| Bill in US House to designate Haqqani network as terrorist outfit Posted: <p> </p><p>United States lawmakers on Thursday placed a bill in the House of Representatives for designating Haqqani Network, an al-Qaida offshoot in Afghanistan, as a terrorist organization.</p><p> </p><p>The bill was tabled by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers; Buck McKeon, Chairman of House Armed Services Committee and Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of the Foreign Affairs Committee.</p><p> </p><p>Introducing the bill Rogers said, Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress agree that the Haqqani Network was a violent organisation and a grave threat to the US security.</p><p> </p><p>“The Haqqanis are responsible for killing hundreds of our troops, and their indiscriminate attacks have also murdered countless innocent Afghan men, women, and children.</p><p> </p><p>With this bipartisan, bicameral effort, we urge the Obama Administration to formally designate the Haqqani Network as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation”, he said.</p><p> </p><p>The designation of Haqqani network as Foreign Terrorist Organisation will make it unlawful to provide material support or resources to it.</p><p> </p><p>The group of lawmakers in a statement held the Haqqani Network responsible for a long reign of terror, indiscriminate attacks, killing of US and coalition soldiers, Afghan police, and innocent Afghan men, women, and children.</p><p> </p><p>It said the Pakistan based network was responsible for June 2011 attack when eight Haqqani gunmen and suicide bombers carried out an assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul leaving 18 people dead.</p><p> </p><p>The lawmakers also blamed the group for a truck bomb attack on a US military base in Wardak province which injured 77 US troops and killed five Afghans.</p><p> </p><p>The statement also said that the network was behind the September 2011 assault on the US Embassy in Kabul.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Prices of petroleum products, CNG to be reduced Posted: <p> </p><p>Talking to media in Islamabad, Dr Asim said that the prices of petroleum products will be reduced by Rs 5:00 per litre.</p><p> </p><p>He informed that government has also decided to give relief to domestic consumers and the prices of gas are being reduced by Rs 15.41 per MMBTU.</p><p> </p><p>Dr Asim said that with decrease in prices of petroleum products, the prices of CNG will likely to come down by Rs 4:00 per kilogram.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Punjab Govt to take action against protesting doctors Posted: <p> </p><p>Punjab government has declared doctors’ services essential and asked them to remain present on duty.</p><p> </p><p>The government issued service rule notification for doctors in which the services of doctors have been made essential just like police and other public departments’ employees.</p><p> </p><p>The Punjab government has decided to take strict action under essential services rules against those doctors who will violate these rules. The doctors who will remain absent will sent to jail for one year.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Balotelli brace sends Italy into Euro 2012 final Posted: <p> </p><p>A Mario Balotelli header and a thumping drive gave Italy a richly deserved 2-1 win over Germany in Thursday s Euro 2012 semi-final in Warsaw.</p><p> </p><p>The 21-year-old struck a first half brace to stun the Germans before a Mesut Ozil penalty reduced the deficit at the death.</p><p> </p><p>Italy will play defending champions Spain in the final on Sunday in Kiev.</p><p> </p><p>Balotelli headed in on 20 minutes after a superlative piece of skill and cross from Antonio Cassano, who out-foxed two defenders before delivering the striker his chance on a plate.</p><p> </p><p>Then on 36 minutes Balotelli produced a scintillating second, smashing home from just outside the box after beating the offside trap after a Riccardo Montolivo through ball played him into acres of space.</p><p> </p><p>Balotell removed his shirt and stood stock still to milk the applause - taking the resulting booking as a minor irritation.</p><p> </p><p>Although the Germans put the pressure on after the interval Claudio Marchisio could have added further goals after the break as he broke free twice only to fire narrowly wide.</p><p> </p><p>With 20 minutes remaining Balotelli gave way to Antonio Di Natale after pulling up with cramp.</p><p> </p><p>Di Natale came close as he fired into the side netting late on as the Italians maintained their record of never losing to the Germans at a major tournament.