Pakistan court shuts plants, angers US investor

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s top court ordered the arrest of the country’s prime minister in a corruption case Tuesday, officials said, as a firebrand cleric rallied thousands of people against the government for a second day in the capital.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Saturday was ordered held for two weeks until the next hearing in a case related to his 2007 decision to sack and detain several judges. After the judge’s order, Islamabad’s administration declared that Musharraf’s lavish country residence could serve as a jail, meaning the ex-president could be held there under house arrest.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf vowed on Friday to fight what he called politically motivated allegations against him, following his arrest in a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power.

Tahir ul Qadri, the Canadian-Pakistani cleric whose calls for transforming Pakistan into a moderate Islamic state have made him an instant political star, was grilled by the Pakistani supreme court Monday on how he could truly be loyal to Pakistan while retaining a Canadian passport. From Pakistan’s Daily Times:

Iraq said on Wednesday it plans to build 50 power plants by the summer of 2012 to alleviate shortages, one of the reasons behind violent protests that have rocked the country for more than a month."In the short term, nationwide we will build 50 stations with a capacity of 100 megawatts," Electricity Minister Raad Shalal told reporters."Work will begin immediately and be completed in the summer of 2012, but the first effects will be felt next winter" when the plants connect to the grid, he added.

Angola’s Minister of Energy and Water Emanuela Vieira Lopes has announced his government’s intention to build 150 micro-hydroelectric projects at a consultative meeting of Angola’s Ministério da Energia e Água. The minister assured those attending the meeting that the government had already fulfilled the necessary administrative procedures, but neither provided the localities for constructing the projects nor an overall time for their operational date, Agência Angola Press reported.

BERLIN (AP) -- Utility Vattenfall AB says it is selling its German electricity transmission grid to Belgian operator Elia and Australia's Industry Funds Management in a deal worth euro810 million ($1.1 billion)....