Dunya TV

Australian PM stumbles before angry protesters
Arab League to take Syria to UN
Pak forex reserves fall to $16.80b
Euro remained under pressure in Asia
Samsung earns $4.72 billion in 4th Q
Creditors should waive part of Greek debts: Juncker
Abbottabad: 3 bodies of phosphate mine victims recovered
Lahore: CIA police arrests suspected terrorist
Scientists discover river running under Antarcticas ice
MQM to hold rally in Sukkur today
Abbottabad: Rockets fired near PMA
Pentagon proposes 13pc cut in Army size
Italy ink pact for aid to Afghanistan
Egypt flays travel ban on US NGO workers
Khurram Rasool surrenders himself to FIA

Australian PM stumbles before angry protesters

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Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stumbled and was caught by a security guard as riot police helped her force a path through a crowd of rowdy protesters following a ceremony to mark Australia s national day Thursday. She appeared distressed as she was pulled away from the protesters but was unharmed. She later remarked that she was made of "pretty tough stuff" and commended police for their actions. Some 200 supporters of indigenous rights had surrounded a Canberra restaurant and banged its windows while Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were inside officiating at an award ceremony. Around 50 police escorted the political leaders from a side door to a car. Gillard stumbled, losing a shoe. Her personal security guard wrapped his arms around her and supported her to the waiting car, shielding her from the angry crowd. The protesters had been demonstrating for indigenous rights nearby at the so-called Aboriginal Tent Embassy, a ramshackle collection of tents and temporary shelters in the national capital that is a center point of protests against Australia Day. Australia Day marks the arrival of the first fleet of British colonists in Sydney on Jan. 26, 1788. Many Aborigines call it Invasion Day because the land was settled without a treaty with traditional owners. Abbott appeared to be the target of protesters, who chanted "shame" and "racist" outside the restaurant. The Tent Embassy celebrated its 40th anniversary on Thursday. Abbott had earlier angered indigenous activists by saying it was time the embassy "moved on." Gillard was unharmed and later hosted another Australia Day function for foreign ambassadors at her official residence. "The only thing that angers me is that it distracted from such a wonderful event," Gillard told reporters. "I am made of pretty tough stuff and the police did a great job," she added. Reaction from protesters afterward was mixed, with some saying police assaulted them and that Gillard and Abbott were never in danger. They also made conflicting claims over who had Gillard s shoe.

Arab League to take Syria to UN

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Activists said almost 50 people were killed in unrest on Thursday, including 10 children. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said the United Nations could not keep track of the death toll in Syria s crackdown on dissent that has already cost more than 5,400 lives. At the Cairo-based Arab League, the organisation s chief Nabil al-Arabi said he and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani were to head to New York on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan on Syria. They are to "hold a meeting with the UN Security Council on Monday to seek ratification of the Arab League decision on Syria," for embattled President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to his deputy, Arabi said. Arab League ministers on Sunday urged Assad to delegate powers to his vice president and clear the way for a national unity government within two months, a plan which Damascus has ruled out as interference in its internal affairs. On Thursday, there was no let-up in violence on the ground. "The toll for the day has risen to 34 civilians killed by the security forces in several regions of Syria, mostly in Homs," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Separately, seven deserters and eight regular soldiers died in clashes, according to the rights group, among them a colonel killed in Homs, a protest hub in central Syria. The Observatory said the army launched an offensive on Thursday evening in the Karm al-Zeitoun district of Homs, killing 26 civilians, including nine children, and wounding dozens. And in the rebel city of Hama, also in central Syria, where the army launched a major assault on Tuesday, four civilians were killed, including a 58-year-old woman shot dead by snipers, it said. Elsewhere, one civilian reportedly died in the restive northwestern province of Idlib, and two others were killed in the suburbs of Damascus. In the southern province of Daraa, cradle of the uprising, a teenager was killed when security forces fired indiscriminately on a student demonstration in the town of Nawa, the Observatory said. Just north of Damascus, security forces attacked the town of Douma, another hotbed of anti-regime protests that activists say was in the hands of rebel troops last week before a withdrawal.

Pak forex reserves fall to $16.80b

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Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $12.55 billion from $12.69 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $4.25 billion, compared with $4.21 billion the previous week. Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in the week ending July 30 last year, but have since eased due to debt repayments. Reserves were boosted in June last year by inflows of $411 million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank, and a $196.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank. Higher export proceeds and a record inflow of remittances have also helped support Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. According to official data, remittances rose 19.6 per cent to $6.33 billion in the first half of the fiscal year (July-June), compared with $5.29 billion in the same period a year earlier. Islamabad has to start repaying an $8 billion International Monetary Fund loan in early 2012. Without additional sources of revenue, that will put further pressure on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.

