Weekly 24-hour CNG closure begins in Sindh

TrendPK.com
KARACHI: The gas supply to the CNG stations has been suspended from 9AM this morning for at least 24 hours across Sindh province including Karachi, TrendPK reports Saturday.

According to details, the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) suspended the gas supply to the CNG stations across the province at 9am today. The gas will be restored at 9AM on Sunday.

Facing constraint by the CNG closure, at least 60 percent of the public transport will remain off the roads causing troubles to commuters. TrendPK

Afghan soldier boasts of shooting Australians

SYDNEY: An Afghan soldier who opened fire on Australian troops at a remote base last year has claimed he and his fellow army recruits had often discussed killing the foreigners, according to a report.

In a Taliban video, Mohammed Roozi talks about how he attacked Australian and Afghan soldiers at Patrol Base Nasir in November, saying he turned a machine gun and rocket launcher on them before going into hiding.

Roozi, who seriously injured three Australians and two Afghan soldiers in the attack, has been the subject of a manhunt ever since.

“I had one mission on my mind — to kill foreigners and teach them a lesson. We are Muslims. We cannot accept foreigners,” The Sydney Morning Herald cites Roozi as saying in the video.

The former soldier in the Afghan National Army, members of which are being trained by Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, said on the day of the attack he prepared the grenade launcher and his gun in front of his mentors.

“A soldier ran to me and asked me what I was doing,” he said. “He suspected my motives. I told him that it was none of his business — I opened fire. When the bullets ran out it was time to use the rocket launcher.”

Roozi also said he was not the only Afghan soldier to harbour murderous thoughts about the western mentors they were working alongside.

“We used to sit there and they were telling these things (attacking foreigners) and whenever it was possible we will do this,” Roozi reportedly said.

The Australian military said it had “reason to believe” the man in the propaganda video was Roozi but it said his allegations, which include that he killed 12 Australians, were false.

“Mohammed Roozi is clearly relying on the insurgency for support following his cowardly attack,” an Australian Defence Force spokeswoman said.

“His statements are designed to support an ongoing insurgent propaganda campaign and are designed to justify his illegal act.”

Australian soldiers were shot at on three separate occasions by Afghan National Army troops in 2011, with the worst incident being when an Afghan opened fire on a military parade, killing three Australians and wounding seven.

Canberra, which first committed to the Afghan war in 2001 before pulling out only to re-enter in 2005, has so far lost 32 soldiers in the conflict. It has 1,550 troops stationed in the strife-torn country. AGENCIES

Security reinforced at embassies after Rome bomb attack

Embassies around the world are taking extra security measures after a mail bomb exploded Thursday at the country’s embassy in Rome.

Italian investigators suspected Thursday’s attacks, less than three hours apart, were the work of anarchists, similar to the two-day wave of mail bombs which targeted several embassies in Athens last month – including those of Chile and Switzerland.

Mail bombs exploded in the hands of employees at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome, seriously injuring two people and triggering heightened security checks at diplomatic missions. Italian police did security checks in all embassies and consulates in Rome after the incidents.

The attacks on embassies followed a bomb scare in Rome’s subway system on Tuesday, during which authorities discovered a suspicious package with wires and powder under a seat. The device turned out to be a fake bomb. Last month, a mail bomb was sent to the Chilean embassy in Athens, but no one was hurt.

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index, War-torn states are still seen as being the most corrupt in the world, according to a new report from Transparency International. Pakistan dropped to 34th from 42nd in the ranking of global corruption index.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore maintained their top position on the list with scores of 9.3. They were followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands while Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia came last with scores as low as 1.1. The US ranked 22nd on the list, down from 19th last year, with a score of 7.1 out of 10, compared with 7.5 in 2009, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog group showed in its Corruption Perceptions Index published today. Meanwhile, emerging economic powerhouse China is in 78th place.

Countries that improved their rankings included Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador, Jamaica and Haiti. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Madagascar and Niger also saw their scores decline on the index.
This years index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, showed that 132 of the 180 nations reviewed scored below five on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 indicating the least corrupt, Transparency said.
The index has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of a countrys corruption, an assessment of risks for investors. Its an aggregate indicator that combines data from as many as 13 surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions, including country experts and business leaders.

