Tuesday 10 November 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Dollar rally fizzles, dealers await China release

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HONG KONG (AFP) - The dollar edged down in Asia Wednesday after rallying since last weeks US jobs data while Asian equities mostly dipped as investors nervously await there release of more Chinese economic data.Another run of disappointing figures out of Beijing this week, on trade and inflation, has reinforced worries about Chinas outlook. And Wednesdays readings will be pored over for further clues about the worlds number two economy, a key driver of global growth.Despite ongoing weaknesses in global economy, particularly in China, the Federal Reserve has been widely tipped to hike borrowing rates as it looks to prevent bubbles appearing at home.Fridays bumper US jobs report ramped up speculation that central bank policymakers will announce a lift-off before the end of the year, which sent the dollar surging Friday and Monday.However, Masato Yanagiya, head of foreign-exchange and money trading at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. in New York, said the Fed would likely be studying world markets before making its decision.The wild card to the otherwise straight road to a rate hike is stock moves, Yanagiya told Bloomberg News.Tumbling stocks would overhaul the scenario of a Fed rate hike and dollar buying. The Fed may not like stock declines and in that sense, it now depends on markets not data.On Wednesday the greenback dipped against the euro after hitting a six-month high in New York trade. Adding to selling pressure on the single currency are expectations the European Central Bank will further loosen its own monetary policy to try to kickstart the eurozones torpid economy.- China data in focus -=======================The euro was at $1.0732 early Wednesday in Tokyo, from $1.0727 in New York, where it at one point touched $1.0675, its lowest level since late April.The dollar also edged down to 123.04 yen from 123.19 yen.Emerging market currencies also strengthened slightly for a second day, having been hammered at the start of the week.Malaysias ringgit, the Indonesian rupiah and South Korean won were the main winners after being hurt the most on Monday. There were also gains for the Australian and Singapore dollars, as well as the Thai baht.On equities markets dealers were keeping to the sidelines before Beijing announces data on investment, retail sales and factory output.Months of weak readings have put pressure on Beijing to act as it struggles to transform the nations growth model to a more stable one driven by domestic consumption and away from decades of export reliance and state investment.Economic growth continues to slow -- at annual levels not seen in a quarter of a century -- despite moves to boost lending, including six interest rate cuts in 12 months and several reductions in the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve.Attention will also be paid to retailers Wednesday in China as it marks Singles Day, which has become the worlds biggest shopping day that sees billions spent by the countrys cashed up consumers.

Two dead in Ohio after business jet crashes into building

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OHIO (Reuters) -Two people died after a business jet crashed into an apartment building approaching an Akron, Ohio airport on Tuesday afternoon, according to local media and authorities.Both the Federal Aviation Administration and local police confirmed a plane crash in Akron at around 3 p.m. local time (2000 GMT). The Cleveland Plain Dealer said that the pilot and co-pilot are dead, citing the Akron Fire Department.It was not immediately known if there were other injuries in the crash.FAA investigators were on their way to the accident, which involved a Hawker H25 business jet, and the National Transportation Safety Board will be in charge of the investigation, according to FAA Spokesman Tony Molinaro.The jet had been approaching the Akron Fulton Airport, Molinaro said.The crash also started a fire and Akron-based utility FirstEnergy Corp said it caused power outage for 1,500 customers around the airport.It appears that the plane clipped a couple of lines, said Mark Durbin, a FirstEnergy spokesman.

