Thursday 7 April 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Kerry urges Iran to help end wars in Yemen, Syria

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MANAMA (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday urged Iran to help end the wars raging in Yemen and Syria, criticising the Islamic republics destabilising actions in the Middle East.On the first visit by a US chief diplomat to Bahrain since 2010, Kerry also told authorities in Manama accused of discriminating against the countrys Shiite majority that respect for human rights was essential.Kerry later held a meeting with his Gulf Arab counterparts, two weeks before President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh when Washingtons Middle East policy is likely to come under the microscope. Speaking during a joint news conference with Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, the top US diplomat condemned the destabilising actions of Iran, which the United States takes very seriously.Kerry said the US Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, last week interrupted a shipment of weapons destined for Huthi rebels in Yemen. We call on Iran to constructively join in the efforts to make peace and to help us to resolve Syria and rather than to continue to send weapons to Huthis, join in the effort... to make peace and to work toward a cessation of hostilities, Kerry told reporters.Tehran and the Gulf states back opposing sides in Syria and Yemen.During the GCC meeting the US Secretary of State defended the historic accord between Iran and major Western powers under which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions.After the meeting, Kerry added that the US and GCC nations remain united in our opposition to Irans missile activities.The US Treasury last month imposed financial sanctions on Irans Republican Guards, who conducted ballistic missile tests over March 8-9.Sheikh Khalid, whose government accuses Iran of stoking persistent protests among the kingdoms Shiites demanding an end to Sunni minority rule, echoed Kerrys call for Iran to cooperate.Irans interventions through proxies in several parts of our region (are) continuing unabated, the Bahraini foreign minister said.Tehran argues that it is Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies that are sowing instability in the region with their air strikes in Yemen and support of the opposition in Syria.All the Gulf Arab states, apart from Oman, are taking part in a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March last year, in a war which the United Nations says has killed around 6,300 people.Human Rights Watch said Thursday that bombs supplied by the United States were used in coalition air strikes on a market in Yemen that killed at least 97 civilians including children last month.Asked to comment on the report, Kerry said he did not have solid information on weapons used in Yemen.Yemens warring parties have agreed to observe a UN-brokered ceasefire from midnight Sunday to be followed by peace negotiations in Kuwait on April 18.The Gulf Arab states have also been staunch backers of Syrian rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assads regime since 2011.Iran, along with Russia, has been among the regimes main supporters in the conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and pushed nearly five million into exile.Kerry said that the key now is UN-sponsored peace talks set to take place in Geneva on April 13, where the main obstacle is Assads future.That discussion about transition is the key test of the seriousness of the Assad regime, of Russia and Iran, Kerry said.We will need to apply all of our efforts in order to maintain not only the cessation of hostilities but to build some possible momentum in the negotiations themselves, he added after the GCC talks.The GCC comprises the Sunni-dominated monarchies of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have carried out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria as part of a US-led military coalition.Were satisfied, I think, with the overall level of support that were getting from the Gulf states in the coalition, the US official said. On Bahrain, Kerry urged authorities to adopt an inclusive political system.Here, as in all nations, we believe that respect for human rights and an inclusive political system are essential, Kerry said.We all welcome steps by sides to create conditions to provide for greater political involvement for the citizens of this great country, he added.In 2011, the tiny but strategic island state, which is dominated by a ruling family drawn from the Sunni minority, crushed a Shiite-led uprising calling for a full constitutional monarchy with an elected prime minister.

