Tuesday 21 February 2017

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Security forces detain dozens in combing operation

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Countrywide combing operation continues and security forces apprehended dozens, including women and foreign national, from different cities on Tuesday night, Dunya News reported.At least 61 suspects were taken into custody from hostels, hotels and houses during police search operation in different parts of Islamabad. Police checked the identity document during the operation and arrested those who failed to produce any identity document. Police sources said that arms and narcotics were also recovered from them.Police also apprehended a suspect from a mobile phone shop in Taxila while 10 suspects, including an Afghan national, were arrested from Westrich area.At least 40 suspects were taken into custody during search operation in Gujranwala while four Afghan nationals were arrested from Daska near Sialkot.

Tennis: Raonic cruises in Delray Beach but Karlovic, Tomic out

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MIAMI (Agencies) - Canadian top seed Milos Raonic blasted 10 aces in downing US qualifier Tim Smyczek 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the ATP Delray Beach Open.But Australian sixth seed Bernard Tomic became the first seed ousted at the hardcourt event, with Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis rallying to deliver a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 defeat to the world number 31.And 37-year-old second seed Ivo Karlovic followed shortly thereafter, falling 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3) to 69th-ranked American Donald Young despite 19 aces from the world number 20 Croatian.Raonic, who had beaten Smyczek in the first round of the 2015 US Open in their only prior meeting, booked a second-round matchup with 49th-ranked Croatian Borna Coric, who eliminated Colombias Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-3.World number four Raonic is seeking a ninth career ATP crown. He has won at least one title in each of the past six years and last year reached his first Grand Slam final, losing to Britains Andy Murray at Wimbledon.Darcis, ranked 57th, faced only one break point over the final two sets in fighting back to bounce Tomic in 90 minutes, booking a second-round match against either Germanys Tommy Haas or Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, who lost Sundays ATP Memphis Open final to American Ryan Harrison.US third seed Jack Sock fired eight aces in downing Moldovas Radu Albot 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). Sock, ranked 21st, next plays Spains Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who dispatched Germanys Dustin Brown 6-3, 6-3.Argentinas Juan Martin Del Potro and Haas will launch comeback bids in later matches.Haas underwent right foot surgery last April and had not played since October 2015 until retiring from a first-round Australian Open match last month.Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, starts his 2017 campaign against South African Kevin Anderson after skipping the Australian Open to better regain fitness after helping Argentina win the Davis Cup last November.Del Potro won the Delray Beach title in 2011 and Anderson took the 2012 crown.

Top seed Nishikori suffers shock first-round loss in Rio

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Top seed Kei Nishikori crashed out of the Rio de Janeiro Open on Tuesday after suffering a 6-4, 6-3 first-round loss to Brazils Thomaz Bellucci.The Japanese world number five, who was stunned by unseeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the Argentina Open final two days ago, was broken in the first game en route to losing the match in 79 minutes.Bellucci meets compatriot Thiago Monteiro, who beat Portugals Gastao Eliasa 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4, in the next round.

Australia seeks full inclusion in Asian Summer Games

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MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia hopes to bring a full delegation of athletes to the 2022 Asian Summer Games in China and is seeking approval from the continents Olympic council, Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates has said.Australia, a member of the Oceania Olympic federation, has sent 30 athletes to the ongoing Asian Winter Games in Japans northern city of Sapporo as a guest delegation following an invitation from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).Coates said it was too late for Australia to compete in next years Summer Games in Indonesia but their bid for inclusion at the 2022 event in Chinas eastern city of Hangzhou would be tabled at an OCA meeting in September.“Discussions are underway and I believe there would be great interest in the Asian Games amongst our member sports,” Coates told News Ltd media.“Particularly in sports where the Asian countries are strong (such as) gymnastics, badminton and table tennis.I believe participating in the Asian Games would be very good for us.The Asian Games, the biggest multi-sport event after the Olympics, will have 45 OCA member countries competing in 2018.Australia participates in the quadrennial Commonwealth Games and will host the 2018 event in the Gold Coast.Both the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are scheduled for 2022, presenting a logistical challenge should Australia hope to send athletes to both.Australia has long sought closer sporting ties with Asia to expose their athletes to stiffer competition from the likes of China, Japan and South Korea.In 2006, Australias national soccer body left Oceania to join the Asian Football Confederation, a move that has helped generate interest in the game Down Under.Australia qualified for the 2010 and 2014 soccer World Cups through Asian qualifying and hosted the 2015 Asian Cup.