Pakistan to face England in first ODI today

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ABU DHABI (Dunya News/Agencies) – The first match of the four-match one-day international series will be played at the at Sheikh Zayed Cricket stadium Abu Dhabi today (Wednesday). The match will start at 4:00pm (PST).Pakistan, winning the three-match Test series 2-0, are seeking huge improvement in their one-day rankings to lift for the 2019 World Cup to be held in England.Besides hosts England, seven other top-ranked sides as of September 30 2017, will qualify directly. The only way Pakistan can move up the order is by winning matches against higher-ranked sides.Pakistan, sitting eighth compared to Englands sixth, will hope they do not repeat their below-par performances in 2012 when they lost 4-0 in the UAE.We know the importance of this series and have to do well to build the side for the future, especially with the Champions Trophy 2017, rankings and the 2019 World Cup all in the mind, said coach Waqar Younis.Leg-spinner Yasir Shah will hope to carry his Test form, taking 15 wickets in two matches, into one-dayers.One-day cricket has changed and now even a 300-plus total is not safe which England have adopted and are a dangerous side, said Waqar.After being the only top side not to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, England beat finalists New Zealand 3-2 before losing 3-2 to Australia after the Ashes - both at home.England media reported some players were training under a baseball expert Julian Wood to develop more hitting techniques.Julian has worked with us before, done a really good job, Englands director of coaches Andy Flower was quoted as saying. Part of our job is to offer options to players and they make decisions about whether they want to adopt things.Pakistan (probable): 1 Azhar Ali (capt), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Bilal Asif/Mohammad Rizwan/Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Anwar Ali, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Mohammad Irfan.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 James Taylor, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 David Willey, 11 Reece Topley.

Pakistan to sign economic zone deal with China: official

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QUETTA (AFP) - Pakistans poorest province is set to sign a deal with China Wednesday allotting thousands of acres of land for Beijing to develop a massive special economic zone in the deep sea port of Gwadar, officials told AFP.The 40-year lease will see the government of Baluchistan hand over a 923-hectare (2,300-acre) swathe of tax-exempt land as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an ambitious $46 billion investment plan linking western China to the Arabian Sea.The contract assigning the land to the China Overseas Port Holding Company is being signed on Wednesday in Gwadar, according to Dostain Khan Jamaldini, chief of the Gwadar Port Authority.The contract will allow China to build an export zone and an international airport, Baluchistans top provincial official said Tuesday.China has asked us to provide land for building an export processing zone and a modern international airport in Gwadar, Baluchistan Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch told AFP.China is also building a road network to link the zone to the airport and a sea port, and the provincial government will provide the land according to their requirements, he said.As part of the wider plans, work on the Gwadar International Airport would start in the next couple of months.Pakistan is also raising a special security force of between 10,000 and 25,000 men to protect the port.Desperately poor Baluchistan has been roiled since 2004 by a separatist insurgency aimed at seeking greater control over the provinces rich oil, gas and mineral resources.Gwadar port, located 540 kilometres (335 miles) southwest of Karachi, was built in 2007 with technical help from Beijing as well as Chinese financial assistance of some $248 million.But acquiring the land from private owners to build the economic zone took several years and cost the Baluch government around $62 million, officials have said.Some Baluch nationalists have accused the Chinese of conspiring with the Pakistani elite to plunder the provinces resources while doing little to share profits and create jobs for local people.

OGRA gives approval for rise in gas price

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday has given its approval for the rise in Sui Northern and Southern gas prices.Sources say according to OGRA’s approval, Sui Northern gas price will rise by Rs. 12 per mmBtu.For Sui Southern gas, the price of gas will rise by Rs. 38 per mmBtu for the year 2012 and 13. Sources also said that for year 2014, OGRA has approved the elevation of gas prices as Sui Northern gas price will increase by Rs. 37 per mmBtu while Sui Southern’s price will be increased by Rs. 52 mmBtu.

Karachi: CTD arrests RAW trained terrorist, three target killers

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Counter-Terrorism Department on Tuesday arrested an Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence force trained terrorist. Three other target killers were also arrested in a separate incidence of CTD raid.According to the details, CTD raided the terrorist’s hideout on intelligence tip off. Speaking on the matter, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) CTD Junaid Sheikh stated that the RAW trained target killer named Shahid belonged to a political party and has confessed to the target killing of 7 people.Meanwhile, CTD also arrested two Tehreek-e-Taliban target killers Shah Jalal and Shakir who were involved in the target killings of nine people.CTD also arrested two street criminals Kashan and Ismail for their involvement in cases of robbery.