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Nadal suffers shock Wimbledon defeat Posted: <p> </p><p>Rafael Nadal crashed to his worst Grand Slam defeat in seven years on Thursday when Czech journeyman Lukas Rosol, the world number 100, pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history.</p><p> </p><p>Rosol, whose previous five visits to Wimbledon had ended in first round losses in qualifying, stunned the 2008 and 2010 champion, and 11-time Grand Slam title winner Nadal, 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round.</p><p> </p><p>It was a stunning upset as Nadal slumped to his earliest exit at a major since the same stage of the 2005 Wimbledon championship when he was beaten by Luxembourg s Gilles Muller.</p><p> </p><p>It was also eerily similar to Nadal s stunning 2009 French Open fourth round loss to Robin Soderling when the Swede unleashed a barrage of destructive free-swinging tennis to destroy the Spanish star.</p><p> </p><p>"It s like a miracle for me. So many emotions. He s a superstar, I am sorry for that. I played unbelievable. I guess Nadal is only human," said Rosol, who played the match at a breath-taking speed.</p><p> </p><p>He is also the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal at a Grand Slam and has now matched his best ever performance at a major, having reached the third round at the 2011 French Open.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Sharapova, Serena Williams win at Wimbledon Posted: <p> </p><p>On the verge of victory, Maria Sharapova briefly lost her bearings. Sharapova s old serving problems resurfaced Thursday at Wimbledon, costing her the second set before she recovered to beat dangerous Tsvetana Pironkova, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-0.</p><p> </p><p>The Court 1 match took two days and ended three minutes after Serena Williams concluded her second-round victory on Centre Court, beating qualifier Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4.</p><p> </p><p>The No. 1-ranked Sharapova saved five set points in the first set and led the second set 3-1 when play was halted Tuesday because of darkness. She lost the first two games when the match resumed, and double-faulted on her first three service points in the tiebreaker.</p><p> </p><p>"It felt like two matches in a way," Sharapova said. "Today I wanted to start off really well because I knew I was up a break. Didn t go according to plan. Really served sloppy."</p><p> </p><p>Sharapova underwent shoulder surgery in 2008 and has been prone to double-faults, but in the final set she had no trouble with her serve or anything else. She won 21 of the last 27 points and finished with just 11 unforced errors.</p><p> </p><p>Pironkova, ranked 38th, beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon each of the past two years,</p><p> </p><p>"If she played on grass 365 days a year, she d be top five probably," Sharapova said. "She has the perfect game for it."</p><p> </p><p>But Sharapova s at her best in winner-take-all sets. She improved her record in three-set matches to 9-0 this year and 21-1 since the beginning of 2011.</p><p> </p><p>She has won 14 consecutive matches, including the French Open this month to complete a career Grand Slam.</p><p> </p><p>While Sharapova battled an erratic serve, with eight aces and 10 double-faults, four-time champion Serena Williams had no such trouble. She won 27 of 28 points on her first serve, including 10 aces, and never faced a break point. Czink twice whiffed on returns.</p><p> </p><p>"I love my serve," Williams said, "and I love feeling good when I serve."</p><p> </p><p>The sixth-seeded Williams could meet Sharapova in the final next week. A 17-year-old Sharapova defeated Williams for the Wimbledon title in 2004.</p><p> </p><p>Others advancing included Americans Brian Baker, a qualifier ranked 126th, and No. 28-seeded Christina McHale.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Serbia: Mammoth graveyard discovered at coal mining site Posted: <p> </p><p>Serbian archaeologists have found a large graveyard of mammoths, recently discovered at an excavation site for coal.</p><p> </p><p>They were found near the town Kostolac, some 100 km east of the capital Belgrade.</p><p> </p><p>Heavy rain recently exposed the remains of what could be up to seven mammoths, not far from a site where other remains of the extinct animals had been uncovered in 2009.</p><p> </p><p>Director of the Archaeological Project Viminacium, Miomir Korac, said that the discovery came as a complete surprise.