Friday 4 December 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Yahoo board in final talks on future of company

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Yahoo Incs board of directors on Friday is in the third and final day of meetings that could decide the future of one of Silicon Valleys most prominent but troubled companies.One option on the table for the nine board members is whether to sell Yahoos core business, which includes Mail, its sports sites, and advertising technology.The company is also in the process of deciding whether to continue with the spinoff of its $30 billion stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.SunTrust analyst Robert Peck said the board might hold off on any decision because of the complexity of some of the options.While many investors may simply apply a mid single-digit EBITDA multiple to value the core, we believe the value is more intricate, he wrote, referring to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.According to tech news site Re/Code, Yahoos board finished its meetings without a decision on the Alibaba spinoff. The site said a decision, which could include halting, delaying or continuing with the spinoff, was expected by the end of the weekend, citing sources.Calls to sell the core business increased last month when activist investor Starboard Value LP requested the move to avoid potential tax penalties associated with a spinoff of Alibaba.In January, Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer announced the plan to spin off the Alibaba stake into an independent business. Yahoo said the deal would be tax-free, but the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has declined to verify that.Taxes related to the spinoff could leave Yahoo shareholders on the hook for $12 billion.Analysts who follow the company have said that private equity, media and Internet firms are potential buyers for Yahoos core business.The Alibaba stake dates back to 2005, when Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 40 percent slice of the company in a deal credited to the U.S. companys co-founder, Jerry Yang.By 2012, the two companies struck a deal to sell more than half the stake back to Alibaba for $6.3 billion in cash and $800 million in preferred Alibaba Group shares.The deal brought Yahoo shareholders $3 billion and the company more than $1 billion to support its core business. But it also spotlighted the fact that the bulk of the companys value came from Alibaba and a 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan Corp.Yahoos shares closed up 1.7 percent at $34.91 Friday.

Investigators piece together portrait of Pakistani woman in shooting massacre

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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Tashfeen Maliks path to accused mass killer in California began in a small city on the Indus River in Pakistans Punjab province.It was from here, when she was a toddler, that she moved with her father Gulzar 25 years ago to Saudi Arabia, where he became more deeply religious, more conservative and more hardline, according to a family member.A picture slowly emerged on Friday of the role and possible motivations of 27-year-old Malik in this weeks killing of 14 people in California, including her apparent pledge of allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State militant group, according to U.S. officials.Malik, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, is accused of storming a holiday party on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, and opening fire in Americas worst mass shooting in three years.The intensive search for clues, extending to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, could help U.S. investigators piece together what drove Malik and her husband to leave their infant daughter with his mother, don assault-style clothing and carry out the shooting.Malik, who entered the United States on a fiancée visa, and Farook, the son of immigrant parents from Pakistan who had worked as a health inspector, were killed in a shootout with police just hours after the attack.U.S. investigators were evaluating evidence that Malik, a Pakistani native who had been living in Saudi Arabia when she married Farook, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, two U.S. government sources said. They said the finding, if confirmed, could be a game changer in the probe.CNN reported that one U.S. official said Malik had made the pledge to al-Baghdadi in a posting on Facebook on Wednesday, the day of the attack, under an account that used a different name.Though large information gaps remain, it appeared to be the strongest evidence so far that the attack may have been inspired by Islamic State. But U.S. government sources said there was no sign that it had been directed by the militant group, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and claimed the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.FATHER BECAME CONSERVATIVE AND HARDLINETwo Pakistani officials said Malik was from Karor Lal Esan, a city on the west coast of the Indus River in southern Punjab province. She moved to Saudi Arabia with her father, an engineer, 25 years ago, they said.She returned home five or six years ago to study at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan to become a pharmacist, they said.The area in Punjab where she spent her early years and later went to university is a “recruitment ground” and stronghold of Islamist groups with ties to al Qaeda, said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. Among the militant groups with a presence there is Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the November 2008 killing spree in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.Our brother changed a lot since he went to Saudi, Maliks uncle, Javed Rabbani, said of Maliks father. When relatives visited him, they would come back and tell us how conservative and hardline he had become, he said in an interview with Reuters.A source close to the Saudi government said that during Malik’s time in Saudi Arabia nothing came to authorities’ attention there that suggested she was involved with radical Islamic groups. Malik was not on any Saudi law enforcement or intelligence watchlist, the source said.Maliks father, Gulzar, had built a house in Multan, where he stays when he visits Pakistan, according to another uncle, Malik Anwaar.He said Gulzar had a falling-out long ago with the rest of the family, citing a dispute over a house among other matters. “We are completely estranged,” Anwaar said.Rabbani said he had been contacted by Pakistani intelligence as part of the investigation into the San Bernardino shooting.Malik had two brothers and two sisters and was related to Ahmed Ali Aulak, a former provincial minister, the Pakistani officials said.The exact circumstances of how Farook and Malik met remained unclear but they had apparently been married for two years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Malik was in the United States on a visa under a Pakistani passport.While Farook had an active presence online, Maliks digital footprint is harder to trace. A Facebook profile established under an alias by Malik was removed by the company for violating its community standards, which prohibit praise or promotion of “acts of terror, a spokesman said on Friday.But her name was attached to a gift registry for their baby hosted by the website TheBump.com. According to the registry, Maliks baby had been due on May 17.Just hours before the couple opened fire on Farook’s co-workers in a government building in San Bernardino, they had dropped off their daughter at his mother’s house, telling her they had a doctor’s appointment.

