Thursday 14 November 2013

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Karachi: Scuffle between rival groups leave 2 dead

Posted:

KARACHI (Dunya News) – According to details, 50-year-old Razia and 18-year-old Mushab were killed after firing broke out between two rival groups after a scuffle in Alflah Shamsi Society in Karachi.Two other people sustained wounds in the incident. Police have arrested an accused named Bisharat from the scene.In Lyari, at least three people were injured in exchange of firing between two rival groups.

CEC appointment: PM consults party leaders

Posted:

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – According to sources, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken into confidence senior leaders of his party on the appointment of new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).The sources further informed that the Prime Minister would shortlist the names very soon which will be sent for consultation to Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah. If both the parties failed to reach a consensus, the names will be forwarded to Parliamentary Committee.

Youm-e-Ashura is being observed today

Posted:

LAHORE (Dunya News) - Youm-e-Ashur is being observed today (Friday) with reverence and religious fervour throughout the country to pay tributes to Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions for their supreme sacrifices.Every year, this day is observed on 10th of Muharram to commemorate the supreme sacrifice rendered by Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his 72 companions at Karbala to uphold the truth.Taziya, Alam and Zuljanah processions would be taken out in all cities and towns across the country. On the day, religious clerics and scholars would shed light over the historical, social and religious aspects of supreme sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA).In Lahore, the main Zuljanah procession was taken out from Nisar Haveli inside Mochi Gate amid tight security arrangements.Thousands of Azadars are participating in the Zuljanah procession which after passing through its traditional route will culminate at Karbala Gamay Shah in the evening where Majlis-e-Sham-e-Ghariban will be held to commemorate the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) in which noted‘Zakerin’ will highlight the importance of the sacrifice of grandson of Prophet (PBUH) and his companions.The main Zuljanah procession in Karachi will be taken out from Nishtar Park and culminate at Hussainia Iranian Imam Bargah, Kharadar after passing through its traditional route in the city.In Dera Ismail Khan, the main procession of 10 Muharram was taken out from Imam Bargha Bamu Shah at 10:00pm on Thursday which will culminate at Kotli Imam Hussain at noon today after passing through different parts of the city.In Peshawar, the main main Zuljanah procession procession will be taken out from Imam Bargha Jan at 11:00am. The procession will pass through different parts of Yaqa Toot area and culminate at Kohati Bazar in the evening.In Rawalpindi, the central procession of Ashura will be taken out from Imam Bargah Colonel Maqbool Hussain, College Road and from Imam Bargah Hifazat Ali Shah, Bohar Bazar including the Zuljanah that will be taken out from Imam Bargah Ashiq Hussain Talee Mohallah.All the processions would join at Fowra Chowk to form a main procession, which would be culminated at Karbala Graveyard , Westridge almost at 10:00 pm , where Mujlis Sham-e-Ghareeban would be held.Security has been put on high alert in all parts of country and thousands of police officials have been deployed for security of Youm-e-Ashura processions.

Syria peace talks set for December 12: report

Posted:

DAMASCUS (AFP) - A long-delayed peace conference on Syrias bloody conflict will be held on December 12, a Syrian newspaper said Thursday, as mortar shells and two blasts killed three in Damascus.The date was reported as the head of Lebanons Shiite group Hezbollah, which backs Syrias President Bashar al-Assad, said his forces would continue to fight alongside the regime in Syria.The Syrian daily Al-Watan, citing diplomatic sources in Paris, said that US Secretary of State John Kerry had told his French counterpart Laurent Fabius that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would announce the date on November 25.The newspaper said a source in the Syrian government declined to confirm the report, and an adviser to the president of the opposition National Coalition also said a date for talks had not been finalised.The organisers of Geneva II want the conference to be held before the end of the year, Munzer Aqbiq told AFP.Dates have been proposed around mid-December. These are not official dates. They are proposals which must be discussed.The international community has for months been trying to convene a Syria peace conference dubbed Geneva II, but proposed dates have come and gone with no progress.The regime has said it is willing to attend the talks but that President Bashar al-Assads departure from office will not be on the table.The opposition has been divided over going to any such conference, but said this week it would attend under certain conditions including Assads departure and exclusion from the transition process.But Syrias Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi slammed the oppositions conditions.Those who dream theyre going to Geneva to be given the keys to Damascus are stupid people without any political weight who understand nothing about politics and live in cloud cuckoo land, Zohbi told the official SANA news agency.Those who announced their readiness to attend just a few days ago have done so at the behest of their masters, he said in allusion to Western governments, which back the rebels but have also pressed them hard to attend peace talks.Assad discussed the talks in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, the Kremlin said.Russias president positively assessed the readiness of Assads government to attend the Geneva talks, the Kremlin said.Renewed discussion of the peace conference comes despite ongoing violence on the ground, with at least three people killed and 22 wounded by mortar fire and two blasts in Damascus.State news agency SANA reported the deaths, citing police who blamed terrorists, the regime term for opposition forces.The attacks took place on Mardam Bek Street and in the Kalassa district, near the outskirts of the historic Ummayad mosque and the bustling Hamidiyeh market.Rebels in neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Damascus regularly target the city centre with rocket and mortar fire.Such attacks have caused increasing numbers of casualties, with four children and a man killed on Monday when a shell hit a school bus in the Bab Sharqi neighbourhood.In neighbouring Lebanon, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to keep his men fighting alongside Assads regime.Hezbollah involvement in the conflict has drawn international criticism and raised sectarian tensions in Lebanon, where many Sunnis back the Syrian uprising.We have said on several occasions that the presence of our soldiers on Syrian soil is to defend... Syria, which supports the resistance against Israel, Nasrallah said in a rare public speech before supporters marking the Shiite Ashura commemoration.So long as that reason exists, our presence there is justified.