</p><p> </p><p>"On every 30 metres we found mammoth bones, so at the moment we have seven groups of mammoth bones, which are visible, that s very impressive number, don t forget that we are in process of excavation, we now have to dig down to 100 metres , so I am sure that we might find something else, besides mammoths, maybe some other beings which lived next to mammoths, this is fantastic," Korac told Reuters Television.</p><p> </p><p>The archaeologists were first alerted to one set of mammoth remains that was damaged by mining machinery. But heavy rain later rinsed away the remains.</p><p> </p><p>Korac s team will now use infrared screening to get a better idea of what lies below the surface and check if there are additional mammoth bones.</p><p> </p><p>"That s why we have a group of experts from all scientific fields, we will do infra red scanning of all the areas, experts for paleobotany and Palaeozoic era will do their research, we have to find out, what type of climate was then. And then, maybe we will be able to determine why we have such a group of mammoths here so, so maybe we would be able to say what really and why it happened here," said Korac.</p><p> </p><p>The location covers an area of some 20,000 square metres on what could have been an island in the Pannonian Sea.</p><p> </p><p>Just a kilometre away, the first prehistoric skeleton was discovered in 2009. The bones belonged to a female mammoth, that was later named Vika, which is now one of the biggest scientific attractions in Serbia. Experts concluded that Vika drowned in swamp mud.</p><p> </p><p>These particular creatures lived in the range of 100,000 years ago to as long as one million years ago, Serbian and international scientist estimate.</p><p> </p><p>Experts believe that either some sort of catastrophe struck a herd, killing all the mammoths in the same place, or the first mammoths "graveyard" has indeed been found.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Iraq attacks kill 20, wound dozens Posted: <p><br /><br /><br />A series of attacks in Iraq killed 20 people and wounded more than 100 on Thursday, security and medical officials said, the latest in a wave of deadly attacks this month.<br />In the worst incident, a car bombing in a popular market in the capital killed eight people and wounded 30, a police colonel and a medical official said.<br />Another car bomb exploded near a Shiite place of worship in Baquba north of Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 51, said police and Dr Ahmed Ibrahim of Baquba General Hospital.<br />That attack came after a bombing in the city killed two people and wounded four, a police lieutenant said, while a police major said three people were wounded in an attack near the city.<br />Ibrahim said the hospital had also received two bodies and seven people wounded in the earlier attacks.<br />Another car bomb killed two people and wounded 15 in Taji, also north of Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.<br />In Samarra, farther north, gunmen killed two Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda militiamen and wounded two more at a roadblock, according to a Sahwa leader and a medical source.<br />And five people were wounded in the former insurgent town of Ramadi west of Baghdad when a car bomb exploded in a parking area belonging to a state-run immigration office, police and a medical source said.<br />Thursday s deaths brought to more than 200 the number of people killed since June 13 -- a far higher toll than the 132 killed in the entire month of May.<br />Attacks on June 13, which killed 72 people across the country, were later claimed by Al-Qaeda s front group, the Islamic State of Iraq.<br />Two car bombs targeting Shiites killed 32 people in the capital on June 16, while two days later, a suicide bomber killed 22 people in an attack on Shiite mourners in Baquba, north of Baghdad.<br />At least 12 people were killed by roadside bombs, a suicide car bomb and a shooting on June 22, while 12 more killed in two bombings on June 25.<br />And on Wednesday, three bombings killed 11 people, security and medical officials said.<br />Violence has declined significantly since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks still remain common.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Turkey fortifies Syrian border; bomb hits Damascus Posted: <p> </p><p>Turkey deployed anti-aircraft guns, rocket launchers and other weapons along its border with Syria on Thursday, a military buildup that came as world powers showed new urgency to resolve the crisis before it ignites the region.