Dunya TV

Nankana Sahib: Young girl molested
Obama: Still on track to remove Afghanistan troops
Stocks ending gloomy 3rd quarter on a weak note
Awlaqi killing reignites US debate on rights
Snipers halt NTC fight for Gaddafi hometown
Norway: Afghanistan's neighbours meet for talks
Omar Abdullah apologises for rape victime list
EU-IMF auditors talks reform, elude protest in Greece
Dollar rises as hopes fade for Europe crisis fix
US incomes fall for first time in nearly 2 years
Oil back at price last seen a year ago
US dismisses Iran's nuclear offer as 'empty promises
Petrol price up by Rs 4.15 per litre
Syrian toll mounts as US summons Damascus envoy
Major US atom-smasher closes after 25 years

Posted:

According to details, Shamroze, sone of an influential landlord of Kotla Kahilon, a village near Shahkot, went to Girls Complex of Shahkot College of Commerce and asked the administration that mother of Saba Rai is seriously ill. He took Saba, a brilliant student who secured top position in the district, to a deserted house and molested her along with his other friends. The accused then dropped Saba in front of her house in unconscious condition and fled away. Chief Minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the incident after airing of the news on Dunya News and raids are being conducted to arrest the culprits.

Obama: Still on track to remove Afghanistan troops

Posted:

Citing "huge challenges" ahead, President Barack Obama says he still intends to withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by next year and says the administration s strategy for winding down the war remains unchanged. Obama made his declaration in a letter to congressional leaders Friday. The letter accompanied a semiannual report assessing the administration s policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. The letter reports improvement in the fight against al-Qaida, as well as a reversal in the Taliban s momentum in Afghanistan and headway in the training of Afghan security forces. "Huge challenges remain, and this is the beginning -- but not the end -- of our effort to wind down this war," Obama wrote. The 33,000 troops represent the force surge Obama announced in December 2009. Last June, he announced the withdrawal of 10,000 US troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year and that the 33,000 surge troops would leave Afghanistan by the summer of 2012. In his letter, Obama said that plan was still on track. The report is less upbeat about Pakistan, however, citing continued U.S.-Pakistan strains over the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. It also addresses continued political instability in Pakistan that has confounded efforts to undertake economic reforms. US contributions to Pakistan s counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts decreased because of reductions in the  US military presence in Pakistan at the request of the Islamabad government, the report said. There is no mention of the links that U.S. official have alleged between Pakistan intelligence and the Haqqani insurgent network. But the report contains two classified annexes that were not made public. "Insurgent activity and high-profile strikes against security and government forces contributed to a decline in the security situation," the report stated.

Stocks ending gloomy 3rd quarter on a weak note

Posted:

Stocks fell Friday, putting the market on track to end its worst quarter since the peak of the financial crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 74 points, or 0.7 percent, at 11,080 at 12:45 p.m. (1645 GMT). The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have all lost more than 10 percent this quarter, the first time that s happened since the financial crisis crested at the end of 2008. Markets have been wracked this summer by growing fears about a possible default by Greece and the increasing likelihood of a global recession. Uneven economic data have touched off sudden bouts of buying and selling. Seven of the S&P s 10 industry groups lost ground Friday. Financial companies fell the most, 2 percent. The three groups that rose are industries that tend to be more resilient to weak economic conditions: utilities, consumer staples and health care. The Standard & Poor s 500 index lost 11, or 1 percent, to 1,149. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 25, or 1 percent, to 2,456. The S&P 500 index is down 13 percent since July 1, the start of the third quarter. That s the biggest quarterly drop since the three months ended Dec. 31, 2008, when global financial markets seized up. Excluding that period, the S&P has not dropped this much in a quarter for nine years. Stocks in France, England and Germany fell on more signs of division between European leaders. Germany and France proposed managing their shared currency through meetings of nations  leaders, rather than by a central bureaucracy. The chief of the existing bureaucracy balked at the proposal. Many European leaders and traders appear convinced that Greece will default in the coming weeks or months. Greece s lenders and neighbors are preparing as best they can to prevent that from causing a worldwide financial panic. As a result, traders have reacted strongly to news and rumors out of Europe about how the crisis is being addressed.  Markets gyrated wildly this summer in some of the most volatile trading on record. The Dow Jones industrial average swung more than 100 points in more than half of the trading days this quarter. Traders also have made big moves in response to US economic data, which has mostly suggested a slowdown. A recession in the US looks increasingly likely, mainly because of Europe s struggles and signs of weakness in developing countries like China that have been driving global economic growth.

