Security forces fort attacked in Bannu

Militants have attacked security forces fort in near Bannu on Wednesday.According to sources, militants attacked security forces fort with light and heavy weapons in Karam Gari area. The attackers were managed to flee after retaliatory action by security forces. Search operation has been launched after the attack.

Dr. Qadeer’s detention: Federation asked to reply in 15 days

Islamabad High Court (IHC) has asked the federation to submit reply within 15 days to the petition filed by the imminent nuclear scientist against his detention. The initial hearing of the petition filed against the detention of Dr. Abdul Qadeer was held here today in the court of IHC Chief Justice. Dr. Abdul Qadeer’s lawyer, S. M. Zafar was not present on this occasion, but after hearing the arguments of other lawyers, the court directed the Deputy Attorney General to file a reply within 15 days on behalf of the federation, explaining under which law Dr. Qadeer was being kept in detention.

Pakistan, India seek to ease tensions:Rice

Pakistan must act with "urgency and resolve" in cooperating with Indian investigations into last week's Mumbai attacks, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday."We have to act with urgency and act with resolve. Pakistan needs to act with urgency and with resolve," Rice told reporters prior to talks with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.Rice said that her visit to India aimed at expressing solidarity with the government and people of India over terror strikes in Mumbai. She said there is a need to step up cooperation to avoid such terror attacks in future. US Secretary of State said that President Asif Ali Zardari had assured her of Pakistan’s cooperation in this regard. She said terrorists and non-state actors wanted to destabilize states and they were carrying out their activities in India, Pakistan and US.

6 special trains to be run on Eid-ul-Azha

The Pakistan Railways has decided to run six special trains on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha in the wake of additional rush of passengers.Spokesman of the Pakistan Railways told in a statement issued from Lahore that the first special train would depart from Quetta at 12-30 pm on December 6 and reach Peshawar at 9-45 pm next day.Second special train will leave Quetta at 12-30 pm on December 7 and reach Rawalpindi at 6-00 pm next day.The third special train will go from Karachi Cantt at 1-00 pm on December 6 and reach Peshawar Cantt next day at 7-15 pm.The fourth special train will leave Karachi Cantt on December 7 at 1-00 pm and going via Multan-Shorkot will reach Faisalabad next morning at nine O’clock.The fifth special train will go from Peshawar Cantt at 12 noon on December 8 and reach Lahore at 8-45 in the night.The sixth and the last special train will leave Peshawar Cantt at 12 noon on December 12 and reach Karachi Cantt at 7-30 in the next evening.

11 school girls die of poisonous gas in China

Eleven schoolgirls died of carbon monoxide poisoning in north China as they tried to warm themselves around a charcoal heater amid plummeting temperatures.According to officials, this incident occurred in China’s north province of Shaanxi on Monday night where some girl students lit fire for protecting themselves from cold in a secondary school due to which the room was filled by poisonous gas. The girls, all of them fourth-graders around 10 years old, were discovered early Tuesday morning and rushed to hospital, but 11 died, the report said.Another girl remained in hospital in a stable condition. China is just moving into winter and temperatures in the north of the country have already started falling below freezing.

Taliban kill Afghan district governor

An Afghan district governor was shot dead Monday by two men on a motorcycle, a government official said, in a killing claimed by the insurgent Taliban movement.The governor of the volatile Andar district in the province of Ghazni, south of Kabul, was killed as he left his home, provincial government spokesman Ismail Jahangir said."Abdul Rahim Desiwal was moving to Ghazni town when he was attacked by two motorcycle riders. He was he martyred and his guard was wounded," he said. "This is the Taliban's work." A spokesman for the Taliban confirmed the militia had carried out the assassination. "Our men killed Abdul Rahim Desiwal when he left his house," Zabihullah Mujahed said.

US has no reason to doubt Pakistan: White House

WASHINGTON: The United States has no reason to doubt the Pakistani government's assertion that it was not involved in the recent deadly attacks in Mumbai, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday.

