Friday 7 February 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Karachi: MQM to observe day of mourning today

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) will observe a day of mourning across Sindh including Karachi today (Saturday) to mourn and protest against extrajudicial killings of its party workers.Addressing a news conference at Nine Zero, MQM coordination committee members said that MQM has and still supports the ongoing operation against criminals and terrorists in the city; however, the committee alleged that their innocent workers are being targeted, arrested, and killed extra-constitutionally in the name of the operation against terrorists.Raabta Committee said that MQM’s forty five workers have gone missing during the past year of which five went missing prior to the operation. The committee alleged that ten workers have been killed extra-judicially.Haider Abbas Rizvi said that 10th incident of extrajudicial killing of their worker took place on February 3rd and that MQM Korangi Unit 75’s worker Mohammad Salman was taken into custody by men dressed as police from Korangi Crossing and his body was found from Landhi area on February 4th which was pronounced unclaimed and sent to Edhi morgue.He alleged that Mohammad Salman faced worst kind of torture while in custody and had a broken neck. MQM’s workers are not unclaimed, they have 2 crore claimants in Karachi and 20 crore across the country, he said.Earlier, MQM Chief Altaf Hussain alleged that party worker Mohammad Salman faced inhuman torture while in custody and was murdered extra-judicially. He urged the government to seriously take notice of extrajudicial killings of MQM workers and supporters.Meanwhile, Karachi transport association has announced to support MQM’s call to strike and to shut down the public transport in the city today.

Dense fog blankets Lahore

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LAHORE (Dunya News) - Dense fog descended on the city on Friday night, causing closure of Allama Iqbal Airport.The thick fog badly disrupted the schedule of national and private airlines after which the airport had been closed. All departing flights were delayed and the incoming flights were diverted to other airports.

Turkish F-16s scrambled for 'drunken' Sochi hijack attempt

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ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkey scrambled two F-16 jets Friday to force down an airliner from Ukraine when an apparently drunk would-be hijacker ordered it to Sochi where the Winter Olympics opening ceremony was underway.The Ukrainian man, brandishing what he said was a detonator, tried to gain access to the cockpit of the aircraft operated by Turkeys Pegasus Airlines with 110 people on board, officials said.The Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported that the man was inebriated. The agency and Istanbuls governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu said the man had neither a gun nor explosives.A Ukrainian man, born in 1969, was in an advanced state of drunkenness and tried to get into the cockpit, shouting Lets go to Sochi, Interfax-Ukraine quoted Ukrainian security services as saying.The man will answer for his hooligan behaviour.In the air, the pilot emitted a hijack alert and the Turkish F-16 military jets was scrambled. The Boeing 737-800 airliner landed at Istanbuls Sabiha Gokcen airport at 6:05 pm (1605 GMT).The plane was then immediately stormed by Turkish anti-terrorism commandos, reports said.Turkish television channels showed images of the aircraft surrounded by ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles with flashing lights after it touched down.Istanbuls governor said that the man had been taken into custody and that all passengers were evacuated safe and sound.After landing the man thought at first that he had landed in Sochi. It took some time for him to realise we were in Istanbul, Mutlu said.The aircraft had taken off from Kharkov, Ukraine for the scheduled flight south over the Black Sea to Sabiha Gokcen. The man wanted to divert it east to Sochi, the Russian city on the Black Sea coast.Television channels showed a still image of the would-be hijacker with short hair and wearing what looked like a red-white-and-blue ice hockey shirt with the number 11.