UN envoy urges Libya's new government to get to work

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Libyas new Tripoli-based government must get down to practical work to ensure a peaceful handover of power from the countrys many factions, the UN envoy told the Security Council on Thursday.Martin Kobler told a closed-door session of the council that he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for the new unity government that will seek to restore order to Libya, diplomats said.The UN-backed government is led by Fayez al-Sarraj who arrived in the capital a week ago.Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognized parliament to flee to the countrys east.Kobler said Sarraj must begin practical work with his ministerial team even though security is fragile, a diplomat said.The envoy, who briefed by video-conference for two hours, said on Twitter that council members wanted Libyan lawmakers based in the countrys east to vote on endorsing the new government to give it full legitimacy.Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters following the briefing that much work remained to be done to shore up the new government.Its good that some progress has been made but the situation in the country of course continues to be nearly catastrophic, Churkin said.Well have to continue to work to make sure that there is maximum unity among the various political forces in the country and this is not the case yet, he said.British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft sounded more upbeat, telling reporters ahead of the meeting that finally there has been some good news out of Libya with the government now in Tripoli.French Ambassador Francois Delattre stressed that shoring up the new government was key to confronting the threat from the Islamic State group, which has been gaining a foothold in Libya.Lets be clear about it, Libya has now the opportunity -- to a certain extent, the historic opportunity -- to create the conditions for stability, for the benefit of all Libyan people, and roll back the chaos on which Daesh has thrived, said Delattre, using an alternative name for IS.Sarraj was picked by the United Nations in October to lead the new unity government, but faced much resistance from Libyas myriad political factions and armed groups.

Israel starts building new part of controversial West Bank wall

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BEIT JALA (AFP) - Israel began construction on a controversial part of its separation barrier in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, near a Palestinian Christian town, an AFP journalist reported.Cranes began lifting eight-metre(yard)-high blocks into place near Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem and close to Bethlehem, a photographer witnessed.This part of the wall could cut Palestinians from their olive groves.Nicola Khamis, mayor of Beit Jala, condemned what he saw as a land grab.This land is for our families, our children, he said by phone from the bridge next to the construction site.The Israeli army referred questions to the defence ministry, which did not immediately respond.Residents of Beit Jala fear the construction of the wall may lead to the expansion of the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.Khamis said they hoped to battle the walls construction, with emergency strategy meetings planned, but he conceded they had no further appeals within the Israeli legal system.After a nine-year legal battle, Israels high court ruled in July 2015 the wall was legitimate, making only small adjustments.Without this land all the Christians will leave this country, Khamis said. It is impossible to build in Beit Jala. We want to widen Beit Jala.Israel began building the barrier of walls and fences inside the occupied West Bank in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising), saying it was crucial for security.The Palestinians see it as a land grab aimed at stealing part of their future state and call it the apartheid wall.It is consistent with the Israeli governments policy of consolidating apartheid in the West Bank, Xavier Abu Eid, a spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said of Thursdays construction.It destroys the prospects for Bethlehem to grow.In a non-binding decision, the International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that construction of the barrier was illegal and, like the UN General Assembly, demanded it be dismantled.

Turkey will ditch migrant deal if EU breaks promises: Erdogan

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ISTANBUL (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday warned the European Union that Ankara would not implement a key deal on reducing the flow of migrants if Brussels fails to fulfil its side of the bargain.Erdogans typically combative comments indicated that Ankara would not sit still if the EU falls short on a number of promises in the deal, including visa-free travel to Europe for Turks by this summer.Meanwhile, the Vatican confirmed that the pope would next week make a brief, unprecedented trip to the Greek island of Lesbos where thousands of migrants are facing potential deportation to Turkey under the deal.There are precise conditions. If the European Union does not take the necessary steps, then Turkey will not implement the agreement, Erdogan said in a speech at his presidential palace in Ankara.The March 18 accord sets out measures for reducing Europes worst migration crisis since World War II, including stepped-up checks by Turkey and the shipping back to Turkish territory of migrants who land on the Greek islands.In return, Turkey is slated to receive benefits including visa-free travel for its citizens to Europe, promised at the latest by June 2016.Turkey is also to receive a total of six billion euros in financial aid up to the end of 2018 for the 2.7 million Syrian refugees it is hosting.Marc Pierini, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, described the visa-free regime as one of the biggest benefits for Turkey in the migrant deal.He told AFP that Turkey still has to fulfil 72 conditions on its side to gain visa-free travel to Europes passport-free Schengen zone and that the move would also have to be approved by EU interior ministers.Turkeys long-stalled accession process to join the EU is also supposed to be re-energised under the deal. But Pierini said there were many conditions still to be fulfilled here. The worst reading of the EU-Turkey deal would be to imagine that Turkey is about to get a discount on EU membership conditions just because of the refugees, he said.Erdogan argued Turkey deserved something in return for its commitment to Syrian refugees, on whom it has spent some $10 billion since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.Some three million people are being fed on our budget, the president said.There have been promises but nothing has come for the moment, he added.The first transfer of over 200 migrants from the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios to Turkey took place on Monday. But Since then, there have been no more. The process has been stalled by a last-minute flurry of asylum applications by migrants desperate to avoid expulsion.Nikos Xydakis, Greeces junior foreign minister for European affairs, said it would take at least two weeks to process the first batch of asylum applications.German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country took in 1.1 million asylum seekers last year, delivered a message of optimism Thursday regarding the migrant crisis.I am very happy today, however I know that we have not yet completed all the tasks before us, she told a press conference during a meeting with French counterpart Francois Hollande in eastern France.Under the pact with the EU, Turkey has agreed to take back migrants who arrived in Greece in illegal crossings of the Aegean Sea after March 20.For every Syrian refugee among those sent back to Turkey, one Syrian is supposed to be resettled in Europe.The deal has caused huge controversy, with rights groups including Amnesty International claiming Turkey could not be considered a safe country for the return of refugees.A Spanish far-left party filed a court complaint Thursday against acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for crimes against humanity over his support of the accord.The Izquierda Unida (IU) party accused Rajoy and other European leaders of having agreed with Turkish authorities to forcibly deport and transfer an unspecified number of people from EU territory.According to lawyers for IU, this represents a crime against humanity under the Spanish penal code.Pope Francis will visit Lesbos on April 16 to show his support for the migrants, the Vatican said.The Greek government Thursday started to move some migrants from the Moria camp on Lesbos, where 3,000 are crammed, to the open camp of Kara Tepe, also on the island, an official said, insisting it was not linked to the popes visit.