IAEA: Iran slows nuclear activities ahead of talks

Posted:

VIENNA (AP) - Iran has significantly slowed work on nuclear projects that could be used to make weapons, the U.N. atomic agency said Thursday in a report that comes as six world powers and Iran report new momentum in their nuclear talks.After years of rapid progress, Irans uranium enrichment program expanded at only a slight pace, as did construction on a reactor that will produce substantial amounts of plutonium once completed, the report said.Iran says it is enriching uranium only to create reactor fuel and says the reactor will be used strictly for medical and research projects. But the United States and its allies fear that Iran could turn the enriched uranium and the plutonium into the fissile core of warheads.The International Atomic Agency report did not link the nuclear slowdown to Irans talks with the six powers, but the time frame covered by the report is significant.It encompasses roughly 2 1/2 months since the end of August. Irans new president, Hassan Rouhani, took office a few weeks after that with pledges of concessions on his countrys nuclear programs in return for relief from the international sanctions hurting Irans economy.Both sides have since spoken of noteworthy progress in nuclear talks after years of deadlock and say a first-step deal may be possible at the next round in Geneva next week.The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany want strict controls and size limits on Iranian nuclear enrichment. Thursdays IAEA report noted little expansion in that program since the IAEAs last survey in late August.It said Irans stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent a form that can quickly be further enriched to weapons-grade grew by about 10 kilograms (about 20 pounds) since the August report to total a little less than 200 kilograms (440 pounds). Thats about 50 kilograms (110 pounds) less than the amount experts say is needed for further conversion into weapons-grade uranium.It also reported that Iran installed only 4 additional centrifuges at its main enrichment facility, compared to 1,800 of the enriching machines between May and August, the period covered by the last report. And it said no new advanced centrifuges have been added to the 1,008 it had installed there as of August.As well, the report noted that no additional major components have been installed since its last report at the reactor being assembled at Arak, southwest of Tehran. The six powers are demanding a slowdown of construction of that reactor as part of a first-step deal and ultimately want all construction to stop.A senior diplomat familiar with the technical aspects of Irans nuclear program said the slowdown was not due to technical problems. He demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the confidential report.Israel is opposed to any deal at the nuclear talks to lift sanctions on Iran ahead of a complete end to enrichment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not impressed to hear that Iran has not expanded its nuclear program.They dont need to, he said in Jerusalem. Theyve got enough facilities, enough centrifuges to develop ... the fissile material which is at the core of an atomic bomb.The confidential report obtained by The Associated Press was circulated among the IAEAs 35 board member nations. It also was sent to the U.N. Security Council, which has imposed sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to heed its resolutions demanding it stop enrichment, mothball the reactor and curb other activities.

