Tuesday 4 October 2016

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Boycott of Parliament sign of Imrans mental bankruptcy: Pervaiz Rashid

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ISLAMABAD (APP): Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid Tuesday said boycott of joint session of Parliament by Imran Khan is a sign of his mental bankruptcy.In a statement here, he said instead of presenting public sentiment through democratic institutions, Imran Khan continues to hatch conspiracies against them.He said the joint session of Parliament was called to express solidarity with the people of Occupied Kashmir and get opinion and suggestions of elected representatives to foil attempts of India to indulge in war hysteria.The minister said attitude of Imran Khan showed that he is deprived of understanding the importance of national issues.When representatives of the nation joined their heads to deliberate on serious issues, then Imran Khan was enjoying music and leisure time in Nathiagali, he said adding Imran Khan should keep his political animosity, separate from the Kashmir cause.

Joint session of Parliament to be held today

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ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – The two-day joint session of the parliament will start today (Wednesday) at the Parliament House in Islamabad to express resolve to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the country at all costs, Dunya News reported. The session will start at 4:30pm.The session will discuss the Indian aggression along the Line of Control (LoC) and the prevailing situation in the Indian-held Kashmir.Prime Minister Nawaz Shraif will address the joint session of the parliament and deliver police statement on the national security. The Prime Minister will also apprise the session about the decision taken in the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting and also brief the session about decision taken in All Partied Conference (APC). He will slao highlight the main points of the national policy on Kashmir.Resolutions to express solidarity with the Kashmiri people and to condemn India aggression will also be passed during the joint session.On the other hand, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced to boycott joint session of the parliament after alleging the premier of misusing Kashmir dispute to sway nation’s attention from probe of Panama leak.The leader of PTI addressed a press conference at his residence in Bani Gala after chairing a key meeting of senior members of the political party. He cleared that PTI stood with all the political parties in support of Kashmiris but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would not be allowed to divert attention.

There should not be 2018 elections-politics on CPEC: Ahsan Iqbal

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LAHORE (Dunya News) -Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday that there should not be 2018 elections-politics on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), reported Dunya News.Ahsan Iqbal told in Dunya Kamran Khan ke Saath, that construction of road from Dera Ismail Khan (D.I.Khan) to Burhan is in progress whereas on Northern route work is in progress on priority. He disclosed that work was also in progress to join Gwadar with Quetta. It will be connected with Quetta to Afghanistan and then central Asian countries.

Karachi: 18 detained during police operation

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KARACHI Dunya News) - Crackdown against criminal elements continues in Karachi as three accused and 15 suspects were taken into custody during police operation in different parts of the city on Tuesday, Dunya News reported.According to details, police carried out a targeted operation in Boat Basin area and apprehended a wanted murderer. Police sources said that the arrested person, Shahid Khan, was wanted by Darakhshan police and a murder case and also wanted by Clifton police in a four million rupees robbery case.Super Market Police Station personnel also conducted a raid and arrested two accused.Separately, police conducted a search operation in Baldia Ittehad Town on against criminal elements in the area and arrested 15 suspects. According to SSP Baldia, the arrested persons have been shifted to police station for further investigation.

MQM founder likely to be indicted in money laundering case today

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LONDON (Dunya News) - Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder is likely to be indicted today in money laundering case in London, reported Dunya News.According to details, Sarfraz Merchant had filed an application in court, in which he wrote that police had confiscated his money and did not return. When court asked police, they said that this money was laundered and they had evidences.The court asked police to charge the accused and start investigation, to which police replied that they would start invesitgating from 5 October and then would start proper trial.

India bans Kashmir newspaper for 'inciting unrest'

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NEW DELHI (AFP) - Authorities in Indian Kashmir have banned a local newspaper they said was inciting violence in the Himalayan region, which has been roiled by deadly violence in recent months. The editor of the Kashmir Reader, an English-language daily, said police had come to their office carrying an order for them to stop publishing.There was no prior notice or communication from the government, Hilal Mir told AFP. If there was a problem with the content, they could have sought an explanation from us.The order said the Kashmir Reader contains such material and content which tends to incite acts of violence and disturb public peace and tranquility.Rights groups criticised the move, which comes weeks after local authorities briefly banned all newspapers from publishing and stopped internet services.The government has a duty to respect the freedom of the press, and the right of people to receive information, Amnesty International said in a statement. It cannot shut down a newspaper simply for being critical of the government.Journalists marched to protest the move in Srinagar on Monday, calling it a violation of press freedom. Nearly 90 people, most of them young protesters, have been killed in clashes with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir since the death on July 8 of a popular militant leader.It is the worst violence the troubled region has seen since 2010, although several armed groups have for decades been fighting Indian forces stationed there, seeking independence from India.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.