Football: Infantino 'to withdraw' from FIFA election if Platini stands

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MILAN (AFP) - UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino vowed on Tuesday to withdraw from FIFAs presidential election if Michel Platini, the UEFA president who is serving a 90-day ban from all football-related activities, is allowed to stand.Platini is my president and Ive worked with him for nine years. Its clear that I have his support, otherwise I would not be running, Infantino told Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport.And there is another thing that must be clarified, he added.My candidacy is not in opposition to Michel. If he is able to stand, I will withdraw. Its a simple principle of loyalty. But right now I am a candidate 100 per cent and Im moving forward, not only for Europe but for world football.Speaking of his plans to run for world footballs lead role, Infantino acknowledged he shared lots of points in common with Platini in relation to development and reforms but that he also had his own ideas.I am Infantino and Platini is Platini. Its my programme. The priorities are the same but there will be some differences.Yet Infantino said that in principle he, as a candidate, was focused on several key reforms, one of which is the indispensible reform of world governing body FIFA.The reform of FIFA. Its indispensible. We need financial transparency, so that we know what money is coming in and which is going out, he said.Also, the separation of powers. The Executive will soon become known as the Council and will become a political body, separate from the administration. We also have to put limits on mandates and the age at which they can he held.Secondly, decisions have to become democratic. There are 209 national federations, big and small, and each one should have a say, not just every four years to elect the president.And we need made-to-measure plans in terms of investing in development. In recent years weve spoken very little about football.FIFA has huge revenues from the World Cup and should be investing them, taking into account the different needs. Germany, for example, has different needs compared to Burundi.The African vote is expected to be crucial for whoever is standing for the FIFA presidency and Infantino said the worlds governing body could do more to help the continent.FIFA can do a lot for Africa, helping them by investing in basic necessities, he said.Sometimes they even struggle to organise games because the travel costs are too expensive: that shouldnt be happening.Seven candidates are in the running to succeed Sepp Blatter as FIFA president for the February 26 election next year.The other five candidates are Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale.Asian football head Sheikh Salman is expected to step aside should Platini emerge unscathed from the investigation.But until then Infantino said he will continue to act as though he was a candidate: Maybe its premature to be having that discussion. All I can say is relations with Asia and South America are good.But before talking politics, I have to talk about football. I have to convince the others my arguments are solid and make them understand the Europeans are not just rich and arrogant.To do this, I will soon travel around the world: to talk with the federations, try to understand their problems and to garner their support.

Athletics: Shamed ex-IAAF head Diack resigns as foundation president

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LAUSANNE (AFP) - Disgraced former IAAF president Lamine Diack on Tuesday resigned as president of the International Athletics Foundation in the wake of damaging corruption charges that have rocked track and field.The IAAF confirms it has tonight (Tuesday) received a letter from Lamine Diack resigning his position as President of the International Athletics Foundation (IAF), the IAAF said in a statement.This information has been passed to IAF Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.Discussions will be held in due course regarding the IAF and the appointment of a new IAF President.Established by the IAAF in 1986 by then-IAAF president Primo Nebiolo, the foundations primary mission is to charitably assist the world governing body for track and field athletics... and its affiliated national governing bodies in perpetuating the development and promotion of athletics worldwide.Diack took over as foundation president after Nebiolos death in 1999.The foundation is best known in the public eye for organising the prestigious black-tie gala awards, which honour the best athletes of the year.The IAAF last week cancelled this years annual gala just days after Diack was charged by French police with corruption over suspicions he took bribes to cover up doping cases.

