Tuesday 30 September 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Pot decriminalization bill drafted in Jamaica

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) Jamaicas justice minister says legislation has been drafted to decriminalize marijuana on the Caribbean island where the drug has long been pervasive but prohibited.At a Tuesday news conference, Mark Golding told reporters that lawmakers should make possession of 2 ounces or less a petty, ticketable offense before the end of 2014.Golding also expects that decriminalization for religious purposes will be achieved before the end of the year. Followers of the homegrown Rastafarian spiritual movement smoke the drug as a sacrament.He says amendments of the Dangerous Drugs Act needed to create a medical marijuana and pot research sector is a more complex undertaking and should be completed sometime in 2015.Golding says Jamaica is advancing decriminalization in a measured way and remains fully committed to battling drug traffickers.

Afghan pact signed amid questions on Iraq pullout

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WASHINGTON (AP) After lengthy delays, U.S. and Afghan officials signed a security pact Tuesday to keep American troops in Afghanistan beyond years end, aiming to prevent the country from descending into the kind of chaos that has plagued Iraq following the Pentagons withdrawal.While President Barack Obama has touted the Afghan accord as crucial to protecting progress in the fight against al-Qaida, hes also insisted that had he reached a similar pact with Iraq, it would have done little to stop the rise of the Islamic State militants now wreaking havoc there and in neighboring Syria.The only difference would be wed have a bunch of troops on the ground that would be vulnerable, Obama said in August, shortly after authorizing airstrikes in Iraq. And however many troops we had, we would have to now be reinforcing, Id have to be protecting them, and wed have a much bigger job.The president and his advisers have repeatedly said they were left with no choice but to withdraw from Iraq. Under an agreement signed by former President George W. Bush, U.S. troops had to leave by the end of 2011 unless an extension was signed.Negotiations over the terms of a new deal collapsed when it became clear that Iraqs parliament would not give American forces immunity from prosecution, as is typical of such agreements. Obama administration officials also rejected former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikis offer to sign an executive order granting Americans immunity.But White House critics, as well as some former administration officials, have suggested that Obama put his desire to end the Iraq war ahead of concerns about the security vacuum the U.S. might leave behind. The president has repeatedly heralded the withdrawal of American forces as the fulfillment of his campaign pledge to bring the unpopular war to a close.Vali Nasr, who served as a State Department adviser during Obamas first term, said, The administrations leaning was to say were going to leave, we really want to find all of the reason why were able to leave Iraq. Whats happened to Iraq since then, he said, appears to have affected the way the administration views the necessity of staying in Afghanistan.Theres some motivation to avoid Afghanistan turning into a crisis of ISIS magnitude, said Nasr, who is now dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He referred to the Islamic State group by one of its many names.Even before the rise of the Islamic State group, the White House showed enormous flexibility in trying to get the Afghan deal done. U.S. officials first warned their Afghan counterparts that if the security accord was not signed by the end of 2013, the Pentagon would have to start planning for a full withdrawal. But when the year ended, the White House moved back the deadline, saying Afghan President Hamid Karzai needed to sign off within weeks.Karzai surprised U.S. officials by ultimately saying he would not sign the accord and would instead leave that task for his successor. But the results of the race to replace Karzai took months resolve, finally coming to a conclusion Monday with the swearing in of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as Afghanistans second elected president.Ahmadzai signed the security agreement Tuesday, nearly one year after the White Houses initial deadline.Republican House Speaker John Boehner cast the agreement as a key step in completing the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.This is what should have happened in Iraq, and its essential that the Obama administration does not repeat the same mistakes that it made there, he said.The agreement provides a legal framework for the United States to keep about 9,800 troops in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist that countrys national security forces after the current international combat mission ends Dec. 31. Obama announced earlier this year that he would cut the number of troops in half by the end of 2015 and leave only about 1,000 in a security office after the end of 2016, as his presidency comes to a close.The Afghan government also is expected to sign an agreement this week with NATO that would outline the parameters for 4,000 to 5,000 additional international troops mostly from Britain, Germany, Italy and Turkey to stay in Afghanistan in noncombat roles after the end of this year.U.S. military officials say al-Qaida is in survival mode in Afghanistan after 13 years of war, but that if all international forces left, the terrorist network would see it as a victory, regroup and again use the region to plan and conduct operations against the West.Some White House critics have questioned whether Obamas decision to publicly choreograph plans to withdraw troops in 2016 allows al-Qaida to simply wait the U.S. out.What good really is a (bilateral security agreement) that has an endpoint? Republican Sen. John McCain said in an interview. Its almost pointless.Indeed, there are serious questions about the ability of the Afghan security forces to take on the militants, even with a residual U.S. force. While Obama has insisted the Afghan war will be over by the time he leaves the White House, the security agreement with Afghanistan does allow for U.S. troops to stay in the country for 10 more years.He would pay a tremendous political price, Nora Bensahel, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said of the prospect Obama could keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016. But he has the option to pay that political price if he wants.

First case of Ebola diagnosed in US: health officials

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Washington (AFP) - The United States has diagnosed its first case of the deadly Ebola virus in a man who became infected in Liberia and traveled to Texas, US health officials said Tuesday.The patient was hospitalized with symptoms that were confirmed to be caused by Ebola, which has killed more than 3,000 people in West Africa, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman told AFP.He acquired the disease in Liberia, the spokesman said, adding that the man, who has not been named, was not a healthcare worker.The man is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, although a handful of US medical workers who were infected in West Africa have been flown back to the United States for treatment. They have since recovered.The patient is an adult with a recent history of travel to West Africa, the Texas Department of Health said in a statement.The patient developed symptoms days after returning to Texas from West Africa and was admitted into isolation on Sunday at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.The worlds largest outbreak of Ebola has infected 6,574 people across five west African countries, and killed 3,091 since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization.The hemorrhagic fever causes a range of symptoms including fatigue, fever, muscle aches, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding.It can be spread by close contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms, or by touching the corpse of a person who died from Ebola.The beginning of the West Africa outbreak has been identified as a two-year-old boy in Guinea who became sick with Ebola in December 2013.Experts do not know how he came down with Ebola, but the New England Journal of Medicine has reported that he may have come in contact with an infected fruit bat, which are natural hosts for the virus.Since then the disease has spread rapidly, primarily affecting Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea and overwhelming the healthcare systems there.The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria is almost over, US health officials said separately Tuesday, in a rare sign of authorities turning the tide on the highly contagious disease.The CDC warned last week that a worst-case scenario could see Ebola cases explode to 1.4 million by January, but that such dire predictions could be avoided if resources are scaled up.The United States has already treated patients who acquired Ebola during the West African outbreak, including Christian missionary doctors Kent Brantly and Rick Sacra, who have been declared free of the virus.Another patient with suspected exposure to Ebola was hospitalized outside the US capital over the weekend, but it remains unclear whether that person has Ebola or not.Any modern American hospital with an intensive care unit should be well equipped enough to isolate a patient with Ebola, and give supportive care.There is no vaccine or drug to treat the virus, which first emerged in Africa in 1976.

PSG edge Barcelona in five-goal thriller

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Paris (AFP) - Paris Saint-Germain overcame the absence of their injured talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to beat Barcelona 3-2 in a thrilling Champions League Group F encounter at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.The Catalans, who had not even conceded a goal all season in seven matches before this one, fell behind inside 10 minutes when David Luiz prodded in his first PSG goal.Barcelona needed just two minutes to draw level thanks to a marvellous Lionel Messi strike, but Marco Verratti headed the hosts back in front after 26 minutes and Blaise Matuidi added another in the 54th minute.Neymar reduced the deficit, yet Paris held on for their first win in the group after a 1-1 draw at Ajax two weeks ago, while Barca failed to build on a narrow 1-0 win over APOEL of Cyprus in their first outing.We were up against a rival of the same level as us and we had the kind of difficulties that are normal in such a game, said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique.In the end I think we could have drawn and it would have been a fair result.© AFPBarcelonas defender Sergio Busquets (L) vies with Paris Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani during the UEFA Champions League football match on September 30, 2014 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris © AFP Miguel MedinaPSG coach Laurent Blanc added: I am very satisfied. It was an extraordinary match and what I will take away from it was our collective performance.I think for those who like Paris Saint-Germain and French football it was a good evening.Barcelona arrived in France in fine form but this was billed as their biggest test since the arrival of their new coach in the summer, even if their hosts were without Ezequiel Lavezzi and captain Thiago Silva as well as the prolific Ibrahimovic.Edinson Cavani spearheaded their attack, while Barcelona again had Marc-Andre ter Stegen in goal in Europe rather than La Liga regular Claudio Bravo.But their previously watertight defence looked fragile against a PSG side who started with all guns blazing and were soon rewarded.Daniel Alves gave away a free-kick for stopping a Paris attack with his hand, and the home side struck from the resulting delivery, Luiz controlling Lucass ball in from the left before turning and poking the ball into the far corner from eight yards.Barcelonas defence had finally been breached for the first time this season after 640 minutes, but their response was immediate.- Trademark brilliance -© AFPParis Italian midfielder Thiago Motta (C) vies with Barcelonas Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (L) during the UEFA Champions League football match on September 30, 2014 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris © AFP Franck FifeIndeed, the celebrations were still ongoing when the Catalans drew level thanks to a moment of trademark brilliance, Messi exchanging lightning-quick first-time passes with Andres Iniesta and Neymar before giving Salvatore Sirigu in goal no chance with a left-foot strike into the far corner.It was the Argentines 68th Champions League goal, putting him level with his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time standings and to within three of the competitions all-time leading scorer, Raul.However, PSG were not deterred, and while Neymar lifted the ball just over the bar following a lofted pass by Messi, the home side soon regained the advantage.Again the goal came from a set-piece, and this time Barcelonas defence looked especially unsure of themselves, ter Stegen flapping at Thiago Mottas right-wing corner and Ivan Rakitic allowing Verratti, the smallest player in the PSG side, to head home at the far post to score his first goal for the club.Barcelona trailed despite having almost 60 percent of the possession in the first half, with Messi curling a free-kick just over the bar a minute prior to the break.PSG were simply the more clinical of the two teams and extended their advantage nine minutes after the restart, a Gregory van der Wiel cross from the right flashing all the way across the penalty box for Matuidi -- who scored in the last meeting of the clubs here 18 months ago -- to convert.Again Barcelona needed just two minutes to respond, Neymar getting his seventh of the season with a delightful control and calm side-footed finish into the net off the right-hand post.They then camped around the penalty box as they looked for a leveller, but Marquinhos produced a crucial block to prevent Jordi Alba from equalising before substitute Munir El Haddadi fizzed in a shot that grazed the right post and went wide.

Eurofighter has manufacturing fault: Germany

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Berlin (AFP) - A manufacturing fault has been discovered in the Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes, Germany said Tuesday, announcing it was suspending deliveries of the sophisticated jets.The news was another blow to the troubled and costly Eurofighter programme -- and raised concerns over the use of the planes.According to Germanys defence ministry, the defect discovered was in the rear fuselage of the twin-engine multirole fighter.As a result, Berlin has decided to cut the time its Eurofighters spend in the air each year in half, from 3,000 hours to 1,500 hours.The news website Spiegel Online reported that, in the worst case scenario, the fault could result in the planes hull becoming unstable.It said Britains Royal Air Force first detected the defect and also decided to halve the annual flight hours so as not to overstress the jets.Germany and Britain each have more than 100 of the Eurofighter Typhoons in service. Spiegel said Germanys air force operates 109 of the jets.The Eurofighter is built by a consortium comprising European airplane maker Airbus, Britains BAE Systems and Finmeccanica of Italy.Germany and Britain had already halved their initial orders for 250 the fighter jets each, and several export bids have fallen through, prompting the head of Airbuss defence division to say production could cease in 2018 if no more contracts came through.In June, a Eurofighter crashed while coming into land in southwest Spain, killing its 30-year-old pilot. The cause was unknown.

First case of Ebola diagnosed in US: health officials

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Washington (AFP) - The United States has diagnosed its first case of the deadly Ebola virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.The patient is a man who became infected in Liberia and traveled to Texas, where he was hospitalized with symptoms that were confirmed to be caused by Ebola, a CDC spokesman told AFP.