Hunted Hazaras travel 'Death Road' through Afghanistan

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KABUL (AFP) - West of the Afghan city of Maidan Shahr is a 40-kilometre stretch of paved highway known as Death Road, where drivers say the countrys ethnic Hazara minority are slaughtered by militants like sheep and cows.The spit dries in our mouths from fear when we pass it, says Mohammad Hussain, who ferries passengers along the road from Kabul to Hazarajat, a region in the central highlands of Afghanistan where the Hazaras have traditionally settled.Over the years, Hussain says, he has seen the headless bodies of so many people he claims were killed by the Taliban that I have become ill and have nightmares.The highway through Taliban-infested Wardak province is one of just two ways to go by road to Bamyan, the main city in the Hazarajat region and a homing beacon of sorts for Hazaras across the country.For many, Death Road is a symbol of the persecution they have faced for decades.A recent string of beheadings and kidnappings amid fears over a resurgent Taliban and the rise of the Islamic State group saw thousands turn out in Kabul early this month in protests -- a sight not seen in the capital for many years.Hussain joined them: We are being slaughtered like cheap sheep and cows with no consequences... Nobody seems to care about us Hazaras, he tells AFP in Dashte Barchi, a majority Hazara neighbourhood in the outer suburbs of Kabul.Insecurity has become like a terrible nightmare for Hazaras. They cant leave their homelands, and if they do, they risk being beheaded by these extremists on the roads, Aziz Royesh, a Hazara rights activists and one of the organisers of the protest says.There are no statistics available charting the number of killings that have taken place along Death Road, but the growing sense of insecurity has seen Mohammad Zaman, who used to drive passengers in and out of Hazarajat, finally admit defeat.I gave up driving and sold my car because ... I did not want to witness my passengers being kidnapped or killed again, he tells AFP.Massacred, enslaved, exiledThe protests which swept Kabul on November 11 appeared to catch authorities off guard and highlighted increasing fury at the Hazaras sense they have been left unprotected by the government.The Persian-speaking Shiite ethnic group, estimated to account for some 10 percent of Afghanistans 30 million population, have long had a troubled relationship with the state.They were massacred in large numbers, expelled from their lands and sold into slavery in the late 19th century under King Abdur Rahman Khan, says Sayed Askar Musavi, author of a book on the Hazaras.Khan, he said, subjugated many groups, but his campaign against Hazaras was particularly harsh, mainly because of their faith identity as Shiites.In later decades they lived as low-class citizens working mostly as labourers and servants, Mousavi said.Then, in the mid-1990s, came the Talibans brief rule of Afghanistan.The Sunni Islamists carried out several mass killings of Hazaras, including one in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998, where Human Rights Watch said at least 2000 civilians were executed -- most of them Hazaras.The tide finally turned in 2001 when the Taliban were toppled and the new Afghan constitution recognised Shiite sects of Islam. Educated and hard-working, the Hazaras have formed a new Afghan middle class.But the Taliban have surged again in recent months, stoking fears of more sectarian violence compounded by the Islamic State groups attempts to gain a foothold in Afghanistan.The Zabul SevenThe sense of insecurity has been inflamed by the macabre discovery of the beheaded corpses of a group of Hazara kidnap victims in the southern province of Zabul who have become known as the Zabul Seven.It is not clear who murdered them -- some local officials have pointed the finger at the Islamic State group, but the claim has not been verified -- and they were not the first such kidnappings or beheadings.But they came at a charged moment, igniting the November protests in Kabul and other Afghan cities.Protesters paraded the seven coffins in front of the presidential palace, where they demanded President Ashraf Ghani and his chief executive Abdullah Abdullah resign for their failure to protect the Hazara from persecution.For the past 14 years, we have been helping the government, and using civil ways to make our demands, Royesh, the protest organiser, says.It appears though that this approach is not that responsive or productive in the Afghan context... Seeing this, Hazaras who have increasingly been victimised rose up.Ghani swiftly called for calm and promised to avenge the dead.But for the Hazaras, the road to Bamyan is still marked with terror.The roads are insecure, many people are being beheaded, Shaima Abedi, a Hazara university student, tells AFP.I just wish one day to be able to travel to Hazarajat without fear of being killed on the way.

