By IANS,

Gaza : Palestinian militants fired a rocket Saturday from the Gaza Strip into Israel, the first such attack since direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) resumed two days ago.

The armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), a group loyal to Islamic Hamas movement which controls Gaza, claimed responsibility for the attack that caused no damage or casualties, Xinhua reported.

By IANS,

Kolkata : Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji, leader of the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), has called a 48-hour shutdown from Sep 13 in eight states demanding a probe into what he alleged was a "cold blooded murder" of party colleague Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad by Andhra Pradesh Police.

The shutdown will be observed in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, in Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Chadrapur districts of Maharashtra and in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh.

By IANS,

Lucknow : A teenaged Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district Friday immolated herself after police refused to register her complaint of rape against a youth of her village, officials said.

The 15-year-old set herself ablaze in her house in Parauli village in Kanpur, some 80 km from Lucknow.

The girl's family alleged that she was forced to take the extreme step by some of the policemen who had connived with the youth and were mounting pressure on her not to register the complaint against him.

By IANS,

Greater Noida : A special task force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police Friday arrested four drug smugglers from Dadri town of Greater Noida and seized heroin worth over Rs.4 crore.

The STF under the leadership of Superintendent of Police Raj Kishore, nabbed the four - Rajvir, Rajesh, Surender and Narender - from a UP roadways bus.

On a tip-off, the STF conducted an extensive search of the roadways buses coming from Aligarh and succeeded in nabbing the smugglers along with the consignment.

By IANS,

Islamabad : The banned radical group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Friday claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bomb attack in Quetta city, Xinhua reported.

At least 54 people were killed and over 100 injured in the attack.

The Punjab-based Sunni group, founded in 1996, also revealed the identity of the bomber, named Rashid Moaawia, 22. He was carrying 15 kg of explosives.

By Awais Saleem,IANS,

Islamabad : At least 43 people were killed in powerful explosions in three different cities in Pakistan Friday, two days after triple blasts ripped through a Shia religious procession in Lahore killing 35 people.

In Quetta, capital of Balochistan provice, at least 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a massive blast targeting a Shia procession. The blast took place near Meezan Chowk in Quetta.

Panic gripped Quetta after the blast as rescue workers shifted the dead and injured to the hospital. The death toll is feared to rise.

By Awais Saleem,IANS,

Islamabad : At least 13 people were killed in a powerful explosion that ripped through a procession taken out by the Shia community in Pakistan's Quetta city Friday, media reports said.

The blast took place near Meezan Chowk in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province.

Initial reports confirmed 13 people were killed and over 20 were injured. However, no official confirmation of the toll is available as yet.

Rescue workers were shifting the bodies as well the injured to hospitals. Emergency has been declared in Quetta hospitals.

By IANS,

Peshawar : A powerful explosion in this Pakistani city extensively damaged a police van, injuring two policemen Friday, two days after the blasts in Lahore that killed 35 people.

The police mobile van that was on Ring Road in Achini Bala area was heavily damaged, Dawn reported.

On Wednesday, three back-to-back blasts in Lahore killed at least 35 people and wounded over 200.

The first blast occurred near Karbala Gamay Shah in Lahore's Lower Mall area while the second and third blasts were near Bhatti Chowk, just a few paces away.

By DPA,

Tel Aviv : Israeli settlers in the West Bank escaped injury late Thursday after the third attack by militant Palestinians in the past 48 hours, Israeli media reported.

The concentrated attacks were seen as an attempt to undermine the Middle East peace talks that got underway Thursday in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The shootings took place at the Ofra settlement in the West Bank. An Israeli army spokeswoman said no one had been injured.

By IANS,

Gaza : Over a dozen Palestinian militant groups Thursday pledged to step up joint and separate attacks on Israeli targets to foil Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in Washington.

"The factions agreed that all means are open to the Palestinian resistance to deal with Israel in the coming phase," Abu Obaida, spokesman of the Hamas armed wing, read a statement of the Gaza-based groups in a press conference held in the Gaza Strip.