Gaza conflict: Egypt may tweak truce deal as Hamas, Israel stick to positions

Gaza conflict: Egypt may tweak truce deal as Hamas, Israel stick to positions

Egypt might be willing to amend its truce initiative to end the fighting in Gaza in order to accommodate the Palestinian militant movement Hamas, which had rejected its terms, three Egyptian officials told Reuters.

"Egypt does not mind adding some of Hamas' conditions provided that all involved parties approve," one senior Egyptian official said, without giving details.

Among Hamas's conditions are the lifting of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza and the release of several hundred Palestinians arrested by Israel last month during its search for three Jewish teenagers abducted in the occupied West Bank. The trio were later found dead in a killing Israel blamed on Hamas.

Egyptian officials suspect Hamas rejected the ceasefire plan at the urging of Qatar, a strategic player in reaching an effective deal as host to a large number of exiled Islamists from across the Middle East, including Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.

The possibility of a truce amendment emerges after the top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip signalled Monday that the Islamic militant group will not agree to an unconditional ceasefire with Israel, while Israel's defence minister pledged to keep fighting "as long as necessary" — raising new doubt about the highest-level mediation mission in two weeks.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had arrived in Cairo to try to renew ceasefire efforts aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas fighting that has killed at least 530 Palestinians and 20 Israelis and displaced tens of thousands of Gazans in the past two weeks.

The U.S. is also sending $47 million in humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip to help tens of thousands of Palestinians there who have been forced from their homes since war broke out two weeks ago.

A State Department breakdown of the aid that was released Monday said nearly a third of the money — $15 million — will go to the United Nations' refugee mission in Gaza.

Despite the new diplomatic push, Israel continued to attack targets in the densely populated coastal strip from the air and from tanks, while Hamas fired more rockets and tried to infiltrate into Israel.

Seven Israeli soldiers were killed during clashes with Palestinian militants, the Israeli military said, lifting the army death toll to 25 — more than twice as many as in Israel's last Gaza ground war in 2009.

Local media had said there were a number of casualties when Palestinian fighters slipped under the Gaza border earlier in the day via a hidden tunnel. Two civilians have also died in Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli cities.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli tank shells struck a hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing four people and wounding 60, Palestinian officials said.

A dozen shells hit the Al Aqsa hospital in the town of Deir el-Balah on Monday, said Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra. He said four people were killed and 60 wounded when the shells landed in the administration building, the intensive care unit and the surgery department.

Live video on Hamas's Al Aqsa TV station showed wounded being moved on gurneys into the emergency department.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

In one of several airstrikes, 25 people were buried under the rubble of a home in the southern town of Khan Younis, including 24 from the same family. Rescue workers pulled the bodies from the wreckage Monday.

No time limit to Gaza operation

"Twenty-five people!" said family member Sabri Abu Jamea. "Doesn't this indicate that Israel is ruthless? Are we the liars? The evidence is here in the morgue refrigerators. The evidence is in the refrigerators."

Another Israeli airstrike hit the home of the Siyam family in southern Gaza, near the town of Rafah, said the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The strike killed 10 people, including four young children and a nine-month-old baby girl, al-Kidra said.

Hamas militants, meanwhile, tried to sneak into Israel through two tunnels, the latest in a series of such attempts. The Israeli military said 10 infiltrators were killed after being detected and targeted by Israeli aircraft.

Hamas also fired 50 more rockets at Israel, including two at Tel Aviv, causing no injuries or damage. Since the start of the Israeli operation, Hamas has fired almost 2,000 rockets at Israel.

"The tank fire and the artillery fire is near constant," CBC News correspondent Paul Hunter reported today from Erez, Israel, near the northern border with Gaza. Erez is where the tunnels Hamas was using exited into Israel.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, speaking by phone from London, told reporters today that Hamas can stop the shelling right now by agreeing to a ceasefire proposal advanced by Egypt and agreed to by Israel.

"I think you can just conclude there's one group that is fully and entirely responsible for this tragedy, and it is Hamas," he said. "They're responsible, and they can stop this at any moment."

Hamas wants easing of border blockade

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the Gaza military operation would have no time limit.

"If needed we will recruit more reservists in order to continue the operation as long as necessary until the completion of the task and the return of the quiet in the whole of Israel especially from the threat of the Gaza Strip," Yaalon told a parliamentary committee.