Aware of RAW agent's arrest in Pakistan: US

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WASHINGTON (Dunya News) – US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner while briefing the newsmen in Washington on Thursday said that the United State is aware of Indian RAW agent’s arrest in Pakistan.He further said that United States policy regarding Kashmir has not changed. “Our policy regarding Kashmir has not changed. As we’ve long said, the pace, scope, and character of those discussions or any discussions on Kashmir must be for the two sides to determine. We support any and all positive steps that Pakistan and India can take to forge closer relations.Answering a question regarding Panama Leaks, Mark Toner said that if there is a perception of corruption then that is damaging, and that’s up to governments around the world to address if it affects them or speaks to their conduct. We can’t say categorically that corruption is taking place or that this is criminal.

Mexico gunmen arrested thanks to spelling mistake

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MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Four gunmen riding in a fake police car have been arrested in Mexico after the real authorities noticed a spelling mistake on their otherwise identical vehicle.The car was painted and outfitted to look exactly like the ones used by the federal police, but spelled the word division with a c instead of an s.That aroused the suspicion of a military patrol in the western state of Michoacan, which stopped the vehicle and arrested the four men with guns and ammunition.The detained suspects do not belong to any security force, the Michoacan authorities said in a statement Tuesday.The state is the scene of frequent violence between drug cartels fighting each other for control of trafficking routes.

Mexico gunmen arrested thanks to spelling mistake

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MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Four gunmen riding in a fake police car have been arrested in Mexico after the real authorities noticed a spelling mistake on their otherwise identical vehicle.The car was painted and outfitted to look exactly like the ones used by the federal police, but spelled the word division with a c instead of an s.That aroused the suspicion of a military patrol in the western state of Michoacan, which stopped the vehicle and arrested the four men with guns and ammunition.The detained suspects do not belong to any security force, the Michoacan authorities said in a statement Tuesday.The state is the scene of frequent violence between drug cartels fighting each other for control of trafficking routes.

Mexico gunmen arrested thanks to spelling mistake

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MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Four gunmen riding in a fake police car have been arrested in Mexico after the real authorities noticed a spelling mistake on their otherwise identical vehicle.The car was painted and outfitted to look exactly like the ones used by the federal police, but spelled the word division with a c instead of an s.That aroused the suspicion of a military patrol in the western state of Michoacan, which stopped the vehicle and arrested the four men with guns and ammunition.The detained suspects do not belong to any security force, the Michoacan authorities said in a statement Tuesday.The state is the scene of frequent violence between drug cartels fighting each other for control of trafficking routes.