Russia sends missile system to Syria port

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ALEPPO (AFP) - Russia said Tuesday it has sent an advanced missile system to the Syrian port of Tartus, as tensions escalate between it and the United States over the five-year conflict.The announcement came after Washington said it was suspending talks with Moscow aimed at reviving a ceasefire deal over Russias support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.On the ground, Assads forces advanced on rebels during intense street fighting in the opposition-held east of Aleppo city, which Russia has been accused of bombing indiscriminately including targeting its hospitals.The UN rights chief called for action to halt the ghastly avalanche of violence unfolding in Syrias second city, which is reeling from some of the most brutal fighting in the conflict.Russia, which has denied its strikes have hit hospitals, said it was deploying an S-300 missile system to Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.The S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat to anyone, said defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.Its not clear why the placement of S-300 in Syria has caused such a stir among our western colleagues, he said in a statement.As well as operating a naval facility in Tartus, Russia runs an air base outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, which currently houses warplanes used in its bombing campaign in support of ally Assad.In August, a Russian official said Moscow was planning to expand into a permanent military facility its Hmeimim air base, which already has an S-400 air defence system, its most modern arsenal. Washington announced late Monday that it would suspend joint efforts to reinstate a nationwide truce, accusing Moscow of abetting Assads assault on Aleppo.Everybodys patience with Russia has run out, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.A US official said Secretary of State John Kerry was focused on finding a diplomatic solution, but his talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the crisis were over.Kerry said Tuesday the decision was one we did not come to lightly.We are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, we are not going to leave the multilateral field, we are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war, he said.People who are serious about making peace behave differently from the way Russia has chosen to behave, he added.The Kremlin said it would like to hope for the presence of political wisdom and the continuation of exchanges on particularly sensitive issues that are necessary for maintaining peace and security.And Lavrov said Moscow was not shirking our responsibility but consider that the crisis can only be resolved collectively.The US-Russia truce plan had envisioned an end to hostilities, increased aid deliveries, and eventual coordination in the fight against jihadists.But it collapsed after a week, with Russia blaming Washington for failing to convince rebels to distance themselves from jihadists.Russia and the US will keep a communications channel open solely to ensure their separate anti-jihadist bombing campaigns do not get in each others way.The Syrian army announced a major Russian-backed military push nearly two weeks ago to capture the eastern half of Aleppo, once the countrys commercial hub.The regime forces were gradually advancing after street battles on the front line dividing the city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.They are focusing on the tall buildings, which were once government administration buildings, because they can monitor entire streets and neighbourhoods from there, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.State media said rebel shelling on the government-held west, including the Aleppo University campus, killed six people. More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in March 2011, and the latest attempt at securing a diplomatic solution to the war has fallen apart.UN rights chief Zeid Raad Al Hussein decried the ghastly avalanche of violence and destruction in east Aleppo, saying 100 children had been killed in the past 10 days.He urged the Security Council to introduce a limit on its members veto power, to prevent countries like Russia blocking the referral of Syrias conflict to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.On Monday, the largest hospital in the rebel-held side of Aleppo was completely destroyed in an aerial attack, according to the Syrian American Medical Society, which supports the facility. Only five hospitals remain operational for the estimated 250,000 people living under a crippling government siege in east Aleppo.Elsewhere, Save the Children said heavy shelling killed at least two aid workers at the Khan Eshieh camp for Palestinian refugees near Damascus.

Kerry says US still in 'pursuit of peace' in Syria

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Tuesday that Washington was still seeking peace in Syria, but said it had dropped ceasefire talks with Russia because of outrage over Moscows support for the regime.Kerry accused Moscow of turning a blind eye to the use by President Bashar al-Assads forces of weapons including chlorine gas against rebels and civilians in Syria.I want to be very, very clear to everybody, we are not giving up on the Syrian people, we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace, Kerry said in a speech in the Belgian capital Brussels.We are not going to leave the multilateral field, we are going to continue to try to find a way forward in order to end this war, including through the United Nations or through smaller groups of countries.The United States on Monday said it had suspended two-way talks with Moscow on reviving a truce in Syria as Russian-backed government forces pressed on with an onslaught on rebel-held parts of the city of Aleppo.Believe me, we did not come lightly to the decision to abandon the talks with Russia, Kerry said.He launched a withering attack on Moscow for its irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised decision to support Assad.We acknowledge in sorrow and, I have to tell you, with a great sense of outrage that Russia has turned a blind eye to Assads deplorable use of these weapons of war that he has chosen -- chlorine gas, barrel bombs against his people, Kerry said.Together the Syrian regime and Russia seem to have rejected diplomacy in furtherance of trying to pursue a military victory over the broken bodies, bombed-out hospitals, the traumatised children of a long-suffering land.People who are serious about making peace behave differently from the way Russia has chosen to behave.He added however that the United States and Russia had not suspended deconfliction communications between their respective militaries in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.Russia did not immediately react to Kerrys comments.But Moscow blamed the United States for the agreements collapse, saying Washington had never been able to separate rebels on the ground from the jihadist group Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly Al-Qaedas Syrian affiliate.