Iraq attacks kill nine including election candidate

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BAGHDAD (AFP) - Attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital killed nine people on Friday, including a supporter of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr who was standing in Aprils parliamentary election.The murder of Hamza al-Shammari, the first of an election candidate, comes amid a protracted surge in bloodshed with near-daily attacks nationwide and security forces battling anti-government fighters in Anbar province.Election candidates have been targeted in the past, with nearly 20 hopefuls killed ahead of April 2013 provincial council elections.Shammari, a senior leader of the Shammar tribe in Baghdad, was killed by gunmen using silenced pistols in the west Baghdad neighbourhood of Ghazaliyah, two security officials said.He had been due to stand in the April 30 election as part of the Ahrar list, which is loyal to the Sadrists.North of Baghdad, separate bombings killed eight people, security and medical officials said.In Tuz Khurmatu, a car bomb set off by a suicide attacker at a main intersection in the centre of the ethnically mixed town killed five people and wounded 27 others.Another vehicle rigged with explosives was detonated near a passing army patrol in Baiji, killing three soldiers.Violence in Iraq is at its highest level since 2008, with government data showing more than 1,000 people killed last month.Diplomats have called for the Shiite-led government to do more to reach out to the disaffected Sunni Arab minority, but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hard line ahead of the election.No one has admitted responsibility for the surge in attacks, but Sunni militant groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a powerful jihadist group, have been blamed.ISIL has also been fighting security forces in Anbar, a mostly Sunni desert region bordering Syria where militants have held parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah for weeks.Security forces and tribal auxiliaries have made slow progress in reclaiming neighbourhoods of Ramadi, but have largely stayed out of Fallujah for fear that major incursions could spark high civilian casualties and heavy damage to property.The city was a bastion of the Sunni insurgency following the 2003 US-led invasion, and American troops there fought some of their costliest battles since the Vietnam War.The Anbar stand-off has prompted more than 140,000 people to flee their homes, the UN refugee agency said, calling it the worst displacement in Iraq since the peak of sectarian fighting between 2006 and 2008.

Olympics: Putin opens Sochi Games after stunning show

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SOCHI (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin on Friday opened the Winter Olympics Games in Sochi that are inextricably linked with his name, after a stunning ceremony where Russia sought to convince the world it is a worthy host.The high-octane ceremony at the 40,000 capacity Fisht stadium on the Black Sea got off to a rocky start when one of five illuminated snowflakes which were supposed to morph into the Olympic rings failed to appear, leaving an embarrassing set of just four rings.But thereafter the show charmed and stunned in equal measure, taking hundreds of millions of spectators around the world on a lightning tour of Russian history and culture guided by a young girl named Lyubov (Love).In a nod towards Russias proud sporting past, the Olympic cauldron was lit by two triple gold-winning Soviet winter sports icons -- figure skater Irina Rodnina and ice hockey legend Vladislav Tretyak -- as fireworks rained into the sky.The flame had been brought into the stadium by US-based Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and the final relay included Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva who has been rumoured in some quarters to be Putins lover.Russia is under huge pressure to organise a glitch-free Games after a build-up dogged by controversies over gay rights, construction delays and security.The concerns that have shadowed these Games were underlined when Turkish media reports said a Ukrainian man attempted to hijack an airliner en route from Ukraine to Turkey and divert it to Sochi.But a Turkish military jet forced the plane to land in Istanbul.There were no signs of such tension in Sochi as the teams entered the stadium -- led by tradition by Olympic Games founder Greece -- to the sound of pumping dance house music in an effort to dynamise the procession.The Russian team won huge cheers as they entered to the song Nas Ne Dogonyat (Not Gonna Get Us) by female pop duo Tatu known for their raunchy lesbian-tinged pop videos.Although both girls are heterosexual, their involvement could be seen as a coded riposte to Western allegations that Russia is intolerant of homosexuality.In line with Olympic protocol, Putin, who has championed the drive to host the Olympics in Sochi since before the successful bid in 2007, made no speech save declaring the Games open.Putin welcomed more than 40 other heads of state and leaders for the ceremony, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.However US President Barack Obama as well as the leaders of key EU states Britain, France, and Germany are conspicuous by their absence, a move seen by many as a snub over Russias now notorious anti-gay law.IOC President Thomas Bach made an impassioned call for politicians to stay out of sports, saying have the courage to address your disagreements in political dialogue and not on the back of your athletes.Some 3,500 fireworks weighing a total of 22.5 tonnes were set off in the course of the ceremony which involved some 3,000 performers and 2,000 volunteers.The ceremony aimed to tell the story of Russias history -- from ancient times through the imperial era and the revolution -- in a way comprehensive and exciting for both Russians and foreigners.The ceremony included a new ballet based on the ball scene from Tolstoys novel War and Peace performed by dance stars including Svetlana Zakharova of the Bolshoi Ballet and the gravity defying superstar Ivan Vasliev.Burly shaven-headed heavyweight boxer Nikolai Valuev played the role of a giant but friendly Soviet policeman Uncle Styopa in an episode that sought to portray 1960s USSR as a jazzy and stylish haven for lovers.For many older Russians, the ceremony may bring a pang of nostalgia for the 1980 Moscow Summer Games in the Soviet era, which are still remembered fondly, in particular for the cute mascot Misha the bear.But it remains to be seen whether the Sochi opening ceremony will shift the cloud of controversy that has hung over the Games, the most expensive in history with an estimated price tag of $50 billion.In a symbolic gesture, Google marked the Winter Games by flying the gay flag Thursday in a search page Doodle that linked to a call for equality in the Olympic Charter.Security concerns had already intensified as the United States announced a temporary ban on liquids and gels in hand luggage on Russia-bound flights, following a warning that militants could stuff explosives into toothpaste.