Awlaqi killing reignites US debate on rights

Posted:

The killing of US-born Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi has rekindled the debate over how far Washington can go in hunting down and assassinating alleged terror suspects, especially American citizens. Awlaqi, killed in Yemen with several other suspected militants, had been at the center of a court case filed last year challenging the US government s right to target its citizens for assassination which highlighted questions about constitutional rights. President Barack Obama said the killing of Awlaqi was a "major blow" to Al-Qaeda, and marked a "milestone in the broader effort to defeat" the terror network. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Awlaqi s role in Al-Qaeda "has been well established" and his group "was a definite threat" to the United States. Many US lawmakers and other Americans cheered the news of Awlaqi s death, but civil rights backers said the case raises serious questions. Glenn Greenwald, a prominent civil liberties lawyer and commentator, said there had been no effort to indict Awlaqi on any crimes and that there was "substantial doubt" about his involvement in any crimes. "He was simply ordered killed by the president: his judge, jury and executioner," Greenwald wrote on Salon.com. "What s most amazing is that its citizens will not merely refrain from objecting, but will stand and cheer the US government s new power to assassinate their fellow citizens, far from any battlefield, literally without a shred of due process," he added. Last year, civil liberties groups filed a lawsuit on behalf of the cleric s father, Nasser al-Awlaqi, saying it was unconstitutional for the CIA to order the death of a US citizen without due process. A judge dismissed the case without ruling on the merit of the suit, but noted it raises serious constitutional issues. "Can (the president) order the assassination of a US citizen without first affording him any form of judicial process whatsoever, based on the mere assertion that he is a dangerous member of a terrorist organization?" US District Judge John Bates wrote in December. Pardiss Kebriaei, an attorney at the the Center Constitutional Rights who worked on the lawsuit, said if Awlaqi were indeed killed by US forces or with their help, it would be illegal. Republican Representative Ron Paul, who seeks his party s nomination to take on Obama in the November 2012 election, was sharply critical. "He was born here," ABC television quoted Paul as saying. "He is an American citizen. He was never tried or charged with any crime. Nobody knows if he killed anyone." Last year, a group of US lawmakers unveiled legislation to strip Americans thought to have joined extremist groups like Al-Qaeda of their citizenship. But the effort was criticized by some who said this appeared to lack due process.

Snipers halt NTC fight for Gaddafi hometown

Posted:

Fighters for Libya s new rulers were forced to regroup Friday on the edge of Sirte, as pro-Gaddafi snipers halted a two-week old assault on the ousted despot s hometown. And in Bani Walid, the only other stronghold of forces loyal to Moamer Gaddafi, the National Transitional Council s fighters appeared to have opened another front. As the NTC forces faced stiff resistance on the battlefield, doubts grew that Gaddafi s vocal spokesman Mussa Ibrahim had been captured after reports he had been seized while disguised as a woman, complete with veil. But in the fiercest fighting for days, the NTC fighters pounded Sirte with 106mm anti-tank guns, rocket-launchers and machine guns, while Gaddafi loyalists hit back with mortar, machine-gun and sniper fire. One NTC fighter was killed and 11 wounded, a medic said, as NATO warplanes and drones flew overhead without striking. NTC fighters held the line on the eastern outskirts of the city amid some sporadic artillery shelling and gunfire, an eye-witness said. "If we want we can destroy Sirte completely. We have enough ammunition and shells to fight for 10 years," said Nasser Obeidi, leader of a group operating four Russian-built 130mm artillery cannon. "But we are allowing civilians to leave the city before we start a big assault. People are leaving the city daily, sometimes in large numbers," he said. At least 15 civilian cars were seen leaving Sirte s eastern gate, while about 1,000 evacuees were registered 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the city, NTC officials said, adding they were detained 15 suspected Gaddafi supporters. In Benghazi, Red Cross official Abdelhamid al-Mendi said more than 50,000 Libyans have fled their homes since the war began in February. He said more than 18,000 had left Sirte and more than 25,000 others Bani Walid as of Wednesday. "The numbers of impressive, but the situation is under control, thanks to the efforts of the Libyan Red Crescent, aid from the international Red Cross" and other organisations. Obeidi acknowledged, however, that Gaddafi forces had deployed snipers in the city which was troubling the fighters. "There are snipers deployed by Gaddafi s men inside the city. They are targeting even civilian cars who are leaving the city," said Obeidi. But a former colonel in Gaddafi s army who is now an NTC fighter supervising cannon outside Sirte said his forces were determined to win. Gaddafi diehards "are posing problems, but it won t be for long. Our 130mm cannon are targeting their stationery targets like military and administrative command centres and weapons depots inside Sirte," said Mahmud Muftah.

