W O R L D

Students burn an American flag during an anti-US rally in Peshawar on Wednesday. — Reuters

Syrian rebels seize crossing on Turkish border
Ankara, September 19
Syrian rebels seized their third border crossing with Turkey on Wednesday, a Turkish official said, after fierce battles with government troops overnight that sent bullets flying into Syria's northern neighbour.

Bo ‘slapped’ police official probing his wife
Beijing, September 19
A top police official at the centre of China's biggest political scandal has told a court that he was rebuked and slapped by disgraced Communist Party leader Bo Xilai for investigating his wife's involvement in the murder of a Briton.

Blast targets Air Force van in Pak, 10 killed 
At least 10 persons were killed and 22 others injured when a Pakistan Air Force van was targeted with a car bomb on the outskirts of Peshawar city in the country's restive northwest on Wednesday, officials said.

Film fury: Pak govt to join protesters tomorrow
To observe September 21 as ‘Love the Prophet Day’ 
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

The Pakistan Government has decided to join demonstrators on Friday to protest against the American anti-Islam that has caused an outrage throughout the Muslim world, Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira announced here on Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet which met under PM Raja Pervez Ashraf further decided a day of mourning and a public holiday for Friday when religious and political parties have organised countrywide demonstrators to protest against the anti-Islam film. The government has already blocked YouTube in the country which carried video on its site.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Kaira said the offensive film remained the only agenda item to express solidarity with the people of Pakistan in general and Islamic world who have been outraged by the blasphemous film. The Cabinet decided to observe September 21 as 'Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool' or 'Love the Prophet Day' to convey the government's protest against the film. The day was also declared a national holiday.

A resolution adopted at the meeting also appealed to the people to keep their protests peaceful in order to convey a "dignified and determined" resolve by them to the world community that nothing sacrilegious against Islam and the Holy Prophet would be tolerated.

Meanwhile, frenzied protest demonstrations continued all over the country on Wednesday. In capital Islamabad, lawyers broke through barriers to enter the Diplomatic Enclave but were held off by the police from reaching the American embassy. The lawyers burned effigies of the producers and shouted anti-American slogans before dispersing peacefully.

In Lahore, authorities placed containers to block entry to US consulate while the police stopped a protest procession organised by right wing Jamaat Islami's student wing.

So far, two persons have died in violent protests against the film in the southern port city of Karachi and the Dir region in the northwest. Dozens more have been injured in the protests, mostly organised by religious and hardline groups like the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Syrian rebels seize crossing on Turkish border

Ankara, September 19
Syrian rebels seized their third border crossing with Turkey on Wednesday, a Turkish official said, after fierce battles with government troops overnight that sent bullets flying into Syria's northern neighbour.

Television footage showed a rebel tearing down the Syrian flag on top of what appeared to be a customs building at the Tel Abyad frontier gate.

"I can confirm that the gate has fallen. It is under the complete control of the rebels," a Turkish official said..

There was no sign of any government troops at the crossing from television pictures broadcast live on CNN Turk. The clashes, which started late on Tuesday, were the first time insurgents fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have asserted their grip over a border zone in Syria's al-Raqqa province, most of which has remained solidly pro-Assad. — Reuters

Bo ‘slapped’ police official probing his wife

Beijing, September 19
A top police official at the centre of China's biggest political scandal has told a court that he was rebuked and slapped by disgraced Communist Party leader Bo Xilai for investigating his wife's involvement in the murder of a Briton.

According to an exhaustive testimony of Wang Lijun, Bo had slapped and intimated him for launching investigations into the murder of Neil Heywood, a Britain who was poisoned to death by Gu Kailai, wife of the sacked leader.

Wang's testimony, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, did not directly mention Bo's name but said "the then leading official of the Communist Party of China Chongqing Committee that Gu Kailai was highly suspected in the November 15, 2011 case".

Bo who was expected to take a top position in this year's leadership change was sacked from all post and currently faced disciplinary investigations. — PTI 

Blast targets Air Force van in Pak, 10 killed 
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

At least 10 persons were killed and 22 others injured when a Pakistan Air Force van was targeted with a car bomb on the outskirts of Peshawar city in the country's restive northwest on Wednesday, officials said.

The wreckage of the Pakistan Air Force bus that was blown up in Peshawar on Wednesday. The police said over 100kg explosives were used in the attack. — AFP

The PAF van was headed for the local airbase when explosives planted in a car were triggered by remote control in Badabher area, police officials said. The powerful blast also hit a crowded bus that was passing the area. Ten persons were killed instantly.

It could not immediately be ascertained if any PAF personnel were among the dead.

Officials at the Lady Reading Hospital said they had received 22 injured persons, including three children and three women, and seven bodies.

Local residents rushed the injured and bodies to the hospital in private vehicles. Police officials said no senior PAF officers were in the van, which was carrying low ranking personnel.

Witnesses said the van was packed at the time of the blast and it had no security escort. Footage on television showed that the PAF van was destroyed while the bus extensively damaged. All windows of both vehicles were blown out. The explosion also damaged 10 shops.

Police officials estimated over 100 kg of explosives were used in the attack.

No group claimed responsibility for the bombing though such incidents are usually blamed on the Pakistani Taliban.

(With inputs from PTI)

BRIEFLY

Now, Danish celebrity magazine to publish Kate’s topless pics
London: As Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge on Wednesday returned here from their tour of south-east Asia and the south Pacific, a Danish celebrity magazine announced that it would publish Kate's topless photos in its edition on Thursday. The Danish weekly 'Se og Hoer' said the photographs of Kate Middleton taken clandestinely during a private holiday in France, will be published in its edition over 16 pages. — PTI

LiLo arrested over hit-and-run claim
Los Angeles: Troubled star Lindsay Lohan was arrested for allegedly clipping a pedestrian with her car and fleeing the scene. The 26-year-old was detained by police officers in New York after the low-speed accident in the early hours, reported TMZ online. Lohan was pulling her Porsche Cayenne into a parking space in downtown Manhattan shortly before 1 am when she collided with a man standing nearby, hitting his knee. — PTI

Israel army holds surprise border drill
Jerusalem: Israel's army on Wednesday staged a surprise drill on the country's northern border, the military said, amid tensions over Iran's nuclear drive and the fate of Syria's chemical weapons. The one-day exercise was ordered "in order to examine the competence and preparedness of several units in the army, led by (the) artillery corps." The drill was not previously announced, but the military said it had been scheduled. — AFP

Endeavour heads to museum
Cape Canaveral: The US space shuttle Endeavour began a journey to its new life as a museum piece on Wednesday, heading west on the last ferry flight of its kind as NASA shuts down its shuttle programme. Endeavour flew 25 times in space before retiring last year. It circled Earth more nearly 4,700 times. — AP