Tuesday 26 November 2013

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Maulana Zafar Ali Khan being remembered today

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LAHORE (Web Desk) - The nation IS remembering the great political leader‚ journalist‚ author and poet for his immortal services.Zafar Ali Khan was born in 1873 at Kot Marath‚ near Wazirabad. His father Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmed - a close associate of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan‚ was a man of considerable ability and talent. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan received his early education from Mission High School.Then he was sent to Mahindra College‚ Patalia‚ where his uncle‚ Professor Abdullah Khan‚ taught Arabic and Persian. He graduated from the Aligarh Muslim University in 1892‚ after which he established himself as a well known writer of both Urdu and English literature. His articles were published in Makhzan‚ Zamindar and other leading English newspapers.In 1906‚ Zafar Ali Khan went to Bengal to participate in a meeting held by the All-India Muslim League. He was appointed Assistant Home Secretary of the then princely State of Hyderabad Deccan. During his tenure‚ the Maulana made great efforts for the promotion of Muslim culture‚ and that is why his activities were often monitored by pro-British elements in the government.In 1909‚ a culture group from Europe visited Hyderabad for a stage performance. The Maulana was asked to represent the State at the function. At the end‚ he was asked to appreciate the group’s performance‚ but instead he bluntly criticised it and remarked: My conscience does not allow me to appreciate such a vulgar show‚ which is against the norms and values of Islam. After this‚ the British administration ordered him to leave the State within 24 hours; such was the spirit of Zafar Ali Khan for Islam and the Muslims. It was a turning point of his life; he thereon completely committed himself to freedom struggle of the Indian Muslims.He remained a member of the Central Legislative Assembly of India for 10 years. He participated in the Khilafat Movement‚ Islamic Bazaar Movement‚ Tehrik Masjid Shaheed Gunj and many others. He was the only leader in the subcontinent‚ who spent the maximum time of his life in jail‚ for delivering speeches against the British Raj.In 1910‚ he was appointed as editor of Daily Zamindar‚ which was launched by his father. With the passage of time‚ it became the true voice of the Muslims of the subcontinent and world over. Due to the newspaper‚ he was able to establish the Turkey Fund during the Trabalas and Balkan War. He went all the way to Turkey to present the collected money to the Sultan.Against this backdrop‚ the British government imposed restrictions on the Indian press in 1913. Maulana Zafar went to England and delivered a speech in the House of Lords and distributed a booklet titled The Indian Press Act‚ which was written by him. He logically presented his case and described the act as discriminating and unethical. In addition‚ the editorials published in Zamindar helped the Indian Muslims‚ to a great extent‚ in their freedom struggle. Due to this‚ the newspaper was closed down by the British government on a number of occasions.Maulana Zafar Ali Khan fell ill and died on November 27‚ 1956. He was laid to rest in Karamabad. In his honour‚ the Punjab government has done a great job of establishing the Zafar Ali Khan Trust. Besides this‚ Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has allocated land for the construction of the Zafar Ali Khan Museum.

Italian parliament poised to expel Berlusconi

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ROME (AFP) - Italy's Silvio Berlusconi prepared for likely expulsion from parliament on Wednesday via a momentous vote that will rattle but not bring down the government and leave the billionaire tycoon more at risk of arrest.Berlusconi has asked fellow senators to delay the vote because he claims to have new evidence warranting a judicial review of the criminal conviction for tax fraud that is the basis for his probable ejection.Berlusconi's loyalists have attempted stalling tactics but the debate planned for 1800 GMT is likely to go ahead as scheduled although it could be a long one.Thousands of supporters are expected to mass outside his luxury Rome residence from 1300 GMT, while a smaller group of anti-Berlusconi activists will also gather outside the Senate an hour later.The day promises to be full of heated rhetoric at an economically crucial time for Italy, which is struggling to end its longest post-war recession and just as parliament debates next year's budget.Prime Minister Enrico Letta has called for a non-chaotic situation in Italy and said a division within Berlusconi's ranks will help stability.A group of dissidents led by Berlusconi's former protege, Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano, broke away earlier this month to form their own grouping.Alfano and his supporters have said they will vote against Berlusconi's expulsion but will stay in Letta's left-right coalition even if the ejection goes ahead.The government will therefore not collapse even though Berlusconi's Forza Italia party announced on Tuesday it was pulling out of the coalition after just six months of uneasy cohabitation with its leftist rivals.But the coalition will have a much narrower majority in the Senate of around 10 seats and could be vulnerable to sniping from Berlusconi even outside parliament.Berlusconi is still extremely powerful, although that power is declining, said James Walston, a professor at the American University in Rome.He still has enormous resources, he still has his media, he still has lots of very diehard supporters inside and outside parliament, he said.Berlusconi has said a vote to expel him from parliament would be an indelible stain on Italian democracy.Voting to expel would shame you in front of your children, your voters and all Italians, he said in an open letter to senators, in which he told them that the vote is not about me, but about democracy.You would expel from parliament a political leader who has been prime minister several times and who has represented Italy on the international stage, he said.Even some of Berlusconi's most hardline opponents have voiced doubts about the expulsion vote and the idea of beating the 77-year-old through the courts and parliament instead of at the ballot box.Still, a large majority of senators is expected to vote in favour of expulsion.

