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Soldado penalty gives Valencia 1-1 draw vs Chelsea
Messi makes more history as Barcelona rout BATE
APC in Islamabad: Arrival of political leadership begins
Dengue claims five more lives
Farhan Mehboob wins COAS Squash Championship
Ban on Hajj pilgrims to travel by special airlines lifted
Kobe Bryant says Italy move 'very possible'
Global warming: New study challenges carbon benchmark
Libyas battered NTC forces urge more NATO strikes
China: Taiwan arms sale will disrupt US exchanges
Fewer trainers seen among US military in Pakistan
US presses wary ally Egypt on Israel, democracy
4 US soldiers charged in home invasion
Libya issues summons for Gaddafi's ex-PM
Saudi king revokes woman driver's lashing sentence

Soldado penalty gives Valencia 1-1 draw vs Chelsea

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Soldado sent goalkeeper Petr Cech the wrong way from the spot in the 87th minute after Chelsea substitute Salomon Kalou was adjudged to have handled a cross in the box in Group E of the Champions League. Frank Lampard had given Chelsea the lead with a first-time shot into the bottom corner from Florent Malouda s cutback in the 56th to cap an intense spell of pressure on Valencia s goal following halftime. "The ball to me was slow and I wondered whether to have a touch but I chose to hit it first time and luckily it went in the net," Lampard said. Chelsea had opportunities to take the lead before Lampard s strike, but Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves produced breathtaking saves to block Ramires  shot and two efforts from Fernando Torres, before also foiling Nicolas Anelka in the 90th minute. "It was a pity because I think we looked good to get three points. It was a very good performance from the team," Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas said. "Before the game if we were offered a 1-1 draw with Valencia maybe we would have been happy. But it leaves us with a feeling we don t like." The draw moved Chelsea to four points from two games in Group E, while Valencia has two points after an opening draw with Belgian club Genk. Bayer Leverkusen had a 2-0 home win against Genk in the group s other match and trails leader Chelsea by a point. Chelsea hosts Genk in the next round of group matches on Oct. 19, while Valencia travels to Bayer Leverkusen. Chelsea had won on both previous visits to the Mestalla Stadium and took the initiative in the opening exchanges. Torres almost broke through in the third minute but took a heavy touch to allow Adil Rami to block his route to goal. Torres came into the match after scoring two goals in his last two Premier League matches but his hopes of extending the run were frustrated by two brilliant saves from Valencia s Brazilian goalkeeper Alves just after half time. Alves produced a one-handed save low to his left after Torres met Jose Bosingwa s cross in the 51st and deflected a snap volley from the Spanish striker round the post from point-blank range in the 54th. Valencia stepped up the pressure in search of an equalizer, but top scorer Soldado took a heavy first touch to allow Petr Cech to gather on the hour mark and the Chelsea goalkeeper tipped substitute Pablo Piatti s effort over the bar soon after.