Tennis: Top-ranked Serena out of Doha with back injury

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ST. PETERSBURG (AFP) - World number one Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week's $2.4 million Qatar Open because of a back injury, the WTA Tour announced on Friday.Williams, who lost to Victoria Azarenka in last year's Qatar Open final, suffered the injury at the Australian Open last month.Serbian Ana Ivanovic upset Williams in the fourth round in Melbourne.Williams, who won her opening tournament of the year at Brisbane by beating Azarenka in the final, is the reigning US and French Open champion.The 17-time Grand Slam singles champion will try to move nearer Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 Slam singles crowns in May at the French Open.Williams has entered next month's WTA Tour event at Indian Wells, a tournanment she and her elder sister Venus have boycotted since 2001 when she was fiercely booed as she played Kim Clijsters in the final.Spectators were angry at the time after Venus had defaulted to Serena due to tendinitis just moments before they were scheduled to meet in the semi-finals.

Athletics: Bolt won't decide on Glasgow until June

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KINGSTON (AFP) - World record-holder Usain Bolt will not decide until the Jamaican championships in June whether or not he will compete in the Commonwealth Games a month later, his coach Glen Mills said.The Kingston meet from June 19 to 22 will determine the athletics squad for the Commonwealth showdown in Glasgow, Scotland, where the athletics events will be staged from July 27-August 2.It's on the table, Mills said of the Commonwealth Games. We will know at the Jamaica Trials, if he runs, then he will be going to the Commonwealth Games.Bolt could open his 2014 season with a relay leg at the Gibson Relays in Kingston on February 22 or the UTech Classic in Kingston on April 12.Jamaican fans hoped Bolt would have opened his season at the Camperdown Classic on Saturday in Kingston but Mills said Bolt would not compete at that meet.He has had a long and arduous past three seasons, Mills said. He will make his entrance at a later date.Bolt, 27, has won six Olympic gold medals and eight world titles.He swept Olympic gold in the 100m and 200m and 4x100m relay at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, took the same three world crowns at 2009 in Berlin and last year in Moscow and won 200m and relay crowns at Daegu, South Korea, in 2011.Bolt set the 100m world record of 9.58 seconds and the 200m record of 19.19 at the 2009 worlds in Berlin.