US pleads for release of ex-FBI agent held in Iran

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Tuesday made a holiday appeal to Iran to return a retired FBI agent and two other Americans being held in the country.Robert Levinson, the former FBI agent, disappeared during a business trip to Iran's Kish Island in March 2007. The United States believes the private investigator and father of seven was abducted and is being held in Iran. Levinson's case was a topic in recent negotiations between U.S. and Iran aimed at addressing Iran's nuclear program and improving diplomatic ties.White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday that Obama specifically raised Levinson's case as well as those of U.S. citizens Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati, who have been detained in Iran, during a telephone conversation earlier in the fall with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.Abedini is a pastor; Hekmati is a former U.S. Marine.It is our view that all of these Americans should have the opportunity to come home, Earnest told reporters traveling with Obama in Los Angeles. The U.S. government has made a respectful request of the Iranian regime during this holiday season to consider on humanitarian grounds releasing these three Americans, or at least releasing the two Americans we know are detained and locating the whereabouts of the third, Mr. Levinson.A written statement the White House released before Earnest spoke said the U.S. remained committed to finding and bringing home Levinson, who is from Coral Springs, Florida.We respectfully ask the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to assist us in securing Mr. Levinson's health, welfare, and safe return, the statement said.Hekmati's sister Sarah Hekmati said Tuesday that she and her family hope more frequent discussions between U.S. and Iranian officials lead to her brother's release after more than two years.We feel more reassured that Amir's case can be raised now with this bridge that's been built ... and we can be closer to a resolution, she said.

EU, Israel agree on scientific research deal

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JERUSALEM (AFP) - The EU and Israel reached an agreement Tuesday enabling the Jewish state to participate in a European-funded scientific research program after a compromise on settlement funding.The agreement on Israel's participation in the Horizon 2020 Programme fully respects the EU's legal and financial requirements while at the same time respecting Israel's political sensitivities and preserving its principled positions, according to a joint statement released by Israel's justice ministry.Israel had objected to European Union guidelines, published in July, which will ban funding for and financial dealing with settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem starting from January 2014.The guidelines angered Israel because it would have to recognise in writing that the settlements -- which are illegal under international law -- are not part of the Jewish state in any future EU agreements.According to military radio, the sides agreed the EU will add a clause to the Horizon 2020 agreement determining that research money won't serve research institutions in the West Bank, while Israel will include a clause in the agreement saying it does not recognise the new EU guidelines.The issued text does not cite the concessions made in this area.The joint statement said the breakthrough between the sides came following discussions between Israeli Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni and (EU) High Representative Catherine Ashton.The agreement will allow Israel's scientific community to benefit from one of the most important EU programmes and facilitate its further integration into the European space of research and innovation, read the statement. This agreement will pave the way for Israel's participation in other EU programmes to be launched from 1st January 2014.Israel will have to contribute 600 million euros to the Horizon 2020 project in return for access to the wider funding pot.The deal makes Israel the only non-European nation allowed to participate in the scientific cooperation programme. It will allow hi-tech companies and research institutes to access European funding.Palestinian and pro-Palestinian groups had called on the European Union to go further, towards a boycott of all Israeli settlement products, or even all Israeli products.