Defiant Hong Kong protesters vow to stay put

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Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong demonstrators rejected demands to immediately end rallies that have paralysed the citys downtown, braving rainstorms to turn out in swelling numbers before a national holiday Wednesday expected to put their campaign for free elections into overdrive.Thousands ignored the call from the citys embattled leader to end the escalating sit-in and brushed off Beijings branding of their demonstrations as illegal to hit the streets of the key financial hub, despite thunder and heavy downpours.Protest leaders are confident of mustering massive crowds, angered at Beijings refusal to grant full democracy, for the National Day public holiday marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of Communist China.© AFPUpdated map of the main protest zone in Hong Kong Tuesday © AFP Adrian Leung/John Saeki/Gal RomaPersistent downpours sent umbrellas skyward and crowds scurrying for shelter, but the worsening weather left determined participants in the so-called Umbrella Revolution undeterred.We have spent more than a week under the sun, under pepper spray, we of course can stand the rain. Nothing can stop us, a recent university student who identified himself as Choi told AFP.Protesters wearing the yellow ribbons that have come to symbolise the movement occupied a growing stretch of a main thoroughfare through the citys financial district overnight, while a new protest site several-hundred strong was emerging at Tsim Sha Tsui, a shopping district on the other side of Hong Kongs world-famous harbour.- Not a party -© AFPPeople attend a speech as the rain falls in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Xaume OllerosA carnival-like atmosphere continued to hold sway in the streets, with outspoken Hong Kong singer Anthony Wong performing for crowds to show his support.However, there were increasing calls for demonstrators to show greater seriousness, with organisers heard over loudspeakers urging participants not to drink alcohol.One sign sternly reminded the student-dominated crowds that the rallies were a protest, not a party, while another drew sombre parallels with the 1989 demonstrations in Beijings Tiananmen Square, where weeks of peaceful, festival-like protests were crushed by the Chinese military.© AFPA woman walks past a pro-democracy demonstrator guarding a bus covered with messages of support in Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Philippe LopezDemonstrators expressed differing views on the Hong Kong movements success, with some saying the prospect of public holidays would encourage many to stay later than they had in previous nights.The government has lost, they just dont know it yet, student Kelvin Yip told AFP.Others were less optimistic on the protesters ability to sustain momentum.We will have more people come out for the holidays, people that were too busy will join, said protester Emma So.I dont know what will happen after, especially for older people, its hard to protest night after night.- Challenge to Beijing -© AFPPro-democracy protesters put up a banner in Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Philippe LopezBeijing has been left grappling with one of the biggest challenges to its rule over the semi-autonomous city at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.In his first public comments since demonstrators were tear-gassed by riot police on Sunday evening, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the pro-democracy sit-in organised partly by the Occupy Central group was now out of control.Occupy Central founders had said repeatedly that if the movement is getting out of control, they would call for it to stop. Im now asking them to fulfil the promise they made to society, and stop this campaign immediately, he said.But protest leaders rejected Leungs demands and renewed calls for the Beijing-backed leader to step down.I think there will be a massive turnout, over 100,000 people tonight and leading into National Day, hedge fund manager and Occupy Central activist Ed Chin told AFP.© AFPPeople chat next to protest signs in different languages and a poster showing Hong Kongs chief executive Leung Chun-ying with fangs for teeth, near the central government offices in Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Alex OgleThe demonstrations, the most intense civil unrest Hong Kong has experienced since its 1997 handover from British rule, were sparked by Beijings decision in August to restrict who can stand for the citys top post.British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he would summon Chinas ambassador to London over the protests to express his dismay and alarm about the refusal to grant free elections.Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 but only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to stand -- something demonstrators have labelled a fake democracy that shows Hong Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers.- Keep resisting for democracy -Protesters have two demands -- that Leung step down and Beijing rescind its insistence that his successor be vetted before standing for election.If the government does not respond after October 2, the action will inevitably be stepped up, Alex Chow, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, told reporters.Influential student leader Joshua Wong, who was detained by police last week, said Hong Kongs leader was the only one who could end the protest.Everyone here has the power. Were here for the bargaining chip with Beijing, he said.Leung Chun-ying and the government are feeling increased pressure.But analysts say the chances of Beijing backing down are virtually non-existent, leaving a city once renowned for its stability plunged into an unknown future -- with democracy activists concerned the police could return in force at any moment.Beijing stayed defiant Tuesday, saying it supported Hong Kongs handling of the protests, which it described as illegal activity.Hong Kong authorities are caught between protester demands, Beijings uncompromising stance and efforts to keep the city running.Business leaders complain that the protests are hitting the economy. The worlds top cosmetics group LOreal said it was suspending all business travel to Hong Kong due to the demonstrations.

Secret lives: an evening in a Ugandan gay bar

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Kampala (AFP) - Just as he attends church on Sunday morning, theres another sacred place Nick, a 23-year-old Kampala stylist, flocks to every Sunday night.It gives me fuel for the whole week, he says, standing beer in hand outside an inconspicuous bar, in a red check shirt and jeans.When I come here I dont mind if I miss sleep and then go to work, because I go to work feeling happy, new. Its a beautiful Sunday.During the week this pub, located in the capitals business district but away from the nightclub strip, is full of unsuspecting, heterosexual Ugandans.But for six hours on a Sunday night that fly by all too fast, the venue, with its grass thatched roof and flashing fluorescent disco floor lights, becomes a haven for Ugandas gay community who meet here to drink, dance and more.© AFPAnti-homosexual activists march in Kampala, carrying placards against the recently annulled Anti-Gay law by Uganda

New UN Ebola chief vows swift response to crisis

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Accra (AFP) - The new head of the UN Ebola response team vowed Tuesday to take swift action on the crisis, saying ambitious targets must be met to prevent the spread of the virus worldwide.Anthony Banburys pledge came after warnings that Liberia was on the brink of collapse and that thousands of children who have lost parents to the epidemic faced being treated as outcasts.Sierra Leones government was meanwhile forced to deny that Ebola had been defeated, after hundreds took to the streets in the belief that there were no more confirmed cases.In Ghanas capital, Accra, Banbury, the special representative for the UN Mission on Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), said the team was hoping to stem the spread of the disease.We dont know how long it will take. We hope to do it as fast as possible and to close the UNMEER mission as quickly as possible, he told a news conference.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon set up UNMEER earlier this month in response to criticism of the world bodys response to Ebola, which has killed more than 3,000 people in west Africa this year.An advance team arrived in Accra on Monday amid growing concern over the spread of the virus, particularly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.The worlds worst Ebola epidemic has claimed 3,091 lives in five west African countries as of Saturday out of 6,574 infected, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).- Extremely ambitious target -© AFPA health worker in a protective suit closes the gate of Island Hospital after welcoming new patients suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus in Monrovia on September 30, 2014 © AFP Pascal GuyotThe international mobilisation includes a planned 3,000-strong US military contingent to Liberia, while Britain is to set up a medical centre in Sierra Leone.Some 150 US troops arrived in Liberia at the weekend with a 25-bed field hospital which was delivered by three C-17 cargo aircraft, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said Monday.The field hospital will be set up for health workers infected by the Ebola virus, he added.Banbury said UNMEER officials were also on the ground in Ebola-hit nations, without specifying numbers or locations, adding that the world was now helping to confront the disease.If UNMEER was never created, if the world was not responding, the number of cases would go from whatever they are now, we dont know for sure, maybe around 20,000, to 1.4 million, he told reporters.Then every country in the world would be at risk.UNMEERs plan is based on WHO recommendations to treat at least 70 percent of infected people and conduct at least 70 percent of burials safely to turn a corner on the spread, he added.In 60 days were going to do everything possible to achieve it. Its an extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely ambitious target, he told a news conference.Within 30 days we need to put in place almost all the material resources necessary... Those are very, very ambitious targets but we have no choice but to pursue them.- Destabilising effect -Experts warned that with its collapsed health service, sick and poorly equipped security forces and broken economy, Ebola risked plunging Liberia back into a spiral of violent civil unrest.© AFPWorkers of a cleaning company collect garbage in central Monrovia on September 30, 2014 © AFP Pascal GuyotIf we have thousands or tens of thousands more deaths, thats going to have a very destabilising effect, said Sean Casey, head of the International Medical Corps anti-Ebola operations in Liberia.In Geneva, Liberian Commerce Minister Axel Addy said Ebola risked reversing economic gains made since the end of the civil war in 2003, compounding a previous slowdown in economic growth.Elsewhere, the UN childrens agency said thousands of children mourning dead parents and in urgent need of support felt unwanted and even abandoned by frightened and suspicious relatives.Ebola is turning a basic human reaction like comforting a sick child into a potential death sentence, said UNICEFs regional director for west and central Africa, Manuel Fontaine.The fear surrounding Ebola is becoming stronger than family ties.In Sierra Leone, crowds surged onto the streets of the northern commercial hub of Makeni, chanting Ebola is no more and Ebola is defeated.The government was forced to issue a statement after locals said celebrations began when a group of suspected Ebola victims were released from a holding centre with negative lab test results.

Microsoft gives peek at coming Windows 10 software

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San Francisco (AFP) - Microsoft on Tuesday offered its first glimpse of its Windows 10 software that it hopes delivers a winning formula for powering tablets and smartphones, along with laptops and desktop computers.The US software colossus focused on its core business market while unveiling an early technical preview of next-generation Windows software slated for release next year.An Insider Program for developers who want to dabble with Windows 10 and provide feedback will kick off on Wednesday.Windows 10 represents the first step of a whole new generation of Windows, unlocking new experiences to give customers new ways to work, play and connect, said Microsoft operating systems group executive vice president Terry Myerson.This will be our most comprehensive operating system and the best release Microsoft has ever done for our business customers, and we look forward to working together with our broader Windows community to bring Windows 10 to life in the months ahead.Pressure has been on Microsoft to win over companies that have shunned the current version of Windows, which was radically overhauled to adapt to the booming popularity of computing devices with touch screen controls.While Windows 8 was tuned into personal lifestyles rich with smartphones or tablets, it was not a hit at companies where people still work using traditional computers with keyboards and mice.More than a year after its release in late 2012, the number of businesses using Windows 8 were vastly outnumbered by those using Windows 7 and even using Windows XP, according to market trackers.

Nadal returns in style, Djokovic wins in China

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Beijing (AFP) - Rafael Nadal made an emphatic return to singles competition Tuesday after being sidelined for three months, sweeping aside Richard Gasquet of France in the $5.4 million China Open.The 14-times Grand Slam winner won his first round match in Beijing 6-4, 6-0, overcoming sporadic resistance in the first set before crushing his 22nd-ranked opponent in the second.There were glimpses of vintage Nadal during the second set demolition, with the Spaniard appearing to be back to his athletic best after being sidelined since Wimbledon with a right wrist injury picked up in training.Its not hundred percent, but lets say 90 something percent, Nadal said, when asked how his wrist felt during the match.The world number three broke his 28-year-old opponents serve in the third game, and while Gasquet brought Nadal to break-point at the next two opportunities, he failed to claw his way back into the set.Gasquet lost his serve at the opening game of the second set, and then brought Nadal to the brink of losing his own with some acrobatic net-play.But that turned out to be his last show of defiance as the French Open champion powered his way to a bagel in his return to singles competition.I have to be happy the way that I played, Nadal said.© AFPRichard Gasquet of France returns a shot against Rafael Nadal of Spain during the 1st round at the China Open tennis tournament in the National Tennis Center of Beijing on September 30, 2014 © AFP Fred DufourThree months without a match, winning against a player who is a good player like Richard, is a very positive comeback for me.The left-handed Mallorcan played a rare doubles match in Beijing on Monday, which he lost.- Chasing ATP finals berth -Nadal joins top seed Novak Djokovic in the second round after the reigning champion in Beijing won his game after a shaky start.The Serb defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-1 in just 63 minutes, but took a while to get into his stride, trading a series of serves with his opponent early on.Djokovic will face Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the next round as he bids for his fifth title in Beijing, a tournament he has won every year since 2009, apart from 2011 when he did not take part.The winner that year, world number six Tomas Berdych, eased past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-2 in his first round match.The third seed Czech is chasing points as he pushes to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in November.He is currently eighth in the race for the London tournament and must at least remain in that position if he is to make the season finale of the top eight players.Only five berths are available as the worlds top three players -- Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer -- have already confirmed their place for London.© AFPMaria Sharapova of Russia celebrates after she beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine during their womens singles second round match at the China Open tennis tournament in the National Tennis Center of Beijing on September 30, 2014© AFP Fred Dufour- Sharapova, Murray through -Elsewhere in the mens competition, eighth seed American John Isner beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-1, 6-3.Andy Murray also made it through after a tense match in which he smashed his racket as he lost a first set tie-break.The 27-year-old Scot, the sixth seed in Beijing, defeated Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-2.In the womens tournament, world number one American Serena Williams eased into the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.Meanwhile, Serenas sister Venus gained revenge over Caroline Garcia after the 20-year-old won their first round match at the Wuhan Open last week.Thirty-four-year-old Williams beat the French rising star 6-4, 6-3 in Beijing.Maria Sharapova was facing a potential banana skin in her match with Elina Svitolina following the Ukranians confidence-boosting appearance in the Wuhan semi-finals.But the Russian world number four powered through with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline.Fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, meanwhile, has now failed to get past the second round in her last two tournaments in China, losing to Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-4 in Beijing.Radwanska was hoping for a deep run at the China Open to seal her place in next months WTA Finals, the season-ending finale in Singapore featuring the worlds top eight women players.The Pole was last week dumped out of Wuhan in the second round.Eighth seed Canadian Eugenie Bouchard -- the runner-up in Wuhan -- also crashed out of the tournament, losing to Germanys Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-4.But there was no upset for second seed Romanian Simona Halep who defeated home-crowd favourite Zhu Lin 7-5, 6-4.The China Open is being held at the Olympic Park in the Chinese capital and will reach its climax on October 5.