ANALYSIS |​ Hamas out of money, supplies, so why is it shooting at Israel?

Israel accepted an Egyptian call for an unconditional ceasefire last week, but resumed its offensive after Hamas rejected the proposal.

Ban and Kerry were in Egypt to try to salvage that ceasefire proposal.

Hamas, with some support from Qatar and Turkey, wants guarantees that Israel and Egypt will significantly ease a seven-year border blockade of Gaza before halting fire.

"The resistance [Hamas] will not respond to any pressure," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a text message, in a reference to the renewed ceasefire efforts.

Hamas remains deeply suspicious of the motives of the Egyptian government, which banned the Hamas-friendly Muslim Brotherhood a year ago and tightened restrictions on Gaza — to the point of driving Hamas into its worst financial crisis since its founding in 1987.

When asked about such conditions, Ban told reporters Monday in Cairo that "the best way at this time is to stop the violence and return to dialogue and address the root causes of the problems."

"I am asking again without any condition, they must stop," he said. "I know that this proposal by Egyptian government ... has been rejected because of certain conditions. If they really want to discuss all these conditions, they will take a very long time."

Deadliest single day

Sunday marked the single deadliest day in Gaza since the conflict erupted on July 8, with more than 100 Palestinians killed, according to Palestinian health officials. Most died in the first major ground battle of the conflict, in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighbourhood, which Israel says is a major source for rocket fire against its civilians.

In response to the escalation, the UN Security Council expressed "serious concern" about the rising civilian death toll and demanded an immediate end to the fighting.

On Sunday afternoon, rescue workers making a last sweep through Shijaiyah had heard the voice of a woman under the rubble, pleading for help.

The team left because it deemed the situation too dangerous, but returned later Sunday with a bulldozer to rescue the three people trapped underneath.

Seven-year-old Bissam Dhaher, her face bruised and bandaged, was recovering Monday at Gaza City's Shifa Hospital. Relatives watched over her as the girl slept. Her uncle remained hospitalized, while an aunt — the one who had called out for help — was released, relatives said.

On Sunday evening, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri in Gaza claimed his group had captured an Israeli soldier. An announcement on Gaza TV of the soldier's capture set off celebration in the streets of West Bank.

But there was no official confirmation or denial of the claim in Israel.

For Israelis, a captured soldier would be a nightmare scenario. Hamas-allied militants seized an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid in 2006 and held him captive in Gaza until Israel traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom were involved in grisly killings, for his return in 2011.

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Autism risk is 'mostly genetic,' according to statistical analysis

Researchers claim that nearly 60% of autism risk is genetic, with the implicated variant genes being common among the general population. They publish the results of their research in the journal Nature Genetics.

Autism is widely believed to be caused by an interplay of genetics and other factors. However, scientists have not reached a consensus on how much of an influence genes have on autism risk.

"We show very clearly that inherited common variants comprise the bulk of the risk that sets up susceptibility to autism," say the researchers.

Recent evidence has suggested that the genomes of people who have autism are more likely to include de novo mutations - rare and spontaneous mutations with significant effects that are thought to account for particular cases of autism.

"Many people have been focusing on de novo mutations, such as the ones that can occur in the sperm of an older father," explains Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD, the study's lead investigator and director of the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment and professor of psychiatry,neuroscience and genetics and genomic sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

"While we find these mutations are also key contributors, it is important to know that there is underlying risk in the family genetic architecture itself."

By conducting a "rigorous analysis" of DNA sequence variations as part of the Population-Based Autism Genetics and Environment Study (PAGES) Consortium, Dr. Buxbaum's team found that about 52.4% of autism cases can be traced back to both common and rare inherited variations. By contrast, spontaneous mutations were found to account for just 2.6% of total autism risk.

"We show very clearly that inherited common variants comprise the bulk of the risk that sets up susceptibility to autism," Dr. Buxbaum says. "But while families can be genetically loaded for autism risk, it may take additional rare genetic factors to actually produce the disorder in a particular family member."

The study used data from Sweden's universal health registry to compare about 3,000 participants, including autistic subjects and a control group. The researchers say that PAGES is the largest study of its kind to date.

