Tuesday 12 April 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Pilot aborts take-off so grandparents can bid farewell to dying grandson

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MANCHESTER (Agencies) - A pilot delayed a flight that was about to take-off so that an elderly couple on board could get to their dying grandson’s bedside.The pensioners, who were travelling to Australia from Manchester Airport, received news that he was in intensive care as the plane was taxying. But after the pair alerted the cabin crew, the kind-hearted pilot made the bold decision to make a U-turn on the runway. The couple were able to disembark, while helpful Etihad Airways staff found their car and had it waiting. They were able to make it to hospital to spend their last moments with their grandson, who tragically died the next day. The story emerged after a travel agent, Becky Stephenson, posted a message on the Travel Gossip Facebook page.She wrote: “I only heard about what had happened this week because I was away on an educational.“I sent a message to Etihad’s sales manager to praise the staff and popped what had happened on Travel Gossip [a Facebook page], but I had no idea it would get so many likes and comments.“It was such a sad thing that happened to my clients, but it was lovely that Etihad was able to help in the way they did.“They were on their way to Abu Dhabi so if they hadn’t been able to get off the plane they may not have made it back in time.“I contacted them to give my condolences and they said they were going to contact Etihad as well.”She added: “Everything little thing you could think of, they took care of. Sadly my customers’ grandson passed away the day after but had they not been allowed off the flight and had to fly back from Abu Dhabi they may not have made it to his bedside.”

Giant python found on Malaysian building site

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KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - A quarter-tonne snake that was found nestling on a building site could be the longest ever captured in Malaysia, officials said Tuesday.The reticulated python was a whopping 7.5 metres (25 feet) long and weighed a staggering 250 kilogrammes (550 pounds).The giant creature was discovered on Penang island by construction workers and kept in an office, where it was fed and watered while wildlife experts were contacted.However, the python died on Sunday after laying an egg, a spokesman for the civil defence department told AFP.We are so sad this happened, he said. We have rescued many other snakes and animals before. Were not sure why the snake died.We fed it mice, other meats and gave (it) water, just like we gave other snakes in the past.Curious locals flocked to the office over the weekend to catch a glimpse of the mighty reptile, with one person offering 10,000 ringgit ($1,300) for it, The Star newspaper reported on its website.The civil defence spokesman said the snake was certainly one of the longest found in Malaysia.The longest snake in captivity -- also a reticulated python -- is a 7.67 metre specimen called Medusa, which lives in the United States, according to the website of Guinness World Records.

Panama Papers reveal spies used Mossack Fonseca

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BERLIN (AFP) - Secret agents from several countries, including intermediaries of the CIA, have used the services of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca in order to conceal their activities, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Tuesday.Secret agents and their informants have made wide use of the companys services, wrote the newspaper, which obtained a massive stash of 11.5 million documents from the company that is sending shockwaves around the globe.Agents have opened shell companies to conceal their activities... Among them are close intermediaries of the CIA, the newspaper reported.The Munich-based newspaper said Mossack Fonsecas clients included several players in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, which saw senior US officials facilitate secret arms sales to Iran in a bid to secure the release of American hostages and fund Nicaraguas Contra rebels.The Panama Papers also reveal that current or former high-ranking officials of the secret services of at least three countries... Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Rwanda are listed amongst the companys clients, the Sueddeutsche said.Among them was Sheikh Kamal Adham, the former Saudi intelligence chief who died in 1999. Adham spent the 1970s as one of the CIAs key intermediaries in the Middle East, the daily said.The Sueddeutsche Zeitung received the huge stash of Mossack Fonseca documents from an anonymous source and shared them with more than 100 media groups through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.A week after the first revelations, the documents have shed light on how the worlds rich and powerful have used offshore companies to stash their assets, forcing Icelands prime minister to resign and putting pressure on a slew of other leaders around the world.