New-look Barcelona ready for first big test in Paris

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Paris (AFP) - Barcelona face their first big test of the Luis Enrique era when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital in the Champions League on Tuesday.The Catalans looked sluggish in the 1-0 win against APOEL that kicked-off their Group F campaign a fortnight ago, but they travel to France having won six and drawn one of seven matches altogether this season, and are yet to concede a single goal under their new coach.Their performance in tearing apart Granada in La Liga on Saturday, when Neymar scored a hat-trick and Lionel Messi netted twice in a 6-0 victory, would have made for ominous viewing for anyone with PSG connections.At the moment I dont see any player who isnt capable of putting in a good performance in Paris and that for me is an advantage, said Luis Enrique, who welcomes Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba back into his squad for the match at the Parc des Princes after both were rested against Granada.© AFP Second round of UEFA Champions League matches, played Tuesday, in Groups E, F, G, H © AFP -, -That duo are both almost certain to start in a meeting of the two favourites to progress to the last 16 from the section, while there is no question of Messi, who is the only player to have started all seven games for Barca this season, being rested yet.I prefer to see him on the pitch until the last minute to press and participate in our collective play, added the coach.The temptation is there, it could happen at any point in the season, but his habitat is on the field.The biggest doubt surrounds who will start in goal, with Claudio Bravo having kept a clean sheet in all six domestic games so far while fellow summer recruit Marc-Andre ter Stegen was preferred against APOEL.Either way, the newly watertight Barcelona defence will expect to endure a tough evening in the first meeting of the clubs since the quarter-final clash in April 2013, when Paris came away with a draw in both legs but were eliminated on away goals.Since then, Carlo Ancelotti has been replaced in the PSG dugout by Laurent Blanc, who played alongside Luis Enrique at the Camp Nou for a season in the 1990s.- Pressure on Blanc -© AFPParis Saint-Germains head coach Laurent Blanc (C) conducts a training session at the Camp-des-Loges in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, outside Paris, on September 29, 2014, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona © AFP Franck FifePSG, like their opponents, are still unbeaten in the current campaign but all the pressure on Tuesday will be on Blanc, whose side are yet to convince this season and yet will be expected to take the game to Barca in front of their own fans.Paris may already be a European superpower in financial terms but now they crave real success on the continent after being eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage in each of the last two seasons.Meanwhile, a lack of motivation for the less glamorous challenges in store in Ligue 1 has been suggested by some as the reason for their sluggish recent displays, but a run of four draws in their last five matches includes a 1-1 stalemate at Ajax in their Group F opener.On Saturday, Blanc rotated his squad and tried out a new formation against Toulouse but was only rewarded with another 1-1 stalemate.© AFPBarcelonas Neymar (R) congratulates Gerard Pique on scoring a goal during their UEFA Champions League match against APOEL, at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, on September 17, 2014 © AFP/File Josep LagoWe are aware that last season we dominated the league and this year, with the same team and the same coach, we are not winning matches so easily, admitted Blanc, who played down talk that his side might now be fearing the prospect of facing Barcelona.Do we need to be worried because we didnt win? If we had won, we would maybe be more confident. Barcelona are a great team. Everyone knows that.Barcelona is a different competition, and even if we are having difficulty and certain things worry me, the spirit is good. The players are putting in a lot of effort, perhaps more than last season when they were winning matches 3-0 or 4-0.The home side are not helped, however, by fitness problems to key players, with Ezequiel Lavezzi joining captain Thiago Silva on the sidelines.In addition, former Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSGs talisman, has missed the last two games with a heel problem and is to miss Barca clash as well.

Ebay split to create independent PayPal

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New York (AFP) - US online auction giant eBay announced plans Tuesday to spin off PayPal, a move designed to help the unit compete better in the fast-moving online payments segment.The plan, to take effect next year, comes after months of pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, who had assailed eBay for poor management and claimed that keeping eBay tied with PayPal depressed the value of both units.An eBay statement said that a board review concluded that a changing competitive landscape creates enormous opportunities for eBay and PayPal and that separation will create sharper strategic focus for each unit.Company president and chief executive John Donahoe said that for more than a decade, eBay and PayPal have mutually benefited from being part of one company, but that the situation had now changed.A thorough strategic review with our board shows that keeping eBay and PayPal together beyond 2015 clearly becomes less advantageous to each business strategically and competitively, Donahoe said.The move comes with the online payments segment facing new challenges from the likes of Apple, which introduced a mobile payments platform using its iPhones, and newcomers such as Square.- Targeted investment opportunities -The pace of industry change and innovation in commerce and payments requires maximum flexibility to stay competitive and drive global leadership, the eBay statement said.The split will give shareholders more targeted investment opportunities and will increase the value of the company over the long term, the statement added.PayPal accounted for 41 percent of eBays revenues last year and has more than 152 million active users.Donahoe and chief financial officer Bob Swan will lead the transition of both businesses, the statement said. But they will not hold executive management roles in the two new companies.The new eBay will be led by Devin Wenig, current president of eBay Marketplaces.The independent PayPal will be headed by Dan Schulman, who comes from American Express after holding top jobs at AT&T, Priceline.com, and Virgin Mobile.Icahn welcomed the news, but said he wished the split had come sooner.We are happy that eBays board and management have acted responsibly concerning the separation -- perhaps a little later than they should have, but earlier than we expected, he said in a statement.© AFPThe logo of online payment company PayPal is pictured during LeWeb 2013 event in Saint-Denis near Paris on December 10, 2013 © AFP Eric PiermontIt is almost a no brainer that these companies should be separated to increase the value of these great assets and thus to meaningfully enhance value for all shareholders.Icahn also said that the payments sector needs consolidation -- either through acquisitions by PayPal or by merging it with another strong player in the industry.- Stronger apart -eBay acquired PayPal in 2002 for roughly $1.5 billion in shares, integrating the payment service that had already been widely used for online auctions.PayPal over the years has expanded beyond a simple payment mechanism for eBay auctions.According to eBay, PayPal facilitates one in every six dollars spent online today, or some $203 billion over the past 12 months.And PayPal has moved into mobile payments with the acquisition of the payment processing group Braintree, boosting its own mobile platform called OneTouch.After the announcement, eBay shares leapt 6.8 percent to $56.22 in late morning trade, and analysts reacted positively.Forrester Researchs Denee Carrington said the plan makes sense because PayPal had outgrown eBay.The payments landscape is hyper-competitive, the pace of change is accelerating and everyone is gunning for PayPal, Carrington said.The split will give PayPal greater agility to help it achieve its full potential.Shebly Seyrafi, analyst at FBN Securities, said the split could be a positive development for eBay as it creates more focused entities and as it allows investors to invest more directly in the faster-growing business (PayPal).The plan also comes with eBay facing a potential threat from Alibaba, the Chinese online retail giant which raised a record $25 billion in a stock offering to fuel global expansion plans.BMO Capital Markets analyst Edward Williams said that even though the timing comes as a surprise, the plan could make sense.With different growth profiles and different competitive challenges, the decision to separate the business should allow both to operate more efficiently -- allowing each business to pursue the right capital structures and growth trajectories for their businesses, he said in a note to clients.

French public debt over 2.0 trillion euros for first time

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Paris (AFP) - Frances public debt has topped the symbolic level of 2.0 trillion euros for the first time, putting Paris on a fresh collision course with the European Union as the government prepares to unveil its annual budget.The total national debt amounted to 2.023 trillion euros ($2.57 trillion) in the second quarter of the year, which represents 95.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), national statistics agency INSEE said on Tuesday.European Union rules say that debt must not exceed 60 percent of GDP, or be falling significantly towards this ratio.In the first quarter of the year, debt stood at 1.995 trillion euros, or 94.0 percent of GDP, INSEE said.President Francois Hollande stressed that he had inherited a difficult debt situation when he entered the Elysee Palace.In the five years before I came to power, public debt rose by 600 billion euros. Now were at 2,000 billion. So our role has to be to get the deficit in hand so we can avoid pushing up the absolute level of debt, said Hollande.France is already at loggerheads with the EU over its budget deficit, which is supposed to be kept under three percent of GDP.Paris promised to bring the deficit in-line by next year but, in a stunning about turn, announced earlier this month that it was pushing back this target until 2017.The deficit this year is forecast to be 4.4 percent of GDP, dropping only fractionally to 4.3 percent next year.France is struggling with an economy at a standstill and sky-high unemployment.There has been zero growth for the first two quarters of the year and Finance Minister Michel Sapin is banking on sluggish output of 0.4 percent for the whole of the year.- Very low rates -France will on Wednesday publish its annual budget, which is expected to confirm the gloomy outlook and reaffirm it will miss its deficit targets.The economy ministry stressed that the governments plan to clean up the public finances and make sweeping cuts in public spending should allow us to stop the growth in debt.France also enjoys the confidence of investors which allows the state, but also companies and individuals, to borrow at very low rates, the ministry said.To combat the economic crisis, Hollandes deeply unpopular government has put in place a Responsibility Pact which offers companies tax breaks of 40 billion euros in return for creating 500,000 jobs over three years.© AFP© AFP/File Georges GobetHowever, given the parlous state of the public finances, the tax breaks are compensated by 50 billion euros in public spending cuts.Hollande steeled the French people for the budget by saying: There is no painless savings plan, otherwise it would already have been done.Savings are inevitably painful. No sector can accept seeing its habits, sometimes its finances, challenged.Christopher Dembik, an analyst at Saxo Bank, said: The problem with France is there is no clear trajectory for reforms and the reforms that do exist are too unambitious and very, very slow to be implemented.Even Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron has admitted that the French economy is sick due to its perennially high unemployment.There has been a fever for several years in this country which is called mass unemployment ... there is no choice but to reform the economy, stressed Macron, a 36-year-old former Rothschild banker, a recent surprise choice for economy minister.

Hong Kong protesters reject demands to end rallies

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Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong demonstrators rejected demands immediately to end rallies that have paralysed the citys downtown, their numbers swelling for a third night before a national holiday Wednesday expected to put their campaign for free elections into overdrive.Protest leaders are confident of mustering massive crowds, angered at Beijings refusal to grant full democracy, overnight and into Wednesday for the National Day public holiday marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of Communist China.Thousands ignored a call from the citys embattled leader to end the sit-in, as well as Beijings branding of their demonstrations as illegal, to take to the streets of the key financial hub.A heavy downpour briefly sent umbrellas skyward and crowds scurrying, but the prospect of bad weather left the crowds undeterred.© AFPUpdated map of the main protest zone in Hong Kong Tuesday © AFP Adrian Leung/John Saeki/Gal RomaWe have spent more than a week under the sun, under pepper spray, we of course can stand the rain. Nothing can stop us, a recent university student who identified himself as Choi told AFP.Beijing has been left grappling with one of the biggest challenges to its rule over the semi-autonomous city at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.In his first public comments since demonstrators were tear-gassed by riot police on Sunday evening, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the pro-democracy sit-in organised partly by the Occupy Central group was now out of control.Occupy Central founders had said repeatedly that if the movement is getting out of control, they would call for it to stop. Im now asking them to fulfil the promise they made to society, and stop this campaign immediately, he said.But protest leaders rejected Leungs demands and renewed calls for the Beijing-backed leader to step down.© AFPPeople attend a speech as the rain falls in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Xaume OllerosI think there will be a massive turnout, over 100,000 people tonight and leading into National Day, hedge fund manager and Occupy Central activist Ed Chin told AFP.The demonstrations, the most intense civil unrest Hong Kong has experienced since its 1997 handover from British rule, were sparked by Beijings decision in August to restrict who can stand for the citys top post.British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Tuesday he will summon Chinas ambassador to London over the protests to express his dismay and alarm about the refusal to grant free elections.Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 but only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to stand -- something demonstrators have labelled a fake democracy that shows Hong Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers.© AFPA woman walks past a pro-democracy demonstrator guarding a bus covered with messages of support in Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Philippe Lopez- Keep resisting for democracy -Throughout Tuesday morning protester numbers dwindled from overnight highs, when tens of thousands turned the citys downtown into a carnival after riot police withdrew.But they began to pick up again by the afternoon.We are all afraid, but we think we should keep on resisting for full democracy, Jacky Yip, a 22-year-old university student told AFP as thunder rumbled ahead.Never lose hope, was one of the signs offering words of encouragement on the streets, alongside hundreds of messages, some in other languages.© AFPPro-democracy protesters put up a banner in Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Philippe LopezProtesters have two demands -- that Leung step down and Beijing rescind its insistence that his successor be vetted before standing for election.If the government does not respond after October 2, the action will inevitably be stepped up, Alex Chow, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, told reporters.Influential student leader Joshua Wong, who was detained by police last week, said Hong Kongs leader was the only one who could end the protest.Everyone here has the power. Were here for the bargaining chip with Beijing, he said.Leung Chun-ying and the government are feeling incrased pressure, he added.But analysts say the chances of Beijing backing down are virtually non-existent, leaving a city once renowned for its stability plunged into an unknown future -- with democracy activists concerned the police could return in force at any moment.Beijing stayed defiant Tuesday, saying it supported Hong Kongs handling of the protests, which it described as illegal activity.© AFPPeople chat next to protest signs in different languages and a poster showing Hong Kongs chief executive Leung Chun-ying with fangs for teeth, near the central government offices in Hong Kong on September 30, 2014 © AFP Alex Ogle- Frustration and strikes -Communist authorities are worried that dealing with the protests too softly could encourage wider demands for greater freedoms on the mainland, observers say.Hong Kong authorities meanwhile are caught between protester demands, Beijings uncompromising stance and efforts to keep the city running.Business leaders complain that the protests are hitting the economy. The worlds top cosmetics group LOreal said on Tuesday it was suspending all business travel to Hong Kong due to the street demonstrations.Many locals have expressed frustration at the huge disruption, with the crowds blocking key junctions.Police Tuesday again called for the protesters to disperse, saying emergency services were being disrupted by the ongoing blockade of major carriageways.But the demonstrations have also prompted displays of solidarity. Some social workers and teachers went on strike after unions called for members to take action.
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Monday 29 September 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Asian Games: Golden girl Mirza does it for India -- again

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INCHEON (AFP) - A trail-blazer for womens tennis in India, Sania Mirza has been hounded by controversy throughout her career, accused of corrupting the countrys youth and even faced a fatwa for wearing short skirts on court.Given how often the 27-year-old finds herself at the sharp end of gossip and political debate, her dedication to Indian tennis is all the more remarkable.Mirza added the Asian Games mixed doubles gold medal to her collection of international titles on Monday, teaming up with Saketh Myneni to beat Taiwans Peng Hsien-yin and Chan Hao-chin 6-4, 6-3 in Incheon.I dont do it for anyone else, Mirza told AFP. I do it for myself, and for the country. I think theres a few silly people out there, but you cant make everyone happy all the time. Ive done it time and again -- and its my eighth Asian Games medal.Mirza, who has put Indian tennis on the map with a hat-trick of grand slam mixed doubles victories, also took bronze in the womens doubles. Her eight medals stretch back to the 2002 Busan Games, when she was the baby of the team.There were lots of emotions going on tonight, added Mirza, who decided relatively late in the day to compete in South Korea.She returned to controversy after a leader of the ruling BJP party called the Mumbai-born star a daughter-in-law of Pakistan because of her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.Mirza was furious and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to step in to defuse the situation, inviting her for tea in new Delhi. Its not easy being me, said Mirza, once famously accused of corrupting Indias youth for advocating safe sex. But I wouldnt have it any other way. Im used to it now. I grew up in the limelight, Im a veteran now. If you take the pros youve got to take the cons too.Mirza, bags already packed for this weeks Beijing Open, took the decision to represent her country in South Korea despite seeing compatriots Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna pull out of the Games, giving up valuable tour ranking points.Myneni was delighted she had put India first, again.Its an absolutely awesome feeling for me -- first Asian Games, take back two medals, he said after adding the mixed doubles gold to a silver in the mens doubles. Playing with Sania is something Ill cherish for the rest of my life.