Football: Real Madrid thrown out of Spanish Cup over ineligible player

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MADRID (AFP) - Real Madrid have been thrown out of the Spanish Cup after fielding an ineligible player in their tie against third-tier side Cadiz, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed on Friday.In the first leg of their fourth-round tie on Wednesday Russian international Denis Cheryshev not only started the match but also opened the scoring in Madrids 3-1 win.But he shouldnt have been on the field as he was due to serve a one-match ban in the cup after picking up three yellow cards whilst on loan at Villarreal last season.The federations competition committee judge ruled that Cheryshev was ineligible to play ... so Madrid have forfeited the game and the tie is resolved in favour of Cadiz.Real Madrid, Europes richest club, were also slapped with a fine of 6,001 euros ($6,520). The club has 10 days to appeal.In a statement, Real said the ban could not have taken effect as Cheryshev did not know he was suspended.The competition judge acknowledges that Cheryshev was not personally notified about his ban, the club said.Real Madrid C.F...can verify the acknowledgement that the Spanish Football Federation did not personally notify Cheryshev about his ban, which is the only way the ban can take effect.We at Real Madrid C.F. stand by our argument and will take the appropriate action to ensure that the final outcome is favourable for the club.The statement came after Real president Florentino Perez insisted at a press conference on Thursday that the his club is not at fault and should not be disqualified from the competition.He said Real did not receive a list from the federation drawn in July of all the players who were under the threat of a suspension for the season.Nobody told the club or the player, not the federation nor Villarreal, so it was impossible for us to act differently, Perez said.He also argued that according to the clubs interpretation of the competitions by-laws, previous bookings are voided at the start of the round of 32.ImplausibleThe federations judge dismissed Perezs arguments, saying in his ruling that it was implausible that the player did not know that he was sanctioned.There is no doubt that the sanction of suspension was notified personally to the player, he said.The head of the Spanish league, Javier Tebas, earlier on Friday said he felt the possible disqualification of Real Madrid over the affair seemed a bit disproportionate.Earlier this season, Spanish football saw second-division Osasuna booted out of the cup in an almost identical case.And in 2001, Real coach Rafael Benitez was in charge of Valencia when they were thrown out of the same competition for fielding four non-EU players when only three were permitted.Real took Cheryshev, who is usually on the fringes of the first team, off right at the start of the second half when they apparently realised their error but Cadiz filed an official complaint.Benitez said the club wanted to show good faith.Cadiz issued a statement after the federation issued its decision, saying it can do nothing more than regret all that has happened.At no time did the club want to be the protagonist in the Copa del Rey tie, beyond the celebration that it represented for our city to host one of the most important football clubs in the world, the statement added.The controversy comes during a roller-coaster season for Real.They comfortably qualified for the Champions League last 16 but are third in La Liga on 27 points, six behind leaders Barcelona and two back from city rivals Atletico in second.It is a long road, Benitez told a news conference earlier on Friday ahead of the clubs league match at home against Getafe on Saturday.We are doing better than what many people think and we have to prove that on the pitch in every game, he added.He declined to comment on the controversy over the use of Cheryshev, saying Perez had given a sufficiently reasonable explanation.Real Madrid have won the Spanish Cup 19 times, with their last success in 2014.