Belgium charges two new Brussels attacks suspects

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgium has charged two new suspects over last months deadly Brussels airport and metro attacks, as police pursue the investigation night and day, the federal prosecutors office said on Tuesday.A statement said Smail F. and Ibrahim F. were charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempts to commit terrorist murders, as a perpetrator, co-perpetrator or accomplice.The prosecutor said there were indications the two men could be linked to the rental of an address in the Etterbeek district of Brussels which was raided last week.At the time, police said they found nothing of interest there but reports suggested that two men -- including Khalid El Bakraoui, who later blew himself up in the Maalbeek metro station -- may have stayed or used the address.The second man, later identified as Swedish national Osama Krayem, was seen on CCTV with Khalid at a nearby metro station on March 22, apparently also carrying a rucksack bomb.Khalid then got on the metro, travelling to Maalbeek station near the European Union headquarters district in Brussels.Krayem was arrested last week and charged with terror offences.Probe runs day and nightThe federal prosecutor gave no further details in Tuesdays statement about Smail F. and Ibrahim F., citing the need for secrecy in the current state of the investigation which is continuing actively, day and night.The airport and metro bombings killed 32 people in Belgiums worst terror attack which was claimed, like the attacks in Paris in November, by the Islamic State (IS) group.Investigators have since uncovered extensive links between the Brussels and Paris attacks, with many of the same people involved and linked to IS in Syria.At the weekend, the prosecutor said the Brussels cell had originally planned another attack in France but the arrest of Paris suspect Salah Abdeslam on March 18, coupled with a massive series of police raids, made them switch to target Belgium instead.Surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation, they urgently took the decision to strike in Brussels, the prosecutor said.Apparently reflecting these fears as the net closed in, one of the airport bombers, Khalids brother Ibrahim El Bakraoui, left behind what the authorities described as a will on a computer in which he said he felt hunted and I dont know what to do.The other airport bomber was Najim Laachraoui, whose DNA was found on a suicide vest recovered at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris where 90 people died.The Belgian authorities gave no details of the planned attack in France.Late last month, however, French police arrested Reda Kriket near Paris, finding weapons and explosives in a flat he had used to suggest he was planning an act of extreme violence.Belgium has arrested several suspects in connection with the Kriket case.Man in the hat AbriniThe police netted another key Paris suspect on Friday, Mohamed Abrini, dubbed the man in the hat after he was seen in CCTV footage at Brussels airport shortly before the two bombers struck there.Abrini, 31, was seen calmly leaving the devastated departures hall after the blasts, walking back into central Brussels before disappearing from sight.He was also filmed with Salah Abdeslam at a motorway service station en route to Paris shortly before the attacks there.Brahim Abdeslam was among the suicide bombers in Paris but his brother Salah backed out at the last moment and fled back to Brussels, where he hid until police finally tracked him down on March 18, not far from the family home in the Molenbeek district.Abrini grew up with Abdeslam in Molenbeek along with several other suspects, who all share a similar story of getting on the wrong side of the law and becoming radicalised.Critics say the authorities have not done enough to prevent extremists working in areas such as Molenbeek, with Belgium proportionately the biggest source of foreign fighters going to join IS in Syria.