SpaceX to launch first cargo since 2015 accident

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MIAMI (AFP) - Nine months after a SpaceX rocket exploded on the way to the International Space Station, the California-based company is counting down to the launch Friday of another flight to resupply astronauts in orbit.The unmanned Dragon capsule is poised to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 4:43 pm (2043 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket.The spaceship will carry some 7,000 pounds (3,100 kilograms) of gear for the six astronauts living at the research outpost, including an inflatable space room astronauts will test in microgravity.Known as the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, the inflatable chamber will be temporarily attached to the space station.Although SpaceX has successfully flown its newly upgraded Falcon 9 rocket twice since last years accident, Friday will mark the first return flight to the ISS, the eighth in a series of resupply trips NASA has commissioned from SpaceX.The company blamed the blast in June 2015 on a faulty strut in the Falcon 9s upper booster, which allowed a helium bottle to snap loose, causing the explosion of the rocket, cargo ship and all its contents just over two minutes into the flight.After Fridays launch, SpaceX will make another attempt at landing Falcon 9s first stage on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean.Although the company has managed to land stages upright on solid ground, multiple attempts at a water touchdown have failed.We certainly hope we are going to nail the landing this time, SpaceX Vice President Hans Koenigsmann said.The effort is part of CEO Elon Musks ongoing bid to lower the cost of launching to space by making rocket components reusable.Expensive rocket parts are currently jettisoned into the ocean after launch.If all goes well, the Dragon will become the fourth vehicle to visit the ISS in four weeks.Set to dock at the space station on Sunday, the capsule would join its competitor, Orbital ATKs Cygnus cargo craft, which launched to the station last month and remains attached to the orbiting space laboratory.Dragons arrival will mark the first time that the two vehicles, contracted by NASA and developed by private industry to resupply the station, are connected to the space station at the same time, the US space agency said.In addition to the Cygnus, four Russian spacecraft -- two Soyuz crew capsules and two Progress cargo vehicles -- are docked at the ISS.Six capsules parked at the station would tie a record for most vehicles there at once. That last happened in 2011.The weather forecast was 90 percent favorable for liftoff, with clear skies and light winds expected on Friday.It will be a great day to launch a rocket, NASA weather officer Kathy Winters said.The agency plans to broadcast the Dragons arrival at the ISS early Sunday, beginning at 5:30 am (0930 GMT).

Oil drops on profit-taking after US reserves fall

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NEW YORK (AFP) - World oil prices slid Thursday after rallying sharply the previous session following the first drop in US petroleum inventories in seven weeks.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery lost 49 cents at $37.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent North Sea oil for June delivery shed 41 cents at $39.43 a barrel in London.Oil prices had risen more than five percent Wednesday after the US reported that commercial crude inventories fell 4.9 million barrels in the week ending April 1.But that set the stage for profit-taking on Thursday, especially since the oil market is still viewed as glutted, analysts said. The petroleum markets have turned lower on profit-taking off Wednesdays rally, as traders recognize that the one-week decline in US crude oil inventories may not have signaled any change in the wider market, said Citi Futures analyst Tim Evans.James Williams of WTRG Economics said the oil market will probably trade in a rocky fashion ahead of an April 17 meeting in Qatar of oil producers to discuss capping production.Between now and the Doha meeting, were going to see the market up and down a lot depending on which member of OPEC says what, he said.

Yen continues climb despite efforts to talk it down

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NEW YORK (AFP) - The yen continued its march higher Thursday despite efforts to slow the trend and worries of an impact on Japanese exporters.The yen pushed to as high as 107.68 per dollar before settling back to 108.31, for a 1.3 percent gain for the day. It was the highest level for the Japanese currency in more than 17 months.Against the euro the yen climbed about 1.6 percent to 123.17, just shy of the three-year high set in March.It came despite more efforts by Japanese officials to stem the gains. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government was vigilantly watching the currencys movements, Bloomberg reported.But traders shrugged that off amid market conclusions that monetary policymakers in both the US and Europe remained dovish and the US rate hikes were likely several months off.Alarms should be ringing at the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Japan because the five percent (yen) appreciation spells big trouble for Japans businesses and economy, said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.However, everything that we have heard from the Japanese government so far suggests that they are not ready to intervene.