Rallying: Ogier blunder lets in Latvala in Rally of Sweden

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HAGFORS (AFP) - World champion Sebastien Ogier of France lost control and drove his Volkswagen Polo into a snowdrift on Friday and appears to have lost all hope of winning a second successive Rally of Sweden.Ogier, the overnight leader going into Fridays second day, is back in ninth place, more than three-and-a-half minutes adrift of leader Jari-Martii Latvala, his VW stablemate.A third VW driver, Andreas Mikkelsen of Norway, was first to take advantage of Ogiers misfortune on the days first special stage, but found himself overhauled by Latvala, who ended the day nearly five seconds clear.Ogier quipped: This weekend, it wasnt them (his fellow VW drivers) who beat me, I managed to put myself out of the running all by myself.Thats what rallying is all about. I was fastest today, but I couldnt stop myself making such a stupic mistake.Ogier won nine of the days 16 special stages, but Latvala commented: Its easier to go fast when youve lost all chance of winning, the pressure is a great deal less.If things remain as they are, Latvala will take the lead in the world chmpionship standings come the end of the rally, the second leg of the champoionship, on Saturday afternoon.

Golf: Rookie Loupe leads after first round at Pebble Beach

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PEBBLE BEACH (AFP) - US PGA Tour rookie Andrew Loupe remained atop the leaderboard on Friday after completion of the darkness-halted first round of the $6.6 million Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.Loupe fired an eight-under par 63 at Monterey Peninsula on Thursday to grab the lead at the rain-hit event, at which 40 players were forced to finish their first rounds on Friday morning.Loupe headed to the first tee early Thursday just 39 minutes into the opening round when play was suspended because of standing water on some of the greens on the three courses in use for the first three rounds of the tournament.After a delay of almost three hours, play got underway and Loupe was able to get into the clubhouse with a career-best round that gave him an unexpected two-stroke lead.I just keep telling myself, youre supposed to be here, youre going to play good, just keep playing, said Loupe, who had eight birdies and no bogeys. And this is just one round, guys, you know, but I feel good.Loupe, 25, had only broken 70 once in 11 previous rounds on the US PGA Tour. In five prior starts this season he has not made a cut.He only secured his card with an equal sixth-place finish in the final event last season of the Web.com Tours Finals series.Jimmy Walker, who leads the tours Fed Ex Cup playoff standings, was among five players tied for second on six-under par.He posted his 66 on the par-72 Pebble Beach Golf Links, where Sundays final round will be held after everyone in the field plays one round at the par-71 Monterey Peninsula, par-72 Pebble and par-72 Spyglass Hill.Australians Stuart Appleby and Scott Gardiner and Americans Jim Renner and Richard H. Lee all carded six-under 65s at Monterey.Jordan Spieth fired a bogey-free 67 at Spyglass and was among eight tied at five-under, a group that included European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley of Ireland and New Zealands Tim Wilkinson, who fired 67s at Pebble Beach, and South African Rory Sabbatini, who fired a 67 at Spyglass.Four-time tournament winner Phil Mickelson was among those who failed to complete their rounds Thursday. The back-nine starter parred his final three holes Friday at Monterey to finish on 66 and join the five-under pack.Sabbatini and Wilkinson also finished their opening rounds on Friday.Englands Brian Davis and Greg Owen each completed four-under par rounds on Friday, Owen with a 67 at Monterey and Davis with a 68 at Pebble Beach.

