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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians won by 8 wkts With this win, Mumbai have moved to fourth on the points table with a healthy NRR of 0.54 That rounds off a truly proffesional performance by the Mumbai Indians. They started off on a very scary note with Sunny Sohal tearing the bowling apart but they kept picking wickets regularly and once the spinners came in, things got very much out of control for the Kings XI. The spinners bowled 10 overs for 32 runs picking up 4 wickets. The run chase was planned better by Mumbai with Bravo being promoted to open and Sachin holding himself back so that he could guide the team in case of a top order collapse. The idea worked and Mumbai won the game comprehensively in the end. This win will give their net run rate a boost and will propel them to the top half of the points. Mumbai Indns 122/2 (16.2 Ovs) | MOH 119/9 (20.0 Ovs)

Afghan forces end Khost siege

Afghan security forces have killed several Taliban fighters who barricaded themselves inside government buildings in the city of Khost after taking a number of people hostage, the interior ministry has said.At least 10 fighters wearing suicide vests and carrying AK-47s and grenades, had attacked the governor's office and the municipal headquarters in the provincial capital of southeastern Khost on Tuesday."Fortunately the operation is over now," Zmaray Bashari, an interior ministry spokesman, told. "The security forces, as a result of giant operations, overwhelmed and overcame all these attacks and all the bombers were either targeted by security forces or detonated during the exchange of fire," he said.Afghan forces, supported by the US military, battled the Taliban fighters for several hours before the siege was ended and the captives were freed."The capacity and efficiency of the security forces resulted in the rescue of all those who were taken hostage," Bashari said.

Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Royal Challengers Bangalore win by 6 wickets. Losing, like winning, is very much a habit. And a dangerous one at that. Kolkata seemed to have gotten into one such dangerous habit. The situation is such, that whatever they do, is not enough to give them a win. They did everything right today for almost 9/10ths of the entire match but in the last 1/10th part of the match, Ross Taylor went berserk and took the game away from Kolkata. McCullum: I thought 170 was a pretty good score. But obviously the way Rossco played was fantastic, took the game away from us. Nice to make a contribution, but still disappointed at losing the game. We got three games left and we have got to keep smiling, try and get some wins in the win column.BLR 176/4 (19.2 Ovs) | KOL 173/4 (20.0 Ovs)

751 militants, 29 soldiers killed in Malakand

Pak Army has claimed that it has killed 751 militants so far in the ongoing military operation in three districts of Malkand division, while 29 soldiers were martyred in the days-long offensive, reports Zaviews here Tuesday.

Multiple blasts hit Afghan city

Suicide bombers have attacked a number of government buildings in the city of Khost in eastern Afghanistan, government officials say.There are reports of casualties, interior ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said, but it is not clear how many people were killed or injured.The province of Khost has witnessed frequent clashes between coalition forces and the Taleban.The attack comes as the US replaced its top commander in Afghanistan.

IMF relaxes Pakistan’s budget deficit target

 IMF 

The International Monetary Fund announced on Monday a preliminary agreement to raise the budget deficit target Pakistan must meet to take advantage of international aid.Following a meeting with Pakistani authorities in Dubai over the past week to discuss the IMF’s $7.6 billion standby agreement with the country, the IMF agreed to raise the deficit target for fiscal year 2009-2010 to 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product from 3.4 per cent.‘The slowing economy, additional donor support and the need to protect priority expenditures call for a relaxation of the fiscal deficit target for 2009/10,’ the IMF said in a statement issued in Washington after its mission returned from the region.Shaukat Tarin, the prime minister’s financial adviser, held two rounds of meetings with IMF and World Bank officials over the past two weeks.President Asif Ali Zardari too met senior IMF and World Bank officials in Washington last week, discussing various measures to help stabilise economy.President Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai also held a joint meeting with the World Bank president and agreed to expedite efforts to promote electricity trade between South and Central Asian regions.

US budget deficit soars to $1.8tn

The US government has sharply revised its budget deficit for 2009 up by $89bn to $1.8tn - out of an overall budget of almost $4tn - reflecting the nation's ongoing recession.The figure represents 12.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the US in the 2009 fiscal year ending September 30, the White House office of management and budget said on Monday.In addition, the 2010 budget will almost hit the $3.6tn mark, with a deficit of $1.25tn, despite Barack Obama, the US president, eliminating 121 programmes costing $17bn from the plan, most of them defence related.Peter Orszag, the White House budget director, said on Monday the higher deficits were driven largely by the economic crisis inherited by the Obama administration.Lower tax revenues, higher than expected costs for programmes such as unemployment insurance amid rising jobless figures and the cost of bailing out the US financial and automobile industries were also factors, one White House official told AFP.US stocks fell in mid-morning trading on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 128.16 points or 1.5 per cent, to 8,446.59 points.

