Monday 14 September 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

6 militants killed in CTD, police operation in Sheikhupura

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SHEIKHUPURA (Dunya News) – According to details, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Manawala police got information that terrorists were present in Lagar village and planning to carry out terrorist activities in Sheikhupura and Nankana.The law enforcement agency and police conducted a raid in the area upon which militants opened fire and injured a police official. Police and CTD returned the fire as a result six terrorists were killed while two of their accomplices managed to escape.A large quantity of arms and explosive material was also recovered from the possession of the dead terrorists. The dead bodies of the militants were shifted to Sheikhupura dead house.

Twin suicide bomb blasts kill 26 in Syria's Hasakeh: monitor

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BEIRUT (AFP) - At least 26 people including two children were killed on Monday in twin suicide car bomb attacks in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh, a monitor said.The attack was later claimed by the Islamic State group, which has regularly targeted Hasakeh and briefly captured parts of the city earlier this year before being expelled.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 13 civilians were killed in the two blasts, along with six members of the Kurdish security services and seven fighters from a pro-regime militia.Syrian state television also reported the explosions, though it gave a toll of 20 dead and no breakdown of the toll.The first blast hit a Kurdish checkpoint in the Khashman district of Hasakeh, where control is divided between Kurdish and regime forces.That attack killed the six Kurdish forces along with 10 civilians, the Observatory said.The second blast hit the Mahata district, apparently targeting a headquarters of the local National Defence Forces pro-regime militia.Seven members of the force were killed along with three civilians, the Britain-based monitor said.The group added that around 80 people had been wounded, and some were in a serious condition.Control of Hasakeh city -- and other parts of the province itself -- is divided between Kurdish militia and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.The city has regularly been targeted by IS, which controls some territory in Hasakeh province.The group entered the city and seized several neighbourhoods in June, but was expelled a month later after battles involving both regime troops and Kurdish fighters.In a statement posted on social media, IS claimed responsibility for the two attacks, confirming they were suicide bomb blasts.More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.The fighting has since evolved into a complex civil war involving rebels, the regime, jihadists such as IS and Kurdish fighters.

US condemns 'all acts of violence' at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Monday condemned all acts of violence at Jerusalems Al-Aqsa compound where Muslims and Israeli police clashed for a second straight day.The United States is deeply concerned by the recent violence and escalating tensions surrounding the Haram al-Sharif Temple Mount. We strongly condemn all acts of violence, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, calling on all sides to exercise restraint.Muslims have barricaded themselves inside Al-Aqsa amid protests over access to the site, venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount.Israeli security forces entered the compound early on Monday to prevent Muslim youths from harassing visiting youths.Booms could be heard outside the gates to the hillside complex, and police said masked youths threw stones at them as they entered Islams third holiest site.It is absolutely critical that all sides exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric and preserve unchanged the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif Temple Mount, in word and in practice, Kirby said.

EU ministers fail to reach unanimous refugee deal: official

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU interior ministers failed to reach unanimous agreement on Monday on a plan for binding quotas to relocate 120,000 refugees and take the strain off Greece, Italy, and Hungary, officials said.Yes, not everyone is on board at the moment, Luxembourg minister Jean Asselborn told a press conference in Brussels, adding however that there was a large majority in favour and they would return to the issue in October.EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos added: For our proposal on 120,000 we did not have the agreement we wanted.The ministers were holding emergency talks to discuss plans unveiled last week by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker to redistribute 120,000 refugees from overstretched Greece, Italy and Hungary.The plans face fierce opposition from many eastern European member states.The ministers did formally agree however to launch a plan first proposed in May to relocate 40,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy over the next two years, according to quotas suggested by the Commission.Avramopoulos said there had been very heated debates at national and a European level.The commission is determined to take action. We will need another council meeting in the coming days, he said.The quotas can be passed by a qualified majority under complex EU rules, but that would show a sign of disunity that the bloc can ill afford.EU Vice President Frans Timmermans said the numbers (being accepted) today are much too small and warned of the growing risk to refugees as winter draws near.