Football: Neymar back for Brazil against injury-hit Argentina

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MONTEVIDEO (AFP) - Brazil superstar Neymar returns from suspension to face an injury-hit Argentina on Thursday as South Americas qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup resumes with a showdown between the bitter continental rivals.Neymar was forced to sit out Brazils opening two qualifiers last month -- a 2-0 defeat to Chile followed by a 3-1 victory over Venezuela -- following his four-match suspension at the Copa America in June.But the talismanic striker is now back and available for Brazil as the five-time world champions head to Buenos Aires to face an Argentina side who took only one point from their first two games.Argentina suffered a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Ecuador in their opening game and then labored to a goalless stalemate against Paraguay in Asuncion.Those results have piled the pressure on beleaguered Argentina manager Gerardo Tata Martino, whose position had already come under scrutiny after his star-studded sides failure to win the Copa America.Martinos preparations for Thursdays showdown at the Estadio Monumental have been thrown into turmoil by an injury crisis which has deprived him of an array of attacking talent.Messi, Aguero missingCaptain Lionel Messi had already been ruled out after suffering a long-term knee injury in September.Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is also unavailable while Carlos Tevez is rated as doubtful after suffering a knee problem. Boca Juniors striker Tevez skipped training on Monday and is struggling to be fit according to press reports in Argentina.Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore is also a concern after suffering a calf injury.Brazil veteran Kaka, restored to the squad by coach Dunga earlier this year, has urged the Selecao to draw on the memory of their 3-1 win in Argentina during a 2009 World Cup qualifier as they prepare for Thursdays clash.Argentina havent won a game yet so they have an extra motivation to beat Brazil, Kaka said.We had a good win over Venezuela and we need to continue that. But its never easy against Argentina and its always a great game.We know how difficult it is to go there and get a result, but we can win. We went there in 2009 and won -- I can remember the party we had at the end of that match, the former AC Milan star said.Uruguay psychedElsewhere on Thursday, Ecuador and Uruguay will meet in a top-of-the-table meeting involving two sides with 100 percent records.Uruguay, who are still missing Luis Suarez as he serves out the remainder of his 2014 World Cup biting ban, will be able to recall striker Edinson Cavani, suspended during the Copa America for his lurid altercation with Chiles Gonzalo Jara.The Uruguayans defeated Bolivia and Colombia in their opening games while Ecuador are brimming with confidence after stunning Argentina before a further win over Bolivia at home.Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez has urged La Celeste to reproduce the decisiveness shown in their opening victories as they head for an awkward assignment at altitude against Ecuador on Thursday.We need to be decisive, to be balanced, to work hard to limit the opponent and to try to create problems to get the points, Tabarez said. Were psyched up and ready.Ecuador meanwhile are facing injury problems of their own, with English Premier League duo Enner Valencia and Antonio Valencia both missing along with attacking midfielders Michael Arroyo and Renato Ibarra.In Thursdays other marquee match, Copa America champions Chile take on a Colombia side who have Real Madrid superstar James Rodriguez fit and available for selection once more.Elsewhere Thursday Bolivia and Venezuela meet in La Paz seeking their first points of the qualifying campaign.Peru and Paraguay will face each other on Friday in Lima.

At least 22 dead in attack on Syria regime bastion: media

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DAMASCUS (AFP) - At least 22 people were killed in mortar fire Tuesday on Syrias coastal city of Latakia, in one of the bloodiest shellings there since the countrys war began, state media reported.The toll rose to 22 people killed and 62 wounded in the attack on eastern neighbourhoods of the regime bastion, state television said.Earlier, state news agency SANA had said 12 people died and 57 were hurt when two mortar rounds struck residential neighbourhoods. Latakia lies in the heartland of the minority Alawite sect to which Syrias ruling clan belongs and has been largely spared attacks during four and a half years of civil war. A rare car bombing in September killed 10 people and wounded dozens in Hamam Square in the provincial capital. Rebels and jihadists, including Al-Qaedas Syria affiliate, have long targeted the region, in part for its symbolic value as a regime stronghold.According to a Syrian security source, Tuesdays attack took place near Latakias Tishreen University, where many students were gathered.Abir Selman, a 24-year old literature student at the university, said she was waiting for the bus when the mortars struck. I saw blood everywhere and people running in every direction, she told AFP. I passed by a corpse that had nothing left except for its legs... We wait at this bus stop every day, Selman added. Syrian state television broadcast video footage of blood-stained streets littered with broken class and mangled cars. Meanwhile, one person was killed and five wounded in a mortar attack on residential areas of Damascus, state television said.According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights at least 10 mortar rounds struck various neighbourhoods of the capital. The Britain-based Observatory said another four people, including a child, were killed in government rocket fire on the flashpoint town of Douma, east of Damascus. The toll was likely to rise as some of those wounded were in critical condition, the monitoring group said.Douma lies in the opposition bastion of Eastern Ghouta, which is regularly bombarded by regime forces. Suspected Russian strikes on the town last week killed at least 23 civilians. More than 250,000 people have been killed in Syrias conflict, which began in March 2011 with anti-government protests but spiralled into a civil war after a brutal crackdown by government security forces.