Yemen rebels form rival government

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SANAA (AFP) - Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen formed Tuesday a national salvation government to rival the internationally recognised administration of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.The cabinet led by Abdel Aziz Ben Habtoor, who was named on Sunday to form a government in rebel-held Sanaa, will have 27 ministers, the rebels supreme political council said in a statement.The council was created in July by the Huthis and the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Ben Habtoor is a former governor of the southern port city of Aden and a member of the political bureau of Salehs General Peoples Congress.Abu Bakr al-Kerbi, a former foreign minister of Yemen and member of Salehs party, will head the foreign ministry while the defence ministry was given to General Hussein Khayran, who held the same portfolio in the Huthis revolutionary committee. The rebel government also includes five women -- a number never seen before in Yemen -- as well as representatives of southern separatists and ministers considered independents.The rebel announcement of a rival government is likely to further complicate the prospects of a political settlement in Yemen.In early August, UN-backed peace talks in Kuwait between Yemens warring parties were suspended.The United Nations says the conflict has killed more than 6,600 people and displaced at least three million since a Saudi-led Arab coalition backing Hadis government launched operations in March 2015.Since then, the rebels have been pushed out of much of Yemens south, but they still control nearly all of the countrys Red Sea coast as well as swathes of territory around the capital Sanaa.

Afghan forces flushing Taliban out of Kunduz

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KUNDUZ (AFP) - Fighting continued on the outskirts of Kunduz Tuesday as some frightened residents fled the city a day after the Taliban launched an hours-long assault that was repelled by Afghan forces backed by NATO.Helicopters hovered over the strategic provincial capital and commandoes were stationed in the main square, an AFP correspondent there said, as Afghan forces conducted a clearing operation warning that militants were hiding in civilian homes.Dozens of residents could be seen boarding buses, many of them government employees and their families fearing Taliban violence.I have to leave the city with my family, because my brother is in the army, 40-year-old Hussain told AFP as he boarded a bus for Kabul.The situation is uncertain, if the Taliban find out about it they may kill us. The people are very scared, they are all moving to safer places.We could not sleep the whole night, each blast would startle my kids and shake our house, said another resident Amrullah. There is no safe place in the city, they are fighting from street to street. I have to move my family to a safer place until the situation comes back to normal.The assault launched early Monday came just over a year after militants briefly seized the provincial capital, and as President Ashraf Ghani flew to Brussels to meet world leaders for a crucial foreign aid conference.Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said fighting was ongoing in the citys outskirts, and that at least 30 Taliban insurgents had been killed.The defence ministry earlier Tuesday said three Afghan soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the fighting.The number of civilians reaching hospital with bullet and shrapnel wounds jumped from around 40 to more than 100 Tuesday afternoon, hospital officials said, with one person killed.Kunduz provincial governor Assadullah Omarkhil said the operation was moving slowly because the Taliban are using peoples houses to hide.But a Taliban spokesman insisted via Twitter that the militants were still advancing. The insurgents are known to exaggerate their claims.Jawid Salim a spokesman for the special forces in Kunduz, said the Taliban were setting fire to some buildings as they were pushed out of the city, including the main power station. On Monday residents had reported being trapped in their homes by intense fighting as the sound of explosions echoed across the city, with provincial officials voicing fears it could fall.NATO spokesman Brigadier General Charles Cleveland said the government was in control of the city, but the strength of the attack was still being assessed. We did see fighting but we did not see the scale of attack that was initially being reported, he said, comparing it to exaggerated attacks earlier this year on Lashkar Gah in Helmand, and Tarin Kot in Uruzgan.Afghan troops had responded effectively, he said.Ghani is meeting world leaders in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday in a bid to secure financial aid from the international community up to 2020. The meeting, 15 years after the US invasion of 2001, will try to drum up support despite donor fatigue compounded by conflicts in Syria and Iraq plus the worst migration crisis since World War II.The enemy attacked Kunduz to catch the worlds attention in Brussels, defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said Tuesday.After seizing Kunduz on September 28, 2015, the Taliban held the city for two days then withdrew from the outskirts on October 15. More than 280 people were killed and hundreds wounded.A US air strike during the fighting hit a hospital operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres on October 3, killing 42 people.The organisation, which has not since relaunched its operations in Kunduz, had planned to mark the anniversary Monday by sending its country representative Guilhem Molinie and international president Meinie Nicolai to the city.But the fresh Taliban assault forced them to hastily cancel and evacuate non-medical staff who had been sent ahead to prepare.It was a pity for the victims, Molinie told AFP.

