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Four blasts rock Pakistan; 13 killed
Pak has 60 N-bombs: Report
Lahore Attack
UN sanctions on NKorea certain
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134 held as riots mar Barcelona celebrations
The police confronts Barcelona's supporters after unrest broke out in Barcelona early Thursday as fans celebrated their team’s victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final. — Reuters
Russian gas pipeline blasts
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Four blasts rock Pakistan; 13 killed Islamabad, May 28 Two bombs went off within minutes of each other in Qisa Khawani and nearby Kabari Bazaar, destroying shops at a time when markets were crowded with people while suspected suicide bombers attacked police checkpoints on the outskirts of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan. Gun battles then broke out between the police and militants in the bazaars in which two suspected terrorists were killed and as many arrested, provincial police chief Malik Mohammad Navid told reporters. The first blast occurred in Kabari Bazaar, which sparked off a big fire in the market located in a narrow lane and at least eight vehicles were burnt, channels said. Minutes later a second bomb went off in Qisa Khawani market across the road, destroying a large number of shops, they added. Geo TV reported six persons were killed and 100 injured in the twin blasts, while police official Yaseen Khan said four persons died in the attack on the checkpoint in Peshawar. In the fourth attack, a policeman and two passersby were killed and 13 persons wounded when a suicide attacker exploded an auto-rickshaw near police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan, AFP quoted police chief Iqbal Khan as saying. The attacks came hours after the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack in Lahore. “Some of the wounded are in a serious condition,” reports said. NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has ordered an inquiry into the blasts. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attacks. —
PTI
Washington, May 28 The latest report by Congressional Research Service (CRS) - a research wing of the US Congress which prepares reports for Congressmen - has confirmed the recent statements and media reports that Pakistan was expanding its nuclear arsenal. “Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal consists of approximately 60 nuclear warheads. It continues fissile material production for weapons, and is adding to its weapons production facilities and delivery vehicles,” said the report Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Congressional hearing on May 14 had confirmed that the US had “evidence” that Pakistan was expanding its nuclear arsenal. Pakistan stored its warheads unassembled with the fissile core separate from non-nuclear explosives, and these were stored separately from their delivery vehicles, it said. Pakistan does not have a stated nuclear policy, but its “minimum credible deterrent” is thought to be primarily a deterrent to Indian military action. The report further states that Islamabad gained technology from many sources, including uranium enrichment technology from Europe, blueprints for a small nuclear weapon and missile technology from China. Pakistan’s nuclear warheads used an implosion design with a solid core of highly enriched uranium, about 15-20 kg per warhead and “Islamabad continues to produce about 100 kg of highly enriched uranium for weapons every year”, the report said. The CRS reported that even as Pakistani officials had said they had already determined the arsenal size needed for a minimum nuclear deterrent and they would not engage in an arms race with India, all indications were otherwise. — PTI
Lahore Attack
Nicosia: A Pakistani Taliban group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a Lahore police building that killed 24 people, a US specialist Islamist monitoring group said. A group calling itself “Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab” made the claim yesterday in a Turkish-language statement posted on Turkish jihadist websites through an organisation called Elif Media. The Islamist monitors’ SITE cited the group as saying the attack “targeted the ‘nest of evil’ in Lahore, and was a ‘humble gift’ to the mujahideen who suffer beneath the attacks of Pakistani forces in Swat”. “Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab asks Muslims in Pakistan to stay away from areas where the enemy is ‘taking advantage’ of them, so that they are not harmed by jihadi attacks,” SITE added. —
AFP
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UN sanctions on NKorea certain
Seoul, May 28 North Korea this week unnerved the world with a series of provocations unseen since the 1950-53 Korean War, including war threats, missile launches and a nuclear test that puts it closer to having an atomic bomb. The joint command for the 28,000 US troops that support South Korea’s 6,70,000 soldiers has raised its alert a notch to signify a serious threat from the belligerent North, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It is the highest threat level since the North’s only other nuclear test in October 2006. North Korea could be set for further provocations that include additional short-range missile tests off its west coast, the South’s news agency quoted an unnamed government source as saying last night. Security Council powers have agreed in principle that North Korea must face sanctions for defying a UN resolution put in place after its previous nuclear test by exploding a second device, Western diplomats said yesterday. — Reuters
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134 held as riots mar Barcelona celebrations
Barcelona, May 28 But while a carnival atmosphere initially prevailed, the mood turned ugly after midnight when youths began clashing with the police around one of the city’s main thoroughfares, Las Ramblas. Youths hurled bottles as they tried to storm through metal barricades keeping a mob back from shops, prompting a surge by baton-wielding riot officers. Terrified passersby caught up in the violence had to cower behind walls as the clashes intensified. In a statement, the police said they had arrested 119 people for public order offences in the city and a total of 134 in the wider Catalonia region. A total of 153 people were also injured, said the statement. And while most of the injuries were minor, 23 needed hospital treatment. The statement said the police had issued “repeated warnings” to the rioters. — AFP
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Russian gas pipeline blasts
Moscow, May 28 The explosion on the Torzhok-Ukhta-2 trunk pipeline, which provides gas to Russia’s northern regions, occured at around 09.35 Moscow time (0535 GMT). No injuries have been reported, a ministry spokesman said. “We have extinguished the resulting fire. Efforts to replace the damaged section of the pipeline are now under way,” the spokesman said. — Reuters
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Barcelona, May 28