New statistical methods promise 'more reliable results'

Limitations in sample size have previously made it difficult to ascertain the relative influence of common, rare inherited and rare spontaneous variations. Differences in the statistical models and methods used across studies have also presented challenges in obtaining a consensus view, with estimates of autism heritability varying from 17-50%.

In PAGES, new statistical methods - such as "machine learning techniques and dimension reduction tools" - were deployed, which the researchers claim allowed a more reliable method for assessing heritability.

The researchers were also able to access data from a parallel study of Swedish families that looked at twins, cousins, age of the father at birth and the psychiatric history of the parents.

Thomas Lehner, chief of the National Institute of Mental Health's Genomics Research Branch, says:

"This is a different kind of analysis than employed in previous studies. Data from genome-wide association studies was used to identify a genetic model instead of focusing just on pinpointing genetic risk factors. The researchers were able to pick from all of the cases of illness within a population-based registry."

Last month, Medical News Today reported on a study that suggested exposure to pesticides during pregnancy increases risk of the child developing autism.

Written by David McNamee

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Simulated human heart used to test drugs' effects

Heart-related side effects of drugs are often only exposed once the drug is used on patients in clinical trials, at which point it is too late. But a scientist in the UK has spent 10 years developing a breakthrough new way to safely test a drug's cardiovascular effects without having to use human or animal trials - by using samples of beating heart tissue.

Dr. Helen Maddock, from the Centre for Applied Biological and Exercise Sciences at Coventry University, is an expert in cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology. She believes her new technique could improve the quality of treatment and save hundreds of patients' lives.

It works by using an in vitro technique - meaning "in glass," as it is carried out in a lab environment rather than in a living organism. Dr. Maddock uses a sample of heart tissue attached to a rig that enables the muscle to lengthen and shorten while being stimulated by an electrical impulse.

This action imitates the biomechanical performance of cardiac muscle, she explains.

Next, scientists can add trial drugs to the tissue in order to conclude whether or not they have a negative effect on the contraction of the muscles in the heart. Previously, researchers could only perform such a test on living animals, often with inconclusive results.

Because a major reason for why many medical treatments fail is negative effects of the drugs on the cardiovascular system, Dr. Maddock's technique could revolutionize the way drugs are tested before they even reach animal or human trials.

'Potential to shave years off development of successful drugs'

Her technique, called a "simulated" cardiovascular system and also known as a work-loop assay, is the most realistic heart muscle dynamic model in the world at present, one that creates the possibility of determining the negative effects of certain drugs early and without great cost.

In addition to saving lives, it could expedite development of drug treatments that work without major cardiovascular side effects.

"I'm delighted that our research is at a stage where we can confidently say the work-loop assay we've created is the world's only clinically relevant in vitro human model of cardiac contractility," says Dr. Maddock. "It has the potential to shave years off the development of successful drugs for a range of treatments."

To implement her technique in the pharma industry, she formed a spin-out company from Coventry University called InoCardia Ltd, which has already received a £250,000 ($427,000) investment from Mercia Fund Management, a UK-based technology firm.

Dr. Maddock adds:

"Both the pharma industry and regulators recognize that existing methods of assessing the contractility of the heart are fraught with problems, so we're incredibly excited to be able to introduce a new way to accurately determine the safety of drugs in respect of the heart without the need to test on humans or animals."

She and her company are currently in discussions with a multinational biopharmaceutical company regarding applying her assay in industry.

Recently, Medical News Today reported on a gene transplant procedure that transforms heart cells into a biological pacemaker that regulates the heart's beating. The procedure could mean heart patients no longer need to have an implanted pacemaker, which carries certain side effects, such as infection of the leads connecting the pacemaker to the heart.

Written by Marie Ellis

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NA committee oppose ban on alcohol sale to non-Muslims

ISLAMABAD: The National assembly Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights on Monday opposed a proposal to withdraw an exemption allowing the drinking of alcohol by non-Muslims in Pakistan.

This was decided in the meeting of the committee which met under the chairmanship of MNA Mamhood Bashir Virk and was attended by its members along with officials of the ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights.

JUI-F MNA Maulana Mohammad Shirani said that parliament should impose a ban on the drinking of alcohol by non-Muslims and that such an exemption provided in the law should be withdrawn.