Asian Games: 'Super Dan' takes gold in epic final

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INCHEON (AFP) - Badminton king Lin Dan saw off world champion Chen Long in an epic Asian Games final Monday as he successfully defended his title and showed he can still dominate the sport at 30.Super Dan, a day after beating his arch-rival Lee Chong Wei, bested a challenger five years his junior who is considered his successor at the top of the sport.Chen went a game up in the all-Chinese final but Lin fought back to take the second before a show of power and agility in the decider took him home 12-21, 21-16, 21-16. The tense conclusion to the world-standard competition left 25-year-old Chen without a win against the twice Olympic and five-time world champion in seven attempts.As Lins fans gathered outside the Gyeyang arena, banging on the windows to take a picture with him, the Chinese star said fierce air conditioning had made the job tough.Im very happy I took the gold medal -- Chen Long and I have had a difficult tournament because of the wind on the court, but we played a very good match for the crowd, said Lin, echoing complaints from several players in Incheon.Asked whether anyone else could replace him as a Chinese shuttling legend, Lin pointed to team-mate Chen. After a match in which Lin Dans name was being constantly yelled by the crowd, a gracious Chen said it did not upset him. Were all from China and whoever wins, its OK -- I just try my best.A confident Chen was in attacking mood in the first game, surging to an 11-4 lead. Lin failed to close out the points as Chen dug out returns and blocked powerful drives.A flat Lin put the final two points in the net for Chen to take it 21-12.The second game was a mesmerising duel as Lin closed Chens early three-point lead and went into the break 11-8 up after a driving backhand pass followed by an unreturnable body shot.But Chen punched back to 16-16, keeping his head in complex rallies before his veteran team-mate turned on the class. Lin nonchalantly took the fire out of Chens driving shots and beat him with lightning reflexes at the net before winning the game 21-16 with a cross-court smash.In the break before the third, the match turned into a battle of the torsos with women in the crowd screaming as Chen changed his shirt, only for Lin to decide to do the same -- provoking an even louder response.The third was another tussle, with Chen taking an early lead and Lin pulling back, reaching for everything Chen put his way.Lin went into the break up 11-8 after Chen put two in the net and the champion went on to unleash a volley of fast returns, lunging and diving.Chen had chances but couldnt convert, berating himself as Lin stretched ahead to take the third game and the match 21-16.Lin turned to the crowd and pumped his fists after his victory, again removing his shirt and replacing it with a Chinese flag thrown down to him from the stands.In the mixed doubles final, Chinas world number ones Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei beat Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia to win the title 21-16 21-14.

Obama hosts India's Modi for White House visit

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Once shunned by the United States, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode a wave of enthusiasm and popular support Monday to the White House, where he is kicking off a two-day visit with President Barack Obama. The two leaders sought to put a brave face on the relationship despite widespread concerns that U.S.-Indian ties have frayed in recent years.Modis visit started with a private dinner with Obama on Monday evening, the day after thousands of Indian-Americans flocked to New Yorks Madison Square Garden for a rare chance to see the new leader of the worlds largest democracy. The dazzling Bollywood-style dancers and dozens of U.S. lawmakers that took part in that event highlighted the rock star welcome that Modi is enjoying on his first official visit to the U.S. since being elected in May.It wasnt always so. When Modi requested a visa to visit the United States nearly a decade ago, Washington said no. That rejection came three years after religious riots killed more than 1,000 Muslims in the state of Gujarat, where Modi was the top elected official.Another potential wrinkle in Modis visit: A human rights group is offering $10,000 to anyone who can serve Modi with a summons issued by a federal court in New York to respond to a lawsuit the group filed accusing him of serious abuses. The lawsuit is on behalf of two unnamed survivors of the violence.Modi has denied involvement in the violence and Indias Supreme Court has said there was no case to bring against him. As a head of state, Modi has immunity from lawsuits in U.S. courts. And White House officials said they doubted the issue would cloud the visit.Whether its security and counterterrorism or strengthening the economy or a host of other regional issues, there is a broad framework where India and the U.S. work closely together to advance our shared interests, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.Obama and Modi broke the ice over dinner Monday as they sought to reinvigorate soured relations between their countries. Joining them in the Blue Room was Vice President Joe Biden, who also attended a State Department lunch with Modi and Secretary of State John Kerry earlier in the day.But there was one small issue: Modi is fasting to honor the Hindu goddess Durga and is consuming only water or lemon-flavored water. The White House said Modis dietary needs would be accommodated, but offered no details.Obamas courtship of Modi will continue Tuesday with an Oval Office meeting, marking a rare second day of attention from Obama.During their talks, Obama and Modi will focus on economic growth and cooperation on security, clean energy, climate change and other issues, the White House said. They will also address regional concerns, including Afghanistan, where the U.S. is wrapping up its 13-year military involvement, and Syria and Iraq, where the U.S. is ramping up its military engagement as Obama builds an international coalition to target Islamic State militants operating in the both countries.Obama visited India in 2010 and held up the U.S.-India relationship as the defining partnership of the 21st century. But the relationship has been lukewarm at best.While military cooperation and U.S. defense sales have grown, the economic relationship has been rockier, with Washington frustrated by Indias failure to open its economy to more foreign investment and address complaints over intellectual property violations.A landmark civil nuclear agreement exists between the two countries, but Indian liability legislation has kept U.S. companies from capitalizing on the deal. Further fraying relations was the arrest and strip search last year in New York of an Indian diplomat on visa fraud charges.A major aspect of this weeks visit is the chance for Obama and Modi to begin building rapport, administration officials said. Obama was among the first Western leaders to telephone Modi with congratulations after his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept into power after Mays landslide vote.The visit also is a victory lap of sorts for Modi, a former tea seller.Hes gone in just a matter of a few months from persona non grata to person of honor to be received warmly in the Oval Office, said Milan Vaishnav, who studies South Asia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.

Israel PM warns Iran greater threat than IS jihadists

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday at the United Nations that a nuclear-capable Iran would pose the gravest threat to the world, far outstripping the jihadist terror from Iraq and Syria.Make no mistake, ISIS must be defeated, Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly, referring to the Islamic State group. But to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state power is to win the battle and lose the war.Netanyahu spoke a week after US President Barack Obama took to the UN podium to appeal for international support for the US-led coalition firing air strikes to defeat the IS jihadists. The prime minister took a swipe at Irans smooth-talking President Hassan Rouhani, accusing him of seeking a deal on Tehrans nuclear program without scrapping any bomb-making capacity.The Islamic republic is now trying to bamboozle its way to an agreement... that will cement Irans place as a threshold military nuclear power, he said.Allowing that to happen would pose the gravest threat to us all.A week-long round of talks between Iran and six world powers in New York ended on Friday with no breakthrough toward a deal to ensure Tehrans nuclear program cannot be used for military purposes.Iran and the so-called P51 comprised of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany have set a deadline of November 24 to reach a historic agreement.The six powers are asking Iran to scale back uranium enrichment, which could be used to make a nuclear bomb, but Tehran has long denied that its atomic program would be used to build a weapon.The prime minister derided Rouhani, who spoke out against jihadists during his UN address last week, accusing him of shedding phony tears while engaging in a terror campaign of his own.To say that Iran doesnt practice terrorism is like saying Derek Jeter never played shortstop for the New York Yankees, he quipped, referring to the Yankees captain, who retired to great fanfare at the weekend.Would you let ISIS enrich uranium? Would you let ISIS build a heavy-water reactor? he asked.Irans nuclear military capabilities must be fully dismantled, Netanyahu told the Assembly, drawing applause.Israel has repeatedly warned the West against making concessions to Tehran in talks on its nuclear program and asserted that it reserves the right to weigh military action to confront the Iranian threat. Netanyahu made a splash two years ago when he turned up at the UN General Assembly with a large cartoon drawing of a bomb to illustrate the threat posed by Irans nuclear program.At this years gathering, he showed a photograph purportedly of Hamas rocket-launchers with children playing next to them -- a scene the Israeli leader said proved that Hamas had used civilians as human shields in Gaza.Netanyahu said jihadists in Iraq and Syria share a radical ideology with the Palestinian Hamas group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, declaring: ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree.Hanan Ashrawi, an executive member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, called Netanyahus comments a blatant manipulation of facts and accused him of using hate language.Netanyahu also drew a parallel with Nazis, saying that while they believed in a master race, ISIS believes in a master faith.Netanyahu took to the podium of the worlds largest diplomatic gathering, saying he wanted to expose brazen lies after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas last week accused Israel of waging a 50-day war of genocide in Gaza.In his address on Friday, Abbas called for an end to Israeli occupation, accused Israel of genocidal crimes during the Gaza war and said Palestinians living under Israeli rule faced a future of apartheid.Netanyahu offered a rebuttal, saying Israeli forces who fought in Gaza deserve not condemnation but admiration and said Israel was being demonized.In what moral universe does genocide include warning the enemy civilian population to get out of harms way or ensuring that they receive tons of humanitarian aid? he asked.Abbas speech also drew a sharp rebuke from the United States, which said it contained offensive characterizations and undermined peace efforts.

Modi warns US to avoid Iraq 'mistake' in Afghanistan

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NEW YORK (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the United States Monday not to repeat its mistake in Iraq by pulling out of Afghanistan too quickly.Modi, who is due to meet President Barack Obama later on Monday, said US forces had forged stability in Afghanistan that had helped the country march towards a good result.But we have requested America ... please do not repeat the mistake that you made in Iraq, Modi said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.Because after such a rapid withdrawal in Iraq, (and) what happened there, the withdrawal process in Afghanistan should be very slow. Let it stand on its own, and only then can you stop the Taliban lifting its head there, Modi, speaking in Hindi, said through a translator.Modis remarks came on the day on which Afghanistans new government indicated that it would sign a bilateral security agreement with the United States that will allow a residual NATO force to remain behind when Western combat operations end in the country before the end of the year.Under the deal, the US deployment in Afghanistan will be scaled back to around 9,800 by the start of 2015.Those forces will be halved by the end of 2015, before being reduced to a normal embassy presence by the end of 2016.Modi did not take a position on that timetable but stressed that India was concerned that stability in Afghanistan should not be squandered.Obama said in an interview aired Sunday that US intelligence agencies had underestimated the swift rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and had overestimated the capacity of Baghdads forces to take them on.Modi also called on the world to unite to fight a draconian wave of terrorism.We have faced this problem for 40 years and there is no limit, Modi said.The new Indian leader, wowing crowds on his first official visit to the United States, visits the White House at a time when Obama is piecing together a broad international coalition to confront IS jihadists.Modi said that videos of US journalists having their throats cut by Islamic State operatives were a deformity of humanity, and symptomatic of a new 21st century reality.Terrorism is an enemy of humanity and anybody who believes in humanity, they all need to come together, he said.Modi did not however offer Indias position on Obamas anti-IS coalition.But the prime minister, who leads the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said his own country had suffered deeply from terrorism over the years. He stressed however that it was not homegrown and argued that Al-Qaeda had always failed to recruit Indian Muslims to its ranks.