Ukraine parliament weighs major government overhaul

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KIEV (AFP) - Ukraines parliament was weighing Tuesday whether to approve the resignation of embattled Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk as furious backroom talks raged about the makeup of a new pro-EU government.The volatile political situation in the former Soviet republic took a new twist when the man tipped to replace Yatsenyuk -- condemned by President Petro Poroshenko for losing the publics trust -- appeared to balk at his new assignment.Yatsenyuks days had seemed numbered since he survived a no-confidence vote last month that fractured the pro-Western coalition formed after a February 2014 revolution forced the ouster of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.The 41-year-old premier joined the protests and made passionate pro-EU speeches during those turbulent days that changed the course of the country.But his partys approval ratings have slipped to around two percent due to a sense that he done little to overcome corruption or break the stranglehold on politics enjoyed by a handful of tycoons during Yanukovychs four years in office.Yatsenyuk announced on Sunday he was quitting the post he had held since February 2014 -- a 26-month span during which the economy imploded and a pro-Russian insurgency that has claimed nearly 9,200 lives broke out in the separatist east.Poroshenkos party had nominated parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman to the premiership after deciding that the man known as a coalition-builder could win broad support.The 38-year-old Poroshenko protege had seemed ready to take on the assignment on Monday afternoon.I am good for it. I am able to work 24 hours a day, Groysman told reporters.But two lawmakers said Groysman had decided to turn down the job when the presidents party met on Monday evening to determine who should join the new team.They said Groysman refused to work with several of the figures named because they did not represent his reformist agenda or commitment to austerity measures prescribed by the IMF under its $17.5-billion (15.4-billion-euro) economic rescue loan.Release of new International Monetary Fund funds is not expected until Ukraine forms a stable new government that follows through on the belt-tightening pledges made when Yatsenyuk helped craft the deal in March 2014.Poroshenko taking full controlPoroshenko convened his party on Tuesday in a seemingly-successful bid to smooth over the differences and persuade Groysman to push ahead with his premiership candidacy.This will be a government in which Groysman will have substantial influence but not enjoy complete control, presidential party member Sergiy Leshchenko told reporters.But it was not clear whether Groysmans appointment would be voted on Tuesday or whether he could secure the required majority of votes in the fractured chamber.Some analysts have expressed concern that Groysmans premiership would concentrate political power with the president and his inner circle.Poroshenko is about to take full control of the government, but he is also narrowing his power base, Anders Aslund of the US-based Atlantic Council international affairs institute wrote in a report.Groysman is clearly subordinate to Poroshenko.Economists are also worried that Groysmans appointment could see Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko quit or be forced out.The US-born former State Department worker and private banker has been widely praised by the West for being able to pull together a crucial debt restructuring deal in August 2015.But some analysts said Jaresko would not want to serve under Groysman after she herself had volunteered for the premiership post.Poroshenko party member Mustafa Nayyem tweeted on Tuesday that Jareskos place would be taken by Oleksandr Danylyuk -- the presidents current representative in the cabinet.Jaresko has made no public comments about the speculation.

Oil prices rise on producers meeting hopes

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NEW YORK (Agencies) - Global oil benchmarks extended their run above $40 per level on Tuesday, riding high on the approaching crucial talks between OPEC and non-OPEC crude producers scheduled for 17 April in Doha, Qatar.Long calls dominated intraday trading for a second successive session, as both Brent and WTI futures remained at four-month highs. OPEC member Iran has so far refused to attend the meet, but Kuwait has expressed the opinion that a deal to freeze production could be achieved without Tehran’s backing.There is also anecdotal evidence of traders pricing in a US production decline. The country’s Department of Energy’s data arm – the Energy Information Administration (EIA) – is due to publish its latest crude oil inventory report on Wednesday.Last week, the EIA said the country’s crude inventories fell 4.9m barrels in the week to 1 April, compared with analysts expectations for an increase of 3.1-3.3m barrels.The dollar index breaking technical support at 94 to hit its lowest since August also played its part in the oil price bounce. At 1701 BST, the Brent June contract was up 3.92% or $1.68 to $44.51 per barrel, while the WTI May contract was 3.54% or $1.43 higher at $41.79 per barrel.Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said, “The price of oil added to early gains on unconfirmed rumours that Russia and Saudi Arabia have reached an agreement to freeze production.”“The agreement has theoretically been in place since 16 February; it’s the details of quotas and the involvement of other countries, notably Iran that is yet to be resolved.”