World's most expensive book sells for $14m: Sotheby's

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The first book printed in what is today the United States of America sold for more than $14 million at auction in New York Tuesday, Sotheby's said, becoming the world's most expensive book.The translation of Biblical psalms The Bay Psalm Book was printed by Puritan settlers in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640 and was sold at a one-lot auction by Sotheby's.Bidding opened at $6 million and closed just minutes later at a premium price of $14.165 million, a Sotheby's spokesman said.The auction house had valued the book at $15-30 million. The identity of the buyer was not immediately announced.The previous world auction record for a printed book was $11.5 million, reached when a copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America sold at Sotheby's in December 2010.The settlers, who came to America to seek religious freedom, set about making their own preferred translation from the Hebrew original of the Old Testament book.'The Bay Psalm Book' is a mythical rarity. Unseen on the marketplace for more than two generations, it has become too rare to collect, said David Redden, head of Sotheby's books.Redden said the volume had even greater significance than being the first book printed or written in America.This little book of 1640 was precursor to Lexington and Concord, and, ultimately, to American political independence. With it, New England declared its independence from the Church of England, he said.Selby Kiffer, from Sotheby's special projects department, called it not simply one of the great icons of book history, it is one of the greatest artifacts of American history.There were 1,700 copies of the original 1640 edition. The eleven that have survived until today are in collections such as The Library of Congress in New York and Harvard College Library.No copy had appeared at auction since 1947, when a different copy fetched $151,000 -- a record at the time for any book, including the Gutenberg Bible or Shakespeare's First Folio.The book was sold by the Old South Church in Boston to benefit its work in the historic city. The same church possesses another copy of the Bay Psalm Book.

Ford recalls 150,000 vehicles over engine fire risk

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NEW YORK (AFP) - US auto giant Ford ordered a recall of nearly 150,000 of its popular Escape vehicle on Tuesday, citing a potential risk of engine fire.The vehicles in question are the 2013 model equipped with the 1.6 liter engine, manufactured between October 2011 and June 2013.Some 139,917 vehicles affected by the recall are at risk of localized overheating of the engine cylinder which could lead to an oil leak resulting in fire.The automaker said it was aware of 12 incidents where this was believed to have occurred in the United States and Canada.Ford also wants to reinspect some 9,469 vehicles which were already subjected to a recall last year, because of concerns of the possibility of a fuel leak leading to a fire.Reports of gasoline odors in the affected vehicles had prompted concerns that repairs on the vehicles had not been properly carried out.Last year some 85,000 Escapes were recalled in two phases between July and November.

