Mar
16
Pakistan to restore chief justice
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ISLAMABAD – Pakistan agreed Monday to reinstate a fired Supreme Court chief justice, a move that will help defuse a political crisis that has sparked street battles and raised fears of instability in the U.S.-allied country at a time of surging Islamist violence.
Opposition leaders and lawyers had vowed to sit-in at the parliament later Monday until Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, known for his independence and willingness to challenge authority, was reinstated. The capital has been barricaded and scores of extra police brought in amid fears of violence.
In a dawn address to the nation that capped a night of high drama, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced Chaudhry would be sworn back in on March 21, the day the current chief justice was due to retire. The speech triggered scenes of jubilation outside Chaudhry’s home in the capital, Islamabad.
Gilani also ordered all lawyers and political activists arrested over the past week to be freed immediately and appealed for political reconciliation in the nuclear-armed country, which is facing a punishing economic crisis as well as rising al-Qaida and Taliban violence.
The concession came as thousands of protesters led by Nawaz Sharif, the head of the largest opposition party and a longtime foe of President Asif Ali Zardari, were traveling to Islamabad to join the planned sit-in. Sharif joined the convoy after ignoring a house arrest order in his hometown of Lahore in Punjab, where his supporters fought running battles with police.
Supporters in Gujranwala mobbed Sharif’s rose-petal covered car following Gilani’s announcement. Sharif said lawyers and other activists had agreed to call off the so-called Long March. He thanked Zardari, Gilani and the Pakistani people.
“From here, God willing, the fate of this nation will change,” Sharif said using a microphone from inside his jeep before heading back to Lahore. “From here, a journey of development will start. From here, a revolution will come.”
Former President Pervez Musharraf fired Chaudhry, 60, in 2007 after he took up cases challenging the leader’s rule, sparking a wave of protests that helped force Musharraf from power in 2008.
Musharraf’s successor, Zardari, pledged to reinstate Chaudhry within 30 days of his party forming a government, but reneged on the promise, apparently fearing the justice might examine a deal that he and his wife, slain politician Benazir Bhutto, struck with Musharraf to grant the pair immunity from prosecution over alleged corruption cases.
Zardari’s broken promise and his government’s repression of the protesters will likely leave him in a politically weakened position. Sharif has projected an image of strength and stands to gain from leading a successful movement against the president, who has been the focus of popular anger.
Lawyers and civil rights activists have remained committed to the cause of Chaudhry’s reinstatement, believing it was a vital first step in getting an independent judiciary in Pakistan. The court system has often been abused by past rulers to cement their grip on power.
“This is a victory for the people of this country,” lawyer leader Baz Mohammad Kakar said after Gilani’s announcement. “Chaudhry is the first chief justice in the history of Pakistan who has proved himself to be a judge for the people, as a chief justice for the people.”
The lawyer’s movement got a boost last month when Sharif threw his full weight behind it after he and his brother, Shahbaz, were banned from elected office by the Supreme Court. Zardari then dismissed the government led by Shahbaz in the Punjab province, the wealthiest in Pakistan and a vital prize for politicians.
Gilani repeated a pledge made Saturday to appeal that verdict to the Supreme Court.
In recent days, U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, had spoken to Zardari and Sharif, urging them to reach a deal. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad issued a statement welcoming the move Monday.
“This is a statesmanlike decision taken to defuse a serious confrontation, and the apparent removal of this long-standing national issue is a substantial step towards national reconciliation,” the statement said. “Now is the time for all Pakistanis and their political representatives to work together, with the support of their friends and allies, to peacefully strengthen their democracy and ensure a positive dialogue as they move forward to deal with the many issues confronting them.”
Washington and other Western capitals had been concerned the crisis was distracting Pakistan from its fight against Taliban and al-Qaida militants operating along the Afghan border.
Before dawn on Sunday, hundreds of police surrounded Sharif’s residence in Lahore, carrying an order for his house arrest. Sharif denounced the order as illegal and later left the house in a convoy of vehicles as police stood by. It was unclear why they relented, but Lahore is Sharif’s political stronghold.
