Thursday 13 March 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Syrian vote would jeopardize peace talks: mediator

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The international mediator on Syria warned Thursday that if Damascus holds a presidential election, it would jeopardize efforts to negotiate an end to the country's three-year civil war.If there is an election, my suspicion is the opposition, all the oppositions will probably not be interested in talking to the government, said UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.Damascus has not officially announced a presidential election but Bashar al-Assad is expected to seek a new seven-year term in the middle of this year despite the raging conflict.The war has killed more than 140,000 people and displaced millions since the unrest began in March 2011.Brahimi on Thursday briefed the UN Security Council on the mediation process and the collapse in February of a second round of peace talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.We would like the help of the Council and all those who can help to make sure that if and when we have a third round it will be a little bit more productive than the second one, he said.Brahimi told reporters that he drew the Security Council's attention to the situation, saying it was up to them to see if they can do something.

Abbas: US has presented no framework for Mideast peace

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BETHLEHEM (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Thursday that the US had yet to present a framework for a Middle East peace deal, as a deadline ending nine months of negotiations loomed.Until now, we haven't received the framework agreement we were promised, Abbas said at news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.Israel and the Palestinians have been locked in talks that US Secretary of State John Kerry fought hard to kick-start in July after a three-year hiatus, but the negotiations have faltered over key issues.The negotiations are set to end on April 29, by which date Kerry hopes to have put a framework agreement in place so the two sides can extend their negotiations to work towards a final peace deal.When the framework is presented to us, we'll give our opinion on it, Abbas said.We have never discussed prolonging the negotiations at all, nor was it offered to us.Cameron said there were serious disagreements and mistrust preventing a peace deal, echoing concerns voiced by Kerry on Wednesday.As for the question of mistrust between Palestinian leadership and Israeli leadership... what I've seen over the last few days is serious disagreements on vital issues that will have to be settled if there ever is to be... a peace deal, Cameron said.There's no outcome that's possible where every Israeli is satisfied, where every Palestinian is satisfied. There has to be compromise. And compromise is difficult -- compromise takes bravery.Cameron said Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he met the day before, would have to take difficult, unpalatable and sometimes unpopular decisions... in order to achieve that peace.Kerry acknowledged on Wednesday that the level of mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians was the highest he had ever seen.He said there were gaps... some of them very significant, but stressed these should be seen within the context of the negotiations, saying: I still believe it's possible, but difficult.Certain narrative issues are so powerful and so difficult that neither leader is going to definitively cede on them at an early stage of the negotiation, Kerry conceded.After bringing the two sides back to the negotiating table, he has been focused on trying to hammer out a framework which is due to set out the goal of the talks plus guiding principles on each of the core issues.Decades of negotiations have been bedevilled by some of the toughest disputes separating the two sides, such as the fate of Palestinian refugees kicked out of Israel when it was created in 1948 and the designation of Jerusalem claimed by both sides as a capital.In recent months, Netanyahu has been insisting that Abbas recognise Israel as a Jewish state -- something the Palestinians refuse to do, believing that this would irrevocably torpedo chances for the return of refugees living in exile.