Amnesty says Trump's 'poisonous' rhetoric makes world a darker place

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PARIS (Reuters) - Amnesty International said on Wednesday US President Donald Trumps poisonous rhetoric on his way to winning the White House led a global trend towards increasingly divisive politics in 2016 that had made the world a darker place.In its annual report covering 159 countries, the human rights group said principles of human dignity and equality had come under assault from politicians seeking election and it zeroed in on Trump, who took office on Jan. 20.Donald Trumps poisonous campaign rhetoric exemplifies a global trend towards angrier and more divisive politics, Amnesty said in a statement issued in Paris. The world, it said, had become a darker ... unstable place, with a rise in hate speech targeting refugees across Europe and the United States.The early indications from (...) Trump suggest a foreign policy that will significantly undermine multilateral cooperation and usher in a new era of greater instability and mutual suspicion, Amnesty added.Trump, a Republican former reality TV star and property magnate, has said he is the least racist person and least anti-Semitic person youve ever seen and that one of his top priorities is to protect the United States from terrorism.His administration has been marked by controversies in the early going, fierce attacks on the news media and legal battles over his executive order to ban people temporarily from seven Muslim-majority countries as alleged security risks.US Vice President Mike Pence visited Europe this week Pence and pledged steadfast and enduring commitment to ties between the United States and the European Union, a message at variance with Trumps far-right chief strategist.US allies in Europe have been seeking clarity on the Trump administrations foreign policy strategy and its stance toward Russia.The gap between imperative and action, and between rhetoric and reality, was stark and at times staggering, Amnesty said.Nowhere was this better illustrated than in the failure of states attending Septembers 2016 United Nations summit for refugees and migrants to agree any adequate response to the global refugee crisis.According to Amnesty calculations, some 75,000 refugees found themselves trapped between Jordan and Syria as the civil war in Syria entered its seventh year.Amnesty said populist movements and messages had also become more common in Europe, notably in Poland and Hungary.The result was a pervasive weakening of the rule of law and an erosion in the protection of human rights, particularly for refugees and terrorism suspects, but ultimately for everyone.