Some of the protesters defied police barricades to gather near the city’s main courts complex and pelt riot police with rocks. One mob smashed the windows of buses parked along the route of Sharif’s convoy, while another broke into the main Post Office building, trashing furniture and then clambering onto the roof to hurl rocks at police below.
Police responded with tear gas, and beat several protesters with batons. Associated Press reporters saw several injured officers being helped away. A handful of protesters were detained and bundled into police vans.
Later, the crowd swelled to several thousands and police again pulled back. Many were black-suited lawyers, but most appeared to be supporters of Sharif, equipped with party flags and chanting “Go Zardari go!”
For days, the government has been seeking to squelch the protest movement.
Authorities have put the army on alert and temporarily detained hundreds of activists nationwide to prevent them traveling to Lahore or Islamabad. But its resolve appeared to waver Sunday amid signs of internal party dissent. A day earlier, a prominent minister quit Zardari’s Cabinet, apparently over attempts to censor critical media coverage.
The Sharifs and 16 other protest leaders were initially ordered under house arrest, said Rao Iftikhar, a senior government official. Later, he said authorities reached an “understanding” with Sharif that he would address the protesters in Lahore and then return home – an arrangement that authorities failed to enforce.
Sharif accuses Zardari of being behind the Supreme Court ruling last month that disqualified put Sharif and his brother from elected office over convictions dating back to Musharraf’s rule.
Mar
15
Pakistan police battle protesters as crisis grows
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LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistan’s opposition leader defied house arrest on Sunday to join anti-government protests that quickly descended into violence and chaos, with running battles between stone-throwing protesters and police.
The power struggle between Pakistan’s president and the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif threatens to paralyze the government and, alarmingly for the U.S., distract the nuclear-armed country from its fight against Taliban militants operating along the Afghan border.
Hundreds of police surrounded the Lahore residence of Sharif, a former prime minister, before dawn on Sunday and detained him along with scores of his supporters, a party spokesman said.
Officers in the eastern Pakistani city showed party officials an order placing Sharif and his politician brother Shahbaz under house arrest for three days, spokesman Pervaiz Rasheed said.
Sharif denounced the order as illegal and later left the house in a convoy of vehicles packed with chanting, flag-waving supporters, headed for a downtown rally that had already turned violent.
Mobs accompanying the swelling convoy smashed the windows of buses parked along the route. Others torched tires, sending plumes of black smoke into the blue sky over a usually bustling boulevard littered with stones and empty tear gas shells.
“These are the decisive moments,” Sharif told supporters before he climbed into his car. “I tell every Pakistani youth that this is not the time to stay home; Pakistan is calling you to come and save me.”
Rao Iftikhar, a senior government official, said authorities reconsidered the restrictions on Sharif to allow him to address the rally and return home afterward.
Washington worries that the crisis will further destabilize the shaky the year-old government and prevent it from being an effective ally in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan.
Suspected militants attacked a transport terminal in northwestern Pakistan used to supply NATO troops in Afghanistan before dawn on Sunday and torched dozens of containers and military vehicles, police said.
Lawyers and opposition party supporters had planned to gather near Lahore’s main court complex before heading toward Islamabad to stage a mass sit-in front of Parliament, in defiance of a government ban.
To thwart them, authorities parked trucks across major roads on the edge of the city, and riot police took up positions outside the railway station and government buildings.
Still, several thousands flag-waving demonstrators pushed past police barricades to reach the courts.
Protesters pelted some of the hundreds of riot police ringing the area with rocks, triggering running clashes. An Associated Press reporter saw one officer led away with a head wound.
Police repeatedly fired tear gas, scattering the crowd, and beat several stragglers with batons, only for the demonstrators to return with fresh supplies of sticks and stones.
Shahbaz Sharif and a host of other protest leaders went underground to dodge their own detention orders. Iftikhar said they had been issued for the head of Pakistan’s main Islamist party and cricketer star-turned-politician Imran Khan.