Gunmen kill at least 69 in northwest Nigeria: lawmaker

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KANO (AFP) - Gunmen on motorbikes in northwest Nigeria's Katsina state killed at least 69 people and torched several homes in attacks on four villages, a local lawmaker told AFP Thursday, amid rising communal tension in the region. The state's police chief, Hurdi Mohammed, who gave a lower toll of 30 dead, told AFP the violence was perpetrated by ethnic Fulani herdsmen who have been blamed for scores of deadly raids. So far, 69 bodies have been recovered from the attacks carried out by a large group of gunmen riding on motorcycles, said Katsina lawmaker Abbas Abdullahi Michika of the violence which first broke out late Tuesday. The victims include men, women and children. Rescue teams are still combing nearby bushes in search for more bodies, he told AFP. He specified that 47 people were killed in the village of Mararrabar Maigora while seven deaths were recorded in both Kura Mota and Unguwar Rimi. Another eight people were killed in Maigora, according to Michika. Fulani leaders have for years complained about the loss of grazing land which is crucial to their livelihood, with resentment between the herdsmen and their agrarian neighbours rising over the past decade. Most of the Fulani-linked violence has been concentrated in the religiously divided centre of the country, where rivalries between mostly Muslim herdsmen and mostly Christian farmers have helped fuel the unrest. While there is no religion element to the conflict in Katsina, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, tensions between the Fulani and ethnically Hausa farmers have worsened in recent months. Residents have blamed the Fulani for several violent robberies this year. Three people were killed earlier this month in Katsina when suspected Fulani gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint. The police chief insisted the attacks were not linked to Islamist group Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed more than 500 people in the northeast already this year. The Islamist group Ansaru, seen as an offshoot of Boko Haram, kidnapped French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina in December 2012. Collomp escaped last year and Ansaru has not been linked to an attack in several months. Cattle, livestock and other goods have been stolen following previous attacks blamed on the Fulani, but there were no reports of theft in the latest raid. The gunmen were just on a killing spree, Michika said. They opened fire on the people and burnt their homes without taking anything from their victims.Nigeria is Africa's most populous country with roughly 170 million people and some 250 ethnic groups and has been plagued by various forms of sectarian conflict for decades.

Four believed dead in British helicopter crash

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LONDON (AFP) - Four people are believed to have died in a helicopter crash in eastern England on Thursday, according to local police.Police were called to the accident scene near Beccles in Norfolk at 7.30pm local time (1930 GMT), according to Norfolk Constabulary.The helicopter has been confirmed as a civilian aircraft and the four occupants on board are thought to have died in the crash, said the police statement. The identity of the occupants will be released after next of kin have been informed.A spokeswoman for East of England Ambulance Service added: We got called to reports of a helicopter crash near Beccles and we sent several resources to the scene, including doctors.Local resident Roland Bronk said it was very foggy in the area.The crash site is 45 miles from where a US military helicopter came down during a training exercise in January, killing four crew members.

Strong 6.3-magnitude quake hits off southern Japan: USGS

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TOKYO (AFP) - A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's southern Kyushu island on Friday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported, but no tsunami warning was issued.The epicentre of the quake -- which struck at 2:06 am (1706 GMT Thursday) -- was located 13 kilometres (eight miles) north of the city of Kunisaki-shi, USGS said. The quake hit at a depth of 82 kilometres.There was no tsunami alert issued, Japan's Meteorological Agency said as cited by Kyodo News, nor any immediate news of fatalities or damage.Local authorities reported some minor injuries as people sought refuge following the quake, Kyodo said.The quake, which the Japanese meteorological agency measured as having a preliminary magnitude of 6.1, registered a strong intensity in parts of Japan's Shikoku, Honshu and Kyushu islands, Kyodo reported.There were no abnormalities detected at Ikata nuclear plant in Ehime prefecture or at Shimane plant in Shimane prefecture, the news agency said.More than 18,000 people died when a 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake sent a towering tsunami barrelling into Japan's northeast coast in March 2011 in the country's worst post-World War II disaster.Cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant were knocked out, sending reactors into meltdown and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee.

Instability in Afghanistan affects Pakistan: Sartaj

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ISLAMABAD (APP) - Advisor of Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Thursday said that stable Afghanistan is pre-requisite for peace in the region. According to reports from United Kingdom, Sartaj Aziz while addressing a function at International Institute of Strategic Studies in London said that Pakistan desires peace and prosperity in Afghanistan as instability in that country has affected Pakistan’s internal situation. He said that Islamabad fully supports peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan for its economic development. The Advisor is in London to participate in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting which is scheduled to be held today (Friday).

