Bomb explodes outside Greek parliament; no casualties

A bomb exploded outside Greece's parliament building in central Athens on Saturday evening, police said. There were no casualties.
Police were alerted immediately after the Eleftherotypia newspaper received a call saying a bomb was placed in an open area outside of the structure.
Authorities closed off part of the boulevards in front of parliament and on the eastern side of the building before an explosive device detonated inside an installation for garbage disposal.
Law officers, wary of more explosives in the vicinity, were carefully combing the area, local media reported.
The front of the building is a major tourist attraction since Greece's tomb of the unknown soldier is there.
cnn.com

PAF gets force-multiplier capability

The first Air-to-Air Refueler aircraft of Pakistan Air Force out of total four has arrived on an operational Air Base of the country, a spokesman of PAF here Saturday said. In a press statement the spokesman said, the delivery of remaining three Refueler aircraft is planned to complete by mid-2010.

By virtue of its capability to refuel Air Defence aircraft in air, PAF’s overall potential in terms of its effectiveness to defend the airspace of Pakistan would be significantly enhanced, he added.
After attaining the facility, Pakistan Air Force has formally joined the rank of those developed air forces which have already the air refilling system.
An expert of the aviation industry welcomed this induction in PAF saying this is a force-multiplier ability as the strength of the existing number of fighter jets would atleast be doubled, straightaway.

SOURCE: Associated Press Of Pakistan

Pakistan team named for Australia tour, Younis left out

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cricket selectors on Monday left out Younis Khan from a 16-man squad and retained middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf as captain for three Test matches and five One-day Internationals against Australia.

Former captain Younis opted to rest after scoring only 22 runs as Pakistan lost the one-day series against New Zealand 2-1 in the United Arab Emirates last month.

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt had urged Younis to end his hiatus from the national team and play against Australia, but the former captain did not compete in the first class tournament to regain his batting form.

“Younis wanted to rest but he didn't play in the domestic cricket since the one-day series against New Zealand,'' chief selector Iqbal Qasim told reporters. “He didn't give his
availability to us and therefore we did not select him.''

Pakistan team will fly to Australia directly from New Zealand after playing three Test matches against the Kiwis with the first Test beginning at Melbourne on December 26.

Shahid Afridi, who will lead Pakistan in the only T20 international against Australia, will be Yousuf's deputy in the five-match one-day series. However, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was named vice-captain for the three-Test series.

Iqbal Qasim said the team for ODI series against Australia will be named after the second Test ends at Sydney on Jan. 7.

Test squad: Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (vice-captain/wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, Abdul Rauf, Umar Akmal.

Source Geo.tv

Oil higher in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices lingered near $74 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after a strengthening US dollar extended a four-day sell-off in crude to two-month lows.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 23 cents to $74.16 at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.54 to settle at $73.93 on Monday.

The dollar, boosted by a better than expected US jobs report last week, helped push oil prices out of a two-month range of between $75 and $82.

Investors have been buying crude as a hedge against inflation as the dollar has slid this year amid massive government stimulus spending and low interest rates. When the dollar rises, traders tend to sell their positions in oil.

"The movement of the dollar has continued to be a leading driver of oil pricing," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "But when the price falls to the mid-$70s, many market participants see that as a buying opportunity."

In Asian trade, the dollar pared some of its recent gains. The euro rose to $1.4834 from $1.4820 in New York late Monday while the dollar fell to 88.90 yen from 89.49.

In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil was steady at $1.96 while gasoline rose 0.54 cent to $1.96. Natural gas jumped 4.6 cents to $5.02 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude for January delivery rose 37 cents to $76.80 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Three arrested with suspected Uranium in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Navi Mumbai crime branch has arrested three people from Panvel for being in possession of a chemical looking substance that is suspected to be uranium.The material has been seized and sent to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for further analysis. The trio was arrested on Monday evening and as much as 5 kilograms of the material was seized from them.
Source : http://geo.tv

Several injured in twin Lahore blasts

LAHORE: Twin blasts in Lahore have injured several people, some of them seriously, at Moon market in Iqbal Town Lahore, Geo News reported Monday.

Nothing is known so far about the nature of the blasts.

According to Geo News sources, the two blasts occurred within 30 seconds of each other. Fire erupted in the shops after the blasts.

According to Geo News sources, the two blasts occurred within 30 seconds of each other. Fire erupted in the market immediately after the blasts, engulfing a number of shops.

Moon market is a commercial center of Iqbal Town, Lahore, where shoppers are normally present in large numbers. A suicide attack had also been launched at a police station in this area on 13 August last year in which 8 people lost their lives.

Evidence of Indian involvement at dialogue table: Malik

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday that evidence of Indian involvement in Pakistan has been handed over to the foreign ministry in Islamabad.

Speaking to the media after meeting with clerics at the CM House here, Malik said the evidence of Indian involvement in Pakistan will be shared with New Delhi during composite dialogue between the two countries.

The minister said arms and ammunitions smuggled into the country from Afghanistan were being used in terrorist activities in Pakistan. He said he was in talks with US and Afghan authorities in this connection and a mechanism is being put in place to stop the arms smuggling.