Obesity risk rises if antibiotics given before age two: study

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Kids who get treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics before age two face a higher risk of childhood obesity, said a US study on Monday.The research in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics is the latest to find a link between weight problems and antibiotics, which can eliminate bacterial infections but also the beneficial intestinal microflora that colonizes the gut.Experts at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia looked at health records from nearly 65,000 children who were treated at primary care clinics from 2001 to 2013. Those included in the study were followed for five years.More than two thirds of the kids studied were exposed to antibiotics before age two. The increase in obesity risk ranged from two to 20 percent and was seen particularly in children who had been treated with antibiotics four or more times by age two.Those given broad-spectrum antibiotics, which target a range of bacteria, were also at higher risk of weight problems in childhood.No association was seen between obesity and narrow-spectrum antibiotics, said the study, which described the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in children under two as one factor in whether a child develops obesity.The study called for treatment guidelines for common pediatric illnesses that urge limits on antibiotic use and a preference for narrow-spectrum medications.Inappropriate prescribing and overuse of such broad-spectrum antibiotics have also been linked to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria strains.In recent years, US health authorities have urged doctors to cut back on antibiotic prescribing, and have also attempted to educate parents that common viruses cannot be cured with antibiotics.This study offers another solid reason to more carefully consider the reasons for antibiotic use and avoid it whenever possible, said Patricia Vuguin, a pediatric endocrinologist at Cohen Childrens Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York.While the study is robust, it wasnt able to consider other variables that contribute to the risk of becoming obese, including diet, exercise levels and family history of obesity, added Vuguin, who was not involved in the study.Since the children studied also were exposed to an average of several episodes of broad-spectrum antibiotics, I also wonder if they may have been sicker than typical children.The findings warrant future studies that could take into account other factors that influence intestinal flora, including the use of probiotics and breast feeding, said Molly Regelmann, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.While, broad-spectrum antibiotic use is not the sole contributor to the rise of the obesity epidemic, the availability and use of these medications certainly coincided with the rise in obesity in the US, said Regelmann, who was not part of the research team.It is somewhat reassuring that narrow-spectrum antibiotics, which are commonly prescribed for common pediatric infections, were not associated with obesity later in childhood, making the point, that targeted selection of antibiotics is ideal.

Hong Kong protests turn festive after tear gas chaos

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Hong Kong (AFP) - Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters turned parts of Hong Kong into a massive street party on Monday night, with the mood turning festive just a day after riot police fired tear gas in ugly clashes.The huge crowds defied government calls to go home after Sundays chaotic scenes, bringing key districts of the Asian financial hub to a standstill as they vowed to stay put until the Chinese government grants them free elections.Sundays violence saw riot police fire clouds of tear gas as they struggled to control the protesters, in one of the biggest ever challenges to Beijings rule of the semi-autonomous city.The anger gave way to a lighter atmosphere on Monday as riot police retreated, leaving huge masses of protesters in control of at least four major thoroughfares around the city.But although there were few police on the scene, some protesters feared a repeat of Sundays clashes, donning goggles and masks to protect themselves against tear gas.© AFPMass protests are taking place at several sites in Hong Kong © AFPWe cant relax too much, graphic designer Felix Kan told AFP. This is still China -- you never know what could happen.The festival atmosphere was tempered early Tuesday as protesters attempted to second guess what the next police move would be, an AFP reporter at the scene said.Organisers also announced to the crowds that water and food supply stations had been targeted in attacks at some of the protest sites, but appealed for calm.In Mongkok, a busy shopping hub, police were called after a car drove at high speed past crowds of protesters, though no one was reported injured.The demonstrators are furious over last months announcement by Beijing that while it will allow the citys next leader to be elected in 2017, it will insist on vetting the candidates, with critics branding the move a fake democracy.Public anger over rampant inequality is also at its highest in years in a city once renowned for its stability.- Umbrella revolution -© AFPProtesters take a rest from the chaotic demonstrations in Hong Kong on September 29, 2014 © AFP/File Xaume OllerosCantonese pop music filled the air during the second day of what some are dubbing the umbrella revolution, as protesters have been using the canopies as shields against tear gas and the scorching sun alike.One British sympathiser won huge cheers as he set up a barbecue and began handing out hamburgers and sausages to the protesters.I saw everybody was just standing around and just eating bread and bananas and I thought, These guys have been here for 24 hours now, and everybody needs cooked food, Daniel Shepherd, a finance broker by day, told AFP.Firing tear gas at students that are unarmed, I think, seems a bit excessive, added the 32-year-old.The crowds hoisted up a makeshift copy of the goddess of democracy statue that graced the 1989 protests in Beijings Tiananmen Square, while lamp posts were adorned with yellow ribbons -- which, like the umbrella, have become a symbol of the movement.© AFPProtesters take cover as police fire tear gas during scuffles at a pro-democracy demonstration in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014 © AFP Xaume OllerosBut many Hong Kongers expressed frustration at the huge disruption the protests have caused, with the crowds blocking key junctions in the busy Causeway Bay and Mongkok shopping districts as well as the biggest protest site in Admiralty.There was chaos on the transport network, shuttering many businesses, with schools in two central districts set to close for a second day on Tuesday.Some social workers and teachers also went on strike after the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and the Professional Teachers Union (PTU) called for members to take action, the South China Morning Post reported.- Political headache for China -Analysts say the protests put the Chinese government in an extremely difficult position.Communist authorities are worried that dealing with the protests too softly could encourage wider protests for greater freedoms on the mainland. But a heavy-handed response could spark an international outcry.© AFPProtesters take cover from tear gas fired by police during riots that followed a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014 © AFP Xaume OllerosIt has the potential to be such a major crisis, said Christopher Hughes, a China expert at the London School of Economics.He warned to AFP that Hong Kong could see a repeat of Chinas violent crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests.If they did decide to send in the tanks, who could stop them? he asked.They did it in 1989 and got away with it and theyre a lot more powerful now. There would be some negative impact, some business confidence, but how long will that last?The United States urged Hong Kongs leaders to exercise restraint.Former colonial power Britain also expressed concern, calling for constructive talks to end the standoff.Beijing moved swiftly to wipe mentions of the protests from Chinese social media -- blocking photo-sharing service Instagram altogether -- and reiterated its hardline stance, opposing the demonstrators illegal actions.Hong Kongs police force defended the use of tear gas, with Assistant Commissioner Cheung Tak-keung saying officers had no other option when police cordon lines were heavily charged by some protesters.The mass protests came after a week of increasingly tense student-led demonstrations that saw people mob the citys leader and storm the central government complex.