Messi makes more history as Barcelona rout BATE

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Barcelona kick-started the defence of their Champions League crown by roundly thumping BATE Borisov here as Lionel Messi scored twice in a 5-0 win to further cement his place in the history of the Catalan club. Messi scored either side of half-time on a rainy evening to take his overall tally for the club to 194 goals and move level with Hungary legend Ladislao Kubala in second place in Barca s all-time list of leading scorers. Only Cesar Rodriguez -- who scored 235 goals in the post-Civil War era -- is still ahead of Messi, but the little Argentine seems certain to eclipse even him in the not-too-distant future. Neither Messi nor his teammates needed to be at their very best here, though, as Pep Guardiola s side utterly outclassed the Belarus league leaders at the Dinamo Stadium to record their first win in Group H following their frustrating draw with Milan a fortnight ago. Barca had warmed up for this match by scoring 15 goals in their last three league games, but BATE did not help themselves in the first-half as their calamitous defending gifted the visitors the advantage. The Spanish champions took the lead on 19 minutes when a Dani Alves cross from the right was not dealt with by Egor Filipenko and Alyaksandr Volodko turned the ball into his own net at the back post under pressure from Messi. Three minutes later and it was 2-0 when Pedro stole a march on a rather static Maksim Bordachev to head home a left-wing David Villa cross. BATE had set their stall out to defend in numbers, with every man back behind the ball except lone striker Mateja Kezman. Serbian international Kezman s task was a thankless one, and the former PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain player cut an isolated figure up front as his teammates tried unsuccessfully to soak up the pressure and hit on the break. BATE are 11 points clear at the top of their domestic league and on course to retain their title, but the gulf in class between the best in Belarus and the best in Europe was all too stark. Villa saw two efforts well saved by Alyaksandr Gutor before the BATE goalkeeper gifted a third goal to Messi. Pedro s cross from the right should have been a routine catch, but he contrived to drop the ball right on to the head of Messi, who will probably never score an easier goal in the Champions League. It was only Messi s second headed goal in the Champions League, with his first coming against Manchester United in the 2009 final in Rome. The pattern of the game remained much the same after the restart, and Messi got the goal that brought him level with Kubala on 55 minutes, exchanging passes with Alves before beating Gutor with an unstoppable shot from just inside the area. It was his 14th goal of this season alone, and that looked to be that until Villa added his name to the scoresheet, making it 5-0 in the last minute. The former Valencia man had been penalised for offside, but BATE made a complete mess of the resulting free-kick, gifting possession straight back to Villa, who finished past a drenched and thoroughly depressed Gutor.

APC in Islamabad: Arrival of political leadership begins

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Prime Minister Yousaf raza Gilani has convened the All Parties Conference to review serious challenges to the national security. Those who reached Islamabad included Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, Mahmud Khan Achakzai, Imran Khan, Asfandyar Wali, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sharpao and Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Mian Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Munawwar Hussain and other political leadership is expected to reach Islamabad today. Meanwhile, BNP-M leader Akhtar Mengal is not attending the APC in protest while BNP-Awami’s leader Mir Israrullah Zahry har also confirmed his participation in the APC after getting the invitation from the ministry.

Dengue claims five more lives

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According to details, an on duty nurse, Asma, of General Hospital was shifted to Emergency Ward when her condition deteriorated where she succumbed to illness. A constable of Lytton Road Police Station, Fiaz also died today at the General Hospital. The two others who died of dengue today included 70-year-old Gulzar Bibi and 26-year-old Arshad. The death toll from dengue virus in Punjab has climbed to 116 while in Lahore alone 107 people have lost their life to dengue. The number of dengue patients in the province has reached 10,054 out of which more than 90,000 belong to Lahore. Meanwhile, the number of dengue patients is increasing in Faisalabad and 38 new cases were reported in different hospitals of the city taking the number of dengue patients to 660.

Farhan Mehboob wins COAS Squash Championship

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The final of the Chief of Air Staff Squash Championship was played between Farhan Mehboob and Mansoor Zaman at the Mushaf Squash Complex Islamabad. Farhan defeated Mansoor 11-5, 11-4 and 11-8. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Sulaman, who is also head of Pakistan Squash Federation was the chief on the final day and distributed trophies among the winners.

Ban on Hajj pilgrims to travel by special airlines lifted

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The Hujj Ministry had earlier authorized only four airlines to carry Hujj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. According to Travel Agents Association, most of the intending pilgrims had purchased tickets of different airlines and were facing problem due the sanctions imposed by the government. However, the Interior Ministry lifted the ban on demands of the intending pilgrims and also issued a notification in this regard.

Kobe Bryant says Italy move 'very possible'

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European clubs have been in touch with some top NBA stars over temporary moves to Europe due to the current impasse over the NBA lock-out in the United States. Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Bryant has been approached by Italians Bologna and during a promotional trip to Milan with his sponsors he admitted he is seriously considering the move. "It s very possible, it would be a dream for me. There s an opportunity and we re talking about it right now," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "We ll see what happens. There s no news today but maybe tomorrow. It s a great honour for me to return to Italy, this is one of my homes." Bryant spent a large part of his youth in Italy after his father moved here to continue his own professional basketball career having left the Houston Rockets. Bryant speaks near-perfect Italian and claims to be an AC Milan fan. Bologna originally offered $800,000-net for a three-game deal but are now said to be trying to put together a $5-million package that would see Bryant play the entire European season in Italy, should no resolution be found to the current NBA lock-out.