US bombers cross China's claimed air defense zone

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Days after China asserted greater military control over a swath of the East China Sea to bolster claims to a cluster of disputed islands, the U.S. defied the move Tuesday as it flew two B-52 bombers through the area.The U.S. said what it described as a training mission was not flown to respond to China's latest military maneuver, yet the dramatic flights made clear that the U.S. will not recognize the new territorial claims that Beijing laid out over the weekend.The two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers took off from their home base in Guam and flew through China's newly designated air defense zone, then returned to base, U.S. officials said. The bombers were in the zone for less than an hour, thundering across the Pacific skies during midday there, the officials said, adding that the aircraft encountered no problems.While the U.S. insisted the training mission was long-planned, it came just days after China issued a map and a new set of rules governing the zone, which includes a cluster of islands that are controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.U.S. officials would not publicly acknowledge the flights on Tuesday, but State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said China's move appeared to be an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea.This will raise regional tensions and increase the risk of miscalculation, confrontation and accidents, she told reporters.China said Saturday that all aircraft entering the new air defense zone must notify Chinese authorities and are subject to emergency military measures if they do not identify themselves or obey Beijing's orders. U.S. officials, however, said they have received no reaction to the bomber flights from the Chinese.The bomber mission underscores Washington's immediate rejection of China's new rules. The U.S., which has hundreds of military aircraft based in the region, has said it has zero intention of complying. Japan likewise has called the zone invalid, unenforceable and dangerous, while Taiwan and South Korea, both close to the U.S., also rejected it.White House spokesman Josh Earnest would not specifically comment Tuesday on the military flights. It continues to be our view that the policy announced by the Chinese over weekend is unnecessarily inflammatory and has a destabilizing impact on the region, he told reporters traveling with Obama in Los Angeles.The U.S. mission took place between about midnight Monday and 3 a.m. EST, said the officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak by name about the flights. The flights were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.China's move to further assert its territorial claims over the islands is not expected to immediately spark confrontations with foreign aircraft. Yet it fits a pattern of putting teeth behind China's claims and could potentially lead to dangerous encounters depending on how vigorously China enforces it and how cautious it is when intercepting aircraft from Japan, the U.S. and other countries.While enforcement is expected to start slowly, Beijing has a record of playing the long game, and analysts say they anticipate a gradual scaling-up of activity.The declaration seems to have flopped as a foreign policy gambit. Analysts say Beijing may have miscalculated the forcefulness and speed with which its neighbors rejected its demands.At least in the short term, the move undermines Beijing's drive for regional influence, said Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.It doesn't serve Chinese interests to have tensions with so many neighbors simultaneously, she said.Denny Roy, a security expert at the East-West Center in Hawaii, said China's enforcement will likely be mostly rhetorical at first.The Chinese can now start counting and reporting what they call Japanese violations, while arguing that the Chinese side has shown great restraint by not exercising what they will call China's right to shoot, and arguing further that China cannot be so patient indefinitely, Roy said.China also faces practical difficulties deriving from gaps in its air-to-air refueling and early warning and control capabilities, presenting challenges in both detecting foreign aircraft and keeping its planes in the air, according to Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at Flightglobal magazine in Singapore.Despite that, Beijing has shown no sign of backing down, just as it has continued to aggressively enforce its island claims in the South China Sea over the strong protests from its neighbors.Tensions remain high with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku by Japan and Daioyu by China.Beijing was incensed by Japan's September 2012 move to nationalize the chain, and Diaoyutai by Taiwan, which also claims them.Since then, Chinese and Japanese coast guard ships have regularly confronted each other in surrounding waters. Japan further angered Beijing last month by threatening to shoot down unmanned Chinese drones that Beijing says it plans to send on surveillance missions over the islands.Beijing's move was greeted rapturously by hardline Chinese nationalists, underscoring Beijing's need to assuage the most vocal facet of domestic public opinion. Strategically, it also serves to keep the island controversy alive in service of Beijing's goal of forcing Tokyo to accept that the islands are in dispute, a possible first step to joint administration or unilateral Chinese control over them.Beijing was also responding in kind to Japan's strict enforcement of its own air defense zone in the East China Sea, said Dennis Blasko, an Asia analyst at think tank CNA's China Security Affairs Group and a former Army attache in Beijing.The Japanese zone, in place since the 1960s, overlaps extensively with the newly announced Chinese zone. Japan, which keeps a public record of all foreign incursions into its zone, actually extended it westward by 14 miles in May.

PM to host farewell dinner for COAS

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will host a farewell dinner reception in the honour of the outgoing Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani today (Wednesday).The Prime Minister will be announcing the name of the country’s new Chief of Army Staff on November 28.Three senior generals, Lieutenant-General Haroon Aslam, Lieutenant-General Tariq Khan and Lieutenant-General Rashad Mahmood, are seen as main contenders for the top slot in the country’s most powerful institution.General Kayani, who was grappled with serious security challenges coming from eastern and western borders and homegrown militancy during his two tenures (each comprising three years) as most powerful chief of army staff, would be retiring in next 48 hours and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would appoint a new army chief.General Kayani’s six years as commander of most powerful institution of Pakistan would be seen as successful; particularly his full support to democracy would be remembered as a “best thing” happened to Pakistan’s fledging democracy. Kayani commanded two full-scale military operations as well as a series of targeted operations and crackdowns aimed at surgical cleansing in the militant-infested northwestern belt.On external front, there was India’s Cold Start doctrine and Proactive Strategy, seeking to change the way India may mobilise its forces and fight the future war in order to achieve its politico-military objectives. This is likely to change the traditional model of war-waging from ‘mobilisation and then going to war’ to ‘going to war/ attacking and then mobilising’.Accordingly, under General Kayani, a process of refining the existing concepts and developing new approaches to war fighting has been vigorously pursued through a series of war games at corps, command and army levels since 2009, namely Azm-e-Nau series.Commissioned in Baloch Regiment, General Kayani assumed responsibilities as the 14th COAS on November 18, 2007, at a time when image of the Army was tarnished and Pakistan was rocked by political instability and terrorism.