Pope meets religious leaders at holy sites

Pope Benedict continues his visit of the Holy Land on Tuesday, where he is meeting top Muslim and Jewish clerics while visiting some of the holiest sites to Islam, Judaism and Christianity.Benedict XVI became the first pope to visit the Dome of the Rock on Tuesday morning, an edifice historically important for Muslims. The Dome was built on a site where, according to the Muslim faith, Mohammad ascended to heaven.The pope called upon his audience to overcome past conflicts. Echoing his sentiments, the mufti of Jerusalem, the Palestinians' senior Muslim cleric, called for Benedict XVI to work to end Israeli 'aggression'.If Monday marked the political component of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Holy Land, then Tuesday represents the religious part of his trip. He was expected to meet leaders of the three faiths that have historically struggled to carve out their identities in the area - Christians, Jews, and Muslims.The pope is conducting Tuesday's meetings with a focus on faith, at sites that are significant and symbolic for each faith.After meeting the Grand Mufti, at the Dome, he went to meet Israel's two chief rabbis and pray at the Wailing Wall, a remnant of a Roman-era temple.

China marks quake anniversary

Thousands of people poured into southwestern China to mourn the dead as the country marked one year after a deadly earthquake devastated parts of Sichuan province.Survivors and relatives gathered in towns across the quake-hit region to burn incense and ritual paper money, and leave wreaths for lost loved ones ahead of commemorations on Tuesday.At least 70,000 people were killed while another 17,000 are missing and presumed dead following the magnitude-7.9 earthquake - the deadliest to hit China in decades.Aid organisations estimate more than 370,000 were injured, and millions of others were left homeless.

NGOs fear humanitarian tragedy

As the Pakistani army and the Taliban engage in bitter fighting in the northwest of the country, nearly 500,000 civilians have started fleeing the conflict zone. NGOs fear an unprecedented crisis.Pakistan is currently experiencing one of the most serious humanitarian crises in its history. Nearly half a million civilians have already fled fighting between the army and the Taliban in the northwest of the country. And this is definitely not finished. While some of the displaced have found refuge with relatives, many are in camps, such as those around the city of Mardan, 40 km from Peshawar.Housed in tents, in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, these refugees have no running water or electricity. NGOs are struggling to cope with the influx. "The government should give us more time to prepare for the reception of displaced persons. We are short of doctors and medicines," said an NGO worker at the Jalala camp, near Mardan.“We are short of blankets, cooking utensils, and there is no school for the children,” said Gulab Saher, a butcher from the town of Mingora, who fled Swat valley with his family. “There are so many people here that we need to queue for hours to get anything.”Another problem: the lack of hygiene. According to NGOs on the ground, more and more people are suffering from stomach problems and skin infections - not to mention the psychological issues caused by the violence and fighting. The refugees’ stories are the same: the army began to bomb their area with helicopter gunships. Taking advantage of the temporary lifting of the curfew, the inhabitants of Swat gathered their things and fled the conflict area on foot, or by crowding in cars and trucks.

Pakistan 'captures Taliban hideout'

security forces took control of Gulabad and established checkposts

The Pakistani military claims to have captured a Taliban rear-base - believed  to be the stronghold of Mullah Fazlullah, a pro-Taliban leader, and a centre for 4,000 fighters.The hideout in Gatt Puchar, a mountainous region in the Swat valley, was taken on Tuesday morning, with helicopters being used in the assault, military sources told.Troops were dropped into the area, which has so far proved impenetrable by land.There has been no confirmation of Fazlullah's whereabouts following the attack.Another military air attack on Tuesday killed at least eight people in a house in Sara Mhora, in South Waziristan, on the Afghan border, according to intelligence sources.Sources said several militants were killed when helicopter gunships and troops on the ground attacked a government school for girls in Gulabad from where a band of outlaws had been firing on troops. A militant vehicle was destroyed during shelling.Two civilians were killed when a pick-up carrying vegetables was hit on Badwan road. Eleven civilians were also injured in various parts of Adenzai tehsil.Troops took control of the Dir-Peshawar Highway and established checkposts at Gulabad and Kharkanai. The armed Taliban had set up checkpoints on the highway and were patrolling from Chakdara to Talash.The assault is thought to have been carried out by a US drone.

Taliban raids Afghan state offices

About 30 Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and using AK-47s and grenades, have attacked government buildings in the Afghan city of Khost, the Taliban says.Battles on Tuesday are ongoing and all roads in and out of the city in the south eastern Khost province are closed. A Taliban spokesman had told that the 30 fighters were in the city of Khost targeting government buildings and police stations and checkpoints.The unnamed spokesman said that Khost was targeted because of the heavy US military presence there.She said that locations in other areas of the province, as well as Khost city, had been targeted."There have been four to five suicide bombers targeting a number of locations in Khost province," Khodr reported."We have now confirmation that one of the suicide bombers targeted the governor's house.""Details are still sketchy, but we know that there was heavy fighting between the Taliban and government forces."

Deccan beat Rajasthan by 53 runs

Deccan Cahrgers defeated Rajasthan Royals by 53 runs in an important IPL Twenty20 match here on Monday.Chasing a rather difficult target of 167,Rajasthan batsmen could not resist against tidy bowling from Deccan and were collapsed on 113 runs in 19.3 overs.Only Swapnil Asnodkar fought bravely to make 44 runs from 39 balls with six fours and one six whereas only two other batsmen could get into double figures.

