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Talks between US, Taliban started in Qatar
Tribal elder among 3 shot dead in Sui
Implementation of court decisions will strengthen institutions
Lahore: Expired medicines recovered
Taj Mahal minaret tilts due to shortage of water, says expert
Swimming enthusiasts take a cold plunge in Germany's Danube
Arab League halts observer mission in Syria
Iran moves step closer to banning oil sales to EU
Britain calls for NATO to stick to 2014 Afghan pullout
Saleh heads to US after stopover in London
At least 34 killed in Syria violence: report
Azarenka wins Australian Open women's title
Woods hits 6-under to share lead in Abu Dhabi
Guinea hit six to equal African Cup record
Liverpool scores late to edge Man United in FA Cup

Talks between US, Taliban started in Qatar

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According to the newspaper, several Taliban negotiators have begun meeting with American officials in Qatar, where they are discussing preliminary trust-building measures, including a possible prisoner exchange, several former Taliban officials said Saturday. The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had traveled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group. The comments suggested that the Taliban, who have not publicly said they would engage in peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, were gearing up for preliminary discussions. American officials would not deny that meetings had taken place, and the discussions seemed to have at least the tacit approval of Pakistan, which has thwarted previous efforts by the Taliban to engage in talks. The former Taliban officials, interviewed Saturday in Kabul, were careful not to call the discussions peace talks. “Currently there are no peace talks going on,” said Maulavi Qalamuddin, the former minister of vice and virtue for the Taliban who is now a member of the High Peace Council here. “The only thing is the negotiations over release of Taliban prisoners from Guantánamo, which is still under discussion between both sides in Qatar. We also want to strengthen the talks so we can create an environment of trust for further talks in the future.” The Taliban officials now in Doha, Qatar, include a former secretary to the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, as well as several former officials of the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, according to Mr. Qalamuddin and Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban minister of higher education. The former Taliban officials here described fairly advanced discussions in Qatar about the exchange of prisoners. One former official, Syed Muhammad Akbar Agha, who had been a Taliban military commander, said that five Taliban prisoners were to be released in two phases. “The first group of two to three Taliban prisoners will be released, and then two others,” he said. There has also been discussion in Qatar of removing some Taliban members from NATO’s “kill or capture” lists, the former Taliban officials said. In return, the Taliban have offered to free an American soldier they are holding.

Tribal elder among 3 shot dead in Sui

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A clash between peace lashkar and armed persons in Sui left three people dead, including peace lashkar chief. The incident took place near Pat Feeder. Police shifted the dead bodies to a nearby hospital and started search for the attackers. Tension gripped the area after the incident.

Implementation of court decisions will strengthen institutions

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Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said that institutions will be strengthened through implementation for court decisions. He was talking with his party works in London before his departure for Pakistan. He said PML-N will play its role to strengthen democracy in the country. Nawaz Sharif was of the view that government was not serious to end corruption. He said that old PML-N workers will be considered as candidates for the next general elections. According to sources, an important meeting of PML-N leaders is expected after the return of Nawaz Sharif in which issue of memo scandal, early elections and contacts with other political parties will come under discussion.

Lahore: Expired medicines recovered

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According to details, these medicines were imported on the names of 53 government and private hospitals, including Jinnah Hospital. These medicines included 12,000 injections of morphine, Advil tablets and 2,000 packets of Predeced Capsule. The medicines were illegally imported from Canada got cleared on January 5. The date of expiry of these medicines is January 31. According to customs law, the import of medicines with less than 75 percent of shelf life is prohibited.

Taj Mahal minaret tilts due to shortage of water, says expert

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A minaret of the historic Taj Mahal has tilted by up to four centimeters due to a lack of water in the nearby the Yamuna river, said an environmental expert. KS Rana, professor of the Environment Department at Agra University, said he concluded that the tilt was due to a shortage in ground water. He added pillars of the monument have been raised on wooden sleepers to make the building earthquake proof and shortage of water in the adjacent river would have had an adverse impact on it. "The foundation of the Taj Mahal is related to water. The wells have been dug up and pillars of the Taj Mahal have been raised on wooden sleepers, made of teak, which doesn t rot in water. This was a contemporary technique to make the building earthquake proof. The concept was that when this building is raised on sleepers it will hang and earthquakes will have no impact on it," Rana said.