Pakistan Bar Council announces countrywide strike today

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has announced strike and boycott of the courts across the country on Wednesday (today).According to the PBC this evening, lawyers will boycott the courts and observe complete strike, against torture on lawyers outside Supreme Court.On the hand, lawyers ended sit-in outside SC after successful talks with authorities.On Tuesday, lawyers from various districts of Punjab protested outside Supreme Court and demanded establishment of Lahore High Court (LHC) benches in Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Faisalabad Divisions.Clashes among police and the lawyers erupted when they tried to enter the SC building. Police baton charged and fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.Many lawyers and Assistant Commissioner Islamabad were injured during the clashes.All the injured persons have been shifted to Polyclinic Islamabad, where lawyers also scuffled with doctors.Earlier, lawyers had reiterated their demand that Lahore High Court (LHC) benches be set up in Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Faisalabad.They also criticised the judicial system and urged the authorities to revamp it with the help of lawyers.The lawyers had also announced to boycott those candidates for the Lahore High Court Bar elections who were opposing the establishment of the benches.According to lawyers, the divisional benches of LHC were need of the hour to provide easy justice for the people at their doorsteps and save their time and money.Faisalabad lawyers started the movement for the benches in January 2013 with protest strike and lawyers of other divisions joined the movement.“Viewing the tense situation, the High Court assured the lawyers that their demand would be accepted soon. The lawyers, then in the interest of their clients decided to work two days a week.Later, Punjab cabinet took notice of the situation and approved establishment of benches but the general elections approached and the lawyers were promised that the benches would be established after the elections.

Pakistan releases 3 senior Taliban prisoners

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ISLAMABAD (AP) - The Pakistani government released three senior Taliban prisoners Tuesday in an attempt to jumpstart stuttering peace talks with the Afghan government, the latest in a wave of detainees freed to help negotiations, said Pakistani and Taliban officials.The prisoners released included Mullah Abdul Ahad Jahangirwal, a former adviser to Taliban leader Mullah Omar; Mullah Abdul Manan, a former Taliban governor in the Afghan province of Helmand; and Mullah Younus, a former military commander, said two Pakistani government officials and a member of the Taliban.Pakistan also quietly released nearly a dozen lower-ranking Taliban prisoners in October, said an Afghan official. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.The release comes less than a week after an Afghan delegation tasked with holding peace talks with the Taliban visited Pakistan to meet with the group's former deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. The former No. 2 was released by Pakistan in September after years in detention. Some officials hope he can help jumpstart the peace process, while others have their doubts.Pakistan has now released around four dozen Taliban prisoners over the last year in an attempt to help peace talks. But there is no sign that the releases have helped peace negotiations, and some of the prisoners are believed to have returned to the fight against the Afghan government.Some of the releases ended up causing friction with Kabul and Washington, which both claimed that Pakistan was not monitoring the whereabouts and activities of all the former inmates.Moreover, the Taliban have so far refused to talk directly with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, his government or its representatives. Attempts to open talks between Afghanistan and the Taliban in June ended in failure after Karzai accused the militants of setting up a government in exile and demanded they remove their flag and a sign identifying the movement as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban refused and closed their office in the Gulf state of Qatar.Pakistan has a complicated relationship with the Taliban. Pakistan helped the group seize control of Afghanistan in 1996, and Kabul has repeatedly accused Islamabad of providing the insurgents sanctuary on its territory following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.Many analysts also believe Pakistan has maintained its ties with the Taliban as a way to counter the influence of archenemy India in Afghanistan. But there is also a significant level of distrust of Pakistan among the Taliban, a feeling that has been reinforced by Islamabad's detention of insurgents, possibly as bargaining chips.Islamabad is also fighting its own related insurgent movement, the Pakistani Taliban. One of the reasons analysts believe Pakistan has stepped up efforts to facilitate a peace deal in Afghanistan is the fear that chaos in the country after foreign forces withdraw could provide Pakistani Taliban militants with sanctuary.