US targets millions in sweeping deportation plan

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WASHINGTON (Agencies) - The Trump administration issued tough new orders on Tuesday for a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigrants, putting nearly all of the countrys 11 million undocumented foreigners in its cross-hairs.The orders sent shivers throughout US immigrant communities, where millions of people who have spent years building families and livelihoods in the country, most of them from Mexico and Central America, were seriously threatened with deportation for the first time in decades.Rights groups labelled the move a witch hunt, warning that a threatened mass deportation would damage families with deep roots in the United States and hurt the economy.But John Kelly, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who issued the new orders in two memos, said they were necessary to address a problem that has overwhelmed government resources.The surge of illegal immigration at the southern border has overwhelmed federal agencies and resources and has created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States, he said in one of the memos.The new rules make it easier for border patrol and immigration officers to quickly deport any illegal immigrants they find, with only a few exceptions, principally children.The priority will remain undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes, as well as anyone who has been charged or potentially faces criminal charges.However, people deemed as low priority for deportation by the previous Barack Obama administration - generally anyone not tied to a crime - are no longer protected.With extremely limited exceptions, DHS will not exempt classes or categories of removal aliens from potential enforcement, the memos said.All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to enforcement proceedings, up to and including removal from the United States.The memos followed up on President Donald Trumps order, made just after his January 20 inauguration, for authorities to crack down on illegal immigration by tightening enforcement and building a wall along the nearly 2,000 mile (3,145 kilometer) US-Mexico frontier.In the memos Kelly ordered immediate action to begin planning the wall. He also ordered the hiring of 15,000 more officers for the Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies.The move comes ahead of meetings this week between Kelly and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico, in which illegal immigration and border security will be key topics.The turn in policy follows years in which the Obama administration, and the George W. Bush administration before it, sought to find a way with Congress to allow most of the long-term illegal immigrants to stay in the country.But Trump campaigned for the White House on a promise to crack down on what he characterised as a source of widespread crime and a drag on the economy. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Trump wanted to take the shackles off of officials enforcing the laws.DHS said there are more than 534,000 pending immigration cases in the courts nationwide, and that department agents have apprehended more than 93,000 people trying to sneak into the country in October and November alone. That work has significantly strained DHS resources, it said.While Spicer said Trump has a big heart and that policy could evolve in future beyond the DHS memos, there was no indication of what form those changes could take.Pro-immigrant groups, already nervous after hundreds were arrested in a series of ICE raids on immigrant sanctuary cities two weeks ago, expressed shock and outrage.Secretary Kelly has unleashed an unprecedented witch hunt on millions of immigrant families, said Angelica Salas, executive director for the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.These guidelines represent an unlawful, expedited process, a dragnet, to remove undocumented immigrants living and working in the US. This is a dastardly approach to a very human issue, she said.Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, predicted strong legal challenges to the new policy.These memos confirm that the Trump administration is willing to trample on due process, human decency, the well-being of our communities, and even protections for vulnerable children, in pursuit of a hyper-aggressive mass deportation policy, he said.

Khamenei calls on Palestinians to pursue intifada against Israel

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader called on Palestinians on Tuesday to pursue an uprising against Israel, suggesting the Israeli government was a cancerous tumour that should be confronted until Palestinians were completely liberated.By Allah’s permission, we will see that this intifada will begin a very important chapter in the history of fighting and that it will inflict another defeat on that usurping regime, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, according to his website.The Supreme Leader’s bellicose comments, made during a two-day conference in Tehran focused on its support for the Palestinians, come at a time of increasingly heated rhetoric between Iran, Israel and the United States.While on a visit to Washington last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel and the United States had a grand mission to confront the threat of a nuclear Iran.US President Donald Trump has already been highly critical of a deal hammered out between Iran and world powers, including the United States, in 2015 intended to partially lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.Iran says its programme is for purely peaceful means.When Iran carried out a ballistic missile test in late January, Trump’s then national security adviser Mike Flynn said the administration was putting Iran on notice.Ordinary Iranians have been posting their concerns about a possible military confrontation between Iran and the United States on social media.Khamenei did not mention any Iranian military attack against Israel in his comments on Tuesday and was focused on gains that Palestinians could make in any confrontation with Israel, which he described as tumour developing into the current disaster.The Palestinian intifada continues to gallop forward in a thunderous manner so that it can achieve its other goals until the complete liberation of Palestine, he said, according to the transcript of the speech posted on his website.

Egypt, Jordan say no concessions on a Palestinian state

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CAIRO (Agencies) - Egypts President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and King Abdullah II of Jordan agreed on Tuesday there could be no concessions on establishing a Palestinian state, the presidency said after talks in Cairo.The meeting between the leaders of the two Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel came after US President Donald Trumps administration suggested it would not insist on a Palestinian state for a Middle East peace agreement.The two sides discussed ways to push the stagnant Middle East peace process, especially in light of US President Donald Trumps administration coming to power, a presidency statement said.A two-state solution with a Palestinian state ... with east Jerusalem as its capital is a nationalist principle that cannot be conceded.After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington earlier this month, Trump said he would entertain a two-state and a one-state solution.But his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, later tempered this stance, saying Washington absolutely supports a two-state solution but wants new ideas on how to move forward.The two-state solution - a Palestinian one alongside Israel - has long been the cornerstone of US and international policy, and the seeming American shift was greeted with hostility from other world powers.