LIVE - Polling for 3rd phase of LG elections begins in Punjab, Sindh

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Polling for the third and final phase of Local Government (LG) elections in twelve districts of Punjab and six districts of Sindh is underway.The polling will continue until 5:30pm.The six districts of Sindh are West Karachi, South Karachi, East Karachi, Korangi, Central Karachi and Malir while those of Punjab are Layyah, Rajanpur, D.G. Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rawalpindi, Jhang, Khushab, Multan, Sialkot, Narowal, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur.A fierce competition is expected between Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab while mainly candidates of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will battle in Karachi.In Punjab, 1,69,86,946 are registered voters. Out of these, 94,47,933 are male voters while 75,39,13 are female. 14,470 polling stations have been established in Punjab for 1,335 Union Councils (UC). 31,848 candidates will be battling for General seats in 12 districts of Punjab. These elections will also decide as to who will rule Karachi. Citizens will exercise their voting rights to elect a new Mayor for the provincial Capital. 4,141 polling stations have been established in the city, out of which 1,791 stations were declared extremely sensitive while 2,116 were declared as moderately sensitive. Number of registered voters in Sindh’s metropolis is 7,082,319. LIVE UPDATES:8:40 AM: Voters protest in Adam G Science College in ward two of UC-15 in East Karachi, heavy contingent of police reaches to control situation8:36 AM: Union councils 24, 25 and 26 in Malir District see power outages, K-Electric had vowed to exempt polling stations from loadshedding during polling hours.8:34 AM: Ballots were not sealed in UC-40 Pakistan Girls School polling station in Rawalpindi, dont want to halt polling however have written a complaint in the matter, says Sheikh Rasheed.8:32 AM: Commission sets up control room in federal capital, receives four complaints from Punjab while three from Sindh8:29 AM: Election Commission takes notice of delayed polling in Karachi, summons details in the matter for required action. The commission has stated that stern action would be taken against staffers who are responsible for delay.8:23 AM: Voters find false numbers on sheets, face issues in UC-14 of North Karachi in Central District8:21 AM: Polling material reported missing in different Rawalpindi union councils8:10 AM: Polling not started yet in UC-6 Manzoor Colony in Eastern Karachi7: 45 AM: Sheikh Rasheed reaches outside Lal Haveli in Rawalpindi to cast vote, says results will be in favour of PTI.7:30 AM: Polling time begins for LG polls in 6 districts of Sindh and 12 districts of Punjab.