Global warming: New study challenges carbon benchmark

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The ability of forests, plants and soil to suck carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air has been under-estimated, according to a study on Wednesday that challenges a benchmark for calculating the greenhouse-gas problem. Like the sea, the land is a carbon "sink", or sponge, helping to absorb heat-trapping CO2 disgorged by the burning of fossil fuels. A conventional estimate is that soil and vegetation take in roughly 120 billion tonnes, or gigatonnes, of carbon each year through the natural process of photosynthesis. The new study, published in the science journal Nature, says the uptake could be 25-45 percent higher, to 150-175 gigatonnes per year. But relatively little of this extra carbon is likely to be stored permanently in the plant, say the researchers. Instead, it is likely to re-enter the atmosphere through plant respiration. This will be a disappointment for those looking for some good news in the fight against climate change. The more carbon is sequestered in the land, the less carbon enters the atmosphere, where it helps to trap heat from the Sun. Lead researcher Lisa Welp, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the University of California at San Diego, said figuring out the annual carbon uptake from the terrestrial biosphere had been one of the biggest problems in the emissions equation. Scientists, though, were confident about current estimates for carbon sequestration in land and this was unlikely to change much in the light of the new findings, she said. "More CO2 is passing through plants (than thought), not that it actually stays there very long," she said in email exchange with AFP. "The extra CO2 taken up as photosynthesis is most likely returned right back to the atmosphere via respiration." The research looked at isotopes, or variations, in the oxygen component of CO2, using a databank of atmospheric sampling going back three decades. These isotopes are a chemical tag, indicating the kind of water the molecule has come into contact with. The researchers looked at isotopes whose concentrations are linked to rainfall. They were struck by a clear association between these isotopes and El Nino, the weather cycle which occurs in pendulum swings every few years or so. The implication from this is that CO2 is swiftly cycled through land ecosystems, the researchers suggest. From that assumption comes the far higher estimate of annual carbon uptake.

Libyas battered NTC forces urge more NATO strikes

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Anti-Gaddafi forces urged NATO on Wednesday to intensify its air war as they took heavy losses in a push on the ousted despot s birthplace of Sirte and his other remaining bastion, Bani Walid. In a radio message, Moammar Gaddafi hailed the resistance in Bani Walid, where the National Transitional Council (NTC) said 11 of its fighters were killed Tuesday in a hail of rockets fired by forces loyal to the former strongman. And while the fugitive Gaddafi s whereabouts remain unknown, Libya s defence ministry spokesman said one of the deposed leader s sons, Seif al-Islam, is in Bani Walid and other, Mutassem, is in Sirte. Along with his father and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, Seif is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. Among those killed in the barrage was senior commander Daou al-Salhine al-Jadak, whose car was struck by a rocket as he headed towards the front, NTC chief negotiator Abdullah Kenshil said. Jadak, one of the highest ranking NTC commanders in Bani Walid and who hailed from the town, said two days before his death that he had been imprisoned for more than 18 years for helping organise a 1993 rebellion. A report said that despite heavy use of tanks, rocket launchers and artillery, the NTC forces had not advanced from positions held for the past few days in the desert town 170 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Tripoli. "There is always incoming missile and artillery fire. We are returning fire with heavy weapons but we are not sending in infantry. We are waiting for reinforcements," Captain Walid Khaimej said. "NATO is here but is not doing enough. They take out the rocket launchers firing at us, but they are immediately replaced. We need more help from NATO." Ahmed Hamza, a 22-year-old who had been studying in Scotland before returning to Libya to fight for the NTC, said "we need more firepower, more artillery, more tanks. The infantry cannot move in because whoever tries gets taken out." "What we really need is more strikes from NATO. NATO is only hitting once or twice or day. That s not enough," Hamza said. Under a UN mandate, the alliance has been giving air support to the popular revolt that erupted in February and forced Gaddafi out of Tripoli and into hiding last month. It has scaled down the intensity of its strikes, saying in operational updates that it has taken out targets in Bani Walid on just one of the past three days.