</p><p> </p><p>A bomb exploded in central Damascus near a busy market and the country s main justice complex, wounding at least three people, damaging cars in a parking lot and sending a black cloud rising above the Syrian capital. It was not clear who was behind the bombing.</p><p> </p><p>Much of the violence that has gripped Syria since the uprising began in March 2011 has been sanctioned by the government of President Bashar Assad to crush dissent. Activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed.</p><p> </p><p>But rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.</p><p> </p><p>Assad told Iranian state TV Thursday that his country still supports him, and he warned that any intervention in Syria will cause a "domino" effect in the region. He has given similar warnings before, saying the entire Middle East will go up in flames if others meddle in his country.</p><p> </p><p>Turkey, a former ally of Syria, has become one of the strongest critics of the Assad regime, and tensions between the two countries spiked following the downing of a Turkish military plane last week.</p><p> </p><p>A small convoy of Turkish military trucks towing anti-aircraft guns entered a military outpost in the border village of Guvecci, which faces a Syrian military outpost, according to TRT television video.</p><p> </p><p>Several anti-aircraft guns also have been deployed elsewhere along the border. Some trucks were seen carrying self-propelled multiple rocket launchers, the video showed.</p><p> </p><p>Ties between Turkey and Syria have not been this low since the late 1990s, when the neighbors almost went to war. Tensions ran high in the 1980s and 1990s as Turkey developed military ties with Israel and Syria sheltered Turkish Kurd guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan.</p><p> </p><p>Now, Turkey is hosting civilian opposition groups as well as hundreds of military defectors who are affiliated with the rebel Free Syrian Army.</p><p> </p><p>Syria insists the Turkish military plane it shot down on June 22 had violated its airspace. Turkey says the jet had unintentionally strayed into Syria s airspace and was inside international airspace when it was brought down over the Mediterranean by Syria.</p><p> </p><p>The search for two missing pilots continued in Syrian waters but hopes for their survival are dim, Turkish authorities said. The Turkish military said search teams have found some pieces of the plane as well as equipment belonging to the pilots.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Uzbekistan quits Russia-dominated security pact Posted: <p> </p><p>Uzbekistan has suspended its participation in a Russia-dominated security pact of ex-Soviet nations, officials said Thursday, a move that reflected tensions inside the grouping.</p><p> </p><p>The Collective Security Treaty Organization s spokesman, Vladimir Zainetdinov, said Thursday that it received a note from Uzbekistan declaring the suspension of its involvement in the seven-nation alliance. Zainetdinov wouldn t comment on possible motives behind the move, and Uzbek officials couldn t be reached for comment. The grouping also includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.</p><p> </p><p>Russia has touted the CSTO as an ex-Soviet response to NATO, but the pact has remained amorphous and weakened by differences among its members. The pact members created a joint rapid reaction force that held sporadic maneuvers, but its numbers were small and its mission unclear.</p><p> </p><p>Uzbekistan has refrained from contributing its troops to the force in an apparent reluctance to give Russia too much clout.</p><p> </p><p>Uzbekistan left the grouping once before in 1999, but returned in 2006, reflecting its strongman ruler s often unpredictable decisions.</p><p> </p><p>Uzbek President Islam Karimov was the country s Communist Party boss and stayed at its helm after the 1991 Soviet collapse. He has ruled the resource-rich, strategically-placed Central Asian nation of 27 million with an iron fist, tolerating no dissent. International rights groups list Uzbekistan among the world s most corrupt and repressive nations.</p><p> </p><p>Over the past two decades, the 74-year old Karimov has maneuvered between Russia and the West, periodically shifting loyalties.</p><p> </p><p>Karimov allowed the United States to use a major air base for the war in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, but he fell out with the U.S. and other Western nations after violently cracking down on a 2005 uprising in the city of Andijan and moved to boost ties with Moscow. In recent years, Karimov has sought to mend ties with the West while Uzbekistan s relations with Russia have grown colder.