President condemns Swat bomb blast

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday strongly condemned the suicide attack at a military checkpost in Swat, resulting in killing of security personnel and civilians. In his message, President Zardari deplored the tragic incident and said perpetrator of such heinous crime would not be spared. He directed authorities to investigate into the matter and ordered for the proper treatment of injured persons.

Karachi schools, colleges to remain closed Tuesday

KARACHI: Sindh Government has announced closure of all public and private schools and colleges on Tuesday.

Zardari appeals India not to punish Pakistan

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, made an urgent appeal to India yesterday not to punish his country for the terror unleashed on Mumbai last week, as Indian officials blamed a Pakistani militant group for the three-day rampage.As the government in New Delhi faced mounting domestic pressure to respond forcefully to the attacks, Mr Zardari urged Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, to resist striking out at his government should investigations show that Pakistani militant groups were responsible.His appeal came as tensions rose between the two countries. A day after the security forces finally regained control of Mumbai, Indian officials blamed Lashkar-i-tayyaba, a prominent militant group linked to previous attacks against India. Its name translates as Army of the Pure.Speaking to the Financial Times, President Zardari warned that provocation by rogue "non-state actors" posed the danger of a return to war between the nuclear-armed neighbours."Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-i-tayyaba, who do you think we are fighting?" asked Mr Zardari, whose country is battling al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on its border with Afghanistan.

Obama set to formally name Clinton secretary of state

Facing a string of grave foreign policy crises, Barack Obama was set Monday to name his one-time rival Hillary Clinton as secretary of state in a national security team stacked with political muscle.The president-elect was also expected to formally announce that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will stay on for at least a year and select former NATO commander James Jones for the vital role of national security advisor.His picks will become the latest collection of political power players to join a formidable cabinet already replete with experience on the world stage and in Washington's political jungle.Sources said Obama and Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, were set to appear together at a Chicago press conference at 9:40 am (1540 GMT), after several weeks of frenzied speculation sparked by his offer for her to become top US diplomat.The remarkable political alliance will write another unlikely chapter in the rollercoaster political drama of Bill and Hillary Clinton and symbolically consign this year's fiery Democratic primary feud to US history."I can confirm that she will be in Chicago tomorrow to be named secretary of state," a person close to Clinton told AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday.Obama and vice president-elect Joseph Biden will name the team just days after the Mumbai terror assaults handed them a fresh South Asia crisis to add to the plethora of US national security challenges.After taking office in January, the Obama team must extricate US troops from Iraq, deal with the Iranian nuclear drive and address deteriorating conditions in the Afghan war.At the same time, the US economy is in meltdown and successive financial crises are cascading around the world, threatening to further destabilize a fractious security environment.Sources said Obama will complete the top layers of his national security team with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security chief.Pending Senate confirmation, long-time Obama foreign policy aide Susan Rice is also set to be formally named as US ambassador to the United Nations and retired admiral Dennis Blair Director of National Intelligence.Obama is also expected to officially unveil Eric Holder, his pick for attorney general, several weeks after his nomination leaked out in Washington.Former president Bill Clinton cleared the way for his wife to become the face of US foreign policy abroad by reaching a complicated agreement on his financial arrangements and future role on the world stage.There had been fears her nomination could falter over the appearance of conflicts of interest between her husband's charitable foundation and lucrative speechmaking schedule, and US foreign policy.Clinton has agreed to release the list of donors to his foundation by the end of the year, transition officials said.He has also agreed to submit future engagements, speeches and sources of income to the State Department and the White House and to take a more behind-the-scenes role in the daily running of his foundation, sources said.Democratic Senator Jack Reed said the ex-president's "framework of transparency and disclosure" is a key step in defusing concerns about how he may influence his wife's work should she become the top US diplomat.Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agreed the agreement would ease Hillary Clinton's nomination."I plan to vote in favor of her confirmation," Lugar told ABC, while also praising Obama's "excellent selections."Last week, Obama drafted a string of intellectual heavyweights into his economic team, reassuring markets traumatized by the raging financial crisis.Selecting Gates, who is respected across the political aisle in Washington for his performance since taking over from Donald Rumsfeld two years ago, would allow Obama to honor his pledge to name at least one Republican cabinet member.Jones is also respected on Capitol Hill and has direct experience of the Afghan war.Jones criticized the Bush administration's strategy in Afghanistan in a report issued earlier this year by the Atlantic Council of the United States, which he chaired."Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," the report said.