Kerry: Any Iran nuclear deal will be 'failsafe'

Posted:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that any deal negotiated with Iran will be failsafe and will guarantee that Tehran will not have the capacity to develop nuclear weapons.Trying to reassure skeptical lawmakers and U.S. allies, Kerry told MSNBC that the Obama administration wants time to negotiate a deal with Iran that would protect Israel, U.S. interests and the region and guarantee failsafe that Iran will not be able to have a nuclear weapon.Kerry said he spoke shortly before the televised interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assure him that the U.S. understands Israels deep concerns about Irans nuclear program, which it sees as a threat to its security. Kerry said he told Netanyahu that the U.S. and Israel both agree that Iran should not be allowed to become a nuclear-armed nation.But he said that while the Obama administration wants Congress to hold off on imposing any new sanctions while negotiations continue, Israel wants to see more sanctions to force Tehran to surrender any nuclear weapons capabilities.Kerry, who has been briefing lawmakers on the most recent negotiations with Iran that took place in Geneva last week, said that Iran would likely view any new U.S. sanctions as a bad faith move in the talks and would embolden hard-liners in Tehran who do not want Iran to surrender any nuclear capabilities. Iran insists its program is being developed for peaceful purposes.

3 killed in gas pipeline blast in Poland

Posted:

WARSAW (AP) - A gas pipeline exploded in a village in Poland on Thursday, setting fire to homes, killing three people and injuring at least 13, police said.Andrzej Borowiak, a spokesman for Poznan police, said the blast occurred in the early afternoon in the western village of Jankow Przygodzki.Joanna Pawlaczyk, spokeswoman for a hospital in nearby Ostrow Wielkopolski, said one adult and one child were in serious condition.Firefighters spokesman Pawel Fratczak said two people were missing.He said an existing pipeline was probably damaged while a new pipeline was being installed next to it. Some 12 houses were on fire, he said.Malgorzata Polkowska, a spokeswoman for the Gaz-System S.A. pipeline operator, said it was the first such accident since the company was founded in 2004, and called it a very large scale tragedy.The pipeline in Jankow Przygodzki is part of a local pipeline installed in 1977. A new pipeline is being installed next to it in a modernization plan. There was no gas in the pipeline being laid in the ground, Polkowska said. A special commission is to determine the cause of the explosion.Local residents told TVN24 that people were running out of their houses crying after the blast. TVN24 footage showed yellow flames and black smoke billowing above rooftops, and some houses on fire. They were still burning hours after the blast.

Official: Al Qaeda in Iraq strongest since 2006

Posted:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the national counterterrorism center says the Al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq is the strongest its been since a peak in 2006.Matt Olsen says Al Qaeda in Iraq has increased the pace of attacks this year.Olsen is testifying to a Senate committee on the current terror threat to the U.S.Olsen did not say that Al Qaeda in Iraq poses a direct threat to the U.S. He says the group continues to operate in Syria as well.In 2006, the group was at its peak in Iraq when it bombed a Shiite mosque and heightened sectarian killings.

Djokovic, Stepanek to open Davis Cup final

Posted:

BELGRADE (AFP) - Serbias Novak Djokovic will face Radek Stepanek of holders the Czech Republic in the opening rubber of the Davis Cup final starting on Friday, following Thursdays draw.Djokovic, the world number two, will face 44th-ranked Stepanek on the hardcourt surface at the Belgrade Arena at 1500 GMT on Friday.In the second rubber, 117th-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia will take on world number seven Tomas Berdych.Lajovic has replaced Janko Tipsarevic, the world number 36, who has been ruled out with a heel injury. Serbia also miss 76th-ranked Viktor Troicki due to a doping ban.Obviously its a handicap for our team that we dont have Viktor and Janko now, Djokovic said before describing Lajovic as a young and talented player who can play on a high level.In the Davis Cup final with 17 or 18,000 people supporting him its normal to expect that he can deliver his best, said Djokovic.Lajovic, who has lost all four ATP rubbers he has played this year, insisted he was ready to surprise.Im very excited, I was working hard for this and Ill give my best, said the 23-year-old.Meamwhile, Berdych admitted he did not know much about his rival, saying: I will try to do some small scouting about him (but) we came here to try to score three points during the weekend and the plan stays the same.Fresh from triumphing in the ATP Tour Finals, Djokovic said he was tired but added the fact that Ive won over 20 matches in a row can give me positive energy and confidence.I hope that I can of course contribute to the first point and to the first victory. That would mean a lot... of course that releases the pressure from the second player, he said.Obviously playing for Serbia and playing the Davis Cup final gets the last drop of energy and motivation out of me.Stepanek said nobody expected him to win, which might be an advantage.Everybody expects Novak to win the first point for Serbia. This may open my wings, he said, vowing to look for small gaps in his game.In Saturdays doubles, Serbias Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic are due to face the Czech Republics Jan Hajek and Lukas Rosol.But the Czechs are almost certain to bet on Berdych and Stepanek for the doubles too as the two have lost only one of their 14 Davis Cup doubles rubbers together since teaming up in 2007.Well see after Friday but everything is possible, said Vladimir Safarik, the interim Czech captain who has replaced Jaroslav Navratil, down with a pulmonary embolism.Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said he might use Djokovic in the doubles rubber.This is a serious situation, every point in this tie is important and we have opened all the options. Nenad is able to play with any player here, hes got the ability to adapt to every player, he said.In Sundays reverse singles, Djokovic will face Berdych and Lajovic will then take on Stepanek.The Czech Republic and Serbia last clashed in the 2012 quarter-finals, with the Czechs winning 4-1 in Prague.Two years earlier, Serbia had beaten the Czechs in the semi-finals in Belgrade 3-2.Serbia won their only Davis Cup title in 2010, beating France 3-2 in Belgrade.The Czechs, playing their third final in five years, lifted the trophy last year after downing Spain 3-2 in Prague.Previously, Czechoslovakia, which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, won the title in 1980.

