Pakistan violates ceasefire again

JAMMU: Violating the ceasefire again, Pakistani troops fired with small arms at two forward areas in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing retaliation from Indian forces.

"There was small arms firing by Pakistan army on Indian forward posts in two sub-sectors along the line of control (LoC) in Poonch district from Monday night," defence spokesman SN Acharya said on Tuesday.

Pakistani commission's visit to India delayed by festival

A Pakistani judicial commission's visit to India to cross-examine witnesses of the Mumbai terror attacks has been delayed because of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, a defence lawyer said on Tuesday. "The Indian government informed us that the visit (planned for) tomorrow cannot take place due to Ganesh Chaturthi as the courts (in Mumbai) are closed," lawyer Riaz Akram Cheema said.

Roadside bomb hits bus, killing seven in Afghanistan

KABUL: A bus that took a detour to avoid one roadside bomb instead hit another in the central province of Ghazni, killing seven people, including three children, an Afghan official said.

Assadullah Ensafi said the explosion occurred in the province’s Muqur district on Tuesday morning.

He said 17 people were injured in the explosion.

Survey Reveals Scant Backing for Syria Strike

WASHINGTON : A broad majority of Americans, exhausted by nearly a dozen years of war and fearful of tripping into another one, are opposed to a military strike on Syria, even though most say they think Syrian forces used chemical weapons against civilians, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Those findings illustrate the depth of the challenge facing President Obama as he tries to win support for a limited strike from a deeply reluctant Congress and an American public that has become steadily more skeptical of foreign engagement.

At least killed in collision of two buses in Iran

TEHRAN: A collision between two buses in Iran killed 44 people and injured 39 others, the ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday, in the country's most serious road accident in years.

The accident took place late on Monday along the highway between Qom and Tehran.

Campese sorry for telling Ahmed to 'go home'

SYDNEY: Australian rugby great David Campese has apologised for a Twitter outburst in which he said Muslim cricketer Fawad Ahmed should “go home” if he refused to wear a beer logo on his shirt.

Cricket Australia agreed to the Pakistan-born leg-spinner's request not to wear the sponsorship logo of beer brand VB on his team outfit because of religious reasons.

Delhi gang-rape : Four accused held guilty, to be sentenced tomorrow

New Delhi: A fast-track court here on Tuesday pronounced all the remaining four accused guilty in the 2012 December 16 Delhi gang-rape case. Of the total six accused, the prime conspirator – Ram Singh – had earlier this year killed himself in jail, while a minor accused was recently sentenced to three years in a special home by the Juvenile Justice Board. The 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist was lured by five men and a teenager onto a bus on December 16 last year, where they raped and tortured her with a metal bar.

Kashmiri man from across LoC held; cache of arms seized

ISLAMABAD: In a major development that has gone almost unnoticed, police arrested a relative of senior Kashmiri leader Aasiya Andarabi from Indian-held part of the Valley on terrorism-related charges over the weekend.

But Ms Andarabi’s another relative is reported to have escaped a raid carried out by the federal capital police on Saturday on a house in Khayaban-i-Kashmir on the outskirts of the city.

Elephants enter Hazaribagh town, damage ‘Gibraltar House’

A herd of 15 elephants on Monday damaged the 150-year-old ‘Gibraltar House’ built by a judge of the Calcutta High Court at Kanhari Hills in Hazaribagh town.

The elephants damaged the “Gibraltar House”, built by late S.C. Mallick, a judge of the Calcutta High Court, but none was hurt in the raids by the elephants, said Ajit Kumar, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Hazaribagh East (Forest) Division.

Lashkar-e-Taiba's chief coordinator Manzoor arrested in Kashmir

In yet another breakthrough by the security agencies, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander was arrested from Baramulla district of Kashmir.A top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander was arrested today by security forces from Baramulla district of Kashmir.

Manzoor alias Shams Bhai, the 'chief coordinator' of the militant outfit was arrested during a joint operation by Army and police from Pattan area of Baramulla, an army official said.

RBI query on gold stock in temples evokes Hindu outfits’ ire

A query issued by Reserve Bank of India to major temple boards in Kerala asking them to provide details of their gold stocks has evoked ire of Hindu outfits in the state.

While confirming that they have received such a letter from the RBI, top officials of some of the major temples said they were not taking any hasty decision on the matter without consulting the government and authorities concerned.

Syrian handover of chemical arms could prevent attack: Kerry

LONDON: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in London on Monday that Syria could prevent a military attack if President Bashar al-Assad handed over all his chemical weapons to the international community within the next week.

Egypt's interior minister survives bomb attack

CAIRO: Egypt's interior minister survived an assassination attempt on Thursday when a bomb blew up as his convoy drove through Cairo's Nasr City district, state media and security officials said.

Security sources said at least 10 people had been injured, but the minister, who lives in Nasr City, just outside the city centre, was not hurt.

Bomb wounds 11 outside girls' school in Bannu

Bannu: A bomb wounded 11 people, mostly children, when it exploded outside a girls' school in Bannu on Thursday, a doctor said.

The bomb went off at the end of the school day as pupils walked into a street lined with fabric shops in the northwestern town of Bannu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Doctor Omar Zeb told news agency AFP that 11 people had been brought to the local hospital – seven primary schoolgirls and four other people who had been in the street.

Pakistan’s nuclear assets in safe hands: PM Sharif

ISLAMABAD: The National Command Authority session, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took place at the Prime Minister House on Thursday, DawnNews reported.

The meeting, which took place after media disclosure that the United States had intensified its surveillance of Pakistan’s nuclear programs based on documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden, was aimed at examining Pakistan’s nuclear assets.

BSF constable shoots himself after killing two officers in Assam

Guwahati: A Border Security Force (BSF) constable allegedly killed two officers and injured another before shooting himself at a remote border post in Assam's Dhubri district. The constable, Jawan Prabhakar Mishra, died on his way to the hospital.

Constable Mishra allegedly shot the officers from his service weapon around 10:30 am and, later shot himself at Hathi Char border post, a senior BSF official said.

Syria rifts loom over G20 summit

World leaders from the G20 group of nations are set to meet in Russia amid sharp differences over military action against Syria’s government.

Ahead of the talks, Russia’s Vladimir Putin warned that action without UN approval would be “an aggression”.

Obama, Manmohan to meet as per schedule on September 27 in US

WASHINGTON: The White House meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama will be held as per schedule on September 27, despite the latter being busy due to ongoing Syrian crisis.

While no formal bilateral Obama-Singh meeting has been planned on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in St Petersburg, Russia, the two leaders are expected to interact on its margins this week, officials said here.

Pakistanis face uncertain future in Afghan prison

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani legal aid group Wednesday said dozens of Pakistani prisoners held by the US at an Afghan prison were at risk of falling into indefinite detention due to stalled negotiations between the US and Pakistan over their repatriation.

The Justice Project Pakistan represents Pakistani prisoners held in Afghanistan and their families.

Militants, police clash in Karachi’s Mauripur; three killed

KARACHI: Three suspected militants were killed on Thursday during an exchange of fire with personnel from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Karachi’s Mauripur area, DawnNews reported.

According to SSP CID Chaudhry Aslam, police launched a search operation in the Mauripur graveyard upon receiving a tip-off on the suspects’ whereabouts, following which the suspected men opened fire.