Hong Kong democracy protests: Report

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Hong Kong (AFP) - 18:58 GMT - AFP IS CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT - as protesters gather for another night in Hong Kong, with all eyes on the authorities response after a previous attempt to disperse the crowds with tear gas.18:54 GMT - Medical help - Professional medics have joined protesters in providing first aid, after police used tear gas to disperse protesters a night earlier:Im here to help the people, everyone deserves proper medical treatment and last night it didnt seem they had it, said James Poon, who normally works in one of the citys ambulances.© AFPHigh-school demonstrators hold signs during a protest outside the headquarters of Legislative Council in Hong Kong on September 29, 2014 © AFP Xaume Olleros18:24 GMT - No tanks.... - Cheung continues, ruling out the Beijing government sending tanks:No, I dont think so. Its different. The meaning of one country, two systems, depends very much on the jurisdiction and also the basic law. Youre asking about the possibility of something happening that might threaten the stability of the central government. But Hong Kong is a special administrative region. Stability is in control of the Hong Kong government.18:20 GMT - Communication problem - Gordon Cheung, China expert and senior lecturer at Britains Durham University, tells AFP the initial announcement by Beijing on the system of future elections was botched:The problem was there was not enough communication between the public and the central government.From the central governments point of view, I dont thing theres further negotiation. I think this is what they laid out on the table and asked the Hong Kong government to implement.I dont think the central government is going to get involved further. It is now at this point between the Hong Kong government and the students, the people in general, and how to get the message delivered.17:41 GMT - Family day out - Families with young children are out at the protests, AFP correspondent Benjamin Haas says.We need to educate our son and teach him that ordinary people are powerful too, said Hong Kong resident John Lau as he held his four-year-old son.16:54 GMT - US urges restraint - The US asks Hong Kongs leaders to show restraint:The United States urges the Hong Kong authorities to exercise restraint and for protesters to express their views peacefully, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.16:35 GMT - No trust - The polices use of tear gas to disperse protesters overnight between Sunday and Monday has eroded trust among some of the public.We dont trust the police, especially after last night, Hong Kong resident Isaac Chiu told AFPs Benjamin Haas as he carried a metal barrier block to a section of road.Im here to protect this area. If they try to clear us out, Ill be the last one to leave.© AFPPro-democracy yellow ribbons have been tied to almost everything - lamposts, sidewalk barriers and even a police box © AFP Xaume Olleros16:18 GMT - Crackdown repercussions - More from Hughes, who told AFP:If they (Chinese authorities) did decide to send in the tanks, who could stop them? What would the fall out really be? It would be tragic. They did it in 1989 and got away with it and theyre a lot more powerful now.There would be some negative impact, some business confidence, but how long will that last? Given that the eyes of the world, the US, are on the Middle East and the Europeans have got their hands full in other parts of the world, if Xi Jinping did want to sort this out with force, then he could do it. People should be prepared for that outcome.16:13 GMT - Send in the tanks? - Some analysts are pessimistic about the outcome of the protests.Professor Christopher Hughes of the London School of Economics Department of International Relations, China expert, tells AFP:Im very concerned. I think the students have become so emotional and radicalised now. Between now and 2017, theyre not going to back down, pressures going to keep building.The question is really not if, but when, China decides enough is enough. I cant see mainland China compromising on the basic issue of universal suffrage and giving the people in Hong Kong what they want. I just cant see a solution … things have gone past that stage.14:54 GMT - Goddess of Democracy - A carnival atmosphere takes hold among HK protesters, with a makeshift Goddess of Democracy statue made from printer paper and tape being passed through the crowd, AFPs Benjamin Haas says.People are singing and mingling, and a wave of cheers rolls through the crowd when what appears to be a drone passes overhead.14:50 GMT - Cheers not jeers - Jeers and boos directed at police a day earlier replaced by cheers for supplies delivered to protesters.The thousands of demonstrators are a huge headache for Hong Kongs strained police force, who are trying to manage very fluid and large crowds in the citys Central district, home to banking giants like HSBC and the offices of multinational firms.14:46 GMT - Luxury protest - Barricades and people crowd a central Hong Kong district more used to shoppers hunting for luxury items at Louis Vuitton and Armani stores.© AFPHong Kong sparkles as pro-democracy protesters hold up their mobile phones © AFP Aaron Tam14:06 GMT - UK deputy PM backs protests - I sympathise a great deal with the brave pro-democracy demonstrators taking to the streets of Hong Kong, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tweeted.The UK remains committed to the Joint Declaration and the principle of One Country, Two Systems, he added.Universal suffrage must mean real choice for the people of Hong Kong and a proper stake in the 2017 election.13:54 GMT - Singapore solidarity vigil - Singaporean activists call on Facebook for a candle-lit vigil in solidarity with HK protesters on Wednesday at 7.30pm.13:40 GMT - Young protesters - Near HK police headquarters, Josephine Tse and Ronald Chan, both 14, hold signs saying Hope lies with the People, Change starts with Resistance.13:32 GMT - Anger over tear gas - We want to have our own democracy and we provide our students with support, said Shum Yuen-ping, a teacher, who joined the protests after police used tear gas to disperse protesters on Sunday.We are angry and we dont know why the police could do that, teh 34-year-old told AFPs Aaron Tam.12:36 GMT - Leung villified - Graffiti villifying HKs top politician and strident pro-Beijing figure Leung Chun-ying sprouts up around the city, AFPs Ruby Tam reports. The numbers 689 a common protest motif, the figure being the number of votes Leung received from Hong Kongs Election Committee to be appointed to his post.© AFPProtesters block the Mong Kok MTR station exit as a crowd forms next to Nathan Road, a major route through the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, on September 29, 2014 © AFP Alex Ogle12:23 GMT - Flame-grilled donations - HK resident Daniel Shepherd, a 32-year-old finance broker, says he has started up a barbecue for protesters, AFPs Aaron Tam reports.I saw everybody was standing around and just eating bread and bananas, and I thought these guys have been here for 24 hours now and everybody needs cooked food, said Shepherd, a Briton.I left work early, went home, picked up my barbecue and some charcoal, went to the supermarket and bought as many sausages as we could find, added Shepherd, who has lived in Hong Kong for 13 years.12:03 GMT - Leung fangs - Protesters hold up a huge picture cut out of HK leader Leung Chun-ying with vampire fangs to loud jeers and chants for him to step down, AFPs Aaron Tam reports11:41 GMT - Mobile solidarity - Thousands of protesters in the Admiralty district all raise their phones in the air, creating a vast sea of twinkling lights, AFPs Jerome Taylor reports.11:35 GMT - Les Miserables - Protesters have raised a banner that reads Do you hear the people sing, a reference to the famous song from Les Miserables which has been adopted by the protest movement as an anthem of dissent, AFPs Jerome Taylor reports.11:26 GMT - Protests in Macau? - Global Solidarity HK tweets plans for a gathering in the territory of Macau, a former Portuguese colony, to support the HK protests on Oct 1 at 8.00pm.© AFPPro-democracy protesters gather in the Admiralty region of Hong Kong on September 29, 2014 © AFP Aaron Tam11:04 GMT - No military - Hong Kongs leader Leung Chun-ying dismisses rumours circulating on social media that he plans to call in the Chinese military, which stations a garrison in the city.There is absolutely no proof of this, he said.10:52 GMT - Tensions mounting - Protester numbers swell as activists dig in for another night of unrest.AFP reporters say about 1,000 masked protesters gathered outside a police station where senior officers held a press conference defending their liberal use of tear gas against crowds on Sunday night.© AFPMap showing the main protest site in Hong Kong on Monday, plus a map of the territory showing where other demonstrations have taken place © AFP Adrian Leung/John Saeki/Gal RomaCentral Hong Kong Paralysed10:16 GMT - Protests relatively orderly so far - A number of tweets point to the relatively well-mannered and peaceful nature of the protests.AFPs Jennifer OMahony tweets: Diff to other protests Ive covered is commitment to non-violencecriminality in HongKong. People sleeping next to unguarded $600 phones© AFPPro-democracy protesters gather near the government headquarters in Hong Kong on September 29, 2014, in the worst political crisis for the territory since the end of British rule in 1997 © AFP Anthony Wallace09:56 GMT - Former HK colonial ruler Britain concerned - Britains Foreign Office says the government is concerned about the situation in Hong Kong.Heres the full text of the short statement:The British government is concerned about the situation in Hong Kong and is monitoring events carefully.It is Britain’s longstanding position, as a co-signatory of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, that Hong Kong’s prosperity and security are underpinned by its fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to demonstrate. It is important for Hong Kong to preserve these rights and for Hong Kong people to exercise them within the law.These freedoms are best guaranteed by the transition to universal suffrage. We hope that the upcoming consultation period will produce arrangements which allow a meaningful advance for democracy in Hong Kong, and we encourage all parties to engage constructively in discussion to that end.09:47 GMT - Protesters stock up on essentials, some HK residents donate - Janet Walker, wife of AFP Photo Editor Richard Brooks, reports that some Hong Kong residents are donating to the protesters, who are stocking up on food and drink, towels, rubbing alcohol and other items.© AFPNotes from supporters of the thousands of protesters who paralysed parts of Hong Kong to demand greater democracy from Beijing are seen in Sydney on September 29, 2014 © AFP Peter Parks09:45 GMT - Tidy protesters - Hong Kong writer, director, producer @LawrenceWGray tweets: The UmbrellaRevolution of Hong Kong. Only in HK do protestors recycle water bottles and dont even smash a window.09:24 GMT - Tear gas used 87 times, 41 people injured - police - At a police news conference close to one of the main protest sites, officials say tear gas was used 87 times, AFPs Jennifer OMahony reports.Forty-one people were injured overnight into Monday morning, including 12 police officers, police said.© AFPSome protesters rest as demonstrations ebb and flow in Hong Kong on September 29, 2014 © AFP Xaume Olleros08:54 GMT - Protests hit financial sector - Hong Kongs shares tumble and the local dollar hit a six-month low against the greenback as pro-democracy protests brought parts of the city to a standstill, with many schools, businesses and banks shut.Investors are selling major banks including HSBC and Standard Chartered amid fears of a long stand-off, but the the stock exchange said trading would continue as normal.The Hang Seng Index sank 2.20 percent at one point before paring some of the losses to end 1.90 percent lower.08:44 GMT - Human Rights Watch: political earthquake in Hong Kong - US-based NGO Human Rights Watch tweets an article, dated Sunday, saying:A political earthquake is underway now in Hong Kong. On the streets of Central over the last two days, the tectonic plate of pro-democracy protests has ground up against the plate of police in riot gear, rupturing what had been an uneasy calm in the wake of Beijing making clear its disdain for its treaty promise that Hong Kong would have a high degree of autonomy.08:27 GMT - China news coverage - According to the US-based website China Digital Times, which monitors Chinese propaganda, authorities have directed websites to immediately remove any information related to the Hong Kong protests.The Peoples Daily, the Communist Partys flagship newspaper, carried no reports or editorials on the demonstrations, while its overseas edition had one report containing abstracts of statements by party organs on the clashes.In an editorial, the English-language China Daily newspaper argues that the Occupy Central group had hijacked the will of the students by suddenly moving up the date of its protest.A group of political extremists made good on their threat to paralyse Hong Kongs central business district by kicking off their illegal Occupy Central campaign on Sunday, the paper writes.Realising their failure to summon residents support for their cause, the Occupy organisers are trying to take advantage of the students idealism and enthusiasm for promoting democratic advancement in the city, it adds.© AFPA pro-democracy demonstrator (C) stands in front of a police line near Hong Kong government headquarters on Sunday © AFP Aaron Tam07:46 GMT - Umbrella Revolution - The umbrella is fast emerging as the symbol of the demonstrations that have paralysed Hong Kong -- a quintessential image in a city known for its downpours.As demonstrations turned violent Sunday evening,protesters have wrapped their eyes in clingfilm or donned goggles, wore paper face masks and cowered behind umbrellas to try to protect themselves from the tear gas and pepper spray.The umbrella is probably the most striking symbol of this Hong Kong protest. Our demonstrations used to be so peaceful, even pepper spray was very out of the ordinary, says Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy lawmaker.Now that pepper spray has become so common, were having to use umbrellas against it.The police have very high-quality shields -- we just have our umbrellas.The phrase umbrella revolution is trending on social media Monday.07:38 GMT - Taiwan backs democracy fight - Taiwans president has thrown his weight behind democracy protesters, urging mainland authorities to listen to the voice of Hong Kong people.President Ma Ying-jeou says the protesters call for free elections has his full backing.We fully understand and support Hong Kong people in their call for full universal suffrage, Ma tells a gathering of business leaders in Taipei.Developments in Hong Kong have drawn the close attention of the world in the past few days. Our government has also been very concerned, he adds.We urge the mainland authorities to listen to the voice of Hong Kong people and use peaceful and cautious measures to handle these issues.07:22 GMT - The number of protesters in Admiralty have swelled from several hundred early this morning to 20,000 people. Many are singing songs and chanting slogans, including step down Leung Chun-ying.Organisers are now asking protesters to head towards the Wanchai area as more continue to arrive.© AFPSupporters of Hong Kong democracy protesters gather in Sydney © AFP Peter Parks06:19 GMT - The US consulate says it supports Hong Kongs well established traditions... such as freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.But the statement released on Monday added that it did not take sides or support any particular group.06:51 GMT - Dramatic escalation - Analysts say it is difficult to predict what might happen next.The difficulty is that there seems to be no going back for both sides, Surya Deva, a law professor at the City University of Hong Kong, tells AFP. Which side will blink first is difficult to say, but I think protestors will prevail in the long run.Michael DeGolyer, a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, says the citys thinly-stretched police force are getting weary.Their hope is that demonstrators will get tired and quit before the police get too worn out to continue. But tempers will start getting short by tomorrow or Wednesday, he says.06:19 GMT - Australia solidarity - In Australia, Sydneys Hong Kong House was plastered with notes supporting the thousands of protesters who have gathered in the Asian city to demand full democracy from Beijing.Hundreds of people also signed a petition in support of those in Hong Kong who have stuck to their demands for full universal suffrage for the former British colony, organisers said.One protester, Chan Wing-kam, held a sign reading, I cant keep calm because Hong Kong is dying, outside the building housing the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in the city.© AFPPolice take a break on Monday morning after overnight vigils at a pro-democracy demonstration near Hong Kong government headquarters © AFP Dale de la Rey05:49 GMT - Lawyers condemn police - The Hong Kong Bar Association has issued a statement condemning what it calls excessive use of force by police against peaceful protesters, many of them young students.In it, the lawyers criticise Hong Kong police for unleashing repeated volleys of tear gas on unarmed protesters on Sunday night, often without warning.The Hong Kong Bar Association is deeply disturbed by, and deplores and condemns, the excessive and disproportionate use of force by the Hong Kong police on demonstrators, it says, adding there was plainly no justification for using the gas....The escalation in the use of force by the Hong Kong police in such circumstances was uncalled for, disproportionate, excessive, and had unnecessarily aggravated public feelings of resentment and frustration, the group says in the statement.05:47 GMT - Office workers lend support - Office workers have been heading down to protest sites on their lunch breaks, taking supplies to hungry demonstrators.The cops, they are the ones who did violent things attacking people wihout any weapons. It really stimulates our emotions, so as normal people, we know we need to do something, Maple Leung, 27, a bank customer services worker, told AFPs Aaron Tam.She had come with a colleague to donate bread and water.Envis Chan, a 26-year-old fund accountant, told AFP that he planned to return after work.The students are standing off peacefully and we are going to support them during our lunch time and after work also.The police made a mess here when they fired the tear gas, Chan said.© AFPPeople walk along a closed road during pro-democracy protests near Hong Kong government headquarters © AFP Dale de la Rey05:29 GMT - Oranges, apples, pears, please help, help by eating them, a protester shouts to crowds gathered on Connaught Road, urging demonstrators to help themselves to perishable supplies.Our reporters on the ground reports seeing the Connaught Road subway exit blocked by fences and umbrellas piled up.One banner on display at the protest zone says: We have to save our Hong Kong. Others banners reading Fight for democracy and Support students cover road signs.05:24 GMT - Throughout this morning, police presence has been noticeably more subdued with riot police replaced by smaller numbers of officers in everyday uniforms.At one protest site in Causeway Bay, there was no visible police presence.But demonstrators have shown little sign of heeding the governments call to leave the streets.Im staying until the end, until we get what we want to get, which is true democracy, 18-year-old high school student Michael Wan tells AFP.I know the feeling of tear gas but I know the Hong Kong people do not fear it, he adds.© AFPPro-democracy protesters stand in front of the police in Hong Kong on Sunday night © AFP Alex Ogle05:06 GMT - Teachers strike - The Hong Kong teachers union is calling for a general strike over the ruthless force and brutal actions taken by the government and police.The HKSAR Government turned a deaf ear and blind eyes to Hong Kong Peoples genuine appeal, aggravating the resentment and widening the split between the people and the government, says a statement posted on the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union (PTU) website.Hong Kong police used ruthless force to expel armless citizens, inflicting injuries on demonstrators with the use of weapons, acting as enemies of the people, it says.PTU express severe indignation, seriously condemn the brutal actions by the HKSAR Government and the Police, and resolve to call for a general strike by all teachers in Hong Kong.04:39 GMT - Riot police - Authorities are withdrawing riot police because protesters have calmed, a government statement says.The statement released on the government website this morning, posted only in Chinese, said: Because citizens gathered on the street have calmed, riot police have been withdrawn.The statement also calls on protesters to give up occupied roads as soon as possible for emergency vehicles to pass through and for the partial restoration of public transport services.04:38 GMT - Protesters are doomed - Demonstrators are doomed, Chinese state media says in a sharply-worded editorial in the Global Times.The radical activists are doomed, the Global Times, which is linked to the ruling Communist Party, wrote in both its Chinese- and English-language editions.Opposition groups know well its impossible to alter the decision of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress on Hong Kongs political reform plan, the paper wrote.Beijing has also wiped social media coverage of the mass protests and blocked photo-sharing service Instagram.© AFPA woman holds a sign at a pro-democracy protest on Nathan Road in Hong Kongs Kowloon district © AFP Alex Ogle04:10 GMT - Protest continues - AFPs Aaron Tam speaks to defiant protesters gathered under the strong midday sun on Connaught Road near Centrals Tamar site.We have no weapons, we just have an umbrella, 25-year-old nurse Kaley Lau tells Tam, while holding a pink umbrella to shade herself.I was not geared up because I thought they would only use pepper spray and I gave all my gear to the front line and when the tear gas came I couldnt respond, Lau says.If they start negotiations I think its a very good thing, but we will stay here until (Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying) promises to do something to make China change its decision.University teaching assistant Andy Chow adds: (Leung) tried to say we were the source of the problem in Hong Kong, but we are not the cause.Hong Kong has this problem because he does not have the intention to speak with the public, the 25-year-old says.03:54 GMT - Recycling - Our reporters have reported seeing protesters sorting trash at recycling stations outside government offices and in Admiralty, with separate piles for paper, metal, plastic bottles, plastic bags and batteries. There was even a volunteer sorter to help people out.03:37 GMT - Upside down flag - AFPs Diane Desobeau reports briefly seeing an upside-down Chinese national flag flying over Admiralty Centre early this morning.A small group of protesters started cheering and clapping after they noticed the flag fluttering upside down in the wind. The flag stayed up for about an hour, and was then taken down and rectified amid boos.© AFPProtesters take cover as police fire tear gas at a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong © AFP Xaume Olleros03:30 GMT - International support - Across the world in cities from San Francisco to London and Mostar in Bosnia, people have gathered to show their support for the Hong Kong protests, with events organised via Facebook under the banner Global Solidarity HK.Many of those demonstrating are Hong Kongers living overseas, concerned over the future of their home city after Beijings decision to outlaw free elections in 2017.In Taiwan, hundreds gathered for a peaceful sit-in in Taipeis Liberty Square on Sunday night in a mark of solidarity with the Hong Kong rallies, while smaller protests were also held in Toronto, Los Angeles and Berlin.In New Yorks Chinatown, protesters wearing the yellow ribbons that have become a symbol of the protests chanted pro-democracy slogans and waved signs declaring their support for Hong Kong.Events are planned throughout the week in cities including Perth, Auckland, Kuala Lumpur and Stockholm, the Global Solidarity HK said on its Twitter feed.03:13 GMT - Seeking shelter - AFP reporter Aaron Tam says there are about 300 protesters in Central near the Tamar site, many seeking shelter from the harsh sun. Temperatures have now reached 32 degrees Celsius.Protester supply depots have an ample supply of water, energy drinks, bread and cooling strips to be applied to the forehead to alleviate heat, Tam reports.02:57 GMT - Occupy Central, the main organisers of the democracy protests, has released a statement calling for the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has refused to enter direct dialogue with the public. Instead, he has unilaterally spoken on television to criticize the Occupy Central movement, the statement released on Monday morning says.The Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) movement strongly condemns this, and believe Leungs non-response to the peoples demands has driven Hong Kong into a crisis of disorder.OCLP strongly demands that Leung Chun-ying resign to create a space for political reform and to defuse the crisis in our society.© AFPPolice officers stand guard during overnight clashes with pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong © AFP Xaume Olleros02:41 GMT - Illegal gathering - Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency has described the demonstration in the semi-autonomous city as an illegal gathering.In June, the State Council, Chinas cabinet, reasserted Beijings control over Hong Kong in a policy white paper.And in late August the standing committee of Chinas rubber-stamp parliament, the National Peoples Congress, ruled out public nominations for Hong Kongs next chief executive in 2017, with candidates for the citys top job to be approved instead by a Beijing-backed committee.China has stationed a military garrison in Hong Kong since it resumed sovereignty over the former British colony in 1997.02:28 GMT - AFPs Diane Desobeau spoke to protesters who have taken the day off work to take part in the demonstrations.Im a product designer, who is still under probation at my new job. But today I couldnt help but take unpaid leave to support the protest, 27-year-old Mo Chung-yan tells Desobeau in Admiralty on Monday morning.Hong Kong belongs to China, but it doesnt mean they can betray the one country, two systems rule made in 1997, she adds. No matter what the result is, we have to stand up and say no.Fashion designer Lai On-ying says: I came here today because I think the city needs people to protect their future.Its just a day without money, the 28-year-old adds.© AFPProtesters argue with a man opposing pro-democracy demonstrations as they block the Mongkok MTR station next to Nathan Road © AFP Alex Ogle02:18 GMT - Student protests - Students started boycotting classes in the past week, which has seen the central government complex stormed, with pro-democracy group Occupy Central on Sunday bringing forward a mass civil disobedience campaign that had been due to start on October 1.We need to strike for freedom and for our democracy. Weve come to Mongkok because its very dangerous now in Central and Admiralty, 20-year-old student Calvin Chan tells AFP last night, referring to the main protest districts.Hong Kongs leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, says his administration is resolute in opposing the unlawful occupation actions by Occupy Central.02:11 GMT - Life or death - Protest leaders last night called on demonstrators to pull back if they felt their lives were threatened.This is a matter of life or death. If their lives are threatened they should retreat and save their lives, says professor Chan Kin-man, a co-founder of the Occupy Central group which has thrown its weight behind the protest on Sunday.Demonstrators have expressed outrage at the citys police but remained defiant.We are unarmed, just standing here, there was no warning for the gas, Harry Hung tells AFP after tear gas was fired.This is unbelievable. This is a peaceful protest and the police are the ones using violence, says demonstrator Jade Wong. The level of police violence here is just like mainland China, it was never like this before.02:06 GMT - Banks closed - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority says 17 banks have closed 29 branches across the city.Standard Chartered, HSBC Holdings, Bank of East Asia, the Bank of China and CITIC are among those who say their operations are affected by the protests.© AFPPro-democracy protesters block off Nathan Road at the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong © AFP Alex Ogle01:51 GMT - AFP videographer Agnes Bun says emotions are calm in Admiralty near the Legislative Council. Protesters are seen sleeping under umbrellas, cleaning and waiting. Some are going from group to group offering food and supplies.01:39 GMT - Travel chaos - The Transport Department says more than 200 bus routes have been suspended or diverted while central sections of the tram network are also down.AFPs Alex Ogle reports seeing angry confrontations in Mongkok between protesters and members of the public frustrated at the disruption.The citys underground rail service is largely unaffected but multiple station exits in the island districts of Causeway Bay and Admiralty -- where many international businesses are located -- are closed after protesters block them with barricades. Some exits at Mongkok are also blocked.01:37 GMT - AFPs Diane Desobeau says protesters on Harcourt Road have been seen picking up trash and sweeping leaves and cigarette butts.01:32 GMT - Stock market - Hong Kong stocks have slumped 1.18 percent at open after protests over the weekend.The Hang Seng Index fell 278.90 points to 23,399.51.Among the indexs banks HSBC was down 0.80 percent, Hang Seng Bank was 1.17 percent lower and Standard Chartered lost 1.33 percent.The stock market was already on a downtrend owing to concerns about the Chinese economy following a string of weak indicators recently. It has lost 6.5 percent since hitting its 2014 high at the start of the month.© AFPPro-democracy protesters rest near empty buses as they block off Nathan Road at the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong © AFP Alex Ogle01:19 GMT - Businesses affected - The protests have caused massive traffic disruptions in the city, with main throughfares blocked by demonstrators or police cordons.AFP photographer Alex Ogle says many affected businesses, including banks, jewellery shops and clothing stores, in the Mongkok area have stayed closed.01:13 GMT - Illegal activities - China, which stations a Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Hong Kong, says it is confident the citys administration can handle the protest.Beijing firmly opposes all illegal activities that could undermine rule of law and jeopardise social tranquility and it offers its strong backing to the Hong Kong government, says a spokesman for Chinas Hong Kong and Macau affairs office, Xinhua reports.01:10 GMT - 78 arrested - Officers have so far made 78 arrests for offences ranging from forcible entry into government premises, unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct in public place and assaulting public officers.Just hours before people started work this morning, the police issued a statement urging protesters to stay calm, stop charging police cordon lines and occupying the main roads, so that the roads can be re-opened to emergency and public vehicles.Twenty-six people are being treated for injuries, the hospital authority says.01:09 GMT - The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has announced that the securities and derivatives markets will continue to operate as normal.© AFPPro-democracy demonstrators rest after a night of protesting outside the Hong Kong government headquarters © AFP Dale de la Rey01:03 GMT - Schools closed - The Education Bureau has announced that classes in the Wan Chai, Central and Western districts will be suspended today due to traffic disruptions.Due to the disturbance to traffic by Occupy Central, the Education Bureau announced that classes of all kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and special schools in the Wan Chai, Central and Western districts would be suspended today (September 29). Schools should remain open and arrange staff to look after students who might arrive. The Education Bureau reminds parents and students to place safety as top priority when making any arrangements.00:46 GMT - Umbrella revolution - Our reporter Diane Desobeau says protesters on Harcourt Road in Admiralty are resting, many using umbrellas to shield themselves from the morning sun.Protesters have been using umbrellas for two main purposes: protection from the sun and from pepper spray.Some on social media have been calling this the umbrella revolution.00:43 GMT - Monday morning - Our reporter Jerome Taylor reports that in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay, around 1,000 protesters remain as the sun rose on Monday morning.Many lie on the main road trying to catch up on some sleep as they brace themselves for the return of police following their overnight retreat.Some have used a nearby HSBC branch to sleep with the relative comfort of air conditioning. The protest there stopped busses and trams on a major thoroughfare into the city.00:31 GMT - Police have repeatedly fired tear gas in clashes with protesters, forcing protest leaders to warn supporters to retreat and save their lives if rubber bullets are fired.This marks a dramatic escalation of rallies in the city, which rarely sees such violence, after a tense week of largely contained student-led demonstrations explodes into mass angry street protests.© AFPPolice officers stand in front of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong © AFP Xaume Olleros00:19 GMT - WELCOME TO AFPS LIVE REPORT ON ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as tens of thousands head to the streets to rally against Beijings refusal to grant the city full universal suffrage.Protesters have defiantly stuck to their demands for universal suffrage after Beijing last month said it would allow elections for the citys next leader in 2017 but will vet the candidates -- a decision branded a fake democracy.