Colombia beat Belgium 2-0 in friendly

Posted:

BRUSSELS (AP) - Radamel Falcao led Colombia to a 2-0 victory over Belgium in a friendly between top-five teams on Thursday.In a face-off between two potential stars of next years World Cup, Falcao got the better of Eden Hazard, if only because of his decisive strike.In the 52nd minute, Falcao broke open the tight and entertaining game when he beat the offside trap and swerved past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to bury it deep in the net.I still got a hand to it, but unfortunately it was not enough, Mignolet said.Skills run far deeper in the fourth-ranked Colombia team than Falcao, and in the 67th Victor Ibarbo proved it, controlling a pass with one foot in the penalty area before volleying it past Mignolet with his left to put the match away.Belgium, ranked fifth, twice hit the woodwork. Marouane Fellaini latched on to a header of Thomas Vermaelen without success in the 76th, and Dries Mertens shot hit the same left post seven minutes later.A good match, but they scored, and we were unlucky, Mignolet said.Belgiums top striker, Christian Benteke, had two great chances, but his recent lack of club form showed with two poor headers.Colombia will complete its mini tour of Europe with a game against the Netherlands next Tuesday, when Belgium will meet Japan.In a sold-out 40,000-capacity King Baudouin Stadium, Belgium wanted to test out its second-string goalie Mignolet but he could do little about the goals.Especially in the second half, the Colombians highlighted the absence of injured Belgium captain and central defender Vincent Kompany, as they cut through the offside trap and found men open in the center.Falcao was denied for much of the game but continuously weighed on the defense and directed his team with passes and instructions.By comparison, Hazard could impress his Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho in the stands with several lightning moves but a decisive pass was lacking.

Formula One: Alonso passed fit for US race

Posted:

AUSTIN (AFP) - Fernando Alonso passed a final medical test at Austin on Thursday and was declared fit to race for Ferrari in this weekends United States Grand Prix.The two-time world champion had been in back pain since bouncing on the Yas Marina kerbs two weeks ago during a battle for places at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.The impact -- which was measured at a staggering 25G -- required precautionary hospital checks on the evening of the race.He had further examinations afterwards before flying to the United States where the organisers rules required him to have a further check-up.Following a series of tests, Alonso was given the all clear to race.After the examination he left the track to return to his hotel, skipping all media commitments.

Rallying: Ogier dominates at bogey race

Posted:

DEESIDE (AFP) - World champion Sebastien Ogier dominated the first day of the Wales Rally GB on Thursday despite his previous travails at this event.In five previous visits to Wales, the Volkswagen Polo-R driver has yet to secure a top 10 finish and has crashed several times.He posted the fastest time in the first two specials of the day and came second in the third, leaving him 3.2sec ahead of Belgian Thierry Neuville in a Ford Fiesta, the winner of that final special.Winner of the last two editions of this event, Finlands Jari-Matti Latvala, also in a VW Polo-R, is 5.2sec back in third.