Euro remained under pressure in Asia

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The single currency fetched $1.3096 and 101.40 yen in Tokyo morning trade, marginally down from $1.3104 and 101.48 in New York late Thursday. The dollar was at 77.40 yen, almost unchanged from New York. Market attention was shifting back to ongoing Greek debt talks from Wednesday s interest rate projections by the US Federal Reserve, said Sumino Kamei, senior analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. The focus will be on a European Union summit meeting in Brussels on Monday and whether or not any progress will be made by then, she told Dow Jones Newswires. "With uncertainty over the future of the European sovereign debt crisis, the euro will continue to fall," she said. Greece resumed talks Thursday with banks and insurers on an elusive deal for a major debt writedown to escape looming default. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos met with the private creditors  lead negotiators, Charles Dallara and Jean Lemierre, with the talks due to resume again on Friday. The private creditors said in a statement that "some progress was realised" in Thursday s discussions.

Samsung earns $4.72 billion in 4th Q

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South Korea s Samsung Electronics Friday posted a record operating profit of 5.3 trillion won ($4.72 billion) in the fourth quarter, thanks largely to booming smartphone sales. The company, the world s largest technology firm by revenue, is battling US giant Apple for leadership of the global smartphone market. It credited its flagship Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note brands for helping its telecoms businesses achieve a record quarterly operating profit of 2.64 trillion won. "Despite intensified competition amid the global economic slowdown, our telecommunications businesses continued to post solid earnings with an enhanced line-up of high-end smartphones, resulting in higher average selling price," said senior vice-president Robert Yi in a statement. The overall quarterly operating profit figure, a 76 percent increase year-on-year, was largely in line with the earnings guidance issued early this month by the firm. Revenue in October-December was 47.3 trillion won, a 13 percent rise year-on-year. Net profit of four trillion won was up 17 percent on a year earlier. For the whole of last year the company logged a net profit of 13.7 trillion won, down 15 percent from the previous year. Revenue rose 6.7 percent to a record 165 trillion won and operating profit declined 6.05 percent to 16.2 trillion won. Samsung overtook Apple in the third quarter of last year to become the world s largest seller of smartphones, although it was unclear who held the lead in the fourth quarter.

Creditors should waive part of Greek debts: Juncker

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Greece s creditor countries should "waive a portion of the Greek debt", Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said Friday.  As Greece resumed talks with banks and insurers on an elusive deal for a major debt writedown to escape looming default, Juncker told Austria s Standard newspaper that countries should ask themselves "whether public aid may be needed".

Abbottabad: 3 bodies of phosphate mine victims recovered

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On Wednesday, a phosphate mine collapsed in Kalubandi area, killing 11 labourers and injuring seven others. Rescue teams have recovered only three bodies yet while efforts underway to recover others.

Lahore: CIA police arrests suspected terrorist

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According to CIA police, a terrorist identified as Mavia has been arrested form railway station His arrest was possible due to call trackers. Police has shifted him to an unidentified location and investigation is ongoing.

Scientists discover river running under Antarcticas ice

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The team set out to investigate the effects of global climate change deep in the ice covered Antarctic continent say they have discovered a surprising system of rivers beneath the frozen surface. The team of 17 specialists made their observations at the Union glacier just 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the South Pole along the 84th parallel far inside the interior of the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The investigators were studying the effects of global climate change in the interior of the southernmost continent which is almost completely covered in ice and glaciers. Though Antarctica has a varied topography including mountains and valleys and has been known to have massive lakes deep beneath the ice, the team of glaciologists and cryosphere specialists say finding running water in liquid form in the area they did was astonishing. "We re talking about an altitude of seven or 800 meters in the area we observed, with temperatures normally at 15 or 20 degrees [Celsius] below zero [5 or -5 degrees Fahrenheit]. Therefore finding running water is a special phenomenon," said exploration team member Ricardo Jana and Chilean Antarctic Institute Glaciologist and researcher for the Centre for Quarternary Fuego-Patagonia and Antarctic Studies. One of the Brazilian researchers, Jefferson Simoes, the director of Brazil s National Cryosphere Institute says they still need to study the origin of the rivers before drawing any conclusions. "With Antarctica s wind we have some doubts. It could be warming or it could be, as we have seen many times before, melted ice water," Simoes said. The team left an automated laboratory just 670 kilometres (415 miles) from the South Pole which continues to send them vital readings including temperature, carbon dioxide and other atmospheric readings in real-time.