Polling for 3rd phase of LG election to begin shortly in Punjab, Sindh

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Punjab and Sindh are all set for the third phase of Local Government (LG) elections as polling begins in a few hours time. Polling will be held from 7:30am to 5:30pm on Saturday.The Local body elections will be held in 6 districts of Karachi, namely West Karachi, South Karachi, East Karachi, Korangi, Central Karachi and Malir while polling will be held in 12 districts of Punjab which include Layyah, Rajanpur, D.G. Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rawalpindi, Jhang, Khushab, Multan, Sialkot, Narowal, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur.A fierce competition will once again be seen between Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab while candidates of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and PTI will battle it out in Karachi.Elections have been delayed in 16 union councils of Rawalpindi due to court interventions.The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also established a control room in Islamabad which will work till the finalization of results.The Control Room will receive complaints regarding irregularities in the polling process and will take action for their redressal.The nomination papers of 37,532 candidates were approved by the election commission earlier. However, 5,164 candidates had withdrawn from candidacy leaving 31,848 contenders in the field.These elections will decide as to who will rule Karachi. Citizens will exercise their voting rights to elect a new Mayor for the provincial Capital. 4,141 polling stations have been established in the city, out of which 1,791 stations were declared extremely sensitive while 2,116 were declared as moderately sensitive. Number of registered voters in Sindh’s metropolis is 7,082,319.In Sindh, the green coloured ballot papers have been designated for the Chairman and Vice-Chairman positions. Off-white coloured ballot papers have been designated for the position of General Councillor while blue was the colour of choice for ballot papers of District Council.Polling equipment was provided to the polling staff for the 3rd phase of the local body elections. However, it was a test for the Presiding Officers (PRO) to obtain the equipment in Karachi as the election staff didn’t arrive to provide them with the equipment after inviting them. Open violation of the code of conduct was observed in Multan in the distribution of the polling equipment.Rhetoric of big promises and claims dominated the election campaigns of the political parties once again as each candidate tried to convince people to cast their vote for them. Supporters were earlier seen chanting slogans and dancing on the streets to back their nominated candidates.At least 18 candidates have won unopposed which include 15 of district councils and three of Municipal Corporation. Meanwhile in Karachi, locals will be electing their candidates after as many as twelve years.Security arrangementsKarachi police have finalized the security plan for the local body elections in Karachi. More than thirty thousand policemen will be on duty in the big city on the day of election to keep peace during the polls while ten thousand and three hundred policemen will be appointed in the East Zone.In the West Zone, fifteen thousand and one hundred while in the South Zone more than five thousand security officers will be appointed. Korangi district of Karachi has been declared the most sensitive area where all of the four hundered sixty six polling stations have been declared sensitive. Police and rangers are ready to tackle any emergency in the area.Earlier in the Islamabad LB polls, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led the charts while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured second position. The ruling party had secured 21 seats while PTI had managed to win 16 of the seats.

California shooter Farook wasn't extremist, says family lawyer

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SAN BERNARDINO (Dunya News) – California shooter Syed Rizwan Farook’s family laywer on Saturday stated that the attacker was not an extremist or terrorist. Addressing a press conference in the same city where Farook, 28 and his wife Tashfeen, 27 gunned down 14 people and wounded 21, Farook’s lawyer stated that nobody should be claimed as a terrorist without concrete evidence and media should not make such assumption on somebody’s statement.Speaking on behalf of Farook’s family, the lawyer stated that the couple had no contact with any terrorist organization. The lawyer further added that the family had no idea that the couple was going to carry out an attack. He also informed that the family was cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the matter.The family lawyer also stated that assumptions made by the media will lead to intolerance in the society. He stated that somebody’s personal actions should not be linked with religion.Answering a question he stated that the family knew that Farook possessed licensed ammunition, however his brother was unaware of his actions. Speaking on Farook’s wife, the lawyer stated that she was a housewife and had given birth to a child 6 months back. He informed that Tashfeen could not speak English properly. The lawyer said that she was educated but was not a Pharmacist. He also informed that Tashfeen had resided in Saudi Arabia for past 18 years prior to her marriage, was religious and had a mild personality.The lawyer stated that Farook and Tashfeen had met through a dating website in 2013; they performed Hajj the same year and then got married in 2014. The family lawyer also stated that Farook’s brother Raheel was getting threats and had closed his social media accounts due to this.

Violence against Muslims tripled after Paris attacks: British Police

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LONDON (Dunya News) – Violence against Muslims has tripled following the attacks in Paris according to a new statistic revealed by the British Metropolitan police. The British law enforcement agency says that prior to the Paris attacks 24 cases of targeted violence were used to be reported within a week by the Muslim community in England, however after the act of terrorism in the French capital, the cases being reported escalated to 76.According to the British police, incidences of assaults are high especially against Muslim women. In some cases Burqa clad women were forced to step off the bus while incidents of women in Burqa being attacked by men were also reported.British Muslims are afraid that these acts of hatred might rise after UK starts it air assault against the Islamic State (IS).Britain joined the US-led bombing campaign against IS terrorists in Syria earlier this week, with air strikes beginning just hours after a decisive parliamentary vote.Royal Air Force planes based in Cyprus had returned from the first offensive operation over Syria and have conducted strikes, a Ministry of Defence spokesman stated, following a vote earlier.Prime Minister David Cameron s government was backed by 397 lawmakers compared to 223 who opposed the bombing; giving him the strong mandate he said was essential for military action.Cameron welcomed the result of the House of Commons vote, writing on Twitter: I believe the house has taken the right decision to keep the UK safe , military action in Syria as one part of a broader strategy.It was also immediately hailed by US President Barack Obama, who said the US would look forward to having British forces flying with the coalition over Syria.But during the debate, a wide range of MPs from all parties including main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke out against air strikes.