Turkey suspends 12,800 police, shuts TV channel

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ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey on Tuesday suspended 12,800 police officers over alleged links to an Islamic preacher accused of masterminding the failed July coup, and cut broadcasts of a pro-Kurdish television channel under its controversial state of emergency.Tens of thousands have already been arrested or lost their jobs under the three three-month state of emergency which was declared days after the July 15 coup and was extended on Monday a further 90 days to last well into 2017.Officers entered IMC TV headquarters and cut broadcasts after it was ordered, along with several other outlets, to be closed last week under the emergency laws over accusations of supporting Kurdish militants. A total of 12,801 police were suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, including 2,523 police chiefs, the police headquarters said in a statement.In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers.A Turkish official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the suspensions, adding that the individuals would continue to be paid two-thirds of their salary pending further investigation.The action was taken over suspected links to the movement of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen which Turkey blames for the failed putsch in July which sought to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.Gulen, an ally-turned-foe of Erdogan who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Ankaras accusations.Supporters of the Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet (service), insist it is a loose grouping of individuals committed to peace and helping people through education and charities.According to Anadolu, 1,350 of the police officers suspended were working at Ankara police headquarters, which came under attack from the air on the night of the coup.Among those dismissed, a 26-year-old police officer shot himself dead Tuesday in Mersin, a southern city on the Mediterranean coast, Dogan news agency reported.Tens of thousands of people in the judiciary, civil service, military and education sector have been suspended while 32,000 suspects have been placed under arrest on charges of links to the movement.A total of 70,000 people had been investigated, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said last month, adding that the process continued.From teachers to former generals and admirals, from bakery magnates to journalists, the investigation into the failed putsch has touched almost all aspects of Turkish life.Also under the state of emergency, Turkish police raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all transmissions while it was live on air.Before it was cut, staff members in the news studio chanted free media will not be silenced while applauding their management.The channel is not accused of supporting the coup but of broadcasting terror propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It has ridiculed the charges.Later on Tuesday, hundreds of demonstrators including journalists from the channel and other outlets subject to closure orders last week gathered near Taksim Square in Istanbul to protest against the raid.Despite a heavy police presence, they did not intervene as protesters shouted IMC TV cannot be shut down and carried placards saying: Free media cannot be silenced, AFP correspondents said.Activists accuse the government of exploiting the emergency laws to launch a crackdown beyond those accused of being coup-plotters or connected to the movement.More than 100 media outlets have been closed down since July while dozens of reporters have been detained or arrested including prominent journalist and writer Ahmet Altan.The governments crackdown has also alarmed Turkeys Western allies, including the European Union, which have warned Ankara that it must act within the rule of law.Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said those found guilty would face punishment no matter who they were during a speech to parliament in Ankara.(But) we will never allow those who are innocent to face any grievances.The decision to extend the state of emergency by three months was announced on Monday after a cabinet meeting.Erdogan previously suggested that it might be necessary for the state of emergency to be kept in place for at least 12 months.Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin strongly denied the government was acting arbitrarily under the emergency.The president previously said something important when the first emergency was introduced: this is introduced for the state and not against the people, he said in an interview with Haber-Turk television.

US troop killed in Afghanistan bomb blast

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US soldier was killed by a bomb blast Tuesday while on foot patrol during counterterrorism operations in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said.Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said it was his understanding that no other US personnel or Afghan troops were wounded in the attack in Nangarhar province, noting that it did not appear the American was specifically targeted.The servicemember was killed conducting operations with Afghan forces when the patrol triggered an improvised explosive device, US Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement.The mission was conducted as part of a larger United States-Afghan counterterrorism mission targeting the Islamic State, Khorasan.The Pentagon withheld the servicemembers identity, pending notification of family members. Despite this tragic event, we remain committed to defeating the terrorists of the Islamic State, Khorasan Province and helping our Afghan partners defend their nation, said General John Nicholson, who heads US forces in Afghanistan.Nangarhar province is a hotbed of Islamic State group activity near the border with Pakistan. The soldier died in the provinces Achin district. US and NATO forces are working with Afghan partners to battle the Taliban and other groups.About 2,300 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.

