Dunya TV

Lonely gorilla gets double shot at love
Afghanistan suspends peace bid with Pakistan and US
Brit wins World Freestyle Football Championships
Four arrested in search operation in Karachi
Palestinians: no talks without settlement freeze
Niger will not extradite Gaddafi son Saadi: PM
10 die as cement truck crashes in north Nigeria
Chile education talks beginning despite distrust
Gaddafi spokesman captured outside Sirte: NTC
Iran hangs three convected drug trafickers: media
US-led coalition: Insurgent attacks trending down
Clinton condemns 'unjustified' attack on envoy
Four killed in Belgrade landslide
Oil rebounds 2 pct. on encouraging economic news
Stocks jump on economic news, rescue fund approval

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Brazil s only zoo-bound gorilla, who has been single for the past 27 years, can finally say goodbye to lonely days and nights. Idi Amin is getting another chance to find Mrs Right after scientists brought two female gorillas from England in an effort to relieve his solitude - and maybe even help him to find love.  Imbi and Kifta arrived in the southeastern Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte in August, but were only allowed into the Idi s cage this week. The girls spent 36 days in quarantine, undergoing medical checks and getting used to their new diets and conditions before moving in with the long-time bachelor. Zoo director Carlyle Mendes Coelho said the animals  first contacts raised hopes of a fruitful relationship. Idi moved to the South American country from France in 1975, when he was only two –years-old. Along with him came Dada, a female who died of complications from an ear infection three years later. Zoo keepers tried to pair him with Cleopatra in 1984, but she also died briefly after arriving. Since then, the gorilla - named after a former Ugandan dictator - has been living alone in his huge cage that was recently refurbished to welcome the two new dwellers.

Afghanistan suspends peace bid with Pakistan and US

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Afghanistan plans to suspend an effort to work with Pakistan and the US to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, Afghan officials said, taking a tougher line with Pakistan after last week s assassination of Kabul s top peace negotiator. Senior US, Pakistani and Afghan officials had been set to meet in Kabul on Oct. 8 to discuss ways to get insurgents into peace talks and end the 10-year-old conflict. Afghanistan has now decided to cancel the meeting, deputy national-security adviser Shaida Mohammad Abdali said on Thursday.  Afghanistan also dropped plans for Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to attend a meeting in Kabul at the end of October of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Commission for Reconciliation and Peace in Afghanistan, a three-month-old bilateral initiative intended to galvanize the peace process.

Brit wins World Freestyle Football Championships

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A British freestyler was crowned No. 1 at the inaugural World Freestyle Football Championships (WFFC) in Kuala Lumpur.  18-year-old Andrew Henderson beat another 15 freestylers from across the world during a two-day competition in the Malaysian capital city. The footage of his performance was released after it sparked world-wide interest on social media websites. Freestyle football is a type of performance which uses difference tricks like holding or juggling football with any part of the body. The sport surged in popularity after it was featured in a number of global advertising campaigns, though it is believed to have been around for over 1500 years. In the competition, each participant is judged by seven qualified judges based on 10 specific skills which are rated out of 10.

Four arrested in search operation in Karachi

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According to details, Police have arrested four accused during two separate raids in Karachi and also recovered arms from their possession. Two accused were arrested from Rizvia Socity while the other two were arrested from Nazimabad No 1.  According to police sources, two kalashnikovs, one 7MM rifle, one 30 bore pistol and one 8MM pistol was recovered from the accused. Police have shifted the arrested persons to some undisclosed location.