Swimming: Phelps back in drug test programme

Posted:

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Michael Phelps is back in the US Anti-Doping Agencys drug test programme, a possible sign the Olympic swimming great is eyeing a return for Rio.Phelps retired from swimming after bagging four gold medals and two silvers at the 2012 London Olympics, taking his tally of Olympic medals to a record 22.An astonishing 18 of those are gold -- including the unprecedented eight he won at the 2008 Beijing Games.Phelps has downplayed rumors that he was considering a return to competition in time for the 2016 Rio Olympics.But USADAs records show that he was drug tested twice in the third quarter of 2013, which ended on September 30.Making himself available for drug testing would be a key step in a return to serious competition.FINA, world swimmings governing body, requires an athlete to be tested for a minimum of nine months prior to competing in sanctioned events.Rumors that the 28-year-old was considering a comeback have gathered steam this summer, although Phelps himself has downplayed them.He does train periodically with his longtime coach Bob Bowman and Bowmans current crop of Olympic hopefuls at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.In October Bowman told AFP that Phelps felt out of shape.He trains with the guys every now and then to stay in shape, Bowman said. He took a year off from fitness and he felt he was out of shape, so over the last, I dont know, six weeks hes been coming back and doing sessions.I dont know if that translates into a comeback. I think when you see him at a meet, then you would know he is coming back.

Oil rises as Yellen voices support for Fed policy

Posted:

NEW YORK (AP) - The price of oil erased early losses Thursday as Janet Yellen indicated that she plans to keep her predecessors economic stimulus in place pending further improvement in the U.S. economy.Yellen testified Thursday to the Senate Banking Committee, which is considering her nomination to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Ben Bernanke. She said the U.S. economy has regained ground lost to the Great Recession but still needs the Federal Reserves support because unemployment remains too high at 7.3 percent. That support has encouraged investment in riskier assets such as stocks and oil.Yellens comments helped reverse sharp morning losses in oil, partly caused by a government report showing the eighth straight increase in the nations supply of crude oil. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery slipped 12 cents to $93.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil fell as low as $92.51 in the morning and rose as high as $94.43 in the afternoon.The U.S. Nymex benchmark is down by about 8 percent over the past month. Traders say further declines are likely, as U.S. crude output keeps rising.Data from the Energy Department showed that in October, for the first time since 1995, the U.S. produced more crude oil than it imported 7.7 million barrels a day against 7.6 million barrels a day.This is a trend that is likely to continue next year crude oil production looks set to grow to 8.9 million barrels per day by the end of 2014, while crude oil imports are expected to drop to 5.8 million barrels per day, said analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt in a note to clients.Energy Department data for the week ended Nov. 8 showed that crude oil supplies rose by 2.6 million barrels. Analysts expected an increase of 1.8 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose $1.42 to $108.54 a barrel on the ICE Exchange in London. Besides the Yellen comments, Brent was boosted by protests and disruptions at refineries in Libya, a vital supplier to Europe.

Dollar gains despite Yellen's dovish stance

Posted:

NEW YORK CITY (AFP) - The dollar pushed higher against the yen and euro Thursday despite US Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellens solidly dovish testimony in Congress.Overriding Yellens promise of more Ben Bernanke-like stimulus if she is confirmed as his successor were weak growth data in Japan and the eurozone.At 2200 GMT the euro was at $1.3459, compared to $1.3492 late Wednesday.The dollar rose to 100.00 yen from 99.14, while the euro gained to 134.61 yen from 133.73.Yellen held out the promise of continuing quantitative easing as long as US growth remains tepid and unemployment elevated, holding to the Fed policy line.She gave no hint of the timing of a taper of the $85 billion a month asset-purchase program, saying -- like Bernanke -- that everything is data-driven and that the data still requires Fed support for the economy.I consider it imperative to do what we can to promote a very strong recovery, she told the Senate Banking Committee.As dovish as that was, the dollar gained and US bond yields fell, as the poor growth data from abroad encouraged shifting to the greenback.Japan announced that growth halved in the July-September quarter as exports weakened and consumer spending slowed.Official data showed the Japanese economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.9 percent, a marked slowdown from the 3.8 percent rise in the previous three months.Meanwhile the Eurostat statistics agency said that the already-weak eurozone recovery slowed in the third quarter, with powerhouse Germany off its stride and France hit by a surprise contraction.The 17-nation eurozone economy grew just 0.1 percent in the three months through September after a gain of 0.3 percent in the previous quarter.The British pound scored a bare gain on the dollar at $1.6065 from $1.6062 late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 0.9160 Swiss franc from 0.9126 franc.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)