence in northern Iraq, following the exodus of thousands of Christian families in the...