PESHAWAR: The Pakistan army airdropped Eid gifts among people of Swat district through helicopters, a spokesman of Swat Media Centre said on Wednesday.The Eid gifts have been distributed at various areas of the district including Tehsil Kabal, Matta Tehsil, Bara Bandai, Koza Bandai and Mingora.
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UNITED NATIONS: A U.N. Security Council panel has designated four men linked to the Mumbai attacks as terrorists subject to sanctions. The four men are believed to hold leadership positions in the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba that is accused of orchestrating last month’’s attacks that left 171 dead in Mumbai. Designated as terrorists subject to U.N. sanctions were Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Lashkar’’s operations chief; Muhammad Saeed, the group’’s leader; Haji Muhammad Ashraf, its chief of finance; and Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq, a financier with the group. The Security Council’’s al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions committee added them to its list of terrorists subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo under a council resolution adopted this year. The U.S. Treasury Department last week designated the men as terrorists and ordered any U.S. assets frozen.
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LAHORE: After collapsing five hours, the fire erupted in the shoe factory in Lahore, is still out of control while the fire tenders have been trying to tame the ablaze here on early Thursday.Fire fighting sources said, the fire erupted on account of short-circuit five hours before in the shoe-sole making factory in Lahore that engulfed the entire factory in no time.No loss of life was reported as the factory was closed due to Eid holidays.More than 20 fire tenders are busy in taming the fire together with rescue 1122 teams however, due to congested area where the factory is located, it is difficult for the fire tenders to render the job, fire fighting sources added.They said that the ablaze has collapsed several boundary-walls of the factory and also feared that the mighty fire might catch other factories located next to it.
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LONDON: Britain’’s pound fell to a record low against the euro on Wednesday as fears about the strength of the British economy grew.The British currency dipped just under euro1.14 — the weakest it has ever been against Europe’’s shared currency since the euro was launched in 1999.The record low comes on the same day that the British National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a leading think tank, published a report estimating that Britain’’s economy shrank by a greater-than-expected 1 percent in the three months through November.The report predicted that the pace of economic contraction would accelerate in the quarter through December, landing the country in a technical recession — defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth.The Bank of England has also sharply cut interest rates — a move that can weaken demand for a country’’s currency by reducing the yield on interest-bearing investments.
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KARACHI: Thousands of offals were lifted and disposed of during the two days of Eid-ul-Azha. Nazim Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal Wednesday paid a detail visit to various parts of the city and reviewed the sanitary conditions.Talking to the media on the occasion the Nazim said that machinery and staff of all the Towns had been mobilised to remove the offal of sacrificial animals with swiftness and then bury them in the ditches dug for the very purpose. He said that along with removal of offal, the CDGK and Town staff was also carrying out fumigation spray and sprinkling lime.City District Government Karachi had established two centers for providing all possible help to 18 towns for immediate disposal of offal on all the three days of Eid-ul-Azah. The centers have been set up at Civic Centre and Mewashah Graveyard and have all the equipment and machinery required for swift lifting and disposal of offal, the Nazim pointed out.He said the two centers, manned by senior officers, are working round the clock on all three days. He pointed out that manpower and machinery has been distributed between two zones and 13 routes. Zone-1 will have 6 routes and zone-2 7 routes. Every route is being supervised by a senior officer with 5 subordinate inspectors and other staff.Mustafa Kkamal said that all complaints registered on 1339 were quickly addressed while towns had made arrangements for disposal of offal within their limits. Meanwhile the city government vehicles were also patrolling on all major roads to help towns in removal of offal.Nazim said that all the towns have made better arrangements this year as compared to last year for disposal of offal. He said leave of officials concerned and staff of municipal services department; KWSB, towns and solid waste management had been cancelled to perform their duties on holidays as well. Nazim Karachi said that besides lifting the offal, a team of city government will also carry out fumigation spray in all the towns during Eid days.
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DUNEDIN: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori won the toss and decided to bat first here Thursday against the West Indies in the first of a two Test series. New Zealand received a blow with the withdrawal of injury-prone star all-rounder Jacob Oram who is suffering from a calf strain. Oram had been due to return from an injury break which saw him miss the 2-0 series loss to Australia last month. His place in the squad for the first home Test of the new season was taken by pace bowler Kyle Mills. New Zealand has dropped its main strike bowler Chris Martin for the match, after he appeared to be short of full fitness in the Australian series. He was replaced by the relatively inexperienced Mark Gillespie. The West Indies picked Australian-born batsman Brendan Nash for his debut for his adopted country. The 30-year-old played seven seasons for Queensland, before moving to Jamaica last year, hopeful of emulating his father who represented the island in swimming at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
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UNITED NATIONS: A U.N. Security Council panel has designated four men linked to the Mumbai attacks as terrorists subject to sanctions. The four men are believed to hold leadership positions in the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba that is accused of orchestrating last month’’s attacks that left 171 dead in Mumbai. Designated as terrorists subject to U.N. sanctions were Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Lashkar’’s operations chief; Muhammad Saeed, the group’’s leader; Haji Muhammad Ashraf, its chief of finance; and Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq, a financier with the group. The Security Council’’s al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions committee added them to its list of terrorists subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo under a council resolution adopted this year. The U.S. Treasury Department last week designated the men as terrorists and ordered any U.S. assets frozen.
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008The News print edition will not appear on Wednesday and Thursday 10th and 11th December, 2008 respectively on acco
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WASHINGTON: The top U.S. military officer Mike Mullen said he likes what he sees so far in Pakistan’’s response to the terror attacks in next-door India.Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said both India and Pakistan have shown admirable restraint following the deadly attack on the financial center of Mumbai.Mullen, speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon, says Pakistan has taken good first steps by arresting key militants who may have had a hand in planning the attack. Mullen visited both countries last week.
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Pakistan News
BEIJING: China’’s exports fell in November for the first time in seven years as global demand weakened, data showed Wednesday, adding to pressure on Beijing to reverse a worsening economic slump.November’’s trade surplus widened to a monthly record of $40.1 billion as exports fell by 2.2 percent from the year-earlier period and imports fell even faster, dropping by 17.9 percent, the customs agency reported. The drop in trade was even sharper than most analysts expected and adds to pressure on Beijing, which is trying to insulate China from the global slowdown with a multibillion-dollar stimulus package to boost domestic spending. Chinese exporters have been hammered by a drop in foreign demand, leading to factory closures and layoffs. Communist leaders worry that more job losses might fuel unrest and are pressing companies to minimize staff cuts.The sharp drop in imports could be especially worrisome for Chinese planners, reflecting a slowdown in domestic demand just as they are trying to encourage the country’’s own consumers to spend more.November’’s exports fell to $114.9 billion, while imports dropped to $91.3 billion, the customs agency reported.It was the first time China’’s exports have fallen since June 2001, according to the official news agency.
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