PM Nawaz meets CM in London, decide to quicken action against terrorism

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LONDON (Dunya News) – Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on Saturday met with Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Shahbaz in London. Both leaders discussed the situation in the aftermath of a shooting incident in California which left 14 dead. A mutual decision to quicken action against terrorism was made in the meeting. The decision was made after a US special representative met with PM Nawaz and delivered US President Barack Obama’s message informing Nawaz of California shooter’s links with Pakistan’s Lal Masjid and the Islamic State (IS).Obama has demanded Pakistan to conduct strict operation against extremist elements in the country especially in Islamabad.Pakistan’s Embassy in US has severely condemned the shooting in California.Also Read:Obama informs PM Nawaz of California shooters links with PakistanAccording to US officials, Shooter Rizwan Farooq’s wife Tashfeen had posted a message through a separate Facebook account, pledging allegiance to an extremist group Dolat-e-Islamia’s leader prior and a post in favour of IS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, prior to the shooting incident. It has also been revealed that the shooter Tashfeen belonged to Pakistan’s district of Karor Lal Esan in Layyah.In a press conference earlier, CM Punjab has stated hat troubles for Muslims increased in West after terror attacks in US and Paris. He condemned the Paris attacks in harsh terms and said that Pakistan was itself a victim of terrorism.Read Further:Muslims under pressure due to terror attacks in US, France: ShahbazA US-born Muslim Syed Farook, 28 and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 27 gunned down 14 people and wounded 21 in San Bernardino area of California earlier this week. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since the 2012 assault on an elementary school in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children. The couple was killed in a firefight with police hours after the attack