Palestinians: no talks without settlement freeze

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The Palestinians can t resume negotiations with Israel under current conditions and will pursue their bid to win UN recognition, a top Palestinian official said Thursday, after President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials reviewed the latest appeal from Mideast mediators to restart talks and reach a deal within a year. Last week, Abbas asked the UN to grant full membership to a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. In a turning point for Palestinian diplomacy, Abbas overrode strong objections by the US which, like Israel, argues that a state must arise from negotiations. Since returning from the UN, both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have tried to avoid being blamed for the deepening impasse. The Palestinians say they can t be expected to negotiate while Israel keeps expanding settlements, thus pre-empting the outcome of a deal. They say they suspect Netanyahu wants talks as a diplomatic shield, but is not interested in reaching a deal. Netanyahu alleges the Palestinians are not serious about peace and says he is ready to negotiate at any time. However, the Israeli leader refuses to halt settlement construction or recognize the pre-1967 frontier as a baseline, rejecting internationally backed positions and Palestinian demands. After the Palestinians  UN bid, the Quartet of Mideast mediators the US, the UN, the European Union and Russia called for the resumption of talks and a deal within a year. The Quartet statement did not specifically refer to the two Palestinian demands but listed a number of speeches, UN resolutions and other documents that contain them. "Members of the Security Council who want to see the peace process move forward and the early resumption of direct talks between Israel and Palestinians should not be supporting this Palestinian unilateral act," Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev said. On Thursday, Abbas consulted with officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization and his Fatah movement on what to do next. Yasser Abed Rabbo, the secretary general of the PLO, said after the meeting that the Quartet statement contained encouraging elements, but that this is not enough to resume negotiations. The Palestinians are eager to restart talks, but Israel first has to commit to all references in the Quartet statement, "especially concerning the borders of 1967 and stopping settlement activity," he said.

Niger will not extradite Gaddafi son Saadi: PM

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Niger has no plans to send ousted Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi s footballer son Saadi home to face justice, Prime Minister Brigi Rafini said Thursday on a visit to France. Earlier, the global police agency Interpol had issued a notice warning to its member states, which include Niger, that Libya is seeking Saadi s arrest for his alleged crimes while head of the country s football federation. "Saadi Gaddafi is in safety, in security in Niamey, in the hands of the Niger government. There s no question of him being extradited to Libya for the moment," Rafini said in the western French town of Saint-Brieuc. "We need to be sure he will be allowed a fair defence," he said. "Are those conditions in place today? No." The 38-year-old playboy fled Libya across its southern frontier to Niger after revolutionary forces stormed Tripoli and overthrew his authoritarian father s 42-year regime. He was last seen in Niger s capital Niamey. Interpol said in a statement from its Lyon headquarters that Saadi was wanted "for allegedly misappropriating properties through force and armed intimidation when he headed the Libyan Football Federation." "It urged member states to help locate him" with a view to returning him to Libya where an arrest warrant for him has been issued. "As the commander of military units allegedly involved in the repression of demonstrations by civilians during Libya s uprising, Saadi Gaddafi is also subject to a United Nations travel ban and assets freeze," it said. Saadi, the third of Gaddafi s seven sons, renounced a football career in Italy in 2004 to join the Libyan army, where he led an elite unit. He was captain of his national team and president of the Libyan Football Association and remained a symbol of the murky ties between Libyan oil money and Italian professional football. When he was 20, he trained with Italian clubs Juventus and Lazio. He remained a shareholder in the leading Turin club Juventus by virtue of being the chairman of Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company, which holds 7.5 percent of the shares in the club.

10 die as cement truck crashes in north Nigeria

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Authorities say 10 people are dead after an out-of-control cement truck crashed into a taxi and bus stand in a northern Nigeria town. Sector commander Chuks Osakwe of Nigeria s Federal Road Safety Corps told The Associated Press the crash happened Thursday afternoon in the town of Dukku in Gombe state. Osakwe said the brakes on the cement truck failed, sending it speeding into the stand. Osakwe said the truck also destroyed seven vehicles and 15 motorcycles parked there. Accidents are common on Nigeria s poorly maintained roads. Drivers often travel at high speed and overtake slower vehicles, leading to such head-on collisions and high death rates. Even main cities are linked by pitted, two-lane roads crammed with passenger buses, trucks laden with goods and rickety private vehicles.

Chile education talks beginning despite distrust

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The student and government leaders are about to sit down for long-awaited negotiations as tens of thousands of protesters challenge police in the streets. Both sides are angry over unmet demands, but they have decided to begin talks anyway inside the education ministry. Students keep protesting despite police water cannons and tear gas, saying as many as 100,000 young people are marching in Santiago. Student leader Camila Vallejo says they ll go ahead with the talks despite little confidence the government will address their concerns. President Sebastian Pinera has said that they must return to class or lose their scholarships and place in school.