Saudi guard killed in Yemen border firefight: ministry

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RIYADH (AFP) - A Saudi Border Guard died Monday in an exchange of fire on the border with Yemen, the interior ministry said on day two of a major anti-rebel offensive inside Yemen.A post in Jazans Harth district came under fire from Yemen early Monday, sparking the firefight in which the soldier was killed, a ministry statement said.The attack came as anti-rebel forces backed by helicopter gunships and Gulf Arab ground troops of the Saudi-led coalition pressed their offensive in Yemen.Coalition-supported anti-rebel forces want to push the Iran-backed Huthi rebels out of Marib province and eventually move on the capital Sanaa which the rebels seized last year.Riyadh formed the Arab alliance in March, to support exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, in response to fears that the Huthis would take over all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Sunni Saudi Arabias Shiite regional rival Iran.At least 61 people have been killed in Saudi Arabia from shelling and skirmishes along the frontier with Yemen since the coalition campaign began.Most of the border casualties have been soldiers.The World Health Organization says more than 4,500 people, including a vast number of civilians, have been killed in Yemen since March 19.

Trump leads Republican race, support drops for Clinton: poll

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Donald Trump and Ben Carson lead the Republican race for the US presidential nomination, with the two non-politicians together accounting for more than half the support from potential voters, a new poll showed Monday.The Washington Post-ABC News poll also found that Hillary Rodham Clinton, dogged by a controversy over her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state, has steadily lost support over the past two months.Though she still leads the Democratic field, potential voters gave her less than 50 percent support for the first time in Post-ABC surveys, with her popularity dropping most among white women.Trump was favored by 33 percent of registered Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters.That marked a nine-point increase since mid-July and a 29-point jump since late May, before he announced he was running.Trump got the most support in this survey from potential voters without a college degree and those with incomes below $50,000.He was followed by Carson, with 20 percent -- 14 points more than in July. Other national polls have also shown him gaining more support since the first Republican debate last month.The Republican candidates next face off at a debate late Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. Only the top 11 contenders will participate in the event, hosted by CNN. Another debate preceding it will feature those candidates who did not make the cut.Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who previously appeared the lead the Republican field, now only has eight percent support -- the lowest level in a Post-ABC poll for the 2016 race. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida are next, at seven percent.The others were below five percent support -- Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.Walker had a precipitous drop from 13 percent in July to two percent in the latest poll.Clinton was backed by 42 percent of Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents -- a 21-point drop since July -- followed by Senator Bernie Sanders with 24 percent, a 10-point increase since July.Vice President Joe Biden, who is weighing a potential run but has warned he is still dealing with the death of his son Beau earlier this year, sat in third with 21 percent. That marked a gain of nine points for Biden.If Biden decides against a run, Clintons support jumps 14 points to 56 percent, while Sanders only gains four points to 28 percent, according to the poll.The survey, conducted by telephone September 7-10, 2015 among a random sample of 1,003 adults nationwide, has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Hollande says fight against Boko Haram, IS 'the same'