Television images showed police commandos wearing flak jackets and armed with assault rifles apparently searching for Shahbaz in Rawalpindi, just south of the capital.
The political turmoil began last month when the Supreme Court disqualified the Sharif brothers from elected office, over convictions dating back to an earlier chapter in Pakistan’s turbulent political history.
Zardari compounded the crisis by dismissing the Sharifs’ administration in Punjab, Pakistan’s biggest and richest province, of which Lahore is the capital.
The brothers then threw their support behind plans by lawyers to stage an indefinite sit-in in Islamabad – a move officials say would bring the government to a standstill and present a target to terrorists.
On Saturday, after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to both Zardari and Nawaz Sharif by telephone, the government announced it would appeal the Supreme Court ruling in the coming days.
Sharif’s party welcomed the move but stuck by its demand for a shake-up of the judiciary.
Zardari refuses to reinstate a group of independent-minded judges fired by Musharraf.
Many observers suspect Zardari fears the judges could challenge a pact signed by Musharraf that quashed long-standing corruption charges against him and his wife, slain former leader Benazir Bhutto.
Skeptics suspect Sharif of hoping to force early elections, from which he and Islamist parties would likely profit.
Jan
20
Obama takes office, saying choose ‘hope over fear’
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WASHINGTON – Stepping into history, Barack Hussein Obama grasped the reins of power as America’s first black president on Tuesday, saying the nation must choose “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord” to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
In frigid temperatures, an exuberant crowd of more than a million packed the National Mall and parade route to celebrate Obama’s inauguration in a high-noon ceremony. They filled the National Mall, stretching from the inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.
With 11 million Americans out of work and trillions of dollars lost in the stock market’s tumble, Obama emphasized that his biggest challenge is to repair the tattered economy left behind by outgoing President George W. Bush.
“Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed,” Obama said in an undisguised shot at Bush administration policies. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America.”
The dawn of the new Democratic era – with Obama allies in charge of both houses of Congress – ends eight years of Republican control of the White House by Bush, who leaves Washington as one of the nation’s most unpopular and divisive presidents, the architect of two unfinished wars and the man in charge at a time of economic calamity that swept away many Americans’ jobs, savings and homes.
Obama’s election was cheered around the world as a sign that America will be more embracing, more open to change. “To the Muslim world,” Obama said, “we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
Still, he bluntly warned, “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”
“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
Two years after beginning his improbable quest as a little-known, first-term Illinois senator with a foreign-sounding name, Obama moved into the Oval Office as the nation’s fourth youngest president, at 47, and the first African-American, a barrier-breaking achievement believed impossible by generations of minorities.
He said it was a moment to recall “that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”
Obama called for a political truce in Washington to end “the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
He said that all Americans have roles in rebuilding the nation by renewing the traditions of hard work, honesty and fair play, tolerance, loyalty and patriotism.
“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”
With the economy in a long and deepening recession, Obama said it was time for swift and bold action to create new jobs and lay a foundation for growth. Congressional Democrats have readied an $825 billion stimulus plan of tax cuts and spending for roads, bridges, schools, electric grids and other projects.
“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works,” the new president said.
A mighty chorus of cheers erupted as Obama stepped to the inaugural platform, a midday sun warming the crowd that had waited for hours in the cold. There were some boos when Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney came onto the platform.
In his remarks, Obama took stock of the nation’s sobering problems.
“That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood,” he said.
“Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age,” Obama said. “Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.”
It was the first change of administrations since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Crowds filled the Mall for a distant glimpse of the proceedings or just, in the words of many, simply “to be here.” Washington’s subway system was jammed and two downtown stations were closed when a woman was struck by a subway train.
Bush – following tradition – left a note for Obama in the top drawer of his desk in the Oval Office.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the theme of the message – which Bush wrote on Monday – was similar to what he has said since election night: that Obama is about to begin a “fabulous new chapter” in the United States, and that he wishes him well.
The unfinished business of the Bush administration thrusts an enormous burden onto the new administration, though polls show Americans are confident Obama is on track to succeed. He has cautioned that improvements will take time and that things will get worse before they get better.