Regional rivals Iran, Turkey trade barbs over Syria

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ISTANBUL (Agencies) - Diplomatic tensions escalated between Turkey and Iran on Tuesday as the regional powers traded accusations over their roles in the Syria conflict and the Middle East.The pair have been rivals for centuries but have sought to forge a pragmatic relationship in recent years, with the Islamic Republic strongly supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after last years failed coup.But mainly Sunni Muslim Turkey and Shiite Iran have been on opposite sides of the conflict in Syria, with Ankara seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad and Tehran, along with Russia, his key backer.The tensions come with UN-backed peace talks for Syria due to restart on Thursday and Turkey engaged in fierce fighting inside Syria to capture the town of Al-Bab from jihadists.Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu lashed out at Iran in a speech to the Munich Security Conference at the weekend, saying some of its actions had undermined security in the region and urging Tehran to promote stability.Iran wants to make Syria and Iraq Shiite, he was quoted as saying by Turkish state media.Erdogan has also in recent weeks accused Iran of promoting a Persian nationalism that had damaged the Middle East.The Iranian foreign ministry on Monday summoned the Turkish envoy to issue a protest after Cavusoglus comments while spokesman Bahram Ghassemi warned that Tehrans patience has limits.We hope that such statements are not made again. If our Turkish friends continue with this attitude we will not remain silent, he added.Turkeys foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu hit back by saying it was incomprehensible to receive such accusations from Tehran who he charged with not hesitating to push into war zones refugees sheltering from regional crises.Instead of accusing countries that have criticised Iran, it should take constructive steps and review its own regional policies.The angry exchanges have come just after Erdogan returned from a week-long tour to the Arabian peninsula, including talks with the leadership of Irans arch regional foe and Ankaras Sunni ally Saudi Arabia.Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst with the International Crisis Group, said Iran and Turkey feared the other was seeking to capture regional hegemony via proxies on the ground.With each failure to find an accommodation, the context of Turkeys and Irans rivalry has become more complex and disagreements more intractable, he told AFP.While Turkey has backed rebels in Syria throughout the conflict, Tehran has played a crucial role in aiding Assad. Iran has provided few details over its involvement but has confirmed the deaths of some 1,000 volunteer fighters in Syria.Ankara has meanwhile warned Iran and its allies in the Baghdad government against using Shiite militia in the assault to recapture the jihadist-held Iraqi city of Mosul.Its very dangerous to send Shiite militia into a 99 percent Sunni Arab city, Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.Harmony between Turkey and Iran is crucial in ensuring the preservation of a fragile ceasefire in Syria - also backed by Russia - that came into force at the end of last year as a basis for peace talks.Although Ankara says Assad should go, the government has occasionally softened its stance, indicating the president could have some role in determining the countrys future.But Vaez said the Syria talks process was reaching an impasse, while the spheres of influence of Iran and Turkey were colliding in Syria.Ultimately Turkey and Iran, as neighbours, will have to live with the outcome of the conflicts now burning around them, he said. Any sustainable solution will require a regional power balance tolerable for both, he said calling on both sides to recognise the others interests.