In EU, most trafficking victims are Europeans

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WARSAW (AP) - Experts say that more than 60 percent of people trafficked for sex or forced labor within the European Union are EU citizens.EU statistics, the bloc's first on human trafficking, for the years 2008-2010 show that most victims come from Romania and Bulgaria, although trafficking from outside the EU is on the rise, with most victims coming from Nigeria.EU and police experts from across Europe said during the Putting Victims First conference that opened in Warsaw on Tuesday that trafficking is on the rise. They called it modern-day slavery to which Europe should respond with stronger legislation that would prosecute traffickers and a better effort to recognize victims and guarantee their rights to protection and compensation.A treaty that took effect in 2008 in the EU needs to be stepped up to make law enforcement officers as well as ordinary citizens more responsive to the problem, the experts said, while NGOs working with the victims should be given more funds.In the three years covered, more than 7,000 women and girls and more than 2,000 men and boys from within the EU were identified or presumed as victims, compared with more than 1,200 females and 94 males from Africa.Bernd Hemingway of the International Organization for Migration said the trafficking trends seem to be changing.A few years ago we were talking mainly about trafficking for sexual exploitation, nowadays we have more and more trafficking for labor, Hemingway said.In 2012, some 48 percent of identified cases were of labor trafficking while 21 percent involved sex trafficking, which was significantly lower than in the previous year, he said.Experts said that prejudice and turning a blind eye to exploitation are great obstacles to recognizing victims, and pointed to the case of a 10-year-old Pakistani girl trafficked into Britain where she was kept as a virtual sex and labor slave. The man who trafficked her was sentenced to 13 years in prison last month.

France seeks memorial matches to mark 1914 football truce

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - France called on its EU partners Tuesday to help stage football matches in memory of those Allied and German troops played during an impromptu 1914 Christmas truce between the trenches.It was a great moment of (human) fraternity to which we now want to add a political dimension, French Sports Ministers Valerie Fourneyron said ahead of a meeting with her 27 EU colleagues.UEFA, the European football ruling body currently headed by French footballing great Michel Platini, has suggested that the 1914 Christmas truce matches in Belgium and northern France should be replayed as part of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the bloody conflict.Soldiers on both sides downed weapons, calling a brief halt to the mass slaughter to celebrate Christmas in a move their officers condemned as fraternisation with the enemy.Several countries back this idea and the Belgian government has said it would stage the matches, Fourneyron said.They will most likely be held in and around the small village of Ypres, the bloody epicentre of some of the most costly and futile battles on the Western Front.There was no repeat of the football matches as the war dragged on.Fourneyron suggested the matches could take place in December 2014 to coincide with an EU leaders summit but the details have yet to be settled.

Cheap Motorola smartphone hits US early

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NEW YORK (AP) - Motorola will start selling a cheap smartphone in the U.S. more than a month ahead of schedule.The company says it was able to produce the Moto G phones faster than expected. The U.S. launch was initially planned for January. But it is going on sale Tuesday.The phone starts at $179 without a contract requirement. That compares with $600 or more that people must typically pay for high-end phones without traditional two-year service agreements.With the Moto G, Motorola is trying to offer a device that is closer to what's currently available on leading high-end phones, although it won't work on the faster 4G LTE networks.The version out Tuesday will work only with GSM networks, the type used by AT&T, T-Mobile and most carriers around the world. It won't work with Verizon and Sprint, which have CDMA networks. Verizon says it will offer the CDMA version early next year. There's no immediate word on Sprint's plans.The phone's 4.5-inch (11.4-centimeter) screen, measured diagonally, is capable of high-definition video, but only at 720p, not at the better, 1020p standard found in leading phones. The resolution is 329 pixels per inch, which is comparable to the 326 pixels in the latest, 4-inch iPhones but short of the 441 pixels in Samsung's 5-inch (12.5-centimeter) Galaxy S4.The $179 price is for a phone with 8 gigabytes of storage, not the 16 gigabytes typical with high-end phones. A 16-gigabyte version is available for $199. The rear camera can take images at 5 megapixels, which is less than leading phones.In the U.S., Motorola is targeting so-called prepaid accounts. Under those plans, customers pay for devices up front, but are not tied to two-year service agreements. Credit-challenged customers who don't qualify for traditional plans often sign up for prepaid accounts.Motorola is owned by Google Inc. Moto G, however, won't get Google's latest Android operating system, Kit Kat, until early next year.The phone launched two weeks ago. It's currently available in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Britain, Germany, France and Canada.

