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KABUL: A suicide car bomb has exploded outside the Nato headquarters in Kabul, killing at least three people and wounding about 70, Afghan officials say.A plume of smoke was seen rising above the area, where the presidential palace and embassies are also located. According to an Arabic television, Tahreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan have claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb in front of the heavily fortified headquarters of US and NATO troops in Kabul, saying the target was the US embassy nearby. "The target was the US embassy, but we could not reach it. The suicide car bomber exploded near the ISAF headquarters and killed several foreign troops," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told foreign news agency by telephone from an undisclosed location, referring to the International Security Assistance Force.

Saturday, August 15, 2009 SRINAGAR: Kashmiris are observing India’s Independence Day as Black Day, today, featured with complete strike in occupied Kashmir.The major cities of the valley are giving a deserted look with the closure of all business establishments and traffic off the roads.The administration of held Valley put Hurriyat leaders Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Abdul Ghani Butt, Yaseen Malik and others under house arrest.The call for the strike has been given by the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and illegally detained senior Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani. Kashmiris are observing the Black Day on India’s Independence Day to convey to the world that the people of Kashmir have been deprived of their birthright to self-determination for the last sixty-three years. They will hoist black flags on the rooftops and remain indoors to mark the day.

Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan was on Saturday questioned for two hours at the Newark airport in the US over his surname and was freed only after Indian diplomats intervened. The Indian government and entertainment industry reacted furiously after the 43-year-old actor, named by Newsweek last year as one of the world's 50 most powerful men, revealed how he was detained and stopped from even using his mobile telephone. Speaking to CNN-IBN channel on telephone from the US, Shah Rukh appeared to shrug off the embarrassing episode saying he had suffered similar treatment previously too. The incident happened as the hugely popular actor, whose fans number millions in India and abroad, was on his way to Chicago to attend an event related to India's Independence Day. Other Bollywood stars like Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan too are set to attend the function. "They checked me because I was an Asian," the actor said. "They wanted to know why I came to the...

Saturday, August 15, 2009 KABUL:A huge blast rocked the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday, sending plumes of smoke into the sky, witnesses said, as the country counted down to Thursday's elections. The blast appeared to be in the diplomatic zone where embassies and bases of NATO and US troops are located. Officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Saturday, August 15, 2009 ::WASHINGTON: The US military on Friday said it will launch a training mission in Georgia to help a battalion prepare for deployment to Afghanistan, a move that risks aggravating relations with Russia. A team of US Marines will leave in the next few days to begin training a 750-strong infantry battalion that heads to Afghanistan in 2010, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman toldreporters. The training, which formally starts next month, will be designed "to get them ready for their spring 2010 deployment and to ensure they're able to operate alongside ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) partners," said Whitman. The NATO-led ISAF coalition comprises more than 100,000 troops, with about 62,000 forces from the United States. The number of Marines in the training contingent will fluctuate but will number as many as 60-70 instructors, Whitman said. The first influx of Marines will arrive in Georgia beginning on August 15th, said State Departmen...

Saturday, August 15, 2009 BEIRUT: Hizbullah has the power to hit any location in Israel with its weapons and has more “surprises” up its sleeve in the event of a future Israeli attack, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Friday. The Hizbullah leader also encouraged the authorities to continue their search for networks of Israeli spies in Lebanon, claiming that there are “agents in every village and every neighborhood.” Nasrallah made the comments during a speech in front of thousands of supporters via a large screen in Beirut’s southern suburbs, to celebrate the third anniversary of the party’s “divine victory” in the July-August war of 2006. “We no longer hear about the ‘new Middle East,’” Nasrallah said, arguing that the local, regional and international situation today “is not worse” than three years ago. Nasrallah was defiant in the address, mocking the Israeli army’s military capability on several occasions, and urging the Lebanese to show national solidarity to prevent an outbreak of c...

Saturday, August 15, 2009 GAZA CITY: Islamic radicals from an al-Qaida-inspired group battled Hamas security in the Gaza Strip Friday in shootouts that killed at least 13 people.The fighting began when Hamas forces surrounded a mosque in the southern Gaza town of Rafah where about 100 members of Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were holed up, including some armed with suicide belts and rifles, according to residents of the area.The confrontation was triggered when the leader of the group defied Gaza's Hamas rulers by declaring in a Friday prayer sermon that the territory was an Islamic emirate.Jund Ansar Allah and a number of other small, shadowy radical groups seek to enforce an even stricter version of Islamic law in Gaza and have criticized Hamas for not doing so. They are also upset that the Hamas regime has honored a cease-fire with Israel for the past seven months.Hamas has said it seeks to set an example and does not impose its views on others. It...

Friday, August 14, 2009 TAIPEI: About 300 people are estimated to have been killed by a massive landslide that wiped out much of a village in southern Taiwan, news agency reports quoted a government official, as saying on Friday.The tragedy is said to have taken place in the village of Hsiao Li.The official death toll in Taiwan from "Typhoon Morakot" till last weekend stood at 116. The worst floods in decades washed out roads, snapped bridges and sent low-rise buildings crashing into rivers, according to the latest statement by the disaster agency.Pressure is mounting on Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to expedite operations to rescue hundreds of residents of remote mountainous villages buried or stranded in the aftermath of the typhoon.

Friday, August 14, 2009 SRINAGAR: The green flags of Pakistan were hoisted in various areas of Indian held Kashmir on the Independence Day of Pakistan; while, Hurriyat leader Yasmeen Raja has been arrested.According to Kashmir Media Service, people took to streets in various Sri Nagar areas including Habba Kadal, Raj Bagh and Khanqa-e-Mualla and raised slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, ‘Jeway Jeway Pakistan’ and ‘Hum kia chahtey hein—azaadi’ with Pak flags raised in the air.Kashmiri youth resorted to fireworks in happiness on the Independence Day of Pakistan.Meantime, Hurriyat leader Yasmeen Raja was arrested when she attended a ceremony held to celebrate the national day of Pakistan. Raja also hoisted the national flag of Pakistan on her office.Indian police arrested some other women as well.Various separatist organisations on Thursday congratulated people of Pakistan on its 62nd independence day and also appealed masses to observe complete shutdown on August 15.Congratulating people of...

Friday, August 14, 2009 CALIFORNIA: Two California wildfires, one south of San Francisco and the other northwest of Los Angeles, burned across 51,000 acres today and threatened more than 1,250 homes, authorities said. Officials ordered 2,400 residents in Swanton and Bonny Doon, 70 miles (113 kilometers) from San Francisco, to flee the fire, which has consumed 2,800 acres (1,120 hectares) and is raging out of control, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. At the same time, some 1,900 firefighters are battling a blaze that has burned at least 48,457 acres in the Los Padres National Forest area of Santa Barbara County, said the state agency, known as Cal Fire. The Southern California blaze, called the La Brea fire, threatens 21 homes and nine other buildings about 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles, according to the state agency. The blaze to the north is called the Lockheed fire. It is about 2 miles south of a Lockheed Martin Space Systems test facility...