China: Taiwan arms sale will disrupt US exchanges

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China s military exchanges with the US will suffer after Washington announced a $5.85 billion arms package for Taiwan, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, confirming expectations that Beijing would retaliate over the sale. High-level exchanges, joint drills, and other large-scale activities will be affected "in light of the serious damage" resulting from the sale, ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a news conference open to Chinese reporters only. That follows a monthslong suspension of military contacts last year after the announcement of another arms deal for Taiwan. China views such exchanges as a political bargaining chip, frustrating US officials who say they are important in building confidence and avoiding confrontations as China s military modernizes. It wasn t clear whether additional retaliation would be taken. Chinese Vice President and future leader Xi Jinping is expected to make an important visit to Washington in coming months but no specific dates have been announced. There have also been calls in the media and the military for commercial reprisals against companies involved in the arms package, but China s own fledgling commercial aerospace and other high-tech industries rely heavily on American technical expertise. Separately, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said US military ties with Taiwan risked "undermining overall interests of bilateral relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait." "We hope the US government responds to China s requests ... (to) stop selling arms to Taiwan, and cease military links with Taiwan," Hong said at a daily news briefing. China regards self-governing Taiwan, which is 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the coast of the mainland, as part of its territory. The US is obligated under legislation passed by Congress in 1979 to provide the island with weapons for its self-defense. The US sparked Chinese anger by agreeing to upgrade Taiwan s fleet of 145 F-16s that the US sold it in the 1990s, although it deferred a request to sell the island a more advanced version of the plane.

Fewer trainers seen among US military in Pakistan

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The United States and Pakistani officials are continuing talks on the future US military mission in Pakistan but Washington likely will see its influence on Pakistani special forces curtailed as tensions rage between the two nations. A US official said both countries had been discussing an agreement that would authorize between 100 and 150 US military personnel to be stationed in Pakistan, fewer than have been there in the recent past. "That s what they re driving toward," the official said on condition of anonymity. The nature and size of the US military presence in Pakistan remains in doubt, like the overall relationship, after the top US military officer drew links last week between Pakistan s intelligence agency and a violent militant group blamed for attacks on American targets in Afghanistan. Admiral Mike Mullen, who steps down this week as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the Haqqani network as a "veritable arm" of Pakistan s ISI spy agency and accused Islamabad of providing support for the group s September 13 attack on the US embassy in Kabul and other attacks. Those allegations have kicked off a war of words that may jeopardize years of US efforts to nudge Pakistan toward action against the Haqqani network and other militants who operate from Pakistan s lawless tribal regions. Mullen defended his remark in an interview on Wednesday with National Public Radio, saying he "phrased it the way I wanted it to be phrased" and would change "not a word." Mullen said he thought Pakistan maintained ties to the Haqqani network to try to improve its own security and he felt the need to speak up because the group was "so intently focused right now on killing Americans." The Haqqani network is allied with Afghanistan s Taliban and is believed to have close links to Al Qaeda. It is now seen as a chief threat to US plans to establish a modicum of peace as it gradually withdraws from Afghanistan. In the past, there had been some 200 to 300 US military personnel stationed in Pakistan, many of them training Pakistan special forces to confront militants, as part of Washington s Office of the Defense Representative-Pakistan. But Islamabad, furious over the US special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May, without Pakistani knowledge, sharply reduced the size of the mission this spring. The US military declined to disclose how many US personnel are now in Pakistan. A Pakistani military official acknowledged that negotiations are ongoing, but declined to say how many US personnel would be authorized. "We will convey what is required, but it will be primarily equipment related," the Pakistani official said on condition of anonymity. Another US official said most of the US staff expected to be permitted, once a deal was finalized, would be military liaison personnel, mechanics, engineers and others who help Pakistan maintain and operate military equipment rather than special forces trainers. The Obama administration has been struggling to come up with a way to successfully prod Pakistan into action against the Haqqanis and other militants.