11 killed in Karachi violence

At least 11 people were killed and several others wounded in separate incidents of violence and firing in the metropolis on Monday.The death toll in three days violence has climbed to 40 while over 180 people sustained injuries.According to reports, unidentified miscreants torched dozens of vehicles, timber market, marriage hall, godown and a garbage house in separate violent incidents reported in the metropolis. While law enforcement agencies failed to bring the situation under control as 11 more people were killed in different firing incidents today. Seven, out of 11 bodies were brought to different hospitals.In another incident, unknown gunmen shot dead five people in Raees Amrohi Colony of Orangi Town, increasing the death toll in three days’ violence to 39. Sindh Government had imposed a three-day ban on pillion riding in the city on Sunday.Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah took a serious note of the situation and sought a report within 24 hours. They also directed the law enforcement agencies to keep a close eye on the miscreants’ elements.The series of violence, started from Banaras Chowk on Saturday evening, continues in various parts of the city. So far, 100 miscreants have been held by the police from various areas of the city in connection with ongoing violent incidents.

Death toll mounts to 43 in Karachi violence

At least 43 people were killed and over 125 wounded as firing and violent incidents continued to affect the country’s financial capital on Monday.According to reports, unidentified miscreants torched dozens of vehicles, timber market, marriage hall, godown and a garbage house in separate violent incidents in the metropolis. While law enforcement agencies failed to bring the situation under control as 14 more people were killed in different areas today. Five out of 14 bodies could not reach hospitals.In another incident, unknown gunmen shot dead five people in Raees Amrohi Colony of Orangi Town, increasing the death toll in three days’ violence to 43. Sindh Government had imposed a three-day ban on pillion riding in the city on Sunday.Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah took strict note of the situation and sought a report within 24 hours. They also directed the law enforcement agencies to keep a close eye on the miscreants.The series of violent acts, started from Banaras Chowk on Saturday evening, continues even after 50 hours and people are living under fear and panic.So far, 100 miscreants have been held by the police from various areas of the city in connection with ongoing violent incidents.The violence claimed 28 lives on Saturday and Sunday in Karachi. A bullet-riddled body was found near Bait-ul-Mukarram Mosque in Orangi town while vehicle of Orangi Nazim came under attack and member provincial assembly, Manzar Imam sustained injury in the incident. Two more bodies were recovered from Soldier bazaar area.

Govt decides to relinquish some judges

Federal Government has decided to review the induction of judges by former president Pervez Musharraf after November 3, 2007.These judges were appointed for one-year term, thus, decision has been made to relinquish some of them from higher courts.Sources told Geo News, the list is being finalized for appointment of new judges.It may be mentioned here that appointment term of 8 of the Lahore High Court judges is going to expire on December 14 while the term of one judge will end on January 1, 2009 and 10 others on February 9.

India lodges protest with Pakistan over Mumbai attacks

In the wake of Mumbai terror strikes, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik on Monday to lodge protest with Pakistan over Mumbai attacks.Malik was called by Joint Secretary (Pakistan) in the MEA, T C A Raghavan who issued a demarche to him on the Mumbai strikes which is suspected to have been carried out by "elements" based in Pakistan, External Affairs ministry spokesman said.Islamabad has been in a denial mode but India says it has hard evidence to show Pakistani link. Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Ministry sources said that the visit of Pak High Commissioner in MEA was pre-planned and he was not summoned.