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PARIS (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande said Monday that the fight against Boko Haram and Islamic State jihadists is the same battle after he met Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari.Buhari, who is on a three-day visit to France seeking support for his battle against Boko Haram, warned the jihadist group had expanded after declaring its loyalty to IS.He said the jihadists alliance, announced in March, had given Boko Haram a source of material resources.We know Boko Haram is linked to Daesh and so receives help, support from this group, Hollande said, using the Arabic acronym for the IS group.To fight Boko Haram is to fight Daesh, and we can no longer single out terrorism according to regions. It is the same terrorism, inspired by the same ideology of death, the French leader added.Buharis three-day trip to France comes a little more than three months after he took charge of Africas largest economy.The 72-year-old former military ruler will also meet with members of government on defence, security, trade and investment in his oil-rich country.Buhari has made defeating Boko Haram a priority since he came to power in May, after six years of bloodshed that has left at least 15,000 dead and made more than two million others homeless.Anglophone Nigeria is in a coalition with Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin, and overcoming historically suspicious ties with its French-speaking neighbours is seen as key to defeating the Islamist militants.Frances military base in Chads capital, NDjamena has become the hub of its operations against jihadists in the Sahel region, and last month Hollande proposed to host an international meeting on tackling Boko Haram.While Boko Haram has lost territory it once controlled in northeastern Nigeria, it has nevertheless stepped up deadly ambushes in its traditional heartland and across the border in Cameroon and Chad.Frances assistance to Nigeria against Boko Haram focuses mainly on intelligence operations, said a source close to Hollande, adding that Paris conducts surveillance flights over Nigeria at the request of the Nigerians.Buhari is also trying to revitalise Nigerias oil-dependent economy after a slump in revenue caused by the fall in global crude prices since mid-2014, made worse by claims the countrys treasury was left virtually empty by Buharis predecessor Goodluck Jonathan.During his trip he will meet the heads of French oil giant Total and concrete manufacturer Lafarge, both of which have operations in Nigeria.Hollande said a number of agreements had been signed in the agricultural sector which is Buharis major priority.The 180-million-strong Nigerian population may still suffer from widespread poverty, but the country is also experiencing the rise of a middle class with considerable spending power that is attracting investors, despite Nigerias poor infrastructure.The French presidency source, who wished to remain anonymous, said French supermarket chain Carrefour is planning to open stores in Nigeria, carmaker Peugeot is going to reinvest in existing operations and Renault is considering establishing a presence there.

Delhi orders extra hospital beds after dengue outbreak

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NEW DELHI (AFP) - New Delhis government ordered Monday 1,000 extra beds in hospitals to treat dengue patients, as the Indian capital reels from the worst outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease in five years.The government was spurred into action following the suicide of a couple whose seven-year-old son died from the fever allegedly after being refused treatment at a number of Delhi hospitals.As well as the extra beds, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain ordered fever clinics be set up at overwhelmed hospitals to help with the numbers, telling reporters that there is no need to panic.I have ordered all government hospitals that they should not refuse to admit dengue patients even if they have to treat two patients on a single bed, he said.There have been 1,714 cases recorded in the city so far this year, mostly in recent weeks, compared to 1,695 for all of 2010, officials said.This is the worst outbreak in the last five years and it is going to further increase as the weather remains humid, Y K Mann, director of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, told AFP.Dengue fever, also known as breakbone disease which has no known vaccination or cure, strikes fear into the citizens of Delhi when it arrives with the monsoon rains.Eight suspected dengue deaths have been reported this year.Hospitals across the capital are stretched to breaking, with TV footage showing patients sharing beds and scores jostling at government health facilities for free tests for the fever.The governments moves come after a grief-stricken couple jumped from a four-storey building in Delhi last week, two days after their sons death.The national government ordered an inquiry into the tragedy following media reports on the weekend that the boy was turned away from several stretched private hospitals, sparking a public outcry. The virus -- first detected in the 1950s in the Philippines and Thailand -- affects two million people across the globe annually, with the number of cases up 30 times in the last 50 years, according to the World Health Organisation.Transmitted to humans by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, it causes high fever, headaches, itching and joint pains that last about a week.

