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Jamali steps down, new Premier on Monday

         Islamabad: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Saturday resigned as country's Prime Minister. Earlier, he called on President Pervez Musharraf along with Muslim League chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and tendered his resignation, the News reported. Information Minister Shaikh Rashid has confirmed the resignation by Jamali and said that the new leader of the House will be elected on Monday, and he will get vote of confidence from the house on Tuesday. The paper said that President Musharraf accepted his resignation and advised him to continue till election of the new prime minister. Musharraf is leaving for an 18-day tour of Scandinavian countries beginning July 3. It was reported that Jamali and some key officials were on their way out and efforts were being made to complete the whole process, including installation of the new man and a vote of confidence in the National Assembly before the President embarks on his foreign tour. Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan is tipped to replace Jamali.

12 villagers massacred in Poonch  (Go To Top)

          Jammu: At least 12 people, including a woman and her child, were shot dead by militants in a village in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Eight others were injured, some of them seriously. The victims were members of a village defence committee (VDC) and their families, official sources here said. Around 30 to 35 militants swooped on the remote mountain hamlet Teliklhi late last night and surrounded it, official sources said, adding that the VDC members tried to repulse the attack by engaging them in a gunbattle but were soon overpowered. The militants then barged into the houses, dragged out the people, lined them up in an open field and opened indiscriminate fire killing 10 people on the spot and injuring eight, four critically. The injured include five women. The victims belonged to six Gujjar families. Some people, including women and children, managed to escape from the village during the gunfight.

Jaya Bachchan, Anil Ambani and Lalit Suri elected unopposed to RS (Go To Top)

         Lucknow: All eleven candidates in the fray, including Anil Ambani, Jaya Bachchan and Lalit Suri, were on Saturday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in the biennial elections. Others elected unopposed included former Union ministers Arun Shourie and Murli Manohar Joshi (both BJP), BSP leader Mayawati, Satish C Mishra (BSP), Bhagwati Singh and Ram Narayan Sahu, Nand Kishore and Kamal Akhtar (all SP). While Ambani stood as an Independent candidate supported by SP, Suri contested as an Independent supported by BJP. Bachchan stood as an SP candidate. The results were announced by the Returning Officer RP Pandey at the close of withdrawal of nominations on Saturday under a revised schedule announced by the Election Commission earlier in the week, when it asked the RO to rescrutinise the papers of two Congress nominees.

Khokhar says he will be quite sincere in talks with Shashant (Go To Top)

         New Delhi: Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar said he would show "great sincerity and seriousness" in talks beginning with India on Sunday. Khokhar, who arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for talks with his Indian counterpart Shashank, told reporters that the dialogue will touch the "fundamental issue of Jammu and Kashmir." "We certainly will approach these talks with great sincerity and seriousness. And we hope we will be able to do some solid business. I am really looking forward to it and of course as you know we will be discussing issues relating to peace and security, CBMs (Confidence Building Measures), the fundamental issue of Jammu and Kashmir and several other matters," Khokhar said on his arrival at international airport in the capital. Khokhar-led Pakistani delegation will also pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Natwar Singh. India and Pakistan renewed a ban on nuclear tests on June 20 and agreed to set up a hotline between their foreign ministries after unprecedented talks on reducing the risk of nuclear war on the subcontinent. Besides the diplomats, Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh also met his Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri in China on the sidelines of the third Asia Cooperation Dialogue forum, held earlier this week. The foreign ministers have verbally agreed on the reopening of their consulates in Mumbai and Karachi.

Bomb attack on Bangla temple creates scare (Go To Top)

         Dhaka: Unidentified armed men exploded a bomb inside the Arya Dharmasava temple in Khulna city late Thursday night, injuring a police constable on duty and prompting a halt to a Hindu festival. Witnesses said a gang of two on a motorbike tossed the bomb into the temple at 11:00pm, where over 200 devotees were celebrating Ratha Jatra on the sixth of the eight-day chariot festival. The blast made a six-inch hole on the temple floor, a police official said after visiting the spot. Men and women hurried out of the temple barefoot, screaming in panic as the bomb exploded with a huge bang. The incident, the latest in a series of drive-by bomb attacks in the southwestern divisional headquarters dubbed as the valley of death, prompted businesspeople to shut their businesses and traffic to go off the road. Police quoted two roadside shopkeepers as saying the bomb was hurled by a young man who was riding the motorbike with another. Deputy Commissioner (South) Akbar Ali of Khulna Metropolitan Police linked the attackers to an unnamed extremist outfit. Constable Shafiqul Islam, 27, who was on duty at the temple and injured in the attack, was admitted to the police hospital in the city with severe facial injuries.

         The temple authorities announced a three-day demonstration, including a rally, hoisting of black flags in temples in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira and hand over memoranda to the police commissioner and the deputy commissioner in Khulna on June 27. Local leaders of Khulna Puja Udjapan Parishad expressed concern at the first-ever bomb attack on a temple in Khulna city. Shyamal Kumar Halder, central vice-president of Bangladesh Hindu- Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad, termed the incident as an act of sabotage and demanded arrest of the attackers. In separate press statements leaders of various progressive political parties blamed the attack on the adherents of the ruling BNP-Jamaat alliance. Attacks on religious institutions have risen significantly in Bangladesh in the last couple of years.

Whole of Kashmir is disputed, says EU delegation (Go To Top)

          Islamabad: The European Union (EU) considers all parts of Kashmir as disputed, John Cushnahan, the head of a seven-member EU parliamentary delegation that visited Kashmir, said Friday. "All parts of Kashmir are disputed and involvement of people of the state in resolving the issue is a must for a lasting solution," the Daily Times quoted Cushnahan as saying here while talking to reporters at the end of three-day visit. Cushnahan insisted that Kashmir was a "major factor behind all difficulties between India and Pakistan" and was responsible for "political instability" in the region. The issue, he said, was at the "core" of troubled relations between the two countries. "The past is an obstacle for solution in the future. Although the past cannot be disregarded, all parties concerned should look into the future," he added. According to the paper, the EU MP emphasised that the people of Jammu and Kashmir must be involved in resolving the issue. He said that violence had made a solution to the issue difficult and attempts should be made to end it.

Goalie taunts, 'Beckham misses the goal' (Go To Top)

          London: Portugal keeper Ricardo acknowledged having taunted Beckham before his penalty kick, by saying that he would save his shot. He later added "But in the end I didn't have to make the save because he shot over the bar." reported the Sun. Ricardo also amazed the spectators by not only saving Darius Vassell's low shot without his gloves on, but also successfully taking the last penalty. A leading psychologist John Gardner, who earlier worked with the English team, believed that as Beckham has recently missed out on important penalties it was a mistake for him to take the first penalty. "Shootouts often hinge on the state of mind of the two teams involved, and I have to say England seemed to be at a big disadvantage", he further said. However, Portugal forward Ronaldo said that they being the better team deserved to go into the final adding that "England fought well but God was with us for the penalties and justice was done."