Karachi: Police, Rangers crackdown against crime continues

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Police and Rangers’ crackdown against crime continued late Thursday night in several areas of Karachi. A target killer was shot dead and 4 suspects were arrested while political party’s worker was taken into custody during action by law enforcement agencies.According to the details, Rangers arrested a suspect during a raid in Korangi Number 4 area. The suspect belongs to a political party and has been shifted to unknown location for interrogation.A perpetrator was arrested from Baldia Ittehad Town after being injured in an encounter with the police. The suspect succumbed to his wounds in the hospital. According to the police, suspect Sohail alias Baldia was involved in more than 30 cases of crime. He belonged to the Bahadur PNT group of Lyari gangwar.Meanwhile police conducted action in Pakistan Bazaar Orangi Town and arrested 3 felons involved in street crimes. Ammunition was also recovered from the suspects.On the other hand, a man was injured due to firing in Malir Bakra Peri area.In a separate incident, 2 people were injured in a traffic accident in Defence Khayaban-e-Rahat area.

On the lamb: Pakistani officials recover kidnapped newborn sheep

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ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Six endangered newborn Pakistani Urials stolen from their mother have been recovered, officials said Thursday, in a case that has left a pair of local policemen accused of kidnapping them feeling rather sheepish.The three male and three female lambs were illegally picked up from the Jhelum district of central Punjab province, where around 2,500 are thought to roam in the wild. The Punjab Urial, known for their curved horns which keep growing throughout their lives, are listed as endangered according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Pakistan, and are mainly threatened by degradation of their habitats as well as poaching.Pakistanis are forbidden from hunting them, though sixteen permits are issued each year to foreigners, who must pay $16,500 for the privilege. Rana Shahbaz, a senior local wildlife official, told AFP the lambs had been taken from the Salt Range by two local policemen who are believed to have been hired by a well-to-do client -- described as a judge by local daily Dawn.The lambs are very sensitive, and when they are taken from their mothers they often die, he said. But when we recovered them we kept them at our check post, they were fed properly and later they were produced before a court, which ordered them to be sent to the Lahore Zoo.They were later pictured frolicking at the zoo.Mujahid Akbar Khan, the local police chief, confirmed the case adding that the two policemen had been suspended. An investigation is underway, he added.Pakistan is home to stunning range of wildlife including snow leopards, shaheen falcons and Indus dolphins. But an exploding population currently around 200 million, and a lack of awareness around conservation has led to the destruction of habitats and forests and endangerment of numerous species.

New York travel agent in court over Pakistani scam

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NEW YORK (AFP) - A New York travel agent appeared in court Thursday charged with conning more than $350,000 out of Pakistani immigrants who paid to go on Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca or fly home.Junaid Mirza, 50, who operated travel agencies in Brooklyn and one previously located in the Empire State Building was charged on 31 counts that include scheme to defraud, money laundering and grand larceny.He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.Many of the victims were hardworking Pakistani immigrants who trusted the defendant and were cheated out of a lifelong dream of taking a pilgrimage to Mecca, said Brooklyn district attorney Ken Thompson.Mirza allegedly owned travel agencies that specialized in selling travel packages to Saudi Arabia and airline tickets to Pakistani immigrants from July 2011 to September 2015.All Muslims are expected to perform hajj -- a pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca -- at least once in their lifetime.Mirza advertised discounted trips in local Urdu-language newspapers and in pamphlets distributed in mosques, New York prosecutors said.The victims, who included taxi drivers and home health aides, allegedly paid more than $6,000 per person for a hajj package, but prosecutors said Mirza pocketed the cash and failed to book the airline seats.Some victims only found out they had been conned when they arrived at the airport, including a bride who missed part of her wedding festivities in Pakistan as a result, prosecutors said.Other victims were a parent traveling with three young children who were stranded at an airport in Pakistan when they were told by the airline that the defendant had never purchased their return flight.

Quetta: Young doctors strike, police baton-charge protesters

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QUETTA (Dunya News) – Young doctors Thursday announced a strike against police brutality and arrests as police initiated a crackdown against the protesting doctors. Police baton-charged and fired aerial shots to dispel the demonstrators, as young doctors started marching towards Balochistan Assembly for protest.The site turned into a war zone as police started firing tear gas on the protesters as well.Doctors including those of Civil and BMS hospitals’ emergency department suspended their work as the strike was announced.
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