Six dead in Nigeria school collapse

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JOS (AFP) - Six people died after a primary school collapsed at a town near Jos, central Nigeria, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Monday.Three boys, two girls and a teacher were killed in the incident on Sunday at the Abu Naima school in Bukuru, NEMA local coordinator Mohammed Abdulsalam said.Abdulsalam had previously given a toll of five people dead and 24 injured.Investigators are looking at whether the addition of extra floors onto the single-storey building was a factor, he said.Heavy rains earlier in the day saw many children stay away from the school, which is for pupils aged five to 10, he added.The rescue operation was concluded last night (Sunday) at about 10 oclock (2100 GMT). We are going this morning for further checks, he explained.Building collapses are common in Nigeria, particularly during seasonal rains. Sub-standard building materials and lack of planning permission are often contributory factors.Last year, 116 people, most of them South Africans, were killed when a guesthouse for foreign followers of popular pastor and televangelist TB Joshua collapsed in the financial capital, Lagos.A coroner in July ruled that structural failures caused the collapse and recommended the church should be investigated and prosecuted for not obtaining planning approval.Extra floors were being added to the building at the time.

US prof allegedly kills woman, shoots colleague on campus

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CHICAGO (AFP) - A geography instructor was accused of killing a woman he lived with then driving hours to a university in the southern state of Mississippi and shooting a professor dead on Monday. Delta State University was locked down as police searched for Shannon Lamb, who was considered armed and dangerous. Police in the coastal town of Gautier, Mississippi were investigating the murder of a woman in Lambs home when they got news of the campus shooting some 300 miles (nearly 500 kilometers) north.Were working right now under the assumption that both events are related, Gautier police detective Matthew Hoggatt told reporters.The Biloxi Sun Herald reported that the woman who was killed in the home lived there with Lamb.Delta State University sent out an alert urging students to stay inside and away from windows after an active shooter was spotted on campus.Please take immediate lock down action, the university wrote on Twitter shortly after 11:30 am (1530 GMT). It later confirmed that Ethan Schmidt, a professor of American history, had been killed.Lamb was among a long list of colleagues that Schmidt thanked in his 2014 book Native Americans in the American Revolution. We are grieving on this campus with this loss, and our condolences are with the family at this time, University Relations Vice President Michelle Roberts said in a statement.Police were searching every building on the campus even though the university said they did not believe Lamb was still there.Students and staff were told to stay where they were until police could safely move them to a sports arena. Lamb received his doctorate from Delta State last year, according to a faculty profile posted on the universitys website. His areas of expertise include the geography of crime, social science education, economic geography and high-stakes testing.He joined the university in 2009 and also received his undergraduate and masters degree from Delta State.Schools in the area were also on lockdown as police searched for the shooter, WLBT News reported.Delta State is a public university which has more than 4,000 students. It is located in the small town of Cleveland about 120 miles (200 kilometers) north of Jackson, Mississippi.Classes were canceled on Monday and Tuesday and the university was providing counselors for those impacted by the shooting.

18 killed in Madagascar cattle-rustling clashes: police

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ANTANANARIVO (AFP) - At least 18 people, including a paramilitary policeman, were killed in cattle-rustling violence in Madagascar over the weekend when thousands of animals were also stolen, police said Monday.Theft of the much-prized humped zebu cattle has surged in recent years on the Indian Ocean island, where hunting the animals is a rural tradition among young men seeking to prove their virility.The cattle are also stolen to be sold for money to the nearby island nation of Comoros, despite a government ban.Hundreds of cattle thieves attacked Miangaly village... taking 2,800 cattle, Herilalatiana Andrianarisaona, a paramilitary police spokesman, told AFP about the incident in the countrys southeast.The military and the police, backed by a helicopter, launched raids on the rustling gangs, triggering fierce firefights.The dead included 14 rustlers, three villagers and one officer, according to police. No arrests have been made yet.Cattle stealing has fuelled inter-communal violence in Madagascar, with the army accused of carrying out extra-judicial killings and razing villages that are suspected of sheltering rustlers.A symbol of wealth, zebu are at the heart of local culture in southern Madagascar, where they are eaten only at weddings or special celebrations, sacrificed for ancestor worship or in burial rituals.