Norway: Afghanistan's neighbours meet for talks

Posted:

Afghan officials met diplomats Friday from Pakistan, Iran, India and other key powers involved in the region to discuss ways forward for the war-battered nation, an official said. Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin told reporters that cooperation between neighbouring countries was necessary to find a solution to the conflict. "Without regional collaboration ... to really come together and address these problems jointly, we won t succeed," Ludin said, adding that the wars Afghanistan has experienced over the past few decades also affected other countries. The one-day Oslo meeting, facilitated by Norway and Turkey, included diplomats from the US and other permanent members of the UN Security Council, with 14 regional countries also attending. The parties will meet again in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in two weeks time. Ludin said the aim of the Oslo and Kabul meetings was to agree on regional cooperation, including how to tackle terrorism, extremism and narcotics in the region, before a Nov. 2 conference in Istanbul, Turkey, where regional security and the transition in Afghanistan will be discussed. In December, more than 1,000 delegates from 90 countries will gather in Bonn, Germany, to discuss the transfer of security operations to the Afghan government, international commitments to the country and the political process of national reconciliation.

Omar Abdullah apologises for rape victime list

Posted:

Indian-held Kashmir s chief minister apologised Friday after his government revealed the names of some 1,400 women raped in the insurgency-hit state during the last five years. "I tender an unconditional apology to the victims and their families. There is a deep sense of shame over the revealing of names (of the victims)," Omar Abdullah told the state legislature. On Thursday a written reply by the state s home department to a lawmaker s query contained a list of nearly 1,400 women raped since 2006, giving out their names, parentage and residential addresses. Abdullah, who heads the department, pledged that "such a thing will never take place again" and said he would "look into the matter". He made his apology after the main opposition People Democratic Party protested over the issue. Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim state, has been in the grip of an insurgency since 1989 that has left thousands dead so far. The violence has declined sharply since India and Pakistan, which hold the region in part, started a peace process in 2004.

EU-IMF auditors talks reform, elude protest in Greece

Posted:

EU and IMF auditors held talks with Greece Friday, focussing on reform of the transport sector and the country s justice system as part of efforts to stabilise the country s finances and release another installment of debt aid. The Greek press agency Ana said the auditors met Transport Minister Yannis Ragoussis to discuss restructuring public transport, including the part privatisation of the national rail service. After the closed door meeting, Ragoussis said he understood the need to "not give in to corporatist demands," referring to mass protests by angry taxi drivers opposed to deregulation of their industry. Friday s meetings were delayed and moved to secret locations after several dozen civil servants, protesting cuts in public services, occupied several ministries to block entry to the auditors, whose green-light is needed to unblock EU-IMF bailout funds desperately needed in the next few weeks for Greece to stay solvent. Protestors greeted the auditors at the justice ministry, where talks with officials were to focus on accelerating Greece s notoriously slow justice system. The government acknowledges that delays can be so long as to encourage widespread corruption and disobedience, especially in terms of taxes. The auditor meetings are taking place just as the Greek parliament is about to debate a law deregulating the taxi sector, opening it to competition. The measure has provoked the anger of small taxi operators who fear the arrival of big business to their sector. The conflict between government and taxi drivers has lasted for months while public transport work stoppages have regularly brought Athens to a near standstill.