IS jihadists close in on key Syria border town

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Damascus (AFP) - Islamic State group fighters closed in Monday to within only a few kilometres of a key Kurdish town on Syrias border with Turkey, despite new air strikes by the US-led coalition.NATO member Turkey deployed tanks to reinforce its side of the border and said parliament would this week debate joining the coalition against the jihadists operating on the countrys doorstep.The alliance carried out new raids against IS positions, but the jihadists still managed to advance within five kilometres (three miles) of the strategic Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane to the Kurds, a monitor said.It was the closest the militants had come to the town since they began advancing toward it nearly two weeks ago, sending tens of thousands of mostly Kurdish refugees across the border, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.As they advanced, the jihadists fired at least 15 rockets at the town centre, killing at least one person. Other rockets hit the border zone.© AFPTurkish Army tanks point towards the Syrian city of Kobani, on September 29, 2014, near Suruc, after three mortars hit the Turkish side of the border © AFP Bulent KilicAcross the frontier, Turkeys army was seen deploying tanks and armoured vehicles to the town of Mursitpinar, after stray bullets hit Turkish villages and at least three mortar shells crashed nearby.In Ankara, parliamentary speaker Cemil Cicek was reported to have said that motions for discussions on Turkey joining the coalition could land with lawmakers on Tuesday.Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they would be debated on Thursday.Turkey had refused to join the coalition while dozens of its citizens -- including diplomats and children -- were being held by IS after being abducted in Iraq.After they were freed, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkeys position had changed, signalling a more robust stance towards the group.We will hold discussions with our relevent institutions this week. We will definitely be where we need to be, Erdogan said on Sunday. We cannot stay out of this.- Strikes in north Syria -The coalition has been carrying out strikes against jihadists inside Syria for nearly a week, with US and Arab aircraft taking part in the raids.© AFPThe alliance against the Islamic State (IS) group © AFPCentral Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said the United States and its allies struck eight targets in Syria and three in Iraq on Sunday night and on Monday.In the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor, strikes destroyed an IS armed vehicle and an anti-aircraft artillery transporter, it said.In Raqa, the de facto headquarters of IS, two strikes hit jihadist compounds near the provincial capital, while near Minbej two other raids struck an IS training camp and vehicles in a staging area adjacent to a grain storage facility used by the jihadists as a logistics hub.The statement said initial indications were that the attacks were successful.But the Observatory, which reported the same strikes, said civilians were believed to have been killed in the raid on the grain storage facility.© AFPA US Navy photo shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet landing on the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) after conducting strike missions against jihadists © US Navy/AFP/File Brian StephensThe United State began its aerial campaign in Syria on September 23, expanding strikes that began in August against IS positions in Iraq.So far, the strikes have killed at least 211 IS jihadists and 22 civilians in Syria, according to the Britain-based monitor.The coalition has attracted dozens of countries, though only a handful of Arab allies -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan -- are participating in the strikes on Syrian soil.On Monday at the UN General Assembly, Syrias foreign minister hit out at countries which had supported Islamists, in an implicit attack on Gulf nations.Combating the Islamist threat is certainly possible through military strikes, said Walid Muallem. But most importantly, to do so through stopping states that arm, support, train, fund and smuggle those terrorist groups.

Sunil Narine reported for suspect action

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HYDERABAD, India (Agencies) - Sunil Narine, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the West Indies off-spinner was reported for suspect bowling action during match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Dolphins in the Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014. Sunil Narine is the fourth bowler who has been reported in the ongoing CLT20 tournament, joining Mohammed Hafeez and Adnan Rasool of Lahore Lions and Prenelan Subrayen of Dolphins.Sunil Narine was reported by on-field umpires Anil Chaudhary and Chettithody Shamshuddin, along with third umpire Kumar Dharamsena at the conclusion of the match. The report specifically relates to the quicker ball bowled by Sunil Narine.