Culminating four days of celebration, the nation’s 56th inauguration day began for Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden with a traditional morning worship service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Park from the White House. Bells pealed from the historic church’s tower as Obama and his wife, Michelle, arrived five minutes behind schedule.
The festivities won’t end until well after midnight, with dancing and partying at 10 inaugural balls.
By custom, Obama and his wife, and Biden and his wife, Jill, went directly from church to the White House for coffee with Bush and his wife, Laura. Michelle Obama brought a gift for the outgoing first lady in a white box decorated with a red ribbon.
Shortly before 11 a.m., Obama and Bush climbed into a heavily armored Cadillac limousine to share a ride to the Capitol for the transfer of power, an event flashed around the world in television and radio broadcasts, podcasts and Internet streaming. On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a muscle in his back, leaving him in a wheelchair for the inauguration.
Just after noon, Obama stepped forward on the West Front of the Capitol to lay his left hand on the same Bible that President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration in 1861. The 35-word oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been uttered by every president since George Washington. Obama was one of 22 Democratic senators to vote against Roberts’ confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2005.
The son of a white, Kansas-born mother and a black, Kenya-born father, Obama decided to use his full name in the swearing-in ceremony.
To the dismay of liberals, Obama invited conservative evangelical pastor Rick Warren – an opponent of gay rights – to give the inaugural invocation.
About a dozen members of Obama’s Cabinet and top appointees were ready for Senate confirmation Tuesday, provided no objections were raised. But Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas indicated he would block a move to immediately confirm Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Still, she is expected to be approved in a roll call vote Wednesday.
More than 10,000 people from all 50 states – including bands and military units – were assembled to follow Obama and Biden from the Capitol on the 1.5-mile inaugural parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue, concluding at a bulletproof reviewing stand in front of the White House. Security was unprecedented. Most bridges into Washington and about 3.5 square miles of downtown were closed.
Among the VIPs at the Capitol was pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the hero of last week’s US Airways crash into the Hudson River.
Obama’s inauguration represents a time of renewal and optimism for a nation gripped by fear and anxiety. Stark numbers tell the story of an economic debacle unrivaled since the 1930s:
_Eleven million people have lost their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, a 16-year high.
_One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in arrears.
_The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931, and stocks lost $10 trillion in value between October 2007 and November 2008.
Obama and congressional Democrats are working on an $825 billion economic recovery bill that would provide an enormous infusion of public spending and tax cuts. Obama also will have at his disposal the remaining $350 billion in the federal financial bailout fund. His goal is to save or create 3 million jobs and put banks back in the job of lending to customers.
In an appeal for bipartisanship, Obama honored defeated Republican presidential rival John McCain at a dinner Monday night. “There are few Americans who understand this need for common purpose and common effort better than John McCain,” Obama said.
Young and untested, Obama is a man of enormous confidence and electrifying oratorical skills. Hopes for Obama are extremely high, suggesting that Americans are willing to give him a long honeymoon to strengthen the economy and lift the financial gloom.
On Wednesday, his first working day in office, Obama is expected to redeem his campaign promise to begin the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq under a 16-month timetable. Aides said he would summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Oval Office and order that the pullout commence.
Dec
9
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani chaired the meeting of cabinet’s defence committee in Islamabad.
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The meeting discussed the security situation in the country. Defense minister Ahmed Mukhtar, minister for defense Production Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, information minister Sherry Rahman, advisor on finance Shaukat Tarin, advisor on Interior Rahman Malik, national security advisor Mehmood A. Durrani, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee and chiefs of the three armed forces participated in the meeting.
Dec
8
Eidhul Azha will be celebrated in the country tomorrow with religious zeal and fervor.
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Eid prayers will be held mosques and Eidgahs in all towns and cities of the country. The ulema in their sermons will highlight the siginificance of the day and the philosophy of sacrificying of animals on the day. On this occasion, special prayers will be offered for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan, unity and solidarity of the ummah and liberation of the occupied territories.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Islamabad and other major cities.