</p><p> </p><p>Vladimir Zharikhin, a Moscow-based political expert studying the ex-Soviet nations, told the RIA Novosti news agency that Uzbekistan s decision had been prompted by "Karimov s intention to flirt with the U.S." He added that the Uzbek leader later may again lurch in the opposite direction.</p><p> </p><p>Also under Karimov, Uzbekistan s ties with its Central Asian neighbors often have been strained amid a series of disputes over borders and water-sharing.</p><p> </p><p>In Tajikistan, head of the parliamentary defense committee Amirkul Azimov criticized Uzbekistan s move.</p><p> </p><p>"Uzbekistan s decision doesn t help collective security in the region," he was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.</p><p> </p><p>Azimov said that the planned withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan would leave a "hornet s nest" threatening Central Asia.</p><p> </p><p>Nikolai Fedoryak, a deputy chief of the defense and security committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, also said that Uzbekistan may regret its decision after U.S. and other forces leave Afghanistan as scheduled by the end of 2014.</p><p> </p><p>"It s regrettable that Uzbekistan made that move without a thorough analysis of its consequences," he told the Interfax news agency.<br /> </p> 
 |
| 102-year-old man becomes US citizen Posted: <p> </p><p>A 102-year-old Filipino man who came to the US as a youth in 1928 to pick vegetables became a citizen during a touching naturalizationceremony in Los Angeles.</p><p> </p><p>"I m happy," Philippines-born Joaquin Arciago Guzman said in his native Tagalog after Wednesday s ceremony, where about 7,300 joined him in taking the citizenship oath.</p><p> </p><p>Only 27 people older than 100 have become citizens in the past 50 years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.</p><p> </p><p>"It s extremely rare to see anyone over 100," said Nancy Alby, the agency s field office director for Los Angeles County. "We get a handful in their 90s and 80s. It s more common to see people in their 70s."</p><p> </p><p>The oldest person ever to become a citizen was Manik Bokchalian. She was 117 when she took the oath in 1997.</p><p> </p><p>Guzman s niece and caregiver helped him out of a wheelchair to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.</p><p> </p><p>"I m happy for him. There are no words," niece Julie Guzman said in Tagalog.</p><p> </p><p>Guzman s daughter-in-law Elizabeth Guzman regretted that Guzman s wife, Paz, did not live to see the ceremony. She was 89 when she died in 2007.</p><p> </p><p>"It s sad because she waited many years for him to become a citizen," Elizabeth said in Tagalog. "But I believe she s looking down on us now, and she s happy."</p><p> </p><p>Guzman left the Philippines to harvest lettuce and cabbage in the fertile fields south of San Francisco.</p><p> </p><p>He returned to the Philippines and married Paz Irene Gatchalian, the came back to the United States before the birth of the first of their six children.</p><p> </p><p>Guzman brought his wife and two of their adult children to the United States in 1984. They became American citizens, but Guzman waited to submit an application for reasons that aren t clear.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Oil drops with stock market, other commodities Posted: <p> </p><p>Benchmark oil for August delivery was down $1.61 to $78.60 at midday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for August delivery was down $1.60 at $91.93 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.</p><p> </p><p>A stronger dollar was also adding pressure on oil and other commodities.</p><p> </p><p>Stocks dropped sharply after the Supreme Court upheld the central provision of President Barack Obama s health care overhaul, a requirement that almost all Americans carry health insurance. Stocks of major insurance companies fell sharply as analysts sorted through the ruling.</p><p> </p><p>In Europe, expectations for the two-day EU summit beginning Thursday were low, especially as hopes for a deal on the joint issue of eurobonds faded following recent comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In a raft of comments this week, Merkel has reiterated her opposition to the idea that is backed by the likes of France, Italy and Spain.</p><p> </p><p>Crude has plummeted from $106 last month on expectations weak global economic growth will drag down oil demand. Some analysts expect crude to hover near $80 until U.S. demand picks up.