MQM to hold rally in Sukkur today

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MQM Deputy Convener Dr Farroq Sattar visited the venue and checked the arrangements. People from all walks of life also visited the venue along with their families to witness the arrangements. MQM chief Altaf Hussain will also addressed the participants.

Abbottabad: Rockets fired near PMA

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As per details, rockets have been fired at the Pakistan Military Academy from Galyat Mountains, damaging the academy’s wall partially. Talking to Dunya News, District Officer Coordination Imtiaz Hussain shah said that the wall of the academy damaged partially due to rockets firing and fortunately no casualty has been reported. After the incident security forces cordoned off the area and launched search operation.

Pentagon proposes 13pc cut in Army size

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As the debt-ridden United States winds down a decade of war but vowed new investments to exert power in Asia and the Middle East. With pressure mounting to balance the US books, President Barack Obama s administration sought a nine percent cut in the 2013 budget compared with last year s request by retiring older ships and planes and pulling back two brigades from Europe. But the administration called for investment on new projects including a futuristic floating base for special operations and drones and assigning elite Brigade Combat Teams with language training to each region of the world. "We are at a strategic turning point after a decade of war and substantial growth in defense budgets," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said as he unveiled a preview of the Defense Department s 2013 budget requests. Panetta vowed to maintain US power in the Middle East and Asia -- where China s growing military has concerned the United States and its allies -- including by modernizing submarines and funding a next-generation bomber. Panetta called for funding to station littoral combat ships in Singapore and patrol craft in Bahrain, part of the US strategy of forward-deploying its military to such small and strategically placed US allies. "The force we are building will retain a decisive technological edge, leverage the lessons of recent conflicts and stay ahead of the most lethal and disruptive threats of the future," Panetta told a news conference. The budget is far from a done deal. Panetta is hoping to ward off calls for steeper cuts backed by some members of his Democratic Party, while Republicans seeking to defeat Obama in November elections have resisted any cuts to the military and instead prefer reductions on social benefits at home. Panetta proposed a $613 billion budget for the year starting in October -- a $525 billion base spending plan and $88.4 billion for combat operations, primarily in Afghanistan. He said the base budget would rise to $567 billion by the 2017 fiscal year, by when the United States plans to withdraw most forces from Afghanistan. He proposed reducing the number of active US Army soldiers from 570,000 in 2010 to 490,000 by 2017 and cutting the Marines  strength from 202,000 to 182,000 over the same period. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that the proposals were "tough" and said he expected more cuts in the future as the Pentagon looks to meet a goal of saving $259 billion over five years. "The primary risks lie not in what we can do, but in how much we can do and how fast we can do it," Dempsey said. "As I have said before, we will face greater risks if we do not change from our previous approach." Among the most ambitious future projects, the budget would fund work on an "afloat forward staging base" -- a giant barge that can transport special operations or other forces at quick notice, reducing demands on aircraft carriers. Even with cuts, the US military remains far larger than those of other countries. China, which has the world s second largest military budget, said it was devoting 601.1 billion yuan ($91.1 billion) in 2011, although many foreign experts believe that the actual figure is higher. The United States has 285 ships and a goal of 313 in total, although the proposal calls for the early retirement of seven cruisers. Panetta also called for getting rid of six of the Air Force s 60 tactical air squadrons -- meaning about 120 planes -- along with one training squadron. As previously announced, the Pentagon plans to pull out two of four brigades from Europe -- for a total of more than 7,000 troops. The United States now has three brigades in Germany and one in Italy, although it has not decided which to withdraw. In one proposal that is especially sensitive, Panetta said that Obama would ask Congress to set up a commission to consider closure of military bases "with a goal of identifying additional savings and implementing them as soon as possible." Panetta promised to maintain military pay raises over the next two years that are in line with the private sector but warned of "more limited" increases afterward. He also called for increases in fees paid for health care, although he said the costs for retirees would remain below private sector plans.