Under-pressure Proteas face must-win Pakistan ODI

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PORT ELIZABETH (AP) - After strangely deciding to drop its most successful limited-overs bowler this year, South Africa has slipped suddenly from a resounding 4-1 away win over Pakistan to the prospect of losing a one-day series against the same team for the first time.The 23-run defeat in the opening match of a three-game return contest in South Africa on Sunday left the inconsistent Proteas under pressure at home in a must-win second one-dayer on Wednesday, and probably regretting the move to leave Ryan McLaren out of the series-opener.South Africas problem was finding a place for veteran allrounder Jacques Kallis, who returned for his first one-day international in nearly two years. Although Kallis returned seamlessly with two wickets and a half century in his first ODI since February 2012, South Africas overall performance was upset without McLaren.I dont think there was anything wrong with the team selection in the previous game, really. South Africa captain AB de Villiers said on Tuesday, backing the move to drop McLaren despite insistence from sections of the countrys media that McLaren should have played. It was definitely a good enough team to beat Pakistan.However, it was Pakistan which made history on its short tour by winning its first ODI at Cape Towns Newlands while South Africa tinkered with its bowling attack by bringing in Kallis and regular test seamer Vernon Philander at the expense of McLaren, who has led South Africas limited-overs wicket-takers in 2013.De Villiers did concede it was a tough decision to leave McLaren out and the allrounder was expected to be among the one or two changes to the team the skipper said were likely for the pressure game at St. Georges Park.The loss at Newlands underlined South Africas ongoing struggle for consistency in team selection and performance in limited-overs cricket despite it being the top-ranked test team.Itll mean everything to us (to win the series). Its never easy to come from behind, de Villiers said.In contrast, Pakistan has made progress after agreeing to the short-notice limited-overs tour, winning a T20 and an ODI at Newlands and discovering promising allrounders Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali in the process. On their ODI debuts, the pair combined for a game-changing 74-run partnership for the eighth wicket at Newlands and shared five crucial wickets in South Africas reply.Bhatti is definitely skilful, theres no doubt about it, de Villiers said. Even myself, I underestimated him a bit in the second T20 game. ... He bowled like 12 perfect yorkers in a row. Youve got to have skill to do that.

ICC urges Kenyan president to attend trial

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THE HAGUE (AFP) - The International Criminal Court on Tuesday reversed a ruling that allowed Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta to attend only parts of his trial, saying the African leader as a general rule must be present in court.Any future requests to be excused from attending parts of his trial will be considered on a case-by-case basis, The Hague-based ICC said in a statement.Kenyattas trial on charges of masterminding some of the 2007-8 post-election violence in Kenya that left over 1,000 people dead and several hundred thousand displaced, is set to start on February 5.Judges on October 18 partially excused Kenyatta in order for him to deal with the aftermath of a Nairobi mall siege in September in which at least 67 people died.Two weeks later, the court postponed the trials start date after Kenyattas lawyers said the attack on the upmarket Westgate mall -- claimed by Somalias Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents -- triggered a national and international crisis.Kenyatta, who was elected president in March, has long said that the trial in the Netherlands would hamper his running of the country.Prosecutors however argued Kenyattas situation was the same as that of fellow accused and Kenyas Vice President William Ruto, who was instructed last month to be present at his own trial.Both Kenyatta and Ruto face crimes against humanity charges in separate trials. They were political opponents at the time of the post-poll violence that shattered the east African countrys image as a beacon of stability in the region.Ruto went on trial in September, becoming the highest-ranking serving official to do so before the ICC.Both men have pledged full cooperation with the court.
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