</p><p> </p><p>Signs of a weakening Chinese economy have also dragged oil prices lower. Citigroup estimates China will account for about half of global oil consumption growth this year.</p><p> </p><p>In other Nymex futures trading, the price of natural gas dropped more than 3 percent following reports of an unexpectedly large increase in U.S. supplies.</p><p> </p><p>The U.S. Energy Department said that natural gas, which is burned for heat in the winter and electricity in the summer, grew in supply by 57 billion cubic feet last week. That s more than the 51 billion to 55 billion cubic feet that analysts were predicting. Prices tend to fall as supplies go up.</p><p> </p><p>Natural gas futures fell by 9.3 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $2.705 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.</p><p> </p><p>In other trading, heating oil lost 3.4 cents to $2.5597 per gallon while wholesale gasoline lost 2.11 cents to $2.5993 per gallon.<br /> </p> 
 |
| Euro slumps as hopes for action at summit dim Posted: <p> </p><p>The euro fell against the dollar Thursday as hopes dim that a summit of European leaders would produce credible measures to stanch the region s debt crisis.</p><p> </p><p>Germany has rejected the idea of issuing Europe-wide bonds as a way to reduce borrowing costs for weak European nations. Leaders are meeting Thursday and Friday in Brussels to discuss the crisis and how to stimulate economic growth.</p><p> </p><p>The euro fell to $1.2429 from $1.2459 late Wednesday. A weak report on German employment also pressured the euro.</p><p> </p><p>The British pound fell to $1.5499 from $1.5559.</p><p> </p><p>The dollar was lower against the Japanese yen, falling to 79.45 yen from 79.75 yen.</p><p> </p><p>The dollar rose to 1.0353 Canadian dollar versus 1.0258 Canadian dollar, to 0.9664 Swiss franc from 0.9640 Swiss franc and to 13.6753 Mexican pesos from 13.5684.<br /> </p> 
 |
| IMF chief sets Asian trip in July Posted: <p> </p><p>International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde will be in Asia on July 6-12 to meet with authorities in Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, the fund said Thursday.</p><p> </p><p>The IMF managing director will deliver a keynote speech at a forum in Tokyo on July 6, and will meet with students at Kyoto University on July 7, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.</p><p> </p><p>Lagarde will be in Jakarta on July 8-10, and in Bangkok on July 11-12, where she will participate in a seminar organized by the IMF, the Bank of Thailand and the Asian Development Bank.</p><p> </p><p>Rice also said that the Washington-based IMF would publish an update of its World Economic Outlook report on July 16.<br /> </p> 
 |
| NZ's Isaac elected as new ICC president Posted: <p> </p><p>Alan Isaac, the former chairman of New Zealand Cricket, was elected as the new president of the International Cricket Council during the annual conference on Thursday.</p><p> </p><p>Isaac replaced India s Sharad Pawar for a two-year term.</p><p> </p><p>Former South Africa wicketkeeper David Richardson was also confirmed as the new ICC chief executive replacing his countryman Haroon Lorgat.</p><p> </p><p>Isaac s term will end in 2014 after which it was agreed that a new post of chairman will be created and the president s role will only be ceremonial.<br />Isaac said more work needs to be done "if we are to maintain the game s current healthy state."</p><p> </p><p>"The challenges ahead are no less daunting than those we have faced in the last two years if we are to maintain the vibrancy and viability of the three formats of the sport," Isaac said.</p><p> </p><p>The recent corruption cases in the gentleman s game of cricket has seen at least four Pakistani and an English cricketer being banned for long periods.</p><p> </p><p>The conference agreed that necessary amendments be made in the Articles of Association to create the post of chairman, remove the post of vice-president and vary the role and powers of the president all with effect from the close of the 2014 annual conference.</p><p> </p><p>Richardson, who played 42 tests for South Africa and served as ICC Cricket Manager for 10 years, said he had learnt much in the last four years and "I inherit game in great health with much to be optimistic about."</p><p> </p><p>Russia and Hungary were awarded affiliate membership of ICC but Switzerland was removed as an affiliate member having been suspended at the 2011 annual conference for failing to comply with the ICC s membership criteria and having still not done so.<br /> </p> 
 |