Oil prices hit 2014 peaks after mixed US jobs report

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices rallied sharply Friday as the market shrugged off a disappointing US jobs report, finding upbeat details in the report suggesting modest economic growth.The benchmark US futures contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March, leaped $2.04, or 2.1 percent, to close at $99.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent North Sea crude for March gained $2.69, or 2.5 percent, to settle at $109.57 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.Both futures contracts closed at their highest levels of the year to date. Earlier in the day the US contract crossed above the psychological level of $100.The rally came after the Labor Department, for the second month in a row, reported disappointing jobs growth numbers for the world's largest consumer of crude oil.The US economy added only 113,000 jobs in January, after a paltry 75,000 in December, according to the department's survey of business establishments. That was well below analyst expectations of 175,000.But a separate household survey showed the unemployment rate dropped for the third consecutive month, to 6.6 percent from 6.7 percent in December, driven down by job growth of 638,000.And the labor force participation rate improved, though still at a historically low level, to 63.0 percent.The oil and equities markets rose sharply as investors digested the jobs data.Today's jobs report delivers neither encouragement nor discouragement. It falls right smack in the middle of a slow recovery trend with relatively flat labor income, said David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors.Kotok said the slow-growing trend means the Federal Reserve will proceed slowly with the tapering of its massive stimulus that began in January.The soft growth in payrolls the past two months is not the start of a new weaker trend. We expect payroll gains to reaccelerate sometime in the next couple of months. The plowhorse economy is still moving forward, said FT Advisors in a research note.

India all out 202 against New Zealand

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AUCKLAND (AFP) - India were all out for 202 in their first innings, trailing New Zealand by 301 on the third morning of the first Test at Eden Park on Saturday.After resuming at 130-4, India lost their last six wickets in the first session of play for the addition of just 72 runs.For New Zealand, Neil Wagner took four for 64 while Tim Southee and Trent Boult both finished with three for 38.Rohit Sharma top scored for India with 72.

New Zealand problem pair in trouble again

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AUCKLAND (AFP) - New Zealand Cricket's problem pair, Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell, have been accused of totally unacceptable behaviour after a late-night drinking session on the eve of the first Test against India. The two non-playing members of the New Zealand squad, who both have a history of breaching team discipline, have admitted they were in a bar until the early hours of the morning the Test started. Their behaviour is totally unacceptable the night before a match. We trust the players to make good decisions and the pair have breached this trust, New Zealand manager Mike Sandle said in a statement on Saturday. Sandle said he had spoken to Ryder and Bracewell and they confirmed they were out at a bar until the early hours of Thursday morning. The prolific-scoring Ryder has only just returned to the international arena after going into a self-imposed exile 22 months ago to sort out personal issues following several alcohol-related incidents. In March last year, he suffered a fractured skull and was placed in an induced coma in hospital after being beaten up outside a bar.Fast bowler Bracewell is already under investigation about how he suffered a broken bone in his foot on the night before this Test. He was not limping at the end of practice on Wednesday. Last March, he missed the Test series against England after cutting a foot when he stood on broken glass while cleaning up after a party at his house. Ryder and Bracewell were also suspended for a match after having an altercation with a bar patron while drinking after a one-day international against South Africa in February 2012.

Surrey keen to seal Pietersen deal

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LONDON (AFP) - Surrey chief executive Richard Gould has revealed his English county are trying to ensure controversial batsman Kevin Pietersen will be able to continue playing for them during the coming season.Pietersens existing agreement with Surrey was linked to his central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board and will expire when the terms of severance on that are finalised.The 33-year-olds days as an international cricketer came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that it had unanimously decided to move forward without him.With England due to name their squads for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies and the World Twenty20 on Thursday, the ECBs new managing director Paul Downton elected to make a decisive call on Pietersens future amid numerous reports that he was a divisive influence in his teams dressing room during their unsuccessful tour to Australia.With the most lucrative playing options available in India, Australia and the West Indies, there remains a chance that Pietersen, who had already been exiled by England once previously, has played his final professional cricket in England.But he has enjoyed arguably the best relations of his career with Surrey and Gould is hoping to secure Pietersens services for at least the domestic Twenty20 competition.The 2 million pound county salary cap means the county cannot simply throw money at Pietersen, but a solution may still be possible.As soon as Kevins central contract has ended, his contract with us falls away, Gould told Surrey TV.When he played for Surrey over recent years there was no money changing hands - he was playing for Surrey as part of his central contract.Kevin is effectively now a free agent. It must be quite a difficult period for him...and no doubt lots of people coming to him with options for what he could or should do in the future.We know he really wants to continue playing for Surrey, he knows we are really keen for him to continue playing for us, and over the next week or so we will work together to make sure that happens.There are market forces at work now. Obviously the IPL is going to play a big factor, and the Big Bash but we want him for the NatWest T20 Blast and perhaps other formats of cricket here.I just need to make sure we can offer Kevin a good market rate for his services that keeps us within the boundaries we need to remain within.