Dec
8
In some other parts of the world, Eidhul Azha was celebrated today.
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In Al-Quds, thousands of Palestinians flocked to Al-Aqsa mosque in the old city to attend the early morning prayer marking the start of the four-day feast. After prayers, families turned to local cemeteries where according to tradition they should pay visits to their relatives graves.
In the west bank city of Al-Khalil, where tensions rose last week amid Israel’s eviction of settler families from a disputed building, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad joined local residents for prayers at the tomb of patriarchs.
Fayyad said he had come to Al-Khalil to express solidarity with the people of the area.
In Gaza city, where economic hardships under an israeli blockade overshadows Eid al-Adha celebrations, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh attended the main prayer and told reporters that the Palestinian people should unite against the Israeli occupation. In Iraq, the Muslims marked Eid al-Adha with hopes to live in peace in the coming year.Iraqis in Baghdad offered Eid prayers and gathered to buy sheep for slaughter. Tighter security measures in baghdad have encouraged families to spend time outside their homes with most families heading for the central Al-Zawra fun park. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, Eidhul Azha was celebrated today. The event is celebrated on different days depending on which the sect of the follower, but this year, the Indonesian government declared the Eid al-Adha will be commemorated nationally.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai, his cabinet ministers and other high ranking officials, performed Eid al-Adha prayers in the mosque of his fortified presidential palace.
Dec
8
Armed persons early today torched dozens of more vehicles supplying goods to NATO forces in Afghanistan.
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This was the second such raid in two days.The latest attack on a container terminal at ring road Peshawar came a day after 200 vehicles were destroyed in the area. Firefighters called to the scene managed to save 40 vehicles.
A security guard said around 200 armed men had attacked the terminal in the early hours before fleeing. The armed attackers also carried out firing. However, no loss of lives have been reported.
Nov
16
Wildfires in LA reduce hundreds of homes to ash
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LOS ANGELES – Southern Californians endured a third day of destruction Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires torched hundreds of mobile homes and mansions, forced tens of thousands of people to flee and shut down major freeways.
No deaths were reported, but the Los Angeles police chief said he feared authorities might find bodies among the 500 burned dwellings in a devastated mobile home park that housed many senior citizens.
“We have almost total devastation here in the mobile park,” Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said. “I can’t even read the street names because the street signs are melting.”
The series of fires has injured at least 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes from coastal Santa Barbara to inland Riverside County, on the other side of the Los Angeles area. Smoke blanketed the nation’s second-largest city Saturday, reducing the afternoon sun to a pale orange disk.
As night fell, a fire fed by a sleet of blowing embers hopscotched through the winding lanes of modern subdivisions in Orange and Riverside counties, destroying more than 50 homes, some of them apparently mansions.
A blaze in the Sylmar community in the hillsides above Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley destroyed the mobile homes, nine single-family homes and several other buildings before growing to more than 8,000 acres – more than 12 square miles. It was only 20 percent contained Saturday.
It sent residents fleeing in the dark Saturday morning as notorious Santa Ana winds topping 75 mph torched cars, bone-dry brush and much of Oakridge Mobile Home Park. The blaze, whose cause was under investigation, threatened at least 1,000 structures, city Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Kelley said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Orange and Riverside counties. Fire officials estimated that at its peak 10,000 people were under orders to evacuate, including residents of the mobile home park.
Extreme fire conditions were expected to continue into Sunday morning, with humidity at just 10 percent to 15 percent and winds gusting to 45 mph through canyons. Winds, however, could reverse direction and dip to 5-mph breezes Sunday afternoon.
“We still have another 15 hours of red flag conditions,” Robert Balfour, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, warned fire officials at a briefing Saturday night.
Many heat records were set as the region withered under the Santa Anas. Downtown Los Angeles was 20 degrees above normal at a record 93 degrees.
At an evacuation center, Lucretia Romero, 65, wore a string of pearls and clutched the purse and jacket she snatched as firefighters shouted at them to flee hours earlier.