Shuttle blasts off for final Hubble fix

The space shuttle Atlantis blasted off successfully Monday afternoon on NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.The spacecraft rocketed into mostly sunny skies right on schedule at 2:01 p.m. ET.Atlantis will spend five days upgrading the Hubble, the orbiting observatory that's been scanning the universe for almost two decades.For the seven members of the shuttle crew, that means added pressure."I think [this] is motivating us because we know there's nobody coming after us to do anything we don't get done," said Atlantis Commander Scott Altman. "This is it. We either get it done or it doesn't happen."It's been seven years since NASA's last Hubble servicing mission in 2002, and the space telescope was designed to go only about three years between fixes.

Pope condemns Holocaust denial

In a visit to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, Pope Benedict said the suffering of Jews murdered by the Nazi regime must never be denied, a message aimed at addressing Jewish anger over a Holocaust-denying bishop.Pope Benedict on Monday said at Israel's memorial to 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany that their suffering must never be denied, a message that addressed Jewish anger over a Holocaust-denying bishop.It was not immediately clear if the pope's words, which fell short of an outright apology for lifting the excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williamson in January, would heal the worst schism between the Vatican and Jews in a half-century.On his arrival earlier in the day, the pontiff underscored the Vatican's political divisions with Israel's right-leaning government by voicing support for a Palestinian homeland.At the stark Yad Vashem memorial, the German-born pope said he had come to honour the memory of Jews killed in the "horrific tragedy of the Shoah", the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, which he called an atrocity that disgraced mankind."May the names of these victims never perish. May their suffering never be denied, belittled or forgotten," he said, in prayer-like phrasing.The pope's comments echoed remarks he made in February on the Williamson controversy in which he told Jewish leaders "any denial or minimisation of this terrible crime is intolerable".In the 45 years since the Second Vatican Council repudiated the concept of collective Jewish guilt for Christ's death, relations have been haunted by the Holocaust and the question of what the church did, or failed to do, about it.

US Afghanistan commander 'replaced'

The Pentagon is to replace the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, David McKiernan, US media reports say.Military officials told the Associated Press news agency that McKiernan will be replaced by General Stanley McCrystal, with an announcement by Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, expected later on Monday.The move comes as the US is sending around 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan as part of the White House's plans to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the region.No reason has immediately been given for the decision to replace McKiernan.McKiernan arrived in Afghanistan about a year ago and had been asking for extra troops as the Taliban campaign worsened, the AP said.

Somalis flee Mogadishu violence

Thousands of people have fled the Somali capital after scores of people were killed over the weekend.People left Mogadishu in taxis, cars and lorries piled with mattresses, suitcases and furniture on Monday, witnesses said.Ali Sheik Yasin Fadhaa, the vice-chairman of the local Elman Human Rights Organisation, said: "Some of them do not know where to go. They need urgent help."He said that his staff throughout Mogadishu had counted at least 5,200 people fleeing on Monday, taking the total since Saturday to more than 17,000 Somalis."I have no other option," Asha Yakob told The Associated Press news agency as she left the northern Mogadishu neighbourhood of Fagah."Those who are fighting seem to be foreigners. If they were Somalis, they would never kill innocent and poor people like me. They are enemies."

Official: 5 killed after U.S. soldier opens fire on Iraq base

U.S. soldier is in custody after opening fire on his fellow troops Monday, killing five American service members, the U.S. military confirmed.The shootings mark the deadliest attack on troops by a fellow service member during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to U.S. military records.Three others were wounded in the incident, which happened about 2 p.m. at the U.S. military base, Camp Liberty, in Baghdad, two senior defense officials said.It is unclear if the shooter was among the wounded, despite earlier reports that he killed himself, an official said."Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all," said Col. John Robinson Multi-National Corps - Iraq spokesperson. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy."President Obama was shocked and saddened to hear about the incident and planned to discuss the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Pakistan: 700 Taliban Militants Dead as Refugee Camps Grow

Pakistani warplanes bombed suspected militant positions in a stronghold close to the capital Monday, pressing ahead with a fierce offensive that has driven hundreds of thousands from their homes, many into crowded refugee camps.The government claimed 700 insurgents had died and the Taliban were on the run.In one camp in the town of Mardan, just south of the battle zone in a barren field, hundreds of displaced people lined up for hours to register with the U.N. to get tents, food and medical treatment."In this camp, I am not seeing anything that will give us much relief," said a new arrival, Iftikiar Khan, fearing the facilities there were insufficient. Like most of those fleeing, Khan said he ultimately hoped to stay with relatives.The United Nations said 360,600 refugees had fled Swat and neighboring Dir and Buner districts since operations began last week. That number is on top of some 500,000 people displaced by past offensives — a major humanitarian challenge for the weak government that could test public support for the offensive. Most of the refugees are staying with friends and relatives or in rented accommodation.Islamabad's tough military response has drawn praise from the U.S., which wants al-Qaida and Taliban militants rooted out from havens where they can plan attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan as well as destabilize nuclear-armed Pakistan.