Swimming enthusiasts take a cold plunge in Germany's Danube

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The snowy river banks and frosty water temperatures proved to be no barrier to hundreds of swimming enthusiasts who took a cold plunge into Germany s Danube river on Saturday. The town of Neuburg became a picturesque backdrop to the merriment as divers and swimmers from all over Germany and neighbouring countries donned wetsuits and headdresses and drifted downstream. For the thirsty there were home-made floats with drinks on board to accompany the swimmers the 4 km to the Neuberg old town. Despite the wintry appearance and a sudden cold snap across much of Germany and eastern Europe, the swimmers said it was warmer than it seemed. "Everyone says: you are not getting me in there. I am actually a warm water showerer, but it wasn t a problem," said Martina Bader, "It s actually pretty nice. The water is somewhere around 3 degrees and we have wetsuits that are pretty thick. It looks worse than it actually is," Karl-Hans Graf added. "We just asked when we could go swimming again," an enthusiastic Mareike Fehorn said. Unlike the ice-swimmers, these enthusiasts wear wetsuits, strongly recommended by the organisers to keep the cold out. And for the bold, who might like a cold dip next year, anyone over the age of 15 can take part in the 45 minute swim. The Danube swim, started 43 years ago as a practise session for cold water swimmers is now the biggest event of its kind in Europe.

Arab League halts observer mission in Syria

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The Arab League halted its observer mission in Syria on Saturday because of escalating violence that killed nearly 100 people the past three days, as pro-Assad forces battled dissident soldiers in a belt of suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus in the most intense fighting yet so close to the capital. The rising bloodshed has added urgency to new attempts by Arab and Western countries to find a resolution to the 10 months of violence that according to the United Nations has killed at least 5,400 people as Assad seeks to crush persistent protests demanding an end to his rule. The United Nations is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus  rejection of an Arab peace plan which it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia s willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions. Syria s Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar vowed the crackdown would go on, telling families of security members killed in the past months that security forces "will continue their struggle to clean Syria s soil of the outlaws." Government forces launched a heavy assault on a string of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, aiming to uproot protesters and dissident soldiers who have joined the opposition, activists said. Troops in tanks and armored personnel carriers attacked the suburbs of Kfar Batna, Saqba, Jisreen and Arbeen, the closest of which lie only a few miles from downtown Damascus, said the Local Coordination Committees activist network and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Dissident troops were fighting back against the attackers, they said. In a nearby suburb, Douma, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying army officers, the state-run news agency SANA, calling the attackers "terrorists." It said seven officers were killed. The assault in the suburbs seemed to be a sign of the growing presence of dissident soldiers closer to the capital. Although the tightly controlled Damascus has been relatively quiet since the uprising began, its outskirts have witnessed intense anti-regime protests and army defectors have become more visible and active in the past few months. "The fighting today is the most intense near the capital since the uprising began," said Rami Abdul-Rahman who heads the Observatory for Human Rights. "The Syrian regime is trying to finish the uprising militarily now that the case is being taken to the United Nations."

Iran moves step closer to banning oil sales to EU

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Iranian lawmakers have finalized a draft bill requiring the government to immediately halt crude oil sales to Europe in response to the bloc s decision to ban the purchase of Iranian oil, a member of parliament said Saturday. Nasser Soudani said the legislature s energy committee completed its work on the bill Saturday and that parliament will debate and vote on it during an open session on Sunday. "As long as the EU doesn t lift the oil embargo, we won t give them a drop of oil," state TV quoted Soudani as saying. Soudani is deputy chairman of the energy committee. The European Union imposed an oil embargo against Iran and froze the assets of its central bank on Monday. It was the latest attempt to try to pressure Tehran over a nuclear program the United States and its allies argue is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for purely peaceful purposes. The EU sanctions came just weeks after the U.S. approved, but has yet to enact, new sanctions targeting Iran s Central Bank and, by extension, its ability to sell its oil. Many Iranian lawmakers and officials have called for an immediate ban on oil exports to the European bloc before the EU s ban fully goes into effect in July, arguing that the 27 EU nations account for only about 18 percent of Iran s overall oil sales and would be hurt more by the decision than Iran. China, a key buyer of Iranian crude, has criticized the embargo. Ahmad Qalebani, director of the National Iranian Oil Company, said the EU must either sign long-term oil contracts with Iran now or lose Iranian oil. "Some European companies still want to receive Iranian oil," Qalebani was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency. "We want those companies to enter transparent talks with us for a long-term contracts or stop purchasing oil from Iran now." Qalebani said the decision to immediately cut oil exports to Europe has to be approved by the country s top leadership. If parliament passes the bill to halt oil sales to Europe, the legislation must still be approved by the Guardian Council to become law.