Dollar rebounds against yen on boost in risk appetite

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The US dollar rebounded against the safe-haven yen a day after hitting its lowest level against the currency in roughly a year and a half on greater risk appetite stemming from gains in equity and oil prices.A report that top oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze output ahead of a much-anticipated producers meeting on Sunday helped push global oil prices to four-month highs and lead energy shares higher.The improved investor sentiment boosted the greenback to a session high against the yen of 108.78 yen a day after hitting 107.61 yen, which was its lowest level since late October 2014. The yen in the first three months of the year posted its strongest quarter since late 2009.Nobody needs the yen on a day when equities are flying and oil is flying, said Steven Englander, managing director and global head of G10 FX strategy at Citigroup in New York.The dollar weakened against commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian dollar, Mexican peso, the Russia rouble, and the Australian and New Zealand dollars. The dollar fell more than 1 percent against the Mexican peso to an eight-day low of 17.4423 pesos.The report of the Russia and Saudi Arabia agreement had a massive impact on sentiment and drove the commodity-linked currencies higher, said Boris Schlossberg, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York.The euro was slightly weaker against the dollar, and last traded down 0.14 percent at $1.1390 after hitting a roughly six-month high of $1.1464 earlier in the session.The greenback has been independently weaker for the last few weeks, with the dollar index losing nearly 4.7 percent so far this year, as investors have pushed back their expectations for when the Federal Reserve will next raise U.S. interest rates.We reached key resistance points on the euro, and the market is waiting for the next catalyst, whether it’s the Fed or the ECB to move it one way or the other, Schlossberg of BK said.The dollar index, which measures the greenbacks strength against a basket of six major currencies, was last up 0.06 percent after hitting 93.627 earlier in the session, which was its lowest level in nearly eight months.The dollar was last up 0.13 percent against the Swiss franc at 0.9548 franc. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index was last up 0.88 percent.

Young British cricketer Adrian St John shot dead in Trinidad

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TRINIDAD (Agencies) - A promising British cricketer has been shot dead while holidaying in Trinidad after an apparent armed robbery.Cricket captain Adrian St John, 22, is understood to have died in Trinidad on Sunday night. Local media reported that a 24-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder.The Foreign Office said: “We are in contact with authorities following the death of a British national in Trinidad and are ready to provide consular assistance.”The Chris Gayle Academy, where St John was captain, opened in 2013 to “improve access to good quality education, training and employment for at risk young people in Jamaica and the UK”.St John also played for Alleyn Cricket Club in south London and for his university squad at the University of Hertfordshire.Local media reported the armed robbery took place in Mt D’Or in the north of the island, as St John stopped his car to pick up the daughter of a female passenger.Police told the Trinidad & Tobago Guardian that two men robbed the passengers and then ordered St John to drive off but fired a gun after the car, hitting the British man. He died in hospital of his injuries, the paper said.St John’s cousin, Leandra Alexander, told the T&T Guardian he had been visiting the country for the carnival and was scheduled to return to the UK next Tuesday.“Adrian was very cool and jolly. He was a darling. He was never rude, never disrespectful, he was just a cool and quiet child,” Alexander said.The stories you need to read, in one handy emailRead moreDonovan Miller, a coach and mentor to St John at the Chris Gayle Academy, told the Press Association he was in shock. “I’m really finding it hard to come to terms with it, how someone could do something like that to such a lovely person,” he said.“He wanted me to support him to go to the Caribbean and to push hard with his cricket. He’s just finished his degree at university, which we supported him through as well.”Miller said one of the academy members broke the news to him in a phone call on Monday. He said Gayle was one of the first people he rang and said the cricket star knew St John “quite well”.Friends posted pictures on social media of St John in his cricket whites, with one calling him “one of the funniest and nicest people”.

Lahore: Four drug dealers arrested in ANF raid

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LAHORE (Dunya News) – Four dealers were arrested late Tuesday night in a raid by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) at a house in Sabzazar area of Lahore. Large quantity of drugs and cash were recovered during the action.According to ANF sources, the raid was conducted on information of presence of large quantities of drugs in the house. During the action the drug dealers opened indiscriminate fire on the ANF officials which extensively damaged ANF’s vehicle while officials remained safe.After an exchange of fire, 4 suspects were apprehended while the home owner Aftab managed to flee the crime scene along with his sons.