Security forces surround Afghan VP's house over abuse case

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KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces blocked roads and took up positions around the house of Vice President Rashid Dostum on Tuesday as a standoff flared up over accusations his men tortured one of his political opponents.In an address to supporters at his Kabul residence, broadcast live on television, Dostum warned President Ashraf Ghani that any action against him would weaken the government but said he would not order his own militia fighters to take action against government forces.My message to the president is to maintain our national unity, he said.Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek warlord who has manoeuvred his way through decades of Afghan conflict, faces accusations that he ordered members of his militia forces to detain Ahmad Ishchi, a former ally, who says he was severely beaten and threatened with sexual violence over several days.Foreign governments, including the United States, have expressed serious concerns over the case and last month, the attorney generals office issued arrest warrants against nine of Dostums bodyguards.The men have not so far been taken into custody, however, and the standoff has increased widespread perceptions of the fragility of Ghanis national unity government, formed after the disputed election of 2014.Dostums chief of staff Babur Farhamand said it was not clear why security forces had been stationed around the vice presidents heavily fortified residence but their presence was causing concern.The security forces who are taken position near the compound of first vice president are not giving us a clear answer about their presence, he told Afghanistans One TV.They tell us that they are here to ensure the security of the first vice president but this heavy military presence has raised the anger and concern of the vice presidents supporters, he said.As night fell, police appeared to have withdrawn from the area but the sight of armed forces in the streets heightened the sense of growing tensions within the government.The Ishchi case has caused severe embarrassment to Ghani, who brought Dostum into the government despite accusations of serious human rights violations by his forces.Since then, he has been a difficult and unpredictable ally and has repeatedly clashed with Ghani but his standing among the Uzbek minority, estimated to make up around 9 percent of the population, have made it hard to replace him in the government.Western officials have said they want to see the case tried in court to show that high officials cannot break the law with impunity but the tangled realities of Afghan politics and the fragility of Ghanis government have so far delayed any action.

Sibi Mela canceled after Sehwan Sharif tragedy

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SIBI (Dunya News) – The annual Sibi Mela, which was scheduled to be held from February 24 to February 28 in Balochistan city of Sibi, has been cancelled, Dunya News reported.The annual event which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the country has been canceled in connection with mourning the Sehwan Sharif tragedy and other terrorist attacks in the country during the past week in which more than 100 people were martyred.

Gujranwala: 40 suspects nabbed during search operation

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GUJRANWALA (Dunya News) - Intelligence agencies and police carried out a joint search operation in different parts of Gujranwala on Tuesday during which 40 suspects were taken into custody, Dunya News reported.According to details, the search operation was conducted in Baghbanpura, Nowshera Road, Kallar Abadi, Chamra Mandi, Hafizabad Road and their adjacent areas during which 40 suspects were apprehended.Fake Pakistani CNIC (Computerized National Identity Card), Afghan currency and passports were also recovered from the arrested suspects.Police sources said that at least 20 suspects are from Afghanistan and Waziristan tribal area. Afghan currency and passports were also recovered from them.

CM Sindh chairs meeting to review law and order situation

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah chaired a high level meeting at the CM House in Karachi on Tuesday night to review law and order situation in province, Dunya News reported. Important decisions were taken during the meeting to eliminate the scourge of terrorism. A committee headed by DG Rangers has been formed to formulate a comprehensive security plan. High ranking police officials will be among the members of the committee.Giving a ‘clean-up’ task to Rangers, police and other law enforcement agencies, CM Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah issued a directive to carry out a merciless operation against the terrorists. The chief minister also sought a report from Sindh home secretary regarding the newly-established Seminaries across the province. The meeting was also briefed on the investigation of the Sehwan Sharif blast.

Karachi: Cache of arms belonging to MQM-London seized

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Rangers foiled a major terror bid in Karachi and recovered arms which were hidden in a house to carry out terrorist activities in the city, Dunya News reported.According to details, Rangers personnel conducted a raid at a house in Landhi No-6 area of Karachi on Tuesday and seized ammunition belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-London). According to a Rangers spokesman, the arms, which were hidden in a box, included six Kalashnikovs, two 7mm pistols, one 8mm rifle, one repeater, five pistols and 554 bullets.

Cold, dry weather expected in most parts of country

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Mainly cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country during the next 24 hours. However, light rain and snowfall over the hills is expected at isolated places in Hazara Division, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.According to Pakistan Meteorological Department, weather remained dry in most parts of the country during the past 24 hours. However, rain (with snow over the hills) occurred at isolated places in Rawalpindi, Hazara divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.Kalam remained the coldest city in the country with with -08°C temperature, followed by Parachinar with -05°C and Quetta with -03°C temperature.
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