Haqqani network a threat to Afghan election: US commander

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WASHINGTON (Agencies) - Allied and Afghan forces are putting a greater focus on going after the Haqqani militant network, which has threatened to disrupt the Afghan presidential elections in April, the top US commander in Afghanistan said Thursday.Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford told Pentagon reporters that the more energized effort against the Haqqanis includes a US move to crank up the heat on the group's financing and freedom of movement.The Haqqani network has been more active in some ways over the last few months and so we have energized our efforts accordingly, said Dunford, who has been in town to testify on Capitol Hill this week.The group has made it clear it will conduct high-profile attacks to disrupt the political process and create the perception of insecurity as Afghans go to the polls.The Haqqani network is blamed for some of the most high-profile attacks in Afghanistan. The U.S. has repeatedly pressed Pakistani authorities to move more aggressively against the militants, who are based in North Waziristan and routinely cross the border to conduct attacks against U.S. and coalition troops.Dunford also gave reporters and lawmakers greater details on the US plans as the war winds down and combat operations end on Dec. 31.Officials have long said the coalition of NATO and allied nations would leave 8,000 to 12,000 troops in the country to advise and assist Afghan forces as long as Afghanistan's leaders sign a key security agreement. In addition to that, Dunford said the US would leave some thousand troops — largely special operations forces — to continue to conduct counterterrorism operations.He said that any US counterterror operations beyond 2014 would focus on Al Qaeda, but since the Haqqani network presents the greatest threat to security forces, the US would do whatever necessary to protect the troops.US officials have said they want to leave about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan, but it's not clear if the counterterrorism forces would be in addition to that.Afghan President Hamid Karzai, however, has refused to sign the agreement, prompting the White House to order the Pentagon to begin planning for a full withdrawal by the end of this year.Dunford told members of the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday that he would need 102 days to conduct an orderly withdrawal of all US troops and equipment and complete the transfer of any bases to the Afghans. As a result, he said the US can wait until September for the Afghans to sign the agreement, but waiting beyond that would begin to make the withdrawal far more risky.

Lawlessness in Karachi: PM, Chaudhry Nisar arrive today

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ISLAMABAD (Online): Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif will reach Karachi today (Friday) on one day official visit, whilst he has also summoned a high-level meeting to review the situation of the metropolis.According to details, PM Nawaz Sharif will reach Karachi today along with the Federal Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. The Prime Minister will chair a high-level meeting, which will be attended by the chiefs of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and intelligence officials.PM Nawaz will be briefed about the ongoing targeted operations in the metropolis and the recent incidents of violence in Lyari that had claimed some 14 lives yesterday.It was further reported that a new strategy regarding the Karachi Operation will also be discussed at the meeting and the ongoing operations will also be analyzed.Moreover, the report about yesterday's Lyari clash between two confronting groups of mobsters, will also be discussed during the meeting, which was compiled by the DG Rangers.

Security plan finalised for Musharrafs appearance in court

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ISLAMABAD (Online): Security plan has been finalised as former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to appear before a special court, hearing high treason case against him, on Friday.Around 2500 security personals including 500 rangers will be deployed on the former military ruler route to the court.Sources said that the security agencies have planned three different security layers and three different routes for Musharraf, adding that around 200 scrutinized security personals will be deployed in first security layer.They said Second layer would be consisted of rangers while third layer would be of Islamabad police personals.However, it has not been yet finalised that which route would be followed to bring Musharraf to the court.Special court had summoned former military ruler on March 11 for indictment but due to a security threat he did not appear before the court.

Tennis: Li downs Cibulkova to reach Indian Wells semis

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INDIAN WELLS (AFP) - Australian Open champion Li Na booked her semi-final berth at the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Dominika Cibulkova.China's Li, the world number two who is the top seed in the event, reprised her triumph over Slovakia's Cibulkova in the final in Melbourne, although she labored two hours and 36 minutes to do it.Li was firmly in control in the opening set, breaking Cibulkova to start the match.She dropped her own serve in the next game, but immediately broke the Slovakian again, and fended off two break points in the fourth game to stretch her advantage.Li couldn't convert break chances in the fifth, but pocketed the set with a break in the ninth game, sealing it with a forehand cross court winner.But Cibulkova turned the tables in the second set as Li's error count crept up, breaking the Chinese in the third and fifth games and holding for a 5-1 lead.Li won the next three games, but couldn't hold off Cibulkova any longer as the Slovakian held to force a third set.After an exchange of breaks in the first two games, Li gained the decisive break in the eighth.Both players struggled with their serves at times on the sunny stadium court, each coughing up eight double faults and facing double-digit break points.Li, who successfully defended her title in Shenzhen before capturing her second career Grand Slam title in Australia, will face the winner of Thursday's quarter-final clash between rising US talent Sloane Stephens and Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta.The other women's semi-final between second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and Romanian Simona Halep was set on Wednesday.