California prepares for Big One earthquake drill

Students at Providence High School in Burbank, near Los Angeles, survived the Big One Thursday, joining millions of others across the state who took part in the Great California ShakeOut. The annual drill is aimed at teaching people what to do in the event of an earthquake, while encouraging everyone to be prepared.
More than 7.8 million people across California, including 3.6 million in Los Angeles and Orange counties, registered to take part in the event, which had residents responding to a simulated quake at 10:21 a.m. local time, 1721GMT.
Participants were instructed to drop, cover and hold on” — the recommended procedure in an earthquake. Earlier, a number of students put the advice to good use during an earthquake simulator that registered a 7.0 quake.
The ShakeOut drill began three years ago, based on scientists’ predictions of what would occur during and after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault. They estimated such an event would kill 1,800 people, injure 50,000 more, and cause 200 billion in damages (USD), leaving the region to experience long-lasting social and economic consequences.
We can’t tell you when the earthquake is going to be, but we can tell you when it is going to be, explained Dr. Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey. The Shake Out is based on a scientific study. We have brought in all the experts to look in details about what the big San Andreas earthquake will be like.
Among those on hand were a contingent from Chile, who took part in the drill in an effort to learn and share their experiences from the devastating earthquake that struck their country in February. The drill included emergency teams moving the group to Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center where the exercise the continued.

China mine blast kills 20

SHANGHAI: An explosion in a Chinese coal mine killed at least 20 miners in central Henan Province on Saturday, state media reported.

The accident occurred at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT Friday) in a pit owned by Pingyu Coal & Electric Co Ltd based in Yuzhou City and rescue operations were under way, the Xinhua news agency said.

The agency said earlier that more than 30 miners were trapped underground.

The accident comes in the wake of Chile’s dramatic rescue of 33 miners trapped for more than two months underground.

China’s mines are the deadliest in the world, due to lax safety standards and a rush to feed demand from a robust economy. More than 2,600 people died in coal mine accidents in 2009 alone. AGENCIES

China mine blast kills 20

SHANGHAI: An explosion in a Chinese coal mine killed at least 20 miners in central Henan Province on Saturday, state media reported.

The accident occurred at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT Friday) in a pit owned by Pingyu Coal & Electric Co Ltd based in Yuzhou City and rescue operations were under way, the Xinhua news agency said.

The agency said earlier that more than 30 miners were trapped underground.

The accident comes in the wake of Chile’s dramatic rescue of 33 miners trapped for more than two months underground.

China’s mines are the deadliest in the world, due to lax safety standards and a rush to feed demand from a robust economy. More than 2,600 people died in coal mine accidents in 2009 alone. AGENCIES

First Chile miners leave hospital

COPIAPO: The first three miners left hospital as they and their 30 comrades began adjusting to new lives in the media glare after 69 days trapped in a Chilean gold and copper mine.

The trio departed under high security in a government vehicle that was chased by a mob of photographers after hospital officials determined they were well enough to go home.

All 33 were admitted to hospital for treatment after their ordeal ended in a flawless rescue that inspired pride throughout Chile in an emotional saga that captivated the world’s attention following a partial mine collapse in August.

“Our plan worked, that’s why we’re so satisfied,” Mining Minister Laurence Golborne, the public face of the unprecedented rescue effort since its launch back in August, told reporters at the San Jose mine.

Hospital deputy director Jorge Montes said all 33 have undergone

Heartfelt homecoming for Chile’s rescued miners

COPIAPO: Chile’s rescued miners head home on Friday to a hero’s welcome after their miracle survival for two months deep underground, and now yearn to put the psychological trauma of their ordeal behind them.

The first three of the 33 miners were cleared to head home from a hospital late on Thursday, returning to neighbors’ cheers and confetti a day after their rescue from the depths of a collapsed mine.

“This is really incredible. It hasn’t sunk in,” said 52-year-old Juan Illanes amid roaring cheers, still wearing the dark sunglasses he and his fellow miners were given to protect their eyesight as they acclimatize after 69 days underground in a dark tunnel.

He said being trapped after the cave-in had taken him “to the limit.”

The remaining 30 miners were due to head home on Friday after medical tests.

Most of the men are surprisingly healthy

Last rescuer emerges from Chile mine escape shaft

COPIAPO: The last rescue specialist involved in the extraction of 33 miners trapped for more than two months in a Chilean mine was lifted to safety early on Thursday, ending a 69-day saga that captured theworld’s attention.

All of Chile’s 33 trapped miners were rescued on Wednesday after a two-month ordeal inside acollapsed copper and gold mine in Chile’s northern Atacama desert.

Here is a timeline of the ordeal, one of the greatest mining accidents in Chile’s history.

Aug. 5 – A cave-in leaves 33 miners trapped about 2,050 feet (625 metres) vertically underground in a small copper-and-gold mine near the northern Chilean city of Copiapo, 500 miles (800 km) north of Santiago.

The mine’s owners, local private company Compania Minera San Esteban Primera, notifies authorities several hours later, saying they first had to evaluate the

Next Page »