US presses wary ally Egypt on Israel, democracy

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The United States on Wednesday sought to press its wary allies in Egypt s army leadership to bolster ties with Israel and stick to scheduled elections later this year, even though a new set of leaders much less friendly to the US and the Jewish state may be the winners. Ahead of a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Muhammed Amr, the State Department said it was encouraged by the way Egypt s military council has defused tensions with its neighbor after protesters recently stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo. But State officials expressed continued concerns over the interim government s commitment to ending the emergency laws that were a mainstay of abuse during Hosni Mubarak s three-decade rule. "It is obviously a very important time in Egypt," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "We have a broad and deep relationship working to support the democratic transition in Egypt that is under way." The American demands on Egypt represent in some ways the twin set of hopes and fears for all the movements for greater democracy in the Arab world. The Obama administration has championed them but hopes to corral their energy so that political transitions from Tunisia to Yemen do not slide back into renewed military domination or unleash a powerful new wave of intolerant populism as occurred after Iran s Islamic revolution 32 years ago. With Egypt, the United States is facing a precarious balancing act. It is trying to lay the foundation for renewed relations with a future government that will be more democratic if less amenable to US interests. And it is attempting to convince Egypt s leaders to salvage ties with Israel and maintain counterterrorism and diplomatic efforts that may be deemed vital for American national security, but not necessarily supported by the Egyptian people. The fraying of relations with Israel has especially concerned the United States, which has been lobbying much of the world in recent weeks against a Palestinian bid for recognition as a state and UN membership. Egypt, which under Mubarak often played a key mediation role between the two sides, has come out determinedly for the Palestinian bid over fierce Israeli opposition. And with elections around the corner, Washington s challenge is only likely to get more difficult. At stake is American influence in a crucial geopolitical space linking North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. Also in question is how the US projects power in a part of the world where al-Qaida and other Islamist extremists still pose a threat to the United States, and where the six-decade Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to hamper American relations with Arab countries.

4 US soldiers charged in home invasion

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Authorities say three of the soldiers from Fort Sill in Oklahoma carried out the attack and the fourth served as the getaway driver. Prosecutors on Tuesday charged the three who allegedly entered the home with conspiracy, robbery and kidnapping. One of them, 22-year-old Pfc. Kevon McLaren, was also charged with shooting with the intent to kill and first-degree burglary. Prosecutors say he was the gunman. The fourth soldier was charged as being an accessory. The four were in jail Wednesday and online court records did not list attorneys for them. The base commander issued a statement Tuesday saying the Army was cooperating with police and calling it an "isolated incident."

Libya issues summons for Gaddafi's ex-PM

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Libya has issued a summons for Moamer Kadhafi s former prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi, who fled the country for neighbouring Tunisia, the interim justice minister said Wednesday. "The prosecutor general has issued a summons for former prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmudi," the minister, Mohammed al-Alagi, told a news conference in Tripoli. Mahmudi, Libya s prime minister until the last days of Kadhafi s regime, was arrested last week on Tunisia s southwestern border with Algeria. A Tunisian court swiftly sentenced him to six months in prison after finding him guilty of illegal entry, but that decision was overruled on Tuesday by a higher court following an appeal by his lawyers. Mahmudi s arrest was the second in Tunisia of a senior Libyan official since the fall of the regime run by Kadhafi, who has been on the run since Libyan rebels took the capital Tripoli on August 23.

Saudi king revokes woman driver's lashing sentence

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Saudi King Abdullah has revoked a sentence of 10 lashes imposed on a woman for breaking the ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom, a Saudi princess said Wednesday on her Twitter account. "Thank God, the lashing of Sheima is cancelled. Thanks to our beloved King. I m sure all Saudi women will be so happy, I know I am," said Princess Amira al-Taweel, wife of billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. "In tough times we stand together; in good times we celebrate together," the princess said. "I m proud to be Saudi. To all Active Saudi women thank u for ur efforts." Sheima Jastaniah was sentenced on Monday by a court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where she was caught driving in July, a rights activist said. "We were shocked yesterday (Monday) that she was sentenced to 10 lashes," the activist said, adding Jastaniah would appeal the verdict. The sentence came a day after the king announced women would be allowed to vote and to run in municipal polls, and to join the all-appointed Shura (consultative) Council, a first in a country that imposes many restrictions on women.

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

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