Suu Kyi party eyes landslide at Myanmar polls as results trickle in

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YANGON (AFP) - Aung San Suu Kyis opposition appeared on the verge of a landslide election win that could finally reset Myanmar after decades of army control Tuesday, as a top member of the ruling party said they had lost completely.The polls, the first contested by Suu Kyis National League for Democracy since 1990, saw voter turnout hit around 80 percent as Myanmars long-suffering people made their voice known at the ballot box.The military ruled the country with an iron fist for half a century, killing, jailing and silencing dissenters and flat-lining the economy with madcap policies and rampant corruption, before stepping aside in 2011 in favour of a quasi-civilian regime.Official results from Sundays historic polls, drip fed to the public since Monday, showed major NLD gains.By Tuesday evening the party had swept up 88 percent of the declared seats, taking 78 in the lower house and a further 29 in the upper chamber.Suu Kyi said she believed that would play out into a healthy parliamentary majority. We probably will get between, around 75 percent in the union legislature, she told the BBC in an interview.The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) meanwhile faced a rout after taking just a handful of those spots in the 440-seat house.Our USDP lost completely. The NLD has won, senior party member Kyi Win told AFP from party headquarters in the capital Naypyidaw.This is the fate of our country. Let them (the NLD) work. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has to take responsibility now... we congratulate them anyway.Kyi Win, a retired army officer who sits at the heart of party operations in the capital, said the NLD was poised to win a coveted majority in parliament.But official victory for the NLD remained elusive, with election officials releasing results at just a trickle throughout Tuesday.NLD voters remained confident of a major win, but were cautious of kickback from the still powerful army, whose stake in the future is guaranteed by a 25 percent bloc of reserved seats in parliament.I think the results will come soon, but Im worried, said Ma Pyone, a vegetable seller in downtown Yangon. I dont know if the current government will seize power (if they lose) or not, but I hope they wont.The NLD needs 67 percent of contested seats across both houses of parliament for a majority. But anything higher would bolster its parliamentary leverage against the army.Suu Kyis political ascent is also capped by the army-scripted constitution that bars anyone with foreign children from the presidency.Her two sons, much of whose upbringing she missed while under house arrest in Yangon, are British. A massive majority would strengthen her hand in selecting a favourable president, and she vowed before the election to be above the president in the event of an NLD win.If the NLD is victorious it will inherit a country crushed by poverty, with several ethnic rebellions and religious intolerance simmering.Suu Kyi will also have to work with the army, whose parliamentary bloc is flanked by a fearsome reputation. There was scant early evidence that the election result would be warped by massive fraud, according to poll observers, but voters remained on guard after bitter experience of previous flawed polls. The head of the European Unions monitoring mission, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, praised authorities for doing a good job in holding the election across a vast and impoverished country.This election is not over yet he said, but added the vote count was going on in a transparent manner.The NLD recorded a landslide in the last elections it contested in 1990 only for the army to ignore the result and double down on its repressive rule.But in a televised statement before Sundays election President Thein Sein said both the ruling party and the army will respect the result.Buoyant red-clad supporters of Suu Kyis NLD sang and danced for a second night on Monday outside the party base in Yangon, cheering each confirmed win as expectations of a landslide mounted.But on Tuesday morning the big screen and loudspeakers, which 24 hours earlier carried an impromptu address by Suu Kyi, were suddenly removed.Washington welcomed the peaceful and historic election but nonetheless urged caution until official results were confirmed.Election officials said it could take days for the full results to be officially announced.