Rawalpindi: 9 arrested during police search operation

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RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – Police late Tuesday night conducted a search operation in Pothohar and Rawal Town areas of Rawalpindi. 9 suspects were arrested during the operation.According to the police, 45 residents of the area were checked for their identification documents. 9 of the residents were arrested for failing to provide the complete necessary identification documents.The search operation was conducted in areas of airport police station, City, Pir Wadhai, West Ridge and New Town.Officials of the Special Branch also participated in the search operation.

Multan: 4 suspects arrested during search operation

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MULTAN (Dunya News) - Police and intelligence agencies conducted a joint operation in New Multan area on Tuesday and arrested four suspects, Dunya News reported.According to police sources, more than 150 homes were searched during which four suspects were taken into custody who failed to produce identity documents. Sources further said that arms were also recovered from the arrested persons.A massive crackdown was launched in Punjab against the criminal elements after March 27 suicide attack in Lahore’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in which more than 70 persons were killed and over 300 were wounded.The suicide attack was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban’s Jamaat-ur-Ahrar faction, which once declared loyalty to Daesh, also known as Islamic State.The brutality of the attack, Jamaat-ur-Ahrar’s fifth bombing since December, reflects the movement’s attempts to raise its profile among Pakistan’s increasingly fractured militants.At least 29 children enjoying the outing were among those killed when the suicide bomber struck in a busy park in the heart of Lahore, the power base of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.It was Pakistan’s deadliest attack since the December 2014 massacre of 134 school children at a military-run academy in the city of Peshawar that prompted a government crackdown on militancy.After the attack, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif directed to launch a large-scale anti-terrorism operation across Punjab. Hundreds of suspects have been arrested from Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Jhelum, Nankana, Lahore, Sheikhpura and other areas since then.

Faisalabad: 15 killed in bus, truck collision

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FAISALABAD (Dunya News) – At least 15 people were killed and many other were wounded when a bus collided with a truck at the Jhang Road in Thaikrywala area near Faisalabad on early Wednesday morning, Dunya News reported.Rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to Allied Hospital while the dead bodies were shifted to mortuary. The rescue sources said that the death toll may climb further as condition of many injured is stated to be critical.

Karachi: CTD's action, 2 terrorists including Al-Qaeda leader shot dead

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Police and Rangers have intensified their action against elements involved in attacks on law enforcement agencies. Two terrorists including a leader of the outlawed outfit Al-Qaeda were shot dead while another one, Abu Hurraira, was arrested Tuesday during a raid by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Ahsanabad area of Karachi.An explosives factory ran by the terrorists was also confiscated during the raid while grenades, ammunition and motorcycle have also been recoveredAccording to the details, suspects attacked CTD officials with grenades during the raid. 2 terrorists were shot dead during the retaliatory fire by CTD. The exterminated terrorists have been identified as Rehan and Hammad.According to CTD In-Charge Raja Umer, terrorist Rehan belonged to a banned outfit. The exterminated terrorists were involved in recent attacks on police and Rangers.

Security forces' air strike in North Waziristan kills 9 terrorists

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RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – Operation Zarb-e-Azb is achieving effective results as nine terrorists were killed Tuesday during an air strike by the security forces’ in North Waziristan.According to a statement by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) conducted an aerial raid in the area of Burmund near the Afghan border. Along with terrorists’ elimination, several secret hideouts of the suspects were also destroyed during the bombardment.It is pertinent to mention here that the terrorists have taken refuge in secret hideouts along the Afghan border after Operation Zarb-e-Azb was initiated.

Panama Leaks: Ishaq Dar meets Rehman Malik, briefs PM afterwards

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar met with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Rehman Malik Tuesday over the Panama Leaks issue. The Finance Minister then gave a detailed briefing to Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on the meeting in Lahore and discussed other issues with the PM during meeting.A declaration released by Finance Ministry has stated that Finance Minsiter Ishaq Dar has cancelled his trip to Washington, reported Dunya News.The Minister was scheduled to attend the annual meetings of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).However, he will now travel to London with the PM while Secretary Finance and other officials will now visit Washington to attend the meetings on behalf of Dar.
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