Deadly Hurricane Matthew slams ashore in Haiti

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PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti Tuesday, triggering floods and forcing thousands to flee the path of a storm that has already claimed three lives in the poorest country in the Americas.The US National Hurricane Center said Matthew made landfall shortly after daybreak as an extremely dangerous Category Four storm near the southwestern town of Les Anglais, packing maximum sustained winds of around 145 miles (230 kilometers) per hour.It marked the first time in 52 years that a Category Four storm made landfall in Haiti.The storm could hit the US east coast around mid-week.Also the most menacing storm in the Caribbean in nearly a decade, Matthew began battering Haiti late Monday with strong winds and rising sea levels, before barreling ashore some 250 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince.The eye of the storm was expected to hit the far eastern end of Cuba later in the day, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported at 1800 GMT.Even before making landfall along the southern edge of a jagged peninsula on Hispaniola -- the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic -- Matthew was blamed for at least three deaths in Haiti, with fears that the toll could climb. Matthew notched a four on the five-level Saffir-Simpson wind scale, the first Category Four hurricane to make landfall in Haiti since Cleo in 1964, the NHC said.The hurricane was forecast to dump 38 to 63 centimeters (15 to 25 inches) of rain over southern Haiti with up to a meter possible in isolated areas.Rising waters already have caused extensive flooding in and around the flimsy homes and buildings in Haitis southwest. More than 9,000 Haitians have been evacuated to temporary shelters at area schools and churches, the Interior Ministry said. But civil protection forces have struggled with locals who refused to leave some of the most vulnerable areas.They included the capitals extremely impoverished, densely populated neighborhoods, including Cite Soleil -- where one fifth of the half-million residents face serious flooding risks -- and the seaside Cite LEternel.Part of the seaport city of Les Cayes was underwater after being deluged by Matthew, which now is blamed for triggering mudslides.We have already recorded a landslide between Les Cayes and Tiburon in Haitis Sud department, Marie-Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of Haitis civil protection, told AFP. Haiti is home to almost 11 million people, many living in fragile housing.Thousands are still living in tents in Haiti after the countrys massive earthquake in 2010. Erosion is especially dangerous because of high mountains and a lack of trees and bushes in areas where they have been cut for fuel.UNICEF said it worries in particular about the plight of Haitis vulnerable children.Water-borne diseases are the first threat to children in similar situations -- our first priority is to make sure children have enough safe water, the group said.In nearby Jamaica, officials said the army and military reserves were called up to help deal with hurricane damage. Buses were also sent to flood-prone areas to move residents to shelters.USAID said it has dispatched an elite disaster response team to Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas.It also is sending some $400,000 in assistance to aid groups in Haiti and Jamaica for critical relief to those impacted by the storm, and emergency relief supplies, including blankets, plastic sheeting and collapsible water containers. The Red Cross has also deployed disaster teams to the countries most severely affected by Matthew.Cuba has evacuated some 316,000 people from the east of the island, where Matthew was expected to hit later Tuesday.The Pentagon said 700 family members were evacuated over the weekend from the Guantanamo Bay US naval base, on Cubas eastern tip, to Florida.The 61 prisoners who remain at the US prison for terror suspects there will stay put but if the storm gets worse they will be moved to shelters on the base, the Pentagon said.Forecasters predict the hurricane could hit the US East Coast around midweek. Florida and parts of North Carolina have declared states of emergency.President Barack Obama on Tuesday postponed a trip to South Florida, where he had planned to attend a campaign event in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.If Matthew directly impacts FL there will be massive destruction that we havent seen in years, Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter.