Traffic jams at German border, scenes 'like the 80s'

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FREILASSING (AFP) - Honking cars with stressed drivers banked up for kilometres (miles) at an Austrian-German road crossing Monday, hours after Berlin reimposed border checks to control a massive refugee influx.Two German police officers checked the identity papers of the steady stream of drivers and passengers on a bridge where the morning traffic bottle-necked into a single lane.Its like being back in the 1980s, complained one of the drivers caught up in the traffic jam, 71-year-old German pensioner Helmut Zimmermann. I would never have imagined such poor organisation.Decades after most of Europe abolished internal border controls, Germany on Sunday installed impromptu checkpoints again, in a desperate bid to manage Europes biggest wave of asylum-seekers since World War II.Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman said Monday that Germany is not slamming its doors shut to refugees but that the drastic measure was needed to bring some order to the asylum process.The two police officers were checking papers and radioing to their colleagues further down the road which motorists to pull aside for closer questioning.No refugees could be seen, either in vehicles or on foot, at the Freilassing border point early Monday.Zimmermann said he had crossed the border from his small German hometown of Piding in the morning, only to be caught up in the wait on the way back.I always drive across to Austria to buy cigarettes and fill up on petrol, because of the lower prices, he told AFP.He welcomed the new controls, but not the way they were being carried out, grumbling that it couldnt possibly work smoothly with just two police officers on that bridge.I cant understand why theyre doing it this way, he said, having already waited for 45 minutes.He also doubted the effort would work, pointing to what he called the green border of open fields and forests all around.For that, the green border is far too porous, he said. In the past few days people have crossed here again and again. Just a few days ago my wife saw a few dark-skinned people come out of the forest.Also caught up in the traffic pileup was Rudolf Windhofer, a 56-year-old taxi driver from the Austrian city of Salzburg, who was taking school students across the border to Bavaria state.Ive never waited this long, Ive never seen anything like it, he complained. Having regularly driven the route for 12 years, he said, he was now losing money.During the extra time I need here I cant take any other fares, and the students are all going to be late, he said.The police, meanwhile, said the effort hadnt yet netted any people traffickers, after several were arrested the previous day.We havent seen any smugglers for hours, said one of the officers, declining to give his name.They would be pretty stupid to still be arriving now. They would get a free one-way trip to prison.

Wildfires wreak havoc across northern California, killing one

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SAN ANDREAS (AFP) - Firefighters on Monday battled devastating blazes in northern California that have reduced hundreds of homes to smoldering ruins and killed an elderly disabled woman unable to flee the flames.Officials said the victim, who was not identified, died in the Cobb area of Lake County that has been especially hard hit by the wildfires.The resident was apparently unable to self-evacuate and responders were unable to make it to her home before the fire engulfed the structure, the local sheriffs office said.It said rescuers had been flooded with calls Saturday from people asking for help getting out of their homes but were unable to reach the subdivision where the woman lived.This marks the first civilian fatality in the wildfires that have devastated the western United States in recent months.State disaster officials said the fast-moving infernos in northern California had consumed more than 100,000 acres (more than 50,000 hectares), forcing thousands to flee their homes.Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), said the blazes were still spreading due to winds.Winds are pushing south and there are new evacuations on the northern edge of the Valley Fire, he said, referring to one of two areas that has been particularly devastated.Among the hardest hit areas is Lake County, where the hamlet of Middletown was reduced to rubble by the flames that left an apocalyptic scene.An AFP reporter who visited the town saw smoldering homes, melted vehicles and downed power lines.There is metal dripping off the cars because of the heat, he said.About a mile outside of the town lay a dead horse by the side of the road.Many residents in the region said the air was so thick with smoke, it was difficult to breath.Its hazy with smoke and smells like ashes, one resident, Rosendo Vallejo, tweeted.The Valley Fire is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of the state capital Sacramento and the second major inferno -- the Butte Fire -- about 100 miles to the east.More than 11,000 firefighters are battling a dozen large fires across California.Citing the widespread destruction, Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday declared a state of emergency for Lake and Napa counties -- wine-producing regions north of San Francisco. Area schools were also closed on Monday.Were really in a battle with nature, and nature is more powerful than we are, Brown told reporters on Monday.The recent fires have been fueled by tinder-dry conditions across the western United States, which has been starved for rain for the past several years. The prolonged dry spell has been exacerbated by record high temperatures, which many environmentalists blame on global warming.Berlant said the Valley fire has so far consumed 61,000 acres (24,685 hectares), and was only five percent contained, with 1,200 firefighters mobilized to tackle it.The 4,400 firefighters combatting the Butte fire have had more success. That blaze has consumed some 70,000 acres, but is now about 30 percent contained.Together the twin blazes have destroyed an area nine times the size of Manhattan.About 6,400 homes are still threatened by these monster fires, Berlant said, although some evacuation orders linked to the Butte fire have been lifted.Three other fires are scorching the earth in the neighboring state of Oregon and 10 further north in Washington state.While temperatures are cooler than in the past week, conditions remain extremely dry, which allow fires to burn at a rapid rate.Firefighters from across the country, as well as Australia and New Zealand, have lent a helping hand.National Guard troops have also been called in.Berlant said Cal Fire has spent more than $212 million since July 1 to fight fires under its jurisdiction. The US Forest Service has spent an additional $1.31 billion battling blazes and says it is approaching its record expenditure, from 2002, of $1.65 billion.

