Checkpoint blasts kill 15 in northern Iraq: official

KIRKUK: A roadside bomb followed by a suicide bomber detonating an explosives-rigged truck at a police checkpoint in northern Iraq killed 15 people on Monday, a local official said.

The official, Shallal Abdul Baban, told the blasts in Tuz Khurmatu also wounded 115 people and caused "great destruction".

The police checkpoint that was targeted was near an office of President Jalal Talabani´s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party.

The blasts came a day after a car bomb followed by a suicide bombing near a PUK office and a Kurdish intelligence building in Jalawla, another northern town, killed 18 people.

Powerful extremists group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed the Jalawla attack in a statement posted on Twitter, and said it was carried out by two suicide bombers, one Egyptian and an Iraqi Kurd.

 

EU names 15 new Ukraine crisis targets for sanctions

BRUSSELS: The European Union has released the names of 15 new targets of sanctions because of their roles in the Ukraine crisis.

The list released Tuesday includes Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, and Lt. Gen. Igor Sergun, identified as head of GRU, the Russian military intelligence agency.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak and pro-Russian separatist leaders in Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian cities of Lugansk and Donetsk were also on the list.

Karachi police search operation, 15 arrested

KARACHI: The city police Friday conducting a search operation at Madina Colony, Gulshan-e-Iqbal arrested more than 15 persons, Geo News reported.

Police said that a search operation was conducted at Madina Colony located in Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal on a tip off regarding the presence of criminals, all exit and entry roads into the colony was blocked and during house-to-house search more than 15 suspects were arrested.

Gulshan-e-Iqbal Division police along with Rapid Response Force took part in the search operation. The arrested persons have been shifted to the police station for grilling.

Karachi police search operation, 15 arrested

KARACHI: The city police Friday conducting a search operation at Madina Colony, Gulshan-e-Iqbal arrested more than 15 persons, Geo News reported.

Police said that a search operation was conducted at Madina Colony located in Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal on a tip off regarding the presence of criminals, all exit and entry roads into the colony was blocked and during house-to-house search more than 15 suspects were arrested.

Gulshan-e-Iqbal Division police along with Rapid Response Force took part in the search operation. The arrested persons have been shifted to the police station for grilling.

15 killed in Upper Dir landslides

DIR: Fifteen persons were killed when landslides hit a house and a shop in two different areas of the Upper Dir district on Tuesday, police officials and locals said.

They said that a landslide hit the house of Sultan in the Badran village, Kalkot area, Upper Dir, and killed 10 people, including seven children of a family.The recent spell of torrential rains in Upper Dir has made the land in this mountainous district vulnerable to landslides.

The incident, in which two rooms in the five-room house were destroyed, took place in the wee hours of Tuesday. The area is remote and rescue and recovery operation could not be launched for hours.

Kalkot is located some 80 kilometres east of Dir town, the district headquarters of Upper Dir. It has potholed roads and unpaved tracks that make quick movement difficult.Locals said the police, Levies and army personnel, along with hundreds of people, went to thespot for the recovery operation when they came to know about the incident in the morning.

Muhammad Ali, the local MPA who also visited the spot, confirmed that 10 people had died in the landslide. Police officials also confirmed the death of 10 people.Police said the house was located in an isolated area that didn’t have any road link. They said it took rescuers two hours to walk up to the spot from the road. They said army troops also participated in the recovery operation that continued for seven hours.

Bodies of eight persons had been retrieved from the rubble. The dead were identified as Aasia Bibi, Bacharom, Shagufta, Bano, Sobia, Salma, Sajjad, Abdullah, Gul Nameer and Ishaq while Gul Bacha was pulled out in injured condition from the rubble.

In a similar incident in the Batal area, Usherai Darra, a boulder struck a shop, leaving five people dead, including three students of a private school, while six others were seriously injured.Gohar Ali, Najmuddin and Irfan were among those killed in the incident. Six others were wounded. Lawmaker Muhammad Ali has asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to announce compensation for the affected families.

15 of the same family out of 17 killed in Chakwal traffic mishap

CHAKWAL: Sixteen bodies out of the seventeen killed in yesterday’s traffic mishap have been shifted to Qasba Chota Sahiwal of Sargodha on Sunday morning, Geo News reported.

Among the dead 15 persons including three children and four women of the same family are included, whose funeral prayers would be offered this evening.

Sources said 67 persons from a village Chota Sahiwal of Sargodha were on board a mini-truck on its way to Pir Khara Darbar from Kallar Kahar. On a sharp steep turn, the driver lost control of the truck and it fell into a 150-foot deep ditch, killing 17 persons. The driver of the truck was also injured in the mishap.

Chakwal DCO rushing to the scene of incident arranged shifting of the victims to the hospital. He said that majority of the victims of this traffic accident were women and children. More than 40 injured are under treatment in the hospital, while the dead would be buried in Sargodha.

 

Deepika Padukone beats Amitabh Bachchan, invites 15 million Facebook fans for live chat

 

Deepika is currently gearing up for her Diwali release 'Happy New Year'.

Actress Deepika Padukone today invited her 15 million Facebook fans for a live web chat as a way to express her gratitude for their support and love.

Deepika, 28, also celebrated her more than 15 million fan following on Facebook beating superstars like Salman Khan (14,811,718 likes), Aamir Khan (11,597,563 likes) and Amitabh Bachchan (10,518,577) among others.

The ‘Chennai Express’ star even updated her cover photo one hour prior to the live chat with her fans.

“Celebrating 15 million crazens. Live Chat with Deepika now,” read the caption on the picture.

Deepika is currently gearing up for her Diwali release ‘Happy New Year’, which also stars Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani and Sonu Sood. The action comedy-drama is being directed by Farah Khan.