Football: Benfica stun Tottenham, Juve held in derby

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PARIS (AFP) - Tim Sherwood's prospects of remaining in the Tottenham Hotspur manager's job long-term were not helped as his side lost 3-1 at home to Benfica in their Europa League last 16, first leg on Thursday.Portuguese league leaders Benfica extended their unbeaten run to 24 matches and made it nine consecutive wins in all competitions with a victory that was given to them by a goal from Rodrigo and a Luisao brace, with Christian Eriksen pulling one back for the hosts.Amid speculation that Spurs will move to bring in experienced Dutchman Louis van Gaal as coach in the summer, Sherwood saw his team suffer a defeat that leaves them in a very difficult position heading into next week's return leg in Lisbon.The visitors, who lost last season's final to Chelsea in Amsterdam, took the lead half an hour in when Ruben Amorim released Rodrigo with a superb pass in behind the defence, and the Brazilian-born Spanish striker curled a fine finish around goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.Giant Brazilian defender Luisao then headed in a left-wing corner in the 58th minute, before Eriksen's free-kick from 25 yards raised spirits around White Hart Lane.However, captain Luisao pounced on a rebound to ram home his second of the night and Benfica's third away goal, leaving the two-time European champions in an ideal position going back to the Estadio da Luz, with Spurs having to score at least three times now to go through.Elsewhere, Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Italian rivals Fiorentina in Turin in a repeat of the 1990 UEFA Cup final.Juve won that tie and also beat La Viola 1-0 in Serie A last weekend, and they opened the scoring on Thursday when Arturo Vidal fired home inside three minutes.Antonio Conte's side are hoping to go all the way to a final that will be played in their own stadium but Fiorentina are still very much in the tie after Mario Gomez levelled the scores on the night and grabbed a precious away goal in the 79th minute.There was an upset in the night's other big derby clash in Spain, as Betis won 2-0 away to city neighbours Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan.Betis are bottom of Spain's top flight and lost by four goals on each of their last two visits to their rivals, but Leo Baptistao put them in front from close range after quarter of an hour and the aptly-named Salva Sevilla increased their advantage late on.Meanwhile, Rafael Benitez's hopes of winning the Europa League for a second consecutive season are in the balance after his Napoli side lost 1-0 away to Porto.Spaniard Benitez, who won the trophy with Chelsea last year and also lifted the UEFA Cup with Valencia in 2004, will hope Napoli can overturn the deficit in next week's return after a second-half Jackson Martinez strike gave Porto the upper hand at the Estadio do Dragao.Benitez's old club Valencia appear to be all but through to the last eight after an excellent 3-0 win away to Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria.The visitors survived the first-half sending-off of Seydou Keita as goals from Antonio Barragan, Fede Cartabia and Philippe Senderos left the Bulgarians, the surprise package of this season's competition, staring at the exit.Lyon also have one foot in the last eight after coming from behind to beat Czech champions Viktoria Pilsen 4-1 at the Stade de Gerland, Gueida Fofana scoring twice.AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands beat Anzhi Makhachkala 1-0, while FC Basel and Salzburg drew 0-0 in Switzerland.

Cycling: Pelucchi wins stage, 'Cav' still in Tirreno lead

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ROME (AFP) - Italian Matteo Pelucchi pipped French spinter Arnaud Demare to win the second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, with Mark Cavendish retaining the overall lead of the Italian stage race Thursday.While Cavendish missed the final sprint, Pelucchi caused a minor upset by beating a host of bigger-name rivals, including Demare and German Andre Greipel, to take his fifth career win.Previously, Pelucchi had won the Clasica de Almeria (2011) and three stages from smaller races like the Four Days of Dunkirk, The Ronde de l'Oise (2012) and the Circuit de la Sarthe (2013).A late crash before the final sprint took down several riders, including German stage contender Marcel Kittel.Cavendish avoided the incident to finish just behind and consolidate the race lead he inherited after his Omega-Pharma team's winning ride on the team time trial opening stage on Wednesday.But the Isle of Man sprinter will hope, at some point, to hand over the race lead to Polish team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski, one of the overall favourites and who is currently second, on the same time as Cavendish.The early part of the stage was lit up by a breakaway which formed after just two kilometres, but with the sprinters' teams driving the chase, the last remnant of the morning escape, Britain's Alex Dowsett (Movistar), was reeled in a few kilometres from the finish.Demare, sitting on the wheels of three teammates in the finale, and Greipel looked in contention for victory, however Pelucchi produced a winning burst which gave the 25-year-old former keirin specialist his biggest win so far.Friday's third stage is a 210 km race from Cascina to Arezzo which should favour the climbers and all-rounders who can produce a strong finish on slightly uphill terrain.