Dollar rises as hopes fade for Europe crisis fix

Posted:

The dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies Friday as investors began to doubt that European officials will fix the region s debt crisis as quickly as they thought. Reports that a sweeping plan to contain the European debt crisis was in the works helped the euro post gains against the dollar earlier in the week. But, with no announcement of a deal from European leaders, the euro has given up some of its gains. In late trading Friday, the euro fell to $1.3424 from $1.3559 Thursday. The euro fell 1 percent against the dollar since Monday and is down nearly 7 percent from the beginning of the month. Concerns of a global slowdown intensified Friday as data from China showed manufacturing activity this month was flat from the month before. The monthly purchasing managers index, released by HSBC, was flat at 49.9 in September. A reading below 50 indicates that activity is contracting. "Some analysts have significantly revised down their growth expectations for China, which is starting to spook investors," said Forex.com analyst Kathleen Brooks in a note to clients. In times of global turmoil, investors tend to buy the dollar because they consider it a safe haven currency. On Friday, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other currencies, rose over 1 percent. In other trading Friday, the British pound rose to $1.5626 late Friday from $1.5590 Thursday. The dollar rose to 77.08 Japanese yen from 76.71 Japanese yen, to 0.9051 Swiss franc from 0.8994 Swiss franc and to 1.0438 Canadian dollar from 1.0395 Canadian dollar.

US incomes fall for first time in nearly 2 years

Posted:

Americans earned less last month, the first decline in nearly two years. With less income, consumers could cut back on spending and weaken an already-fragile economy. Consumers spent more in August, but their pace slowed from the previous month. Most of the increase went to pay higher prices for food and gas. When adjusted for inflation, spending was flat. Many people tapped their savings to cover the steeper costs. The savings rate fell last month to its lowest level since December 2009. The decline in income offered "more evidence that households are in quite a bind," said Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics. Consumer spending rose 0.2 percent last month, after growing 0.7 percent in July, the Commerce Department said Friday. Incomes fell 0.1 percent, which was the first decline since October 2009. The data also contributed to a rough day of Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled to close 240 points down. Broader indexes also fell. When people have less income, they spend less and that slows growth. Consumers spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The economy grew just 0.9 percent in the first half of the year, the worst six-month stretch since the recession officially ended more than two years ago. Most economists have been predicting the second half of the year will be slightly better, in part because gas prices have come down since peaking this spring. Dales estimates 2.5 percent growth in the July-September quarter and 1.5 percent in the final three months of the year. Those estimates take into account the weaker income figures. Such growth may be enough to calm recession fears. But it is far from what is needed to lower the unemployment rate, which was 9.1 percent in August. And Dales cautioned that he might have to lower his estimates even further if consumers have less money to spend.

Oil back at price last seen a year ago

Posted:

Oil prices are back to where they were a year ago. On Friday benchmark crude dropped $2.94, or 3.6 percent, to end the day at $79.20 per barrel in New York. Prices haven t finished that low since Sept. 29, 2010. Since then crude peaked near $114 a barrel in May of this year. It s fallen 31 percent since then as worries grew about the global economy. Government data pointed to further economic troubles heading into a traditionally weak time for petroleum demand. The Commerce Department said that Americans are earning less money, which could affect consumer spending and demand for oil. And October is usually a slow month in the oil business. The summer driving season is over, and it will be a couple of months before heating demand perks up and travelers set out for winter holidays. "There just isn t any demand here in the U.S.," independent oil analyst Andrew Lipow said. Brent crude, used to price many international kinds of oil, lost $1.19 to finish at $102.76 in London. Oil has swung up and down in the last few weeks, as the European financial crisis roiled energy markets. By Friday traders had turned their attention to falling crude price forecasts from major investment firms. Morgan Stanley this week dropped its forecast for Brent crude by $30 to an average of $100 per barrel in 2012. Analyst Hussein Allidina cut the price to match tepid global economic growth and a recovery in Libyan oil production. Allidina expects "significant supply increases and a material slowing in demand" by the second quarter of next year. In other energy trading, heating oil fell 4.73 cents to finish at $2.7793 per gallon and gasoline futures dropped 2.05 cents to end at $2.5381 per gallon. Natural gas lost 8.1 cents to end the day at $3.666 per 1,000 cubic feet.

US dismisses Iran's nuclear offer as 'empty promises

Posted:

Iran s offer to halt production of low enriched uranium is not credible because the Islamic republic has a record of making "empty promises," the United States said Friday. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told The New York Times last week that his country had offered to stop its production of low enriched uranium, which can be a stepping stone to produce atomic weapons, provided the West gives it the nuclear material. "Ahmadinejad makes a lot of empty promises," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "He knows exactly what has to happen. If Iran has a serious proposal to put forward, it has to put it forward to the IAEA." The UN nuclear watchdog, or International Atomic Energy Agency, and the United States "can study it and then we can respond, but from our perspective at the moment, this looks like a diversion from the real issue," Nuland said. Ahmadinejad said Iran wanted 20 percent enriched uranium for a medical reactor that makes isotopes for cancer treatment. Western countries say Iran already has enough uranium for the reactor and that any additional uranium would be used to make weapons. Accused by Western nations of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon, Tehran is under four sets of UN sanctions for refusing for years to bow to international demands to rein in uranium enrichment. Iran denies the charges, saying its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.