An official of the ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights told committee members that it was written in the Constitution that there will be no restriction on the drinking of alcohol by non-Muslims and that it is also part of the Hudood Ordinance.

Members of the committee showed their concerns on the move of Maulana Mohammad Shirani regarding the proposed ban.

Committee Chairman Mahmood Bashir Virk said that the government should first make efforts to control alcohol drinking by Muslims.

“The world already considers Pakistani as a conservative nation,” Virk said.

Committee members stated that such a move would create a bad image of Pakistan in the world.

Members of the committee voiced their opposition to the proposed amendment in the law.

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Four women injured in Quetta acid attack

QUETTA: Four women were injured when unknown persons threw acid on them in Quetta’s Sariab area Monday and later fled, DawnNews reported.

Imran Qureshi, the Superintendent of Police, told Dawn that two armed motorcyclists threw acid on four women in Killi Kamalo area of Quetta's Sariab road.

The women were shifted to the burns ward of Bolan Medical Complex in critical condition, he added.

According to Dr Hidayatullah, the women were targeted on their faces.

Qureshi said that the women were engaged in shopping at a popular shopping centre when they were targeted. The attackers sped away on their motorcycle after launching the attack.

A huge contingent of police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel reached the site of incident as a probe into the attack went under way.

"My sister was shopping in the market when acid was thrown on her face", Abdul Jabbar, the brother of one of the victims told Dawn.

A view of relatives of patients waiting outside the burns ward of Bolan Medical Complex— Photo by Syed Ali Shah

Like Abdul Jabbar, a large number of family members of the acid injured women were standing outside the Burns section of Bolan Medical Complex Hospital to inquire about the health condition of their loved ones.

"Why my sister was attacked, we have no dispute with someone", Jabbar said.

Police said the accused attacked the women in a crowded area where dozens of cosmetics shops are located. "They attacked women standing outside a shop", Imran Qureshi stated.

Through syringe, the accused sprayed acid on the faces of women, police said. The attack forced other women to flee and there was hue and cry after the tragic incident, Jabbar said.

Home Minister Balochistan, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti took notice of the incident and formed a committee headed by SP Sariab Imran Qureshi to probe into the incident.

"I strongly condemn the incident", the Minister told Dawnadding that all out efforts would be made to bring the perpetrators to book and justice would be done with the victims' families.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

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UN to vote on crash resolution; Russia has doubts

CANBERRA: The UN Security Council will vote Monday on an Australia-proposed resolution demanding international access to the Ukraine plane crash site and a cease-fire around the area, with diplomats pressuring a reluctant Russia to approve it.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his country would view a Russian veto of the resolution “very badly,” adding that “no reasonable person” could object to its wording.

“This is still an absolutely shambolic situation. It does look more like a garden clean-up than a forensic investigation,” he told reporters. “Given the almost certain culpability of the Russian-backed rebels in the downing of the aircraft, having these people in control of the site is a little like leaving criminals in control of a crime scene,” Abbott added.

The United States has presented what it called “powerful” evidence that the rebels shot down the plane with a Russian surface-to-air missile and training. Other governments have stopped short of accusing Russia of actually causing the crash. Russian officials have blamed Ukraine's government for creating the situation and atmosphere in which the plane was downed.

Security Council diplomats held consultations late Sunday until past midnight to work out key differences between Australia and Russia. The diplomats emerged cautiously optimistic that a resolution would be approved, but Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin would not guarantee it.

“It was a worthwhile session, so let's see what the result is going to be tomorrow,” Churkin told reporters.

The resolution calls for pro-Russia separatists to allow access to the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines passenger jet carrying 298 people, including 37 Australian citizens and residents. It asks for the full cooperation of all countries in the region, including Russia. Earlier Sunday, Churkin said Russia is concerned the draft “does not accurately reflect the need for an impartial, international investigation. “

He said Russia is proposing that the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency, take the lead in the investigation.

The current proposal welcomes “the decision by ICAO to send a team to assist” Ukrainian investigators. Council ambassadors did not say if an agreement on that point had been reached Sunday. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the council will vote Monday afternoon and “we hope it will be unanimous” in favor of the resolution.

Earlier, Lyall Grant accused Russia of proposing amendment after amendment to delay passage of the resolution. “It looks like a typical Russian delay in tactics, and one can guess why they want delay,” Lyall Grant told reporters.