German ex-leader Schmidt, master of realpolitik, dead at 96

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BERLIN (AFP) - Former West German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who died Tuesday aged 96, was an inveterate European, master of realpolitik, and straight-talking elder statesman who commanded respect and headlines into his twilight years.Schmidt led then-West Germany from 1974 to 1982 as it rose to become a global economic powerhouse.A centrist from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Schmidt steered the country through a bloody wave of terror by far-left radicals from the Red Army Faction (RAF), preached free-market economics to his party and embodied cool-headed pragmatic politics in a Europe riven by the Iron Curtain.Leading tributes to the man she described as a political institution of our country, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Schmidt was an authority whose advice and judgment meant something to me.President Joachim Gauck said Germany had lost a great statesman, a person who was so much for us: a politician and publicist, a man of action and an admonisher, but above all, a democrat, a man who knows that freedom also means responsibility and who took on this responsibility.French President Francois Hollande simply called him a great European.Co-publisher of the influential liberal weekly Die Zeit, Schmidt continued to play an active part in international economic debate, including criticising Merkel during the eurozone debt crisis for lacking financial savvy.He was a popular guest on television chat shows, always granted special dispensation to flout a smoking ban while holding forth with the laconic brand of wit prized in his native port city of Hamburg. From early on in his political career, Schmidt was capable of sarcasm and impatience, and his delivery of often unconventional views kept him in the public eye decades after retiring.German media recently grouped him among Russia apologists after he expressed understanding for President Vladimir Putins actions in Ukraine.As a political commentator, conservative daily Die Welt said, Schmidts bite and punchline earned him great respect across the political spectrum.Unlike his SPD predecessor Willy Brandt, news weekly Der Spiegel noted in December 2013, Schmidt didnt opt for grand gestures or seminal speeches to break with Germanys past. In another contrast to Brandt, who fled abroad to escape arrest by the Nazis, Schmidt served in Hitlers Wehrmacht.He was not loved, but respected, Der Spiegel said, noting Schmidts knack for pearls of wisdom. No storm in world affairs seemed to affect his calmness.Capable of being both amusing and brusque, Schmidt once famously dismissed an interviewers question, saying: Anyone who has visions should see a doctor.Born in Hamburg in 1918, Schmidt was the grandson of a docker, and his father, a teacher, was the illegitimate son of a Jewish banker -- though the family succeeded in hiding its Jewish roots from the Nazi regime.Schmidt wanted to become a town planner or architect but World War II forced him to put his ambitions on hold and he eventually fought on the Russian and Western front, and was briefly taken prisoner.He was elected to the Bundestag in 1953, and made a name for himself with his handling of catastrophic flooding in the early 1960s while a regional Hamburg politician.He steadily rose through SPD ranks to become defence minister in 1969 and finance and economy minister in 1972, before becoming chancellor two years later.Once in government Schmidt faced difficult challenges, including conflict in the Middle East and a dramatic hike in oil prices that sparked an economic crisis.He firmly believed in the Atlantic alliance, although he became exasperated by then-US president Jimmy Carter. He also forged a close partnership with French president Valery Giscard dEstaing, with whom he helped launch the forerunner to G7 summits of industrialised nations.In 1977 when Palestinian militants hijacked a Lufthansa plane and demanded the release of jailed leaders of the extreme-left RAF, Schmidt ordered the aircraft be stormed.In the same year, three high-profile figures including a federal prosecutor were killed in a wave of RAF assassinations, bombings and kidnappings that shook West Germany throughout the decade.Schmidt also backed NATO deployment of intermediate-range missiles in Europe in response to upgraded Soviet missiles, but faced opposition from the SPDs youth wing and Germanys peace movement.Resistance to Schmidt built up across the party -- especially on defence matters -- and he was hospitalised with an irregular heartbeat in 1981 and had a pacemaker fitted.The decision by coalition partner the Free Democrats to switch alliances to the Christian Democrats in 1982 finally brought Schmidts downfall through a parliamentary no-confidence vote, and led to conservative Helmut Kohl becoming chancellor.Like few others in post-war history, he understood how to surmount crises with courageous intervention of the state, ex-SPD chancellor Gerhard Schroeder wrote in Der Spiegel.Schmidt was married to teacher, and fellow chain-smoker, Loki, for 68 years until her death in 2010. They had one daughter. On his 90th birthday, top-selling daily Bild published 90 of Schmidts most quotable bon mots, including his advice to aspiring politicians: One needs the will. And cigarettes.

