 |
|
Violence in Iraq leaves 110 dead
Pak links gas pipeline to Kashmir issue
China holds anti-terrorism
exercise in Tibet
Indo-Bangladesh meeting
on water sharing today
Indians safe in hurricane-hit Grenada
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Violence in Iraq leaves 110 dead
Baghdad, September 13 The Health Ministry said the worst casualties were in Baghdad where 37 persons were killed and in Tal Afar near the Syrian border where 51 persons died. The capital suffered at least seven car bombs, and insurgents fired 12 mortar bombs around the so-called Green Zone compound housing Iraq’s interim government and the US Embassy. It was one of the heaviest barrages in Baghdad for months. “We’ve seen a tremendous increase in the number of attacks,” said Brig- Gen Erv Lessel, a US military spokesman. Witnesses and officials said 13 persons were killed and 61 wounded in fierce battles in Central Baghdad. A US helicopter opened fire on a crowd milling around an abandoned armoured vehicle, killing a television journalist. The US military said its aircraft had been shot at from the crowd. US troops mounted a major offensive on Thursday in Tal Afar, a suspected haven for foreign fighters, about 100 km from Syria. Three Polish soldiers were killed and three wounded when they were attacked near Hilla, south of Baghdad. In rebel-occupied Ramadi, west of Baghdad, US tanks and helicopters fired on a residential district, killing 10 Iraqis, including women and children, a doctor said. The surge in violence coincided with new US offensives to recapture the insurgent-held areas before elections due in January. US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said there would “undoubtedly be violence up until the elections and probably even during the elections”. Heavy fighting erupted in Haifa Street, a thoroughfare in Central Baghdad, where the crackle of gunfire echoed for several hours as US tanks and tank-like Bradley fighting vehicles moved into the area. Witnesses said a US helicopter fired at a group of Iraqis crowded around a burning Bradley. Television images showed Iraqis running for cover shortly before a blast felled Mazen Tomeizi, a producer with Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV. The Palestinian died soon afterwards. Reuters cameraman Seif Fouad, recording the scene, was also wounded in the blast. In other incidents, a car bomb killed a senior police officer, another policeman and a 12-year-old boy on a highway west of Baghdad. A suspected suicide bomber tried to drive through the gates of Abu Ghraib prison but US troops shot and killed him, the military said. Three persons were wounded. Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said much of the violence was related to security force raids which netted 16 fugitives. An Internet statement by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Tawhid and Jihad group, blamed by Washington for much Iraq unrest, claimed responsibility for the violence.
— Reuters |
|
Pak links gas pipeline to Kashmir issue Islamabad, September 13 “We are ready to allow transit facilities and also foolproof security (to the gas pipeline) but India will have to deal with the Kashmir issue in an equitable and peaceful manner,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in an interview published in Pakistan Observer today. — PTI
|
|
|
China holds anti-terrorism exercise in Tibet
Beijing , September 13 The anti-terrorist
maneuvers, in the backdrop of increased terrorist acts around the world, were conducted yesterday to check the region’s responsive mechanism in case of terror attacks, Xinhua news agency quoted the organisers as saying. The
maneuvers, which lasted about three hours, covered anti-hijacking, anti-explosion, anti-biochemical weapons and seizure of “terrorists”, it said. The local garrison of the People’s Liberation Army, the armed police, the public security police and the militia took part in the joint exercises.
— PTI |
Indo-Bangladesh meeting on water sharing today
Dhaka, September 13 The secretary-level Joint Committee of Experts, formed at the 32nd meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC) in 1997, also has the mandate to formulate water-sharing formula for six other rivers - Manu, Mahuri, Khoai, Gorai, Dharla and Dudkumar. India’s Water Resources Secretary Vinod K. Duggal will lead an 11-member delegation to the seventh meeting of the Joint Experts Group. Other members include Mr M. K. Sharma, Member of the Central Water Commission, Mr M. L. Goyal, Member of the JRC, and Ms Neelam Deo, Joint Secretary with the Ministry of External Affairs. Bangladesh’s Water Resources Secretary Mohammad Omar Farooq Khan will lead a 13-member home side at the two-day meet at Hotel Sonargaon. The Bangladesh delegation includes Director-General of Water Development Board Mokhlesuzzaman, Member, JRC, Tauhidul Anwar Khan, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Hemayetuddin and Director- General (South Asia) in the Foreign Ministry Fazlul Karim. However, the officials here are not optimistic about finding an acceptable formula of sharing Teesta water at the Dhaka
meeting." Tomorrow's meeting is a part of continuous consultations. We have difference of opinion on the sharing formula.
Let's see what progress we can make,” a senior official at the JRC said. In reply to a question, he said the Minister-level JRC has asked the Joint Committee of Experts to quickly devise a consensus formula on Teesta water sharing..
— UNI |
|
Indians safe in hurricane-hit Grenada
Port-of-Spain, September 13 Hurricane Ivan, one of the worst to hit Grenada and other South American countries, battered the island nation on Friday, killing 34 persons and leaving large parts of the Caribbean in a mess. “Indians in Grenada are safe and are making the best of the situation,” Mr C Rajashekar, Counsellor at the Indian High Commission in Port-of-Spain, said here yesterday after a visit to the island nation. More than 100 Indians, most of them businessmen along with their families, have settled in Grenada recently and all of them were safe, he said. The tiny island suffered heavy damages on Friday due to hurricane.
— PTI |
|
Rajasthan to host desert queen contest
for Israeli women
Tel Aviv, September 13 The sand dunes of the desert state will see 45 Israeli women vying for the coveted title later this year in an off road competition, taking place in India for the first time. The contestants, all above the age of 20, will be divided into three groups and tested on pre-defined criteria, including a combination of vehicle mastery and teamwork. The overall focus will be to evaluate efficiency in executing tasks, organisers of the event said here. “Rajasthan for us is the paradise for an off road expedition. It is desert on the one hand and on the other hand such a colourful and amazing place,” Mr Arik Braz, Deputy Manager for adventure activities at Geographical Tours, one of the co-sponsors of the contest, said. This year’s contest attracted an unprecedented 12,500 aspirants, partly because of the attraction India provides for the Israeli youngsters, organisers said. “We shall be using the facilities of the amazing palaces during the contest, though staying in tents, and getting the feel of being a maharaja or a maharani,” said Mr Braz.
— PTI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