'Strange states' of matter earns trio Nobel Physics Prize

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STOCKHOLM (AFP) - The study of strange states of matter, which may one day yield superfast computers, earned British scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz the Nobel Physics Prize on Tuesday.The trio, all based in the US working in the highly-specialised mathematics field of topology, studied unusual phases or states of matter.This years laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states, the Nobel jury said.Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter.The jury said there were hopes that their discoveries would have future uses in the fields of materials science and electronics, especially at the super-small quantum scale.For now, however, the scientists discoveries remain in the realm of research.Kosterlitz, speaking to reporters in Helsinki where he was working, joked: Ive been waiting for my desk-top quantum computer for years and its showing no signs of appearing.At the risk of making a bad mistake, I would say that this quantum computation stuff is a long way from being practical.Thouless won half of the eight million Swedish kronor (around $931,000 or 834,000 euros) prize, while Haldane and Kosterlitz share the other half.Topology is a branch of mathematics that investigates the physical properties of matter and space -- shape in essence -- that remain unchanged under certain deforming forces.These include stretching, compressing and bending, but not piercing, tearing or gluing.An often-used example is a rubber coffee cup being bent, twisted and reshaped into a donut -- for topologists the two shapes are indistinguishable, though to the rest of us they are completely different.In practical terms, these properties of matter may one day lead to the reshaping of common materials into topological states that can transport energy and information in very small spaces without overheating.The trios pioneering work boosted frontline research in condensed matter physics, not least because of the hope that topological materials could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers, said the Nobel jury.In the early 1970s, Kosterlitz and Thouless overturned the theory that superconductivity or suprafluidity could not occur in very thin layers of material.Superconductivity is when electricity flows through a material without experiencing any resistance or losing energy as heat, while suprafluidity is when a fluid flows without any friction.For his part, Haldane discovered how topological concepts applied to chains of small magnets in certain materials.Haldane said his prizewinning discovery had been serendipitous.Most of the big discoveries are done that way: you stumble on it and you have the luck to recognise you have something very interesting, he told reporters at the Nobel press conference via videolink.Its so surprising that it takes a while to grip, but when you see it you realise why no one had seen it before.Thouless, 82, is professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle.Haldane, 65, is a professor at Princeton University, and Kosterlitz, born in 1942, teaches at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.For Laurent Levy, physics professor at Frances University of Grenoble, the trios work had yielded a conceptual revolution.They introduced new ideas and physics which have, later, resulted in heaps of new discoveries, he told AFP. Above all, it advanced our understanding of the properties of matter.Last year, the physics prize went to Japans Takaaki Kajita and Canadas Arthur McDonald for determining that neutrinos have mass, a key piece of the puzzle in understanding the cosmos.The physics prize is the second of the Nobels for 2016 to be awarded, after the medicine prize on Monday went to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan. He was honoured for his pioneering work on autophagy -- a process whereby cells eat themselves, which can result in Parkinsons and diabetes when disrupted.On Wednesday, the chemistry prize will be announced, to be followed by the peace prize on Friday, the economics prize on October 10 and the literature prize on October 13.

At least 22 dead on migrant boat off Libya

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ABOARD THE ASTRAL (AFP) - At least 22 Europe-bound migrants were found dead Tuesday in an overloaded wooden boat off Libya, an AFP photographer witnessed, on a day of frantic rescues in the Mediterranean.Photographer Aris Messinis, who was able to go on board the vessel, said many of the dead had suffocated.It was a wooden vessel and there were about 1,000 people on three levels. I counted 22 bodies and there are still others in the hold, he said by telephone.Messinis was travelling on the Astral, a ship chartered by Spanish NGO ProActiva Open Arms, which rescues migrants at sea.Towards 2000 GMT the Astral rescuers moved back to allow the Italian navy to take care of the survivors and retrieve the bodies, the photographer said.The deaths came after the Italian coastguard -- which is coordinating rescue efforts in international waters north of Libya -- said at least 1,800 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday.It was yet another day of drama at sea after more than 6,000 migrants, most of them Africans in packed rubber dinghies, were rescued off Libya on Monday. Nine bodies were found in those operations, including a pregnant woman. The Italian coastguard said operations had been carried out Tuesday to bring migrants to safety from some 30 packed boats.With numerous rescue boats en route to Italy to unload the huge human cargo collected on Monday, Messinis said the Astral was left alone to deal with the overloaded wooden boat for several hours.It was aided only by lifeboats dropped by a Spanish military plane until the navy arrived at midday.There was panic onboard, there were people jumping into the water, Messinis said.The Astrals rescue operations had begun before dawn and lasted until nightfall.The latest people to be rescued will add to a total of some 132,000 migrants who have landed at Italys southern ports so far this year, fleeing conflict, poverty or persecution and hoping to start new lives in Europe.The new arrivals are mostly Africans who plan to try to get to northern Europe but increasingly are obliged to seek asylum or the right to remain in Italy, where reception centres have been strained to bursting point.
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