Libya army says 13 security personnel killed by 'terrorists'

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BENGHAZI (AFP) - At least 13 members of Libyas army were killed by terrorist violence on Tuesday in the east of the war-torn country, an army spokesman said.Most of the soldiers were killed by landmines planted by terrorist organisations, spokesman Miloud al-Zawi told LANA, the official news agency of the internationally recognised government.Zawi said that 16 security personnel died in all, but only named 13 that were killed on Tuesday. It was unclear when or how the other three died.According to LANA, the soldiers were killed in different conflict areas around the eastern city of Benghazi, where their forces were trying to advance.Zawi insisted, however, that the security forces had made advances and secured a major victory.He said troops had managed to wrest control of a military base, adding that battles will continue and will not stop until the areas controlled by the terrorist groups are liberated.Zawi did not elaborate on which areas or bases were being targeted, or which groups the army was fighting.Libya has had two administrations since August 2014, when a militia alliance overran the capital and set up its own parliament in Tripoli while forcing the internationally recognised government to take refuge in Tobruk, in the east.The oil-rich north African country descended into chaos after the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.The UN has been brokering talks to create a new unity government to end fighting between the army and the militias that seized Tripoli, with the UN envoy to Libya voicing hope that an agreement is imminent.Under the power-sharing deal, Libya will be governed by a nine-member presidential council made up of a prime minister, five deputy prime ministers and three senior ministers.

Up to nine feared dead in US plane crash: report

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CHICAGO (AFP) - As many as nine people were feared dead Tuesday after a small private jet crashed into an apartment building in the midwestern US city of Akron, local media reported, citing the planes owner.The plane, a twin-engine business jet, was on approach to the airport in the Ohio city when it crashed, reports said.The Akron Beacon Journal, citing the plane owners Augusto Lewkowicz, said nine people were on board including two pilots. None are believed to be alive, the newspaper said in a report on its website, www.ohio.com.Lewkowicz said he would not identify those on board before informing their families, saying: I owe responses to the family members first.Local television networks including the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, WOIO, said two people were so far confirmed dead.Ohio Highway Patrol Staff Lieutenant Bill Haymaker said no one on the ground was killed or injured, according to reports.City authorities said in a statement that firefighters had worked to extinguish the blaze caused by the crash, adding that an investigation had been launched and a team from the National Transportation Safety Board was due at the scene.

One killed, three injured as suspects open fire at police convoy

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Suspects opened fire at a police convoy late Tuesday night at Indus Highway killing one while injuring three others as passenger vehicles in the convoy were travelling from Kashmore to Kandhkot.According to the details, dacoits opened indiscriminate fire at the passenger vehicles in the convoy. A passenger riding in the truck was killed on the spot while three others were severely wounded.Dacoits kept shooting as they fled the scene after the attack. Windows of numerous cars shattered due to the shooting while the tires of many vehicles burst.Police have shifted the injured and the body of the deceased victim to Civil Hospital, Kandh Kot.
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