New Afghan President Ghani takes oath, seeks peace talks

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Kabul (AFP) - Ashraf Ghani, a one-time US-based academic, was sworn in as new president of Afghanistan on Monday and used his inaugural speech to call for Taliban insurgents to join peace talks after 13 years of war.Officials said Ghanis first major policy move would be the signing of a long-delayed agreement allowing 12,500 US-led troops to remain in Afghanistan into 2015 to support and train the national police and army.The militant threat in Kabul was underlined by a suicide attack outside the airports main entrance that killed four members of the Afghan security forces and three civilians shortly before the inauguration.© AFPAshraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah agreed a power-sharing deal after months of dispute © AFPThe ceremony at the presidential palace marked the countrys first democratic transfer of power and opened a new era after the rule of Hamid Karzai, president since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.The June presidential election was engulfed in disputes over fraud, but international donors welcomed Mondays inauguration as a key legacy of the costly military and civilian intervention in Afghanistan.We ask opponents of the government, especially the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami (another militant group), to enter political talks, Ghani said after being sworn in.© AFPAfghan president-elect Ashraf Ghani takes the Koran in his hands to swear his oath as the countrys new president on September 29, 2014 in Kabul © AFP Shah MaraiAny problems that they have, they should tell us, we will find a solution.We ask every villager to call for peace. We ask Muslim scholars to advise the Taliban, and if they dont listen to their advice, they should cut off relations.Karzai also pursued peace talks with the insurgents, but preliminary efforts collapsed last year.Three months before the end of NATOs US-led combat mission, the Taliban still pose a serious challenge to national stability and have launched several fresh offensives in recent months.Karzai refused to sign the security deal with Washington in a disagreement that symbolised the decline of Afghan-US ties after the heady optimism of 2001.© AFPAbdullah Abdullah (C), Afghanistans new chief executive, arrives for Ashraf Ghanis swearing in ceremony in Kabul on September 29, 2014 © Pool/AFP Omar SobhaniGhani is likely to reset relations with the US at a difficult time for Afghanistan as most NATO troops leave and international aid is pared back.Both Ghani and his poll rival Abdullah Abdullah claimed to have won the election, plunging Afghanistan into months of crisis that fuelled the insurgency and worsened the countrys dire economic outlook.Under pressure from the US and UN, the two candidates eventually agreed to form a national unity government, and Ghani was declared president a week ago after an audit of nearly eight million ballot papers.© AFPNewly-sworn in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (R)embraces new Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah (L) at the inauguration ceremony in Kabul on September 29, 2014 © AFP Shah MaraiAbdullah was also sworn in on Monday as chief executive, a new role similar to a prime minister, as part of a power-sharing deal that is likely to cause friction between opposing camps within the government.Abdullah struck a positive tone at the ceremony, saying that in this critical period of history, as a team, we are committed to a national unity government based on the political deal.- Karzai says goodbye -Afghan dignitaries gathered at the palace from early morning with helicopters buzzing overhead ferrying a guest-list of low-level foreign representatives.John Podesta, counsellor to President Barack Obama, led the US delegation, with President Mamnoon Hussain representing Pakistan.Many other countries, including Britain and France, were represented only by their diplomats in Kabul.© AFPOutgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks at the swearing in ceremony for Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on September 29, 2014 © AFP Shah MaraiIm sure the new leadership has received the peoples message and will make peace and stability their priority, Karzai said at the ceremony in his final appearance as president.There is no progress without peace. If there was peace in our country, and if there were no obstacles to it, our country would have advanced more.Karzai achieved patchy success in improving education, access to health and womens rights but was often accused of failing to tackle rampant corruption and Taliban violence.Both Ghani and Abdullah are moderate, pro-Western leaders who have vowed to push ahead with reforms, with stabilising the floundering economy high on the agenda.A Ghani aide said that the security deal would be signed on Tuesday by a senior Afghan minister and US and NATO officials.© AFPAfghan security personnel inspect the site of a suicide attack near the international airport in Kabul, on September 29, 2014 © AFP Wakil KohsarOnly 33 NATO bases are still active, down from a peak of 800 -- leaving local security forces to battle the Taliban with less and less help.Final results revealed Ghani beat Abdullah 55 to 45 percent in the run-off vote, though the UN said the election had been affected by significant fraud.Both President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah carry the nations expectations, said UN mission chief Jan Kubis as he congratulated Afghanistan on the handover.Karzai was constitutionally barred from running for a third term in office.In his speech Ghani also paid tribute to his wife Rula, an unusual move in Afghanistans patriarchal Muslim culture.

US judge calls Argentina in contempt in debt case

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New York (AFP) - A US judge ruled Argentina in contempt of court Monday for its attempts to skirt his block on payments to holders of the countrys restructured debt.Federal district judge Thomas Griesa said Buenos Aires had acted illegally to avoid his orders to first pay off hedge funds that sued the country for full payment on their bonds.He noted it is a rare thing for a country to be ruled in contempt in a US court, but pointed to the actions of the Argentine government to skirt his orders in the long-running case.The court holds and rules that those proposed steps are illegal and cannot carry on, he said.But Griesa held off on deciding a penalty, which could amount to a $50,000-a-day civil fine as requested by the hedge funds.Earlier this year Griesa effectively froze Argentinas ability to transfer funds to restructured bondholders, as long as it does not pay the holdouts in the restructuring, mainly the $1.3 billion in bonds held by Aurelius Capital management and NML Capital.Because Argentina refuses to pay off the two, calling them vulture funds, Griesas order forced the country to default on a debt service payment to restructured bondholders at the end of July.After that the government passed new domestic legislation aiming to transfer its bond contracts away from US jurisdiction to Argentine jurisdiction, so that they could make the payments.And then it announced its plan to fire the official trustee for most of its debt payments, Bank of New York Mellon,which Griesa had ordered not to transfer any funds to the countrys creditors.The hedge funds then sought the contempt ruling from Griesa.Argentina has repeatedly and willfully violated the orders of the court. Argentina has repeatedly and willfully declared its intention to continue to violate these orders, they said in a complaint last week.Earlier Monday Argentinas US ambassador warned US Secretary of State John Kerry in a letter that a contempt ruling against the country would constitute unlawful interference by the United States in its affairs.Such a decision would not only fall outside the jurisdiction of said courts, but also be an unlawful interference in the domestic affairs of the Argentine Republic, triggering the international liability of the United States of America, wrote ambassador Cecilia Nahon.Nahon did not specify what action her country would take in the case of a contempt ruling.But she said it would result in an unprecedented escalation in the conflict and would be even more serious than the decision to interfere with the collection of payments made to restructured bondholders.

Japan volcano rescue suspended as death toll rises to 36

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Tokyo (AFP) - Five more bodies were found near the peak of an erupting Japanese volcano on Monday, as rescuers suspended their search because of the growing danger from toxic gas.The grim discovery takes to at least 36 the total number of people feared to have died when Mount Ontake erupted without warning during a busy hiking weekend.A police spokesman told AFP the five bodies were in addition to 31 discovered Sunday.Hundreds of firefighters, police and troops had spent much of Monday around the peak, with helicopters flying overhead, despite the gases and steam billowing from the ruptured crater of the 3,067-metre (10,121-foot) volcano.The rescue operation, which was called off Monday afternoon due to fears of toxic gas, may be further hampered on Tuesday as rain is forecast in the region.A Japanese army official who took part in the search said rescuers had been wearing helmets, bullet-proof vests, goggles and masks to protect themselves from any fresh eruption.© AFPA Japanese Self Defense Force helicopter lifts an injured climber from Mount Ontake one day after the volcano erupted, September 28, 2014 © Japan Self Defense Force/Joint staff/AFPI saw rocks up to probably one metre (3.3 feet) across that were thrown into the air by the force of the eruption, he said, adding the search had been difficult and involved digging through ash.Heartbreaking stories have begun to emerge from survivors who made it down the mountain as rolling clouds of volcanic debris swept down its flanks, smothering everything in their path.Some people were buried in ash up to their knees and the two in front of me seemed to be dead, one woman told the Asahi television network.Another told how she had overheard the last moments of a victim battered by a cascade of rocks.There was someone lying outside the hut after being hit in the back, she said. He was saying It hurts, it hurts, but after about half an hour he went quiet.Seiichi Sakurai, who had been working at one of the huts around the top of the volcano, told public broadcaster NHK that he had tried his best to help people but could not save them all.Ash was constantly falling... Some people were buried alive but I could do nothing but tell (rescuers) about them over the radio, he said.Another survivor told the Yomiuri newspaper he had seen a boy shouting Its hot and I cant breathe near the peak, before the ash clouds brought blackness and silence.- Its over. Im dying now -On Monday morning, eight bodies -- both men and women -- were airlifted from the mountain.© AFPWhite smoke rising from Mount Ontake as the Japanese volcano erupts in Nagano prefecture, central Japan, September 27, 2014 © Jiji Press/AFPAbout 60 people suffered injuries in the disaster, the government has said, including people who were hit by flying rocks and inhaled hot or poisonous fumes.Addressing a policy speech in Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed sincere condolences to victims and pledged to make utmost efforts in rescue work.For anguished families, the wait for news was taking its toll.A tearful father sobbed as he clutched a photograph of his son and the young mans girlfriend, who had not been heard from since the eruption.An elderly woman told the Asahi network that her son had telephoned her just after gas, rocks and ash began spewing from the volcano.He told me it erupted... He said Its over. Im dying now and then the line was cut off, the woman said.© AFPJapans Self Defense Force soldiers carry an injured climber from the ash covered top of Mount Ontake on September 29 © Japan Self Defense Force/Joint staff/AFPThe meteorological agency forecast further eruptions, warning that volcanic debris may settle as far as four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the peak.Japans meteorological agency keeps a round-the-clock watch on 47 volcanos thought to be at risk of violent activity over the next century, including Mount Fuji, whose eruption could have catastrophic effects.But Toshitsugu Fujii, a volcanologist at the agency, admitted accurate forecasting was very difficult.Steam explosions such as those on Ontake often occur without warning, he said.People may say we failed to predict this (because there were earthquakes in September) but this is something that could not be helped, in a sense. Thats the reality of the limit of our knowledge, he said Sunday.

Weak eurozone inflation data raises pressure on ECB

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Frankfurt (AFP) - Inflation remains stubbornly low in several eurozone states, national data showed on Monday, keeping pressure on the ECB to unveil new steps to stoke the regions moribund economy this week.Price rises in Germany, Europes biggest economy, remained stuck at ultra-low levels for the third month in a row in September, according to preliminary data.A flash estimate released by federal statistics office Destatis showed German inflation this month stood at just 0.8 percent year-on-year, unchanged since July. The last time it was lower was in February 2010.In Belgium, prices decreased by 0.12 percent in September, the first time they have fallen since November 2009, according to government data.In Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, consumer prices fell for the third month in a row this month, down 0.3 percent on a yearly basis, according to provisonal figures.Inflation has been unusually low across the 18-nation eurozone, fuelling concern the region could slip into deflation -- a sustained and widespread drop in prices that hampers economic activity and threatens jobs.Analysts predict that bloc-wide data, due to be released on Tuesday, will show an annual inflation rate of 0.3 percent in September.Ultra-low headline inflation and the setback to growth will force the ECB to revise down its... projections for growth and inflation again in December, said Holger Schmieding at Berenberg.The European Central Bank earlier this month took drastic measures to spur inflation, taking its refinancing rate down to 0.05 percent and its deposit rate further into negative territory, to minus 0.20 percent.Financial markets are also hoping that president Mario Draghi will provide more details about the banks contested liquidity programmes at its policy meeting on Thursday.In the long run, analysts expect the eurozones central lender to take more drastic measures to pump liquidity into the economy, and push inflation back toward the banks annual target of just below 2.0 percent.That could include a much wider programme of so-called quantitative easing (QE) or the purchase of unlimited amounts of bonds, a policy already practised by other central banks such as the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.The ECB will soon take the plunge into full-blown quantitative easing, Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics predicted.But while QE now seems close to a done deal, we doubt that it will be announced in October.While falling prices may sound good for consumers, deflation can trigger a vicious spiral where businesses and households delay purchases, throttling demand and causing companies to lay off workers.

Lufthansa pilots turn up heat with more strikes

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Frankfurt (AFP) - Lufthansa pilots turned up the pressure on management in a dispute over early retirement provisions Monday by calling a fourth day of walkouts, the latest challenge to cost-cutting at Europes older airlines.Just a day after pilots at French flag carrier Air France ended their longest-ever strike, Lufthansa pilots announced nearly a full-day of stoppages on long-haul flights out of Frankfurt for Tuesday.The pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit called on its members to strike on long-haul flights departing from Germanys busiest airport between 8:00 am and 11:00 pm (0600-2100 GMT).Lufthansa pilots are striking over changes to their retirement benefits, which are being brought in as part of deep structuring by the German carrier in recent years to bring down costs.Pilots can currently take paid early retirement from the age of 55. They are fighting a plan by the airline to raise the minimum age and to involve pilots in the financing of their pensions.Cockpit already grounded thousands of flights of its parent company Lufthansa during three days of strikes in March and April, costing the airline around 60 million euros ($76 million).The walkouts come as Europes long-established airlines are feeling the heat of cut-throat competition from low-cost rivals and stricter regulation.The environment within the sector has become more difficult, said DZ Bank analyst Dirk Schlamp, questioning whether the current early retirement provisions were really very appropriate in this day and age.- A lot has changed -A lot has changed and the pilots dont seem to recognise this, and public support for the pilots is waning, he added.The strike would affect services on Lufthansas Airbus A380, A330 and A340 and Boeing 747 aircraft, the union said.We feel compelled to take further industrial action as Lufthansa management has failed so far to table an offer worthy of compromise, Cockpit said.We remain open to a deal in order to avert strikes and we regret any inconvenience caused to customers, it added.© AFPThe display panel of the Lufthansa terminal shows canceled flights, at the Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich, southern Germany, on September 10, 2014 © AFP/File Christof StacheLufthansa said it would cancel 25 out of a total 57 flights from Frankfurt on Tuesday, bringing the total number of flights grounded since the end of August to nearly 500.Long-haul flights leaving from Duesseldorf and Munich would not be affected.A total 32 flights will go ahead, with 26 to be flown by volunteer pilots. Two departures will take off early, and four will be delayed until Wednesday, Lufthansa said in a statement.The airline blasted the renewed walkouts, saying it would substantially tarnish its reputation and would have unforeseeable consequences for all of the groups 120,000 employees.- Union opposition -The stoppages mark the fourth day of cancellations and delays for air passengers in Germany in recent weeks.The first strike at the end of August hit Lufthansas low-cost subsidiary Germanwings. The second walkout hit from Frankfurt and the third stoppage targeted Munich airport, Germanys second-busiest air hub.Many of Europes older airlines are running into opposition from powerful unions as they try to cut costs to compete with budget rivals.On Sunday, Air Frances main pilots union ended the longest strike in the carriers history to allow calmer talks to go ahead over the contentious issue of the airlines low-cost subsidiary Transavia.A spokesman for the SNPL union, Guillaume Schmid, told AFP the pilots were ending the protest -- which has cost Air France more than 200 million euros over the past two weeks -- so that the negotiations over Transavia can proceed.Air France sees Transavias development as vital in the struggle to retain market share in the cut-throat medium-haul sector, which is steadily being overrun by no-frills airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair.But Air France pilots, who earn up to 250,000 euros a year, fear some of their flights will be replaced with services operated by Transavia, or their contracts will be squeezed by the expansion of the subsidiary.
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