Chemicals and machinery worth of millions of rupees were destroyed when a huge fire broke out in a chemical factory in Green Town, Lahore. Fire brigade is trying to contain the fire.

Fire brigade sources said that the blaze broke out late night in the factory, they added that the cause of the fire could not be immediately ascertained, though an electric short-circuit was believed to have caused it.

10 to 12 fire brigade engines were pressed into service to contain the fire; however it is feared that the fire cannot be put out until the entire quantity of chemical is burnt. The fire fighters are trying to stop the fire from reaching neighboring factories.

US citizen of Pakistani origin David Headley has admitted 12 counts of conspiracy. He pleaded guilty to scouting targets for the 2008 attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai.

Prosecutors will therefore ask for a lesser sentence since Headley was cooperating with the prosecutors, but US District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber said Headley could still be jailed for life. David Headley, at his trial in Chicago, also admitted plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that published a cartoon many Muslims deemed offensive.

Headley, 49, had denied the charges but changed his plea to avoid the death penalty or extradition to India, Pakistan or Denmark.

President Barack Obama said that keeping Tehran without a nuclear weapon is one of his highest priorities. He added that US is having good relations with Israel.

Obama says a nuclear-armed Iran could trigger an arms race in the Middle East, something his administration wants to avoid.
Obama added work already under way among international partners to isolate Iran.
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DUBAI : Yemen rebels freed 178 government soldiers and civilians on Wednesday, a day after Sanaa accused them of dragging their feet over implementation of a truce deal to end a northern war.

A top Yemeni security body had said on Tuesday that the northern rebels were not fully complying with a deal struck in February to end a conflict that has raged on and off since 2004 and drew in neighbouring oil exporter Saudi Arabia last year.

The prisoners were handed over in the northern province of Saada that was the scene of most of the fighting, and they would be transported to Sanaa on Thursday, Al Arabiya quoted officials in a mediation committee as saying.

Western governments and neighbouring Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda is exploiting instability on many fronts in Yemen to recruit and train militants for attacks in the region and beyond.

Analysts say the truce agreement between the government and rebels, who belong to the minority Zaydi sect of Shi’ite Islam, was unlikely to last as it does not address the insurgents’ complaints of discrimination by Sanaa.

A rebel spokesman denied on Tuesday that the insurgents were using delay tactics and promised to free captive Yemeni soldiers within 48 hours, Al Arabiya television reported at the time. Al Arabiya said those freed on Wednesday included foot soldiers, officers and civilians.

Floods forced the evacuation of hundreds of New Jersey residents.
Residents could be seen walking in waist high water down flooded streets. Some people are using small boats to travel through a residential neighborhood.
In some areas, only the roofs of houses were visible.
The high waters come on the heels of heavy rain and record snowfall this winter. A ’state of emergency’ is in effect.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan News: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has summoned an especial federal cabinet meeting on one point agenda in connection with peace and order situation in country.
The meeting was scheduled to be held on March 17.

Also, Premier invited Chief Minister Punjab Mian Mohammed Shahbaz Sharif on phone to attend the meeting.

According to a statement released from PM House, Chief Minister of all four provinces and Inspector Generals have been invited to the meeting.

The meeting will review law and order situation in country, it said.

PM Gilani also expressed grief with CM Punjab over killings of innocent people who lost their lives in Lahore suicide attack, statement further said.

KANDAHAR: A big blast near Pakistani Consulate in southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar jolted the town on Sunday morning. It was unclear what caused the blast.

KANDAHAR: A big blast near Pakistani Consulate in southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar jolted the town on Sunday morning. It was unclear what caused the blast.
“No casualties reported in the incident,” security sources said.
The explosion close to Pakistan mission in the eastern part of the city came after a series of overnight attacks by Taliban that killed some 35 people in various parts of Kandahar, the expected next target of a NATO-led offensive.
The governor of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province is demanding more troops to provide security after 12 explosions in the largest southern city killed dozens of people.
Gov. Turyakai Wesa says he is talking to the central government in Kabul about getting Afghan military reinforcements following the coordinated attacks that killed at least 33 people, including 10 attending a wedding. He told reporters Sunday that he also wants to coordinate with NATO forces to improve security.
Wesa said the attacks wounded at least 53. Kandahar is the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban insurgency and the next target of NATO and Afghan forces after a major push to take another militant stronghold in next-door Helmand province.

JAKARTA: A powerful quake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit off the Indonesian island of Maluku on Sunday, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake struck at 07:47 pm local time (1247 GMT) about 132 kilometres (82 miles) southeast of Labuha, North Maluku province, at a depth of 56 kilometres, the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

“There has been no report of casualties so far. There was some shaking felt in several areas but it’s not strong,” the agency’s technical chief Suharjono told media.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

At least 25 people have been killed and dozens injured in four suspected suicide bombings in the Afghan city of Kandahar, police say.

The first blast was heard at about 1530 GMT and was followed by three other attacks across the city.

Afghanistan KABUL : A roadside bomb exploded in central Afghanistan on Saturday, killing six people travelling in a civilian vehicle, the interior ministry said.

The blast occurred in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, said the ministry. One passenger was also wounded in the incident, it added.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are widely used by Taliban insurgents against Afghan and international troops, but often claim civilian lives.

Two militants were also killed on Saturday when the IED they were trying to plant on a roadside in the Muqur district of western Badghis province went off, provincial police chief Sayed Ahmad Sameh told AFP.

There are about 121,000 international troops based in Afghanistan fighting an insurgency being waged by the remnants of the Taliban, pushed from government after a US-led invasion in late 2001.