Russia has the power to veto the resolution as a permanent council member. Emerging from the UN meeting, both US Ambassador Samantha Power and Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi said “hope so” when asked if there was agreement on the resolution.

Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said she expects all 15 council members to support her country's proposal, co-sponsored by France and Lithuania. “Australia has a lot at stake here,” Bishop said.

“They have been murdered, and the Australian government will not rest until we're able to bring the bodies home to the Australian families who are waiting for them. “

The resolution also demands that armed groups who control the crash site do not disturb debris, belongings or victims' remains. Churkin said Russia had proposed “a cease-fire around the crash site” and that Australia had accepted that idea. He did not say how large the cease-fire area would be.

The resolution also demands that “those responsible for this incident be held to account and that all states cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability. “

Earlier, Abbott said Russian President Vladimir Putin “said all the right things” during a telephone conversation about ensuring an international investigation into the disaster. Churkin described the conversation between Putin and Abbott as “very constructive and very good. “

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AwamiWebs: Pillion riding banned in Quetta for Youm-i-Ali

AwamiWebs: Pillion riding banned in Quetta for Youm-i-Ali

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Zarb-i-Azb: Two more militant strongholds cleared in NWA

ISLAMABAD: After Miramshah, two important villages of North Waziristan Boya and Degan, which were known to be strongholds of local and foreign militants, have been cleared by Pakistani armed forces.

“Consolidation of Boya and Degan is in progress,” said a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday.

This information, however, could not be independently verified.

Terrorists are being eliminated and dislodged from their bases in North Waziristan as the operation progresses as per plan, said the statement.

The press release said that house to house search in Mussaki, Hurmez and Mirali Bazar was being carried out by integrated group of forces.

Terrorists holed up inside Mirali and surrounding areas have been firing rockets and mortars and using heavy machine guns and sniper rifles, said the statement, adding that four terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire last night.

According to ISPR, 12 IEDs were neutralised last night alone, while an IED making factory, huge cache of arms and ammunition and foreign currency were also recovered.

Corps Commander Lieutenant General Khalid Rabbani also visited Mirali, Boya and Degan areas of North Waziristan Agency earlier today and met with the Army troops.

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Pillion riding banned in Quetta for Youm-i-Ali

QUETTA: In view of security threats, the Balochistan government has decided to impose a ban on pillion riding on the eve of Youm-i-Ali in the provincial capital.

Home Secretary Balochistan, Akbar Hussain Durrani on Saturday told Dawn.com that article 144 would be intact for a day in the city to ensure peace.

“Except Quetta, there would be no ban on pillion riding in other cities of Balochistan,” Durrani said.

The provincial government has already placed paramilitary troops and police on a high alert to avert any untoward incident on the occasion.

The home secretary stated that so far no decision was made to suspend mobile phone services in Quetta. Security on roads and streets leading to Hazara Town, Alamdar road and other areas has been tightened.

“Frontier Corps and Police are deployed at all sensitive points in the city,” Durrani informed.

The government has already declared 55 Imam Bargahs as sensitive for Youm-i-Ali. The provincial high ups held a high level law and order meeting to evolve an effective security strategy in the city.

Shops and markets located on the route of procession would be sealed off by the administration to minimise the danger of terrorism.

Mourning processions would be taken out in Hazara Town and Alamdar road in connection with Youm-i-Ali.

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Nawaz forms committee for Independence Day ceremonies

LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has constituted a special five-member cabinet committee to monitor arrangements regarding ceremonies proposed to celebrate the Independence Day throughout the month of August.

According to a press release issued on Saturday, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique will head the committee, which comprises of Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed, Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources Jaam Kamal Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Irfan Siddiqui.

It is pertinent to mention that the country-wide ceremonies from August 1 to August 30 have been dedicated to martyrs of Tehreek-i-Pakistan and war against terrorism, said the press release.

The cabinet committee will not only finalise programmes regarding the Independence Day but it will also work for coordination among federal ministries and provincial governments.

In a bid to counter the ongoing campaign of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) regarding the electoral reforms, Prime Minister Sharif has also sought to constitute a special parliamentary committee with members of both houses of parliament to deliberate on the issue.

The PTI chief has called for a million-man march on Islamabad next month to press its demands around electoral reforms.