Britain calls for NATO to stick to 2014 Afghan pullout

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British Prime Minister David Cameron warned Saturday against withdrawing troops from Afghanistan too fast, after France said it would pull out a year before the international deadline of 2014. Speaking at a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was visiting London, Cameron said the speed of the NATO drawdown should depend on security conditions on the ground. "Obviously, between now and 2014 there will be opportunities for different countries to reduce their troop numbers. Britain has reduced our troop numbers over the last year," Cameron said. "I don t want to see some sort of cliff edge in 2014 when all of the remaining troops come out at once, but clearly, between now and 2014, the rate at which we can reduce our troops will depend on the transition to Afghan control in the different parts of Afghanistan. "And that should be the same for all of the members of NATO who are all contributing and helping to a strong, stable and peaceful Afghanistan, which is in all our interests." Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, the second largest contingent after the United States. His comments appeared to be a rebuke to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said Friday that France would pull its forces out of Afghanistan in 2013. Sarkozy s decision followed the killing a week earlier of four French servicemen by a renegade Afghan soldier. Karzai said Britain had been Afghanistan s "steadfast friend" since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 to topple the Taliban regime following the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. "May I convey to the people of Britain the gratitude of the Afghan people for all that Britain has offered Afghanistan, for having been ready to sacrifice, and having been ready to share hard-earned taxpayers  money with Afghanistan for the benefit of the Afghan life," Karzai said. The scheduled deadline for the transfer of security from international combat troops to Afghan forces is the end of 2014.

Saleh heads to US after stopover in London

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Yemen s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is due to step down next month, headed for medical treatment in the United States on Saturday after a stopover in Britain, Yemeni and British officials said. Saleh, who had mistakenly been reported to have left Oman earlier this week, flew from the sultanate to Stansted airport, just outside London, Yemen s state news agency Saba reported. In London, a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that Saleh s plane was scheduled to land at a UK commercial airport to refuel on the way to the United States. "This is a routine event. Neither the president nor any of his party are expected to enter the UK," the spokesman said. Saleh s flight was due to have left Stansted at 1500 GMT and continue on to New York after a one-hour refueling stop, a British source later told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. After months of deadly protests, the Yemeni leader finally signed a power transfer deal in November that effectively ended his three decades in power. He had been in Oman since last Sunday with his wife and five of his children amid mounting speculation about his future. Saleh suffered severe wounds from a bombing at the presidential palace in Sanaa last June after which he was treated in Saudi Arabia. He is scheduled to receive further treatment at a New York hospital. The US ambassador to Yemen, Gerald M Feierstein, said on Tuesday that Saleh had been granted a visa for purely medical reasons, but that his absence in the run-up to the election of his successor was in the interests of Yemen.

At least 34 killed in Syria violence: report

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At least 34 people died in violence across Syria on Saturday, as activists reported fierce clashes between soldiers and deserters and authorities warned the country would be "cleansed" of outlaws. Twenty-three of those reported killed were military or security personnel. Soldiers clashed with deserters in the restive central town of Rastan in Homs province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reported similar confrontations in Al-Ghuta, near the capital. Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based watchdog, told AFP three deserters were killed in Rastan s fighting, while at least five soldiers were killed in clashes in nearby Al-Hula. "A large number of soldiers at the countless checkpoints inside the city deserted and turned their arms on the regime s soldiers," said an activist on the ground in Rastan. "