He stressed the need of ending cross border infiltration between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Malik said the army defends the country’s borders while the Ulema are the guardians of country’s ideology.

“On the instruction of President and Prime Minister, I have come to Karachi to seek guidance of Ulema against the militancy,” Rehman said.

To a question, he said that David Headley was born in Pakistan but was raised and studied in the United States. He should be tried according to the American law, said Rehman, adding if there was any evidence suggesting his links in Pakistan then it should be shared with us.

SOURCE: http://geo.tv

Osama escaped Pakistan: British newspaper

LONDON: A British newspaper citied Taliban warlords has claimed that Osama Bin Laden has fled Pakistan into Afghanistan.

The al-Qaeda chief escaped as Pakistan stepped up its military campaign on its lawless border area.

Qari Hussain - wanted for training suicide bombers - said he had met Bin Laden in Quetta near the Afghan border.

He said: "He recently left for Afghanistan. The military operation left him with no choice."

The claim was supported by Taliban warlord Shamim Mehsud, holed up in Pakistan.

The news came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates confessed they had received no decent intelligence on Bin Laden's location for "years".

He added: "If we did, we'd go and get him."

SOUCE: http://geo.tv

Blast rocks cafe in Perm, Russia. 100 dead 90 injured

An explosion has occurred in a cafe in the Urals city of Perm, a local police source told RIA Novosti by phone on Saturday.
The blast occurred late on Friday. Casualties were reported.
"The blast occurred at 23:15 Moscow time [20:15 GMT]... According to preliminary reports, some were killed or injured, their number is being established," the source said.
He added that no fire followed the blast.
Firefighters, rescuers and doctors are working at the scene.

Corruption is our Right: Pakistan People Party Minister

Mysterious shifting of Zardari Swiss case documents

US raids free child prostitutes

FBI officials in the US say they have rescued more than 50 children from prostitution rings.

Nearly 700 hundred people were arrested in 36 cities over three days, officials said, in an operation targeting a number of prostitution hotspots.

Most of those rescued were girls under 18 with the youngest just 10 years old. Dozens of pimps were also arrested.

The raid was part of a larger FBI operation which has so far recovered nearly 900 children from prostitution.

More than 1,500 FBI agents and police officers took part in the raids, which were based on intelligence provided by local police forces.

Nationwide effort

The FBI said that information provided by those arrested in such raids often uncovered organised prostitution rings and could lead to further rescues.

Kevin Perkins, the Assistant Director of the FBI's Criminal Division, said that despite recent success, child prostitution remained "a significant problem" in the US.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, welcomed the arrests of hundreds of people, including 60 pimps who had been forcing the children into prostitution to make money.

"Child trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is organised criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale or trade.

"These kids are victims. They lack the ability to walk away. This is 21st Century slavery," Mr Allen said

source: bbc.co.uk

Foreigners advised to restrict movement

ISLAMABAD: A number of foreign missions in Islamabad have advised their citizens to restrict their movement after a fresh threat of terrorist attacks in the capital, sources in the interior ministry and diplomatic circles told Dawn on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned of new threats of terrorist attacks in Islamabad and other parts of the country in the near future.

“The federal government issued a security advisory to the provinces and all authorities concerned two weeks ago on the basis of an intelligence report,” he said during a recent visit to the office of World Food Programme where a suicide attack claimed the lives of five UN officials.

“A security alert has been issued about possible attacks by terrorists in Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad and Balochistan,” he said, adding that steps had been taken to foil their nefarious designs.

According to the sources, the foreign missions have alerted their citizens in view of a possible military operation in Waziristan and reaction from the Taliban.

Malaysia has advised its nationals to be more vigilant. “According to the Pakistani authorities, another large-scale suicide bombing may take place and, therefore, Malaysians are advised to be more vigilant and avoid going to potential target areas,” said an advisory issued by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

It said the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and Malaysian High Commissioner in Islamabad would continue to monitor the situation and issue reports accordingly.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari has said terrorist attacks will not shake Pakistan’s determination to take the fight against extremists and militants to the end.

During a meeting with Executive Director of the World Food Programme Ms Josette Sheeran at the President House, he said: “The people of Pakistan are shedding the blood to make the country, the region and the world safe and free from extremist elements.”

The president offered condolences over the loss of innocent lives in the suicide bombing at the WFP office and said that heinous attacks, especially on people who were working for eliminating poverty and hunger, were condemnable.

PCB issues show cause notice to Dr Shah

KARACHI: International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent a written complaint to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against the statement of Dr Shah in which he had said that umpire Simon Toffel fixed the match with Indian lobby. PCB has issued a show cause notice to Dr Shah, the member of the governing body of the Board. According to PCB spokesman, since this statement may cause negative impact on PCB-ICC relations that’s why show cause notice has been issued to Dr Shah.

Obama delays signing K-L bill due to criticism

Updated at: 1635 PST, Wednesday, October 07, 2009
WASHINGTON: President Obama has delayed signing Kerry-Lugar bill due to reports of criticism on the bill in Pakistan, Geo news reported Wednesday.