The party has also decided to seek the support of other parties in the opposition for its proposed Aug 14 march.

Majority of the PTI leaders believe that moral support of other parties, particularly the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), would strengthen the party’s hand in its demand for electoral reforms and for investigation into its claims of fraud in the May 2013 general elections.

The party leadership also welcomed former president Asif Ali Zardari’s statement in which he supported PTI’s demand for recount of votes and held up its right to hold demonstrations for electoral reforms.

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Sindh Rangers chalk out security plan for strategic installations

KARACHI: Pakistan Rangers, Sindh have chalked out a strategy to protect sensitive installations in view of any fall out of Zarb-i-Azb military operation in North Waziristan.

Other concerned departments have also been asked to exercise extra-vigilance and ensure immediate sharing of information with the Rangers authorities.

The security plan for the city was discussed and finalised at a meeting held here at Rangers headquarters.

Senior Rangers officers, Additional Inspector General of Police Karachi Ghulam Qadir Thebo, Director General Maritime Security Agency, Pakistan Navy officers, Deputy Inspector General (Traffic Police), Security Director, Karachi Port Trust, Deputy Commissioner South and representatives from local government department attended the meeting.

Rangers and police officers took detailed deliberations on pros and cons of the threats and onward security measures, which the meeting approved.

The meeting was told that all the relevant departments would work in close coordination and share any information they would get to preempt any terrorists threat.

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Counter-terror measure: Nadra, police begin data collection survey in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to closely monitor terror activity in the capital, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and police have started a data survey for all residents on Saturday.

The surveys will be collected to create a comprehensive database — including the residents' family connections — which is expected to help security officials in countering terrorist and criminal activities.

In order to carry out the survey effectively, at least 40 Nadra-police coordinated teams are assigned for the job.

According to media reports, the survey will be completed in two months' time.

The survey will not only include urban areas but identification data on residents from Islamabad’s remote areas will also be collected, so people can be traced if there is suspicion of involvement in terrorism.

In April this year, a report jointly prepared by the Rawalpindi and Islamabad police claimed that the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was getting active support from hardliner religious seminaries to carry out terrorist attacks in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

In the same month, a deadly terrorist attack in the Sabzi Mandi area of the capital city killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 115.

In March, at least 11 people, including additional sessions judge Rafaqat Awan, were killed and 29 others wounded during a gun and bomb attack in a court in the capital city’s F-8 area.

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Teenager killed in anti-Israeli protests in India-held Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Police say a teenage boy was killed when government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir fired on protesters rallying against Israel's invasion of Gaza.

The boy, a ninth-class student, was killed in the village of Khudwani, 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of Srinagar, the main city of the disputed Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

The Indian police officer said the Kashmri youngster, identified as Suhail Ahmad Lone, was believed to be around 14 or 15.

“The boy died in (police) firing on anti-Israel protesters who were also angry about injuries suffered by other protesters during earlier demonstrations,” a senior police officer told AFP.

A police statement called the killing “unfortunate”.

The youngster's death marked the first fatality in a string of demonstrations across the Himalayan territory that have been staged against the Israeli military campaign.

More protests erupted following the boy's death and spread to at least two nearby towns where police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

Kashmir has witnessed massive pro-Palestinian protests almost every day since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza. Protesters have burned Israeli flags and clashed with government forces at several places in the region.

The protests have been occurring on an almost daily basis in the Kashmir valley which has been at the centre of a quarter-century revolt against Indian rule.

The demonstrators, some holding placards with “Save Gaza” written on them, chanted “Down with Israel”, “Down with America” and hurled stones at government forces.

Indian government forces are seeking to prevent the protests from spreading in the volatile region.

About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or merger of Kashmir with Pakistan, which also claims the territory.

The fighting, and India's tense relations with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, have made Kashmir one of the most militarised zones in the world and has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians dead – AP/AFP

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SBP leaves policy rate

SBP leaves policy rate unchanged at 10 per cent

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's central bank decided to leave its key policy rate unchanged at 10 per cent for the subsequent two months, the State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement on Saturday.

In recent months the rupee has remained stable as Pakistan has rebuilt its foreign exchange reserves following the successful sale of a $2 billion Eurobond, an auction of 3G and 4G phone licences, and an injection of cash from bilateral and multilateral lenders.

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