Italy ink pact for aid to Afghanistan

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While Germany extended its military mission there for another year, developments that came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai began a tour of Europe with a stop in Rome. Italian Premier Mario Monti assured Karzai that "Italy will not abandon" his impoverished, conflict-scarred nation, where Taliban militants once thought defeated after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 have roared back in recent years. The two men signed a long-term cooperation agreement that deals with a wide range of areas, including political, security, and economic, as well as efforts to counter the drug trade and establish the rule of law. While in Rome, Karzai also met with Marc Grossman, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, to discuss ongoing efforts to engage the Taliban in peace talks by having them open a representative office in Qatar, the State Department said in Washington. Grossman was wrapping up a tour of numerous countries, including Afghanistan and Qatar, to discuss the matter. Prior to traveling to Doha, he had met with Karzai at least two times in Kabul in the last week-and-a-half, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The meeting in Rome "gave Ambassador Grossman an opportunity to debrief President Karzai on his meetings in Qatar and continue to work closely with the Afghan government on next steps in the reconciliation process," Nuland told reporters. She refused to say if he had seen any Taliban officials in Qatar but said his meetings in Doha focused on whether and when the group would open an office there. In Germany, parliament voted to extend the country s military mission in Afghanistan to next year, signing off on a plan that gradually reduces troop levels toward an eventual complete withdrawal. The plan sets a ceiling of 4,900 soldiers, reduced from the maximum 5,350 over the last year. By the end of January 2013, the government aims to get troop numbers down to 4,400. That s part of overall plans by the U.S. and other allies to withdraw combat troops and hand over responsibility for security to Afghan authorities by the end of 2014. The plan garnered cross-party support, with 424 voting for it, 107 against, and 38 abstaining. "It s positive that Parliament has supported our soldiers in Afghanistan with such a wide majority," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "It is also important that this mission is responsibly and orderly carried out through the end." Germany also has promised its support for Afghanistan after troops leave in 2014. It hosted a conference in Bonn in December, where it was one of about 100 nations and international organizations, including the United Nations, which pledged political and financial long-term support for war-torn Afghanistan to keep it from falling back into chaos or becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

Egypt flays travel ban on US NGO workers

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The authorities slapped a travel ban on several US citizens working for non-governmental organisations, preventing them from leaving the country, officials said on Thursday. "We understand that a number of Americans working for NGOs, including the IRI, have been barred from travelling," US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights Michael Posner said in Cairo. The IRI is the International Republican Institute, whose Egypt director Sam LaHood -- the son of US Secretary for Transportation Ray LaHood -- was among those banned from travel, an Egyptian airport official said. The ban was issued following "the orders of the prosecutor general," the official told AFP. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she believed "four or five" Americans had been prevented from taking flights from the airport, although she added their passports had not been confiscated. Nuland told reporters she understood that the ban will last as long as it takes for the Egyptian authorities to complete a judicial process. "We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow folks to come home as soon as possible. And we are hopeful that this issue will be resolved in merest days," Nuland said. The move comes amid a crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs. It is likely to further strain relations between Egypt and the United States after prosecutors last month stormed the offices of groups including IRI as part of a probe into allegations of illegal funding from abroad. Nuland said the authorities have yet to return computers and other confiscated material, which she added are also subject to the ongoing judicial process. Posner said the United States was "gravely concerned that organisations like IRI and like NDI (the National Democratic Institute) and Freedom House which have long worked in this country and around the world, are not able to operate as they do in many places in the world."

Khurram Rasool surrenders himself to FIA

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Khurram Rasool has been convicted in the banking fraud case and Rawalpindi Accountability Court had sentenced Khurram Rasool to three years in jail on Thursday. On the other hand, a Banking Court had accepted his interim bail on same day. He has been convicted ex-parte for no appearance in the banking fraud case. Khurram was charged with embezzling Rs 710 million of a private bank. Earlier, the Lahore High Court had rejected the protective bail plea of PM’s former media coordinator on his non-presence in LPG quota fraud case. Two-member bench of Lahore High Court heard the petition and summoned NAB officials. During proceedings the NAB officials informed the court that Khurram Rasool is involved in Rs710 million LPG quota fraud. Khurram Rasool’s counsel prayed to court that his client feared security risk that is why he has never appeared in the court. In response the court while expressing dissatisfaction rejected the plea of protective bail by Khurram Rasool. Talking to the media, Khurram said that he has been receiving life threats from last year, therefore he went on missing. He said that his family was also facing threats and his children could not attend schools from last year due to threats. Khurram Rasool also rejected all the allegations leveled against him and said he had refunded all the amounts and he did not commit any crime. He showed confidence over judiciary and hoped justice.

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Friday, January 27, 2012

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