According to sources, the decision came following reports in regard to reservations and questions raised by different sectors in Pakistan over the bill.

It is pertinent to mention that Kerry-Lugar bill will be debated in the national assembly today as PML-N Tuesday tabled the adjournment motion to debate on K-L bill in the Lower House which speaker Fehmida Mirza accepted for debate.

Mansha says can bring more investment than K-L bill

KARACHI: The Chairman of an independent Nishat Group Mian Muhammad Mansha who owns the MCB Bank, becoming critic of Kerry-Lugar bill, has said Wednesday, I can bring more annual investment in Pakistan than what will be gained through Kerry-Lugar aid bill.

But he conditioned the influx of heavy investment in country with the support of government if extended for the development of private sector in Pakistan.

This Mansha stated at the inauguration ceremony of induction of Nishat Power Company (NPC) in Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) here early on Wednesday morning.

On the occasion, he said the delay in the merger of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) is caused by regulators which has cost account holders a lot.

He expected the merger of two banks by the end of coming week, saying Nishat Group is pioneer among Pakistani private giants, which will own foreign banks for the first time.

Moreover he said, our economy has started witnessing growth and can be further improved if we consider prices of our commodities.

SPORTS: Groups confirmed for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

The ICC Board meeting in Johannesburg today confirmed the groups for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

In Group A there will be Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.

In Group B there will be India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands.

Rain sees Pakistan through to semi-finals

CENTURION: Pakistan qualified for the Champions Trophy semi-finals after the India-Australia match was abandoned due to rain here on Monday.

Pakistan have already secured four points after winning both of their matches in the four-team Group A, while Australia have three points and India one after two games. The West Indies have lost both of their games.

The top two sides advance to the semi-finals.

Defending champions Australia were on course for a big total before the play was called off due to heavy rain in the day-night match.

They posted 234-4 in 42.3 overs after winning the toss on a good batting track, with Michael Hussey (67), skipper Ricky Ponting (65) and Tim Paine (56) all making the most of a mediocre Indian attack.

Cameron White was unbeaten on 35 and Callum Ferguson on two.

India, needing a win to boost their hopes of making it to the last-four, bowled inconsistently, failing to keep pressure on Paine, Ponting and Hussey.

Australia lost an early wicket when Shane Watson pulled left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra to Harbhajan Singh at mid-wicket.

Ponting and Paine then steadied the innings with an 84-run stand for the second wicket, gathering runs comfortably against both pace and spin.

Paine was more aggressive than his captain, once pulling seamer Ishant Sharma for a six and also hitting seven fours in his 58-ball knock. His flourish ended when he was caught by Harbhajan off leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

But there was no respite for India as Hussey and Ponting consolidated their team’s position with an 88-run partnership for the third wicket.

Ponting was caught short of the crease while going for a second run, with Gautam Gambhir hitting the stumps from the deep at the non-striker’s end. He hit one six and four boundaries in his 88-ball knock.

Hussey fell in a bid to step up the run-rate, caught by Sachin Tendulkar at long-off off Sharma in the 41st over after hitting five fours in his 65-ball knock.

India made two changes from the side that lost to Pakistan on Saturday, bringing in Mishra and seamer Praveen Kumar in place of Yusuf Pathan and Rudra Pratap Singh.

Australia retained the team that defeated the West Indies in the previous match.

India clash with the West Indies, while Australia meet Pakistan in the last league matches on Wednesday.

SOURCE: dawn.com

Gilani, Singh likely to meet in Nov

NEW YORK: There’s a strong possibility that Indian and Pakistani prime ministers could meet on the sidelines of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, which is scheduled in late November inTrinidad, diplomatic sources told Dawn.

This would be a follow-up of the two-day talks between their foreign ministers and foreign secretaries in New York during the weekend.

The meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly were the first high-level contacts between the two countries since their prime ministers met at the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in July.

When asked about the next round of talks at a briefing on Sunday, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said: ‘We have just come out of one (meeting). So, give us some time.’

While talking to the Pakistani media, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also indicated that the next logical opportunity for another meeting would be the Commonwealth summit.

Mr Qureshi said he was willing to travel to India himself if this might improve public sentiment there towards engagement.

After his 100-minute meeting with his Indian counterpart, Mr Qureshi indicated that despite an apparently lukewarm response from the Indians, the fresh attempt to improve ties soured by last November’s militant attacks in Mumbai was gathering momentum.’ I have suggested to my counterpart a way forward and a roadmap for the future.’

SOURCE: dawn.com

BREAKING NEWS: Huge blast heard in Peshawar, casualties feared

ISLAMABAD: A huge explosion rocked Pakistan's main northwestern city of Peshawar on Saturday, police and residents said.

'It was a very big explosion. I could see smoke rising from the scene,' Asad Ali, a resident, said by telephone from Peshawar. Police said they were investigating.

According to local television channels, at least 25 people have been injured and are being taken to Lady Reading Hospital.

A Taliban suicide bomber earlier crashed his explosives-laden truck into a police station in Bannu, also in northwestern Pakistan, killing six people and wounding 30, police said.