Gaddafi spokesman captured outside Sirte: NTC

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Moammar Gaddafi s spokesman Mussa Ibrahim was captured on Thursday outside of the former Libyan strongman s hometown of Sirte, field commanders from the new regime said. "Misrata fighters contacted us and gave us the information that Mussa Ibrahim has been captured," said Mustafa bin Dardef, of the National Transitional Council s Zintan Brigade. Another commander, Mohammed al-Marimi, said: "Mussa Ibrahim was captured while driving outside Sirte by fighters from Misrata." He said there were reports that Ibrahim was dressed as a woman, but that he could not immediately confirm that. Ibrahim had been the public voice of the Gaddafi regime until NTC fighters overran Tripoli on August 23. Despite fleeing the capital along with the deposed despot, he has continued to issue statements through Syrian-based Arrai television from an unknown location, although not as frequently. On Friday, Ibrahim had appealed for resolve against "agents and traitors," denounced what he called "genocide" by NATO and its "Libyan agents," and criticised the world community for "inaction." Commander bin Dardef gave no other details about his reported capture, choosing to concentrate on the battle for Sirte. "The Misrata Military Council and our representatives will meet later today to discuss the next strategy for capturing Sirte," bin Dardef said.

Iran hangs three convected drug trafickers: media

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Iran has hanged two convicted drug traffickers in the eastern city of Zabol and another in the shrine city of Qom, local media reported Thursday. Two men were sent to the gallows in Zabol, the state television website said, without specifying if the hangings had been carried out in public or in prison. The third man had been hanged on Wednesday in a prison in Qom, south of Tehran, the government-run Iran newspaper reported without giving any more details. Along with China, Saudi Arabia and the United States, Iran has one of the highest numbers of executions each year. The latest hangings bring to 206 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports. Iranian media reported 179 hangings last year but international human rights groups say the actual number was much higher, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people it executed in 2010. Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings. Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

US-led coalition: Insurgent attacks trending down

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International forces in Afghanistan released new data Thursday that they claim show violence trending downward in their favour, contradicting UN statistics that the monthly average number of clashes and other attacks is nearly 40 percent more than last year. NATO said it has made progress by routing the Taliban from their strongholds in the south. But the Taliban have hit back with several high-profile attacks in the capital and assassinations of government officials and senior Afghan leaders. The US-led coalition reported that insurgent attacks in the first eight months of the year were down 2 percent and that the Taliban are relying more on roadside bombs to fight the war instead of shooting at better-armed international troops. "Actual enemy-initiated attacks are down and that is what we are observing as an indicator that actually violence trends are going down in our favor," said Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a spokesman for the coalition. The coalition said direct fire from insurgents dropped 30 percent in recent months. However, NATO said that roadside bomb explosions rose 5 percent during the time period. A day earlier, the UN said in its quarterly report on Afghanistan that, as of the end of August, the average monthly number of incidents stood at 2,108, up 39 percent over the same period a year earlier. The figures include insurgent attacks as well as assaults by NATO and Afghan forces on Taliban figures and positions. The UN envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, said there was no conflict between the different assessments. He told reporters after a UN Security Council meeting Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan had improved "in a purely military way," but at the same time there has been an increase in civilian casualties. NATO said in its briefing Thursday that coalition airstrikes killed 67 civilians from January through August, up 18 percent from the 57 in the same period last year. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has spoken out against such coalition airstrikes.

Clinton condemns 'unjustified' attack on envoy

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is condemning an attack on the top US envoy to Syria as "wholly unjustified." Clinton demanded on Thursday that the Syrian government fulfill its international obligations to protect all foreign diplomats and diplomatic properties after an angry mob pelted US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and several aides with tomatoes and eggs as they visited a prominent opposition figure. Neither Ford nor his aides were injured but several armored embassy vehicles were badly damaged before Syrian security forces arrived and were able to escort them to safety. Ford has been an outspoken critic of the Syrian government as it continues a brutal crackdown against reform protestors. The Obama administration has called for President Bashar Assad to step down.