Huge price hikes for Brazil World Cup hotels

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Football fans heading to Rio for the World Cup will have to pay at least double the going rate for hotel accommodation despite government attempts to limit price-gouging during the tournament, a study found Thursday.Globos G1 news portal cited a study by the TripAdvisor travel website that rates in the swish Copacabana beachside district had been hiked by up to 229 percent.The study says average hotel accommodation prices in the district will hit a wallet-busting 1543.99 reais ($650) per night on match days during the June 12 to July 13 competition.For Rio as a whole the nightly average will be 1,077 reais for rises topping 100 percent, making rooms even more expensive than Times Square in New York, according to estimates.Rio will host seven matches -- including the final.This is not good for the city, as it underpins the idea that tourists are being exploited, G1 quoted Alfredo Lopes, chairman of the Rio Hoteliers Association, as saying.We recommend that hotels indicate on their sites the rack rate they used on December 31 and during Carnival (official peak periods) and also for the World Cup, added Lopes.In January, government-backed consumer groups reached a deal with Brazilian hoteliers that prices should not exceed New Year and carnival tariffs, though that would only mean prices not rising above around $1000 a night.The TripAdvisor study also showed up huge price variations at Salvador de Bahia in Brazils northeast of up to 212 percent above normal rates on match days while mark-ups for Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza also topped 100 percent.Brazil expects some three million domestic tourists to criss-cross the giant nation during the World Cup along with some 600,000 foreign tourists.Despite a rise of some 168 percent tourism-derived receipts over the past decade Brazil only receives some six million foreign visitors annually.That compares with 80 million for top-ranked destination France.

US farmer dies again... this time for real

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Mississippi farmer who made global headlines two weeks ago when he woke up in a body bag at a funeral home died on Thursday aged 78, local media said.Walter Snowball Williams passed away in the early hours, the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in the state capital Jackson reported.Well, they came and got him again around 4:15 am, said Williams' nephew Eddie Hester, quoted by Jackson television station WAPT. I think he's gone this time.Williams, who entered a hospice in February because of congestive heart failure, was first pronounced dead on February 27 after nurses and a coroner detected no pulse.He was transferred to a funeral home, only to start rustling inside a body bag -- prompting duly astonished staff to summon an ambulance to take him back to his hospice bed.Williams, a father of 11 with six great-grandchildren, said he had merely fallen into a deep sleep, but family members felt God had given him extra time for a reason.You'd be surprised how many people this has touched in more ways than we can ever put our hands on, daughter Mary Williams told the Clarion-Ledger. This is a testimony that will live longer than we will.

Oil prices mixed on US, China data

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices were mixed Thursday as markets digested a batch of economic data from the United States and China, the world's two biggest consumers of energy.New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April, edged up 21 cents to $98.20 a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for April slid 63 cents to settle at $107.39 a barrel in London trade.Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden brokers, said disappointing Chinese economic data weighed slightly on market sentiment and offset any support from the ongoing tensions in Ukraine.China on Thursday said that its industrial output rose 8.6 percent year-on-year in the January-February period, the slowest rate since April 2009. Meanwhile retail sales were up 11.8 percent, also the worst performance for several years.Data improved, but inconclusively so, in the United States, with new claims for unemployment benefits tumbling to the lowest level in more than three months, and retail sales turning positive in February after two down months.Markets showed little significant impact from the US Energy Department's announcement Wednesday that it would release five million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a long-planned test of new market infrastructure.But some analysts tied the release to the stresses with Russia over Ukraine, which have fueled worries of possible interruptions of Russian oil and gas exports that would squeeze buyers in Europe.It is clearly intended to assert the newly empowered role the US sees for itself in global energy trade and prevent Russia from reaping any potential financial benefits of perceptions of risk being priced into the market, said Eurasia Group analyt Greg Priddy.
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