DG Khan: 4 cops martyred, 6 injured in encounter with proclaimed offenders

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DERA GHAZI KHAN (Web Desk) – At least four police personnel, including a Station House Officer (SHO), embraced martyrdom in a shootout with a proclaimed offender here on Friday. Acting on a tip-off, heavy police contingent surrounded a house in Yaro locality of Dera Ghazi Khan and asked the suspect to surrender.He, however, fired shots at the raiding police party, leading to a shootout.SHO Muhammad Shafiq and three other policemen embraced martyrdom while the proclaimed offender, Haider alias Haidri, was also killed.

Spain denies targeting migrants with rubber bullets

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MADRID (AFP) - Spain on Friday denied its security forces had fired rubber bullets at migrants trying to swim to Spanish soil, after nine Africans drowned in the attempt.The nine, including one woman, drowned on Thursday while trying to reach the Spanish territory of Ceuta from a beach in neighbouring Morocco. Other migrants tried to storm through a land checkpoint.Spanish media and rights groups cited migrants alleging that police fired into the sea where the Africans were swimming as Moroccan and Spanish security forces tried to repel them from Ceuta.Spanish authorities said civil guards in Ceuta used rubber bullets to ward off the migrants but that they fired them in the air and did not target anyone directly.We did not use anti-riot equipment when the immigrants were in the water, said the head of the Spanish governments delegation in Ceuta, Francisco Antonio Gonzalez, speaking on the radio on Friday.In Morocco the head of the Northern Human Rights Observatory, Mohamed Benaissa, told AFP on Thursday that several migrants were hurt as Spanish police tried to repel them. He said most of the migrants were from Cameroon.The Spanish government delegation said late Thursday that rubber bullets were fired in the air, over a six-metre fence, never against people, by Spanish police to ward off the migrants trying to cross by land.Morocco, under pressure from Spain, is trying to stem a stream of sub-Saharan African migrants, who head to its northern shores in a desperate quest to reach mainland Europe.Ceuta and Spains other north African enclave, Melilla, have the European Unions only land borders with Africa.Hundreds of migrants headed out from the Moroccan town of Fnideq in a mass attempt to cross or circumvent the six-metre (20-foot) fences that mark the land border with Ceuta on Thursday, officials on both sides said.Gonzalez said the migrants were very violent and threw rocks at the Moroccan and Spanish security forces.A Spanish refugees rights association, Caminando Fronteras, said it had spoken to injured migrants who described the actions of the Spanish forces.They said the civil guards fired plastic bullets to burst the floats being used by the migrants, many of whom dont know how to swim, a member of the association, Helena Maleno, told AFP by telephone.She said migrants had thrown stones at the police in anger after seeing the dead bodies of some of their companions.Great sadnessA spokeswoman in Spain for the United Nations refugee watchdog UNHCR, Maria Jesus Vega, expressed dismay and great sadness at the deaths.It worries us that people who need international protection and are risking their lives to get to safe countries, are losing them trying to enter the countries of the European Union.Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said: We regret these deaths and above all the tragedy that caused them.Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz has asked to appear before parliament to discuss the deaths, Saenz told a weekly news conference after a cabinet meeting.The opposition Socialist Party had earlier demanded Fernandez go before parliament, while the United Left party went further, demanding the minister resign and that an international enquiry be carried out.Along with the European Union, we have to keep working hard on a policy not only in the short and medium-term but in the long term, to avoid tragedies like this happening, she said.
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