Her daughter, Lisa, 42, wore a bloodstained shirt and pants. A helicopter dropping water on their home caused the entryway ceiling to collapse. Debris scratched her forehead and gave her a black eye.
Lucretia Romero said she saw smoke above the hills beyond the front door and then, within an hour, saw that a canyon across from her home was red with flame.
“They would drop water, the water would squash the flames and then two minutes later the flames would come back,” she said. Firefighters soon banged on the door and gave them 10 minutes to evacuate.
Flames swept across the park and scorched cypress trees, Ruda said. Firefighters had to flee, grabbing some residents and leaving hoses melted into the concrete.
Ruda produced a burned U.S. flag on a broken stick as a sign of hope and bravery for firefighters. “The home that this flag was flying from is gone,” he said.
Police Chief William Bratton said cars were found in the debris at the park, raising concerns that bodies might be found. Crews were waiting for the ground to cool before bringing in search dogs, he said.
The Santa Anas – dry winds that typically blow through Southern California between October and February – tossed embers ahead of flames, jumping two interstate highways and sparking new flare-ups. Walls of flame raced up ridge lines covered in sun-baked brush and surrounded high-power transmission line towers.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the fire caused problems that shut down power lines in places, and he asked residents to conserve power to help avoid possible blackouts.
Shortly after midnight, the Sylmar fire burned to the edge of the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus, knocking out power and forcing officials to evacuate two dozen critical patients.
The shifting winds caused the fire to move uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains, downhill toward homes and sometimes skip across canyons. It also jumped across Interstates 5 and 210, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut down portions of both freeways and some connecting roads.
More than 60 homes were damaged or destroyed in a fire that erupted in the Riverside County city of Corona and spread west to the Orange County communities of Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills.
In addition, 50 apartment units burned in a complex in Anaheim Hills. Devin Nathanson, 27, had put down a deposit on an apartment there and planned to move in Saturday. Instead, he watched from the road as it burned to the ground.
“At least none of my stuff was inside yet,” he said.
Palm trees lining the entrance to the complex were ablaze, and two firefighters manned hoses at the swimming pool and sprayed water on the leasing center. The roof caved in with a loud bang.
About 2,000 acres – more than 3 square miles – were charred by that fire, with more than 12,000 people in 4,500 dwellings ordered to evacuate in Anaheim alone. Six firefighters were injured, including four Corona firefighters who were hurt when flames swept over their engine. Two of the Corona crewmembers were treated at a hospital and released.
Winds began to decrease in the afternoon and were expected to drop further overnight, but humidity was expected to remain low.
Nov
6
To share the grief of the victims of recent earthquake in Balochistan, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has announced 300,000 rupees for dead and 100,000 for the injured.
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This is in addition to assistance announced by the president.
The Prime Minister will visit the quake-hit areas give the compensation. The Prime Minister has directed that the survey of the demolished houses should be expedited.
The Prime Minister has been vigorously following up the aid and assistance efforts to the Affectees of Ziarat and Pishin earthquake even while he was in turkey. He gave blanket permission to provide all possible assistance.The Prime Minister also directed the deputy chairman, ERRA and his team to visit the earthquake affected areas of Ziarat and Pishin immediately to undertake damage assessment for rehabilitation. He has directed that the construction of houses should be similar to those which have been done in the earthquake areas of AJK .Relief assistance from china, Japan, US, Saudi Arabia and Iran has also been received besides significant help from I.C.RC., W.H.O., Pakistan red crescent society, Saudi public assistance .The world food programme has started supplying two months ration for 20,000 people from November 03. The Prime Minister has thanked all the donors both international and local as well as public for their assistance.
Nov
6
NATIONAL NEWS – The executive committee of national economic council met in Islamabad with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in chair.
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The meeting reviewed new development projects in the country. The projects which were reviewed include housing and physical planning, power sector, health, energy, transport, communication, environment and social sector development. The ECNEC also reviewed the Diamir Bhasha dam project and the plan to rehabilitate the affectees of Bhashah dam project.
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