Four killed in Belgrade landslide

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A landslide sparked by attempts Thursday to buttress the foundation of a kindergarten in Belgrade killed four workers and seriously injured three others, Serbia s emergency services chief said. The mudslide occurred when a team of workers was trying to set up barricades at the infants  school and nearby houses near the banks of the Danube river in the suburb of Zemun, he said. "Initial reports show that four people were killed by a landslide at a hill overlooking the spot," Predrag Maric said. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said ten families living in the neighbouring houses had been evacuated as a "precautionary measure."

Oil rebounds 2 pct. on encouraging economic news

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The Commerce Department said the US economy grew faster in the spring than previously estimated, while the Labor Department said that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week. Meanwhile, German lawmakers took a major step toward dealing with the region s debt crisis by strengthening a bailout fund. That eased worries that Europe s debt problems could spread and lead to another recession. Benchmark crude rose $1.60, or 2 percent, to $82.81 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price oil that s produced overseas, was 60 cents higher at $104.41 a barrel in London. Thursday s rise continues the roller coaster ride for oil prices this month. Oil tumbled 8 percent from Wednesday to Friday last week, then rebounded 6 percent by Tuesday, then fell nearly 4 percent on Wednesday. Tepid economic growth in the US and other major world economies has forced experts to backtrack on demand forecasts for this year. As concerns of another recession crept into energy markets, traders stayed focused on the European debt crisis and government reports on the state of the US economy. "The fear factor has simply gone up," independent oil analyst Jim Ritterbusch said. "I ve never seen volatility like this, and I ve been watching oil for 28 years." An extended rise or drop in oil will eventually affect gasoline prices. So far, oil hasn t moved by much, wavering between about $80 and $90 a barrel for the past two months. In other energy trading, natural gas futures were down a penny at $3.787 per 1,000 cubic feet. Prices held steady after the government reported that natural gas supplies last week rose more than analysts expected. Heating oil rose 1.68 cents to $2.8439 per gallon and gasoline futures were virtually unchanged at $2.5757 per gallon.

Stocks jump on economic news, rescue fund approval

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Stocks soared Thursday after applications for unemployment benefits fell to a five-month low and Germany voted to expand the powers of Europe s bailout fund. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up nearly 170 points in early afternoon trading. Banks, which would have the most to lose if Europe s debt crisis gets worse, rose more than the rest of the market. JPMorgan Chase & Co. jumped 4.3 percent, the most of any stock in the Dow. Several strong reports on the US economy encouraged investors to buy stocks. First-time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to 391,000. That s the lowest level since April 2 and also the first time applications have fallen below 400,000 since Aug. 6. The big drop suggests that layoffs are decreasing. The government also raised its estimate of economic growth in the April-June period. The Commerce Department said the economy grew at a 1.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, up from its previous estimate of 1 percent. It attributed the increase to growth in consumer spending and trade. "This gives us a little more confidence that maybe the economy will muddle through here as we go through all these challenges," said Rob Lutts, president and chief investment officer of Cabot Money Management. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 168 points, or 1.5 percent, to 11,178 at 12:15 p.m. (1615 GMT), erasing its loss from the day before. The Standard & Poor s 500 index rose 19 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,170. All 10 company groups that make up the S&P rose. Bank stocks rose sharply as worries eased about Europe s debt problems. Morgan Stanley rose 5.7 percent. Genworth Financial Inc. soared 7.2 percent, the most of any company in the S&P 500 index. Janus Capital Group Inc. rose 5.4 percent. The Nasdaq composite index rose 5, or 0.2 percent, to 2,497. The measure approved by German lawmakers to expand the region s bailout fund must be approved by all 17 countries that use the euro. The plan will allow the bailout fund to buy government debt and lend money to troubled European countries. Finland approved the measure Wednesday.

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Friday, September 30, 2011

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