Russia successfully launches satellite with Proton rocket

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MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia on Monday successfully launched a Proton rocket, carrying a Russian telecoms satellite, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in the second successful launch since the disastrous loss of a Mexican satellite in May. The Proton-M took off at 10:10 pm local time (19:10 GMT) from the desert launch site. The launch of the rocket was normal, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement. Russia had also successfully launched a Proton rocket, carrying a British satellite, in late August. In May, a Mexican satellite was lost after a Proton-M rocket crashed shortly after the launch. The state-run Khrunichev Centre spacecraft manufacturer said that failure was due to a construction flaw in one of the engines.Based on a Soviet-era design, the Proton-M is viewed as a veteran workhorse of the space industry and Russia is developing a new generation of rockets to succeed it.Russia was forced to put all space travel on hold after an unmanned Progress freighter taking cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) crashed back to Earth in late April.The doomed ship lost contact with Earth and burned up in the atmosphere. The failure, which Russia has blamed on a problem in a Soyuz rocket, also forced a group of astronauts to spend an extra month aboard the ISS. But last month astronauts from Russia, Japan and the United States travelled successfully to the ISS after a two-month delay caused by the rocket failure.

Oil extends losses as OPEC cuts demand growth forecast

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NEW YORK (AFP) - World crude prices extended their losses Monday, pressured by persistent concerns about the global supply glut as OPEC lowered its demand growth forecast for next year.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in October dropped 63 cents to $44.00 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent North Sea crude for October, the global benchmark for crude oil, tumbled to $46.37 a barrel in London, down $1.77 from Fridays settlement.Both key contracts had fallen Friday, capping weekly losses of about three percent. Worries about the global oversupply, which has outpaced demand, have pushed crude prices down by more than half since June 2014.On Monday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2016 as emerging markets, the motor of the world economy in recent years, struggle with slowing growth.The cartel said demand would grow by 1.29 million barrels per day to 94.08 million barrels a day next year, 50,000 barrels less than its previous estimate. The market also is focused on the Federal Reserves upcoming interest rate decision on Thursday, with speculation divided over whether the Federal Open Market Committee will hike the benchmark federal funds rate for the first time since 2006.The petroleum markets are testing the downside in Monday trade amid concerns over apparent slowing in Chinas economy and uncertainty over whether the FOMC will opt to raise the fed funds rate this week, said Tim Evans of Citi Futures.Analysts say that a hike in the zero-level benchmark rate would likely push the dollar higher, making dollar-priced crude oil more expensive and potentially further damping demand.
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