Obama informs PM Nawaz of California shooter's links with Lal Masjid

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LONDON (Dunya News/AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Saturday informed Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif about the California shooter Tashfeen Malik’s links with Pakistans Lal Masjid and the Islamic State (IS). The message was delivered to PM Nawaz in London.Prior to the shooting incident, shooter Rizwan Farooq’s wife Tashfeen had posted a message through a separate Facebook account, pledging allegiance to an extremist group Dolat-e-Islamia’s leader.According to US officials, Tashfeen involved in mass shooting incident in a disability centre in San Bernardino area of California, had also posted a message in favour of IS leader Abu Bakar Baghdadi which was later removed.Sources say that US officials have found pictures of Malik with Maulana Abdul Aziz. In the latest developments it has also been revealed that the shooter Tashfeen belonged to Pakistan’s district of Karor Lal Esan in Layyah.Meanwhile the Spokesperson for the Foreign Office stated that the US government had not yet contacted Pakistan’s government for any information on Tashfeen.President Barack Obama, who ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until Monday, had earlier said that a terror attack could not be ruled out. The mass shooting is now being investigated as an act of terrorism.”A US-born Muslim Syed Farook, 28 and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 27 gunned down 14 people and wounding 21 in San Bernardino area of California earlier this week. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since the 2012 assault on an elementary school in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children. The couple was killed in a firefight with police hours after the attack leaving investigators to comb through their belongings to try to determine a motive.US news agency New York Times has stated that no such evidence has yet been found which might suggest that the couple had conducted the attack on the directions of the extremist group Dolat-e-Islamia, however the couple may have been inspired by the extremist organizations.At this point we believe they were more self-radicalized and inspired by the group than actually told to do the shooting, one official was quoted as saying by the New York Times.A pro-IS news agency, Aamaq, on Friday said the mass shooting was carried out by sympathizers of the radical groupThe IS group has encouraged supporters in the United States and elsewhere to carry out lone wolf attacks.Mind-bogglingRelatives of Farook and Malik were at a loss to explain how the couple, who had a baby girl and seemed to be living the American dream, could have committed mass murder.I can never imagine my brother or my sister-in-law doing something like this. Especially because they were happily married, they had a beautiful six-month-old daughter, Farooks sister Saira Khan told CBS News.Its just mind-boggling why they would do something like this.One of Farooks colleagues said he was convinced Malik had radicalized her husband after they met online and married in Saudi Arabia last year.I think he married a terrorist, Christian Nwadike told CBS News. He was set up through that marriage.There were reports that Farook may have snapped at his office party following a religious discussion that got out of hand.One witness said he suddenly stormed out of the event, leaving his jacket on his seat, and returned a short while later heavily armed, dressed in black military-style gear and a mask -- and accompanied by his wife.An explosive device was later found at the scene of the shooting, but failed to go off.Reporters in apartmentThe landlord of the couples rented townhouse on Friday opened their home up to reporters and the public who flooded in, taking pictures and videos in a surreal scene.Toys could be seen inside the home along with a drivers license, pictures and letters scattered on one bed.Investigators had found thousands of rounds of ammunition at the home, as well as a makeshift bomb-making laboratory and 12 pipe bomb-like devices.Not afraidThe FBI -- who were scouring cell phones and a computer hard drive of the couple -- had evidence that Farook had communicated with extremists domestically and abroad a few years ago, the New York Times said.One lawyer for the couples family said links between Farook and potential terror suspects were tenuous at best.Weve met with the FBI and, you know, someone has alluded to the fact that they found something on his computer, one lawyer, David Chesley, told CNN.He may have talked to somebody who talked to -- or spoken with somebody on the computer who viewed something about ISIS, but its like, its so tenuous, theres nothing really there.Authorities identified the couples victims as six women and eight men ranging in age from 26 to 60. All but two were county employees and colleagues of Farook.

Lahore: 5 people burn to death as fire engulfs 3rd floor of plaza

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Five people were burned and suffocated to death late Friday night as fire engulfed the third floor garment unit of a private plaza in Lahore’s Johar Town area near Allah Hu Chowk. One person was also injured due to the flames.The smoke from the fire filled all offices and shops on the third floor. The smoke and fire were so intense that laborers working in the hosiery unit on the third floor of the factory were trapped and could not get a chance to escape from the raging flames.More than a dozen vehicles of the fire brigade took part in the rescue operation. The flames have now been extinguished by the rescue personnel.Officials rescued 3 people from the inferno while 3 dead bodies were also recovered from the site and have been shifted to Jinnah Hospital. 2 severely injured individuals however succumbed to their wounds.The laborers who lost their lives in the fire have not been identified as yet.

FIR of Imran Farooq murder case registered

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – An FIR has been registered in Anti Terrorism Department for Imran Farooq murder case while clauses of murder and abetting crimes has been added as well, reports Dunya News.In compliance to a government notification earlier, FIR of Imran Farooq murder case has been registered. The FIR has been registered in Anti Terrorism Department of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Clauses of murder and abetting crimes have been added in the FIR.The suspects have been named as Mohsin Ali, Muazzam Ali and Khalid Shamim.

Spain arrests two inmates for spreading IS propaganda

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MADRID (AFP) - Two prisoners at a Spanish jail were arrested Friday on suspicion of spreading propaganda for the Islamic State group, including videos of executions, while on prison leave, the interior ministry said.Police detained a 24-year-old Moroccan man in the village of Zumarraga in the northern Basque Country while he was on work leave from Martutene prison in the coastal city of San Sebastian, it said in a statement. A 32-year-old Spanish national was arrested in the jail.The ministry said the two men were serving jail terms for common crimes.The authorities launched the operation after one of the suspects published on social networks a video showing him burning his passport as jihadists are known to do in Syria and Iraq.The two men held meetings with youths from north Africa from outside the prison in the village of Renteria near San Sebastian where they showed video recordings of Islamic State attacks, executions and decapitations and praised the groups actions, the statement said.The arrests come three weeks after a wave of simultaneous shootings and suicide bombings in Paris in which 130 people were killed that were claimed by the Islamic State group.Spain has arrested about 100 suspected Islamic extremists so far this year.

