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Friday, April 20, 2012

Tragic day Passenger Plane Crashes in Pakistan

A passenger jet with more than 127 people on board crashed into wheat fields Friday as it was trying to land in a thunder storm at an airport near the capital Islamabad. The Boeing 737 carrying 127 passengers and crew from Karachi was destined for Islamabad. A violent rain, wind and thunder storm was lashing the capital at the time of the crash, which occurred about 6:40 p.m. local time. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-200 operated by Bhoja Air, a domestic carrier that has just four planes and only resumed operations last month after suspending them in 2001 due to financial difficulties. The flight was traveling from the country s largest city of Karachi to the Pakistani capital, officials said. It was the airline s first evening flight from Karachi, according to a Bhoja Air official. Relatives of those on the flight thronged the airline s counters at Karachi and Islamabad airports, crying. An airport source said that flight number B4-213 of Bhoja Airline was due to land at Islamabad airport at 6:50 pm (1350 GMT) but lost contact with the control tower at 6:40 pm and crashed shortly afterwards before reaching the runway. Bhoja had been grounded in 2000 by the Civil Aviation Authorities amid financial difficulties, the reports said. The worst aviation tragedy on Pakistani soil came in July 2010 when an Airbus 321 passenger jet operated by the private airline Airblue crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land after a flight from Karachi. All 152 people on board were killed in the accident, which occurred amid heavy rain and poor visibility. The deadliest civilian plane crash involving a Pakistani jet came in 1992 when a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a cloud-covered hillside on its approach to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, killing 167 people.

Successful India Agni-V missile test

India on Thursday test-fired the Agni-V missile that can hit targets more than 5,000 km away. India on Thursday tested a new long-range missile capable of delivering a one-tonne nuclear warhead anywhere in regional military rival China, a defence source said. The 17-metre (56-foot) Agni V, with a range of more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles), was launched at 8:05 (0235 GMT) from a test site off the eastern state of Orissa, said an official at the site who declined to be identified. India may have missiles that can reach most parts of China but stands "no chance in an overall arms race" with the country, a Chinese daily said Thursday, when India test-fired its 5,000km range nuclear capable missile, and added that New Delhi would gain nothing by stirring "further hostility". A successful test would leave India knocking at the door of a select club of nations with inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with ranges of up to 8,000km. Currently only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – possess a declared ICBM capability. India views the 50-tonne Agni V as a major boost to its regional power aspirations and one that narrows – albeit slightly – the huge gap with China’s technologically advanced missile systems.

A wave of bomb attacks in Iraq

As many as 30 people have been killed in a wave of bomb attacks in four different provinces in Iraq. According to the details, bombings in and around Baghdad killed 17 people, an interior ministry official said, while bomb attacks in the northern province of Kirkuk left nine people dead, high-ranking police officers said. Three more people were killed in bombings in Samarra in Salaheddin province, a commander of a local anti-Qaeda militia and a police lieutenant colonel said. And in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed a police officer in the provincial capital Baquba, an army officer said. It was the deadliest day in Iraq since March 20, when shootings and bombings claimed by Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq killed 50 people and wounded 255 nationwide. Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks still continue across the country. In March, 112 Iraqis were killed, government figures showed.

Bangladesh postpone tour to Pakistan

The Bangladesh high court on Thursday ordered the national team’s upcoming tour of Pakistan to be postponed for at least four weeks due to security fears. But the high court in Dhaka ordered the team to delay the visit by at least four weeks while Bangladesh cricket authorities explained why the tour should go ahead despite security worries. The Tigers were set to play a 50-over game and a Twenty20 international on April 29 and 30 in Lahore, the first international cricket matches in Pakistan for three years. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released a strongly-worded statement voicing fury at the postponement of the Bangladesh tour. "It is astonishing to note that a matter lacking any legal issue has been dragged in the court by petitioners who appear to have vested interest and want to jeopardise Pakistan-Bangladesh cricketing relations," the statement said. Pakistan had hoped the tour would encourage other foreign teams to visit and ultimately pave the way to a full resumption of home international series. PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf also deplored the postponement. "It s shocking for us," Ashraf said in Islamabad. "This is unexpected because a lot of preparations have been made and courts usually don t come in cricketing matters." Bangladesh would be the first team to visit Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus during the Lahore Test in 2009, when eight people died and seven visiting players and an assistant coach were injured. Bangladesh is a low performing nation even the BPL’s highligted cricketers are all Pakistani. Its time we don't bother with B’desh let them play their own. As for India forget about them also and lets start our own cricket league give something back to the domestic crowd. Bangladesh is still upset and angry when they lost to Pakistan in the Asia cup final. All the people need to realize this fake war of terror created by America has destroyed Pakistan. No other nation apart from Iraq and Afghanistan has suffered bush and Obamas terror. We need to distance ourselvs from the Americans as this is NOT our war.