Petrol price up by Rs 4.15 per litre

Posted:

Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) issued notification of increase in petroleum prices at 2am on Saturday. According to the notification petrol prices were increased by Rs 4.14 per litre while diesel prices were up by Rs 1.50 per litre. The new prices are as follows: Petrol Rs 88.95 per litre, diesel Rs 94.15 and HOBC Rs 112.65 per litre. The increase in prices will be effective from today.

Syrian toll mounts as US summons Damascus envoy

Posted:

Renewed violence in Syria raised the death toll to at least 19 on Friday, as Washington read out the riot act over a mob that tried to assault the US ambassador in Damascus a day earlier. In Washington, meanwhile, Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustapha was called in to the State Department and "read the riot act" about an attempted attack Thursday on US Ambassador Robert Ford, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. A mob of nearly 100 Syrians chanting hostile slogans tried to storm an office in Damascus where Ford had arrived to meet opposition figure Hassan Abdelazim. Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the mob tried to attack Ford and other embassy staff while they visited the opposition leader, seriously damaging US vehicles and "pelting" the visitors with tomatoes. Ford spoke on his Facebook page Friday about the incident, saying the damage to the vehicles could not have been done "by eggs and tomatoes." "Protesters threw concrete blocks at the windows and hit the cars with iron bars," he said. "One person jumped on the hood of the car, tried to kick in the windshield and then jumped on the roof. Another person held the roof railing and tried to break the car s side window." Nuland said Mustapha met Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, hours after the incident. Mustapha "was reminded that Ambassador Ford is the personal representative of the president (Barack Obama) and an attack on Ford is an attack on the United States," Nuland said. "He was also asked for compensation for our damaged vehicles," she said, adding "a very strong set of representations were made again about their Vienna convention responsibilities" to protect US diplomats. The Assad regime had earlier accused Washington of inciting "armed groups" into violence against its army. The mob attack came as the UN Security Council remained divided over whether to threaten Assad s regime with sanctions. Britain, France, Germany and Portugal insist that any resolution must include at least the threat of sanctions against Assad, but Russia opposes any mention of sanctions. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva has said the death toll from the Syrian government s bloody crackdown has risen to more than 2,700 since March 15.

Major US atom-smasher closes after 25 years

Posted:

A powerful US atom-smasher that was the world s biggest particle collider for nearly a quarter-century closed forever on Friday, solidifying Europe s place as the world leader in physics. The Tevatron began its collider work in 1985, as part of the US Department of Energy s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and its shutdown comes at a tough time for budget-squeezed US science and space programs. Tevatron has been overtaken by a more powerful atom smasher -- the world s largest -- the Large Hadron Collider, built on the French-Swiss border by the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), a consortium of 20 member nations. But in its day, the Tevatron made some major contributions, including the identification of the top quark in 1995 and the discovery in 2000 of the tau neutrino, an elusive piece of the Standard Model of Physics. Now the only part of the Standard Model left to identify is the Higgs-Boson particle which, if it exists, is believed to give objects mass. The Tevatron helped physicists narrow down where it might be, but could not find it. The Tevatron, which cost about $50 million per year to operate, also led to a host of more concrete advances, chief among them the widespread use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines for medical diagnosis. A Fermilab spokeswoman said there are no layoffs directly tied to the shutdown. "Of the 600 scientists on the Tevatron, many will continue to analyze Tevatron data for the next two years and many are moving to other Fermilab experiments," said Elizabeth Clements. American physicists will now concentrate on more precise -- and less expensive -- questions at home and work with CERN on high-energy projects like the search for the Higgs-Boson, sometimes called the "god" particle. The Tevatron has made "significant contributions to our understanding of the building blocks of the universe and how they work and fit together," said Pier Oddone, director of the Fermi Laboratory, at the closing ceremony. "But while one era is now ending, another is beginning at Fermilab," he said.

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

0 comments:

Reuters News Agency

World EYE