Regime bombardment across Syria kills 56 civilians

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BEIRUT (AFP) - Heavy government bombardment of rebel-held towns across Syria on Friday killed at least 56 civilians, more than a quarter of them children, a monitoring group said.The bloodiest attacks were in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold east of Damascus, where at least 41 civilians were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Regime warplanes targeted the towns of Jisreen and Kfar Batna in the Eastern Ghouta region, leaving 35 killed, the Britain-based Observatory added.Six children were among the dead there and dozens of people were wounded.But the opposition National Coalition, the leading anti-regime group in exile, blamed the Jisreen strikes on Russia.Russian warplanes targeted a public market... leaving 11 killed and 50 wounded in Jisreen, the Coalition tweeted.Another six civilians, including two children, were killed in regime rocket fire on the flashpoint Eastern Ghouta town of Douma, the Observatory said.Government forces regularly bombard Eastern Ghouta, a populated suburb of Damascus largely controlled by the powerful Jaish al-Islam rebel group.In a video posted by an online activist group in Jisreen, a distressed man in a debris-strewn street screamed: Syrian flesh for saleAnd footage posted by the local SMART news agency depicted men carrying bloodied victims out of destroyed buildings on stretchers as sirens wailed.Eleven people, four of them children, were killed in government air strikes on the opposition-held town of Talbisseh in central Syria, according to the Observatory said.In the southern province of Daraa, four children were killed when the regime bombarded the town of Hara.And four civilians died in shelling of Sanamayn, 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of Hara.Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman could not specify if the Sanamayn attack was by regime or rebel forces.Also on Friday, at least 14 Islamic State group jihadists were killed in an air raid in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, the Observatory said.The monitor said it was likely the US-led coalition had conducted the strikes, which targeted a school that the group had taken over as a base.The Observatory relies on a network of activists, medical staff and fighters on the ground who identify warplanes based on model, flight patterns and munition types.Syrias conflict has taken the lives of more than 250,000 people, and another four million have been forced to flee since it erupted in March 2011.Beginning as an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, the conflict has evolved into a multi-front war increasingly dominated by jihadist fighters.IS has seized swathes of territory across northern, central, and eastern Syria, but rebels, Kurdish militia and the US-led coalition as well as Russian warplanes have sought to fight them back.

Russia bombs nearly 1,500 Syrian targets, oil fields: military

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MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian airforce has struck nearly 1,500 targets all over Syria over the past nine days, the military said, its bombers now flying under cover of strategic fighter jets following the downing of a plane by Turkey last week.Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a briefing that the Russian air contingent carried out 431 sorties and bombed 1458 targets in several regions of Syria, without mentioning whether any of them were affiliated with the Islamic State jihadist group.Among the targets was a command post near the town of Khnaifess in the Homs region, and a large ammunitions stockpile near Morek in Hama region, which was captured from the Syrian army in early November.The airstrikes also destroyed a large militant base at a strategic location near Kassab in Latakia region, leading to Syrian army taking the high ground, the ministry said.In Hama region, the airstrikes liquidated several field commanders near rebel-held Latamina, and bombed several strategic high-ground locations, including Hazm al-Abyad.Some 40 large trucks and cisterns used to transport oil were destroyed during strikes on two groups of vehicles near Aleppo and Raqqa, while elsewhere 12 oil pumping stations and eight oil fields were targeted.Moscow is at loggerheads with Ankara following the downing of its warplane over the Syria-Turkish border on December 24. The incident caused Russia to send Su-30 fighters to give cover to its bombers on all runs during recent days.Moscow has accused the Turkish leadership of participating in the smuggling of oil from IS-controlled territory.Last week President Vladimir Putin said after meeting French counterpart Francois Hollande that the two agreed to exchange information about the location of jihadists and indicated that he would avoid targeting the healthy part of the opposition in Syria.However the defence ministry gave no detail Friday in its briefing on what groups it has bombed since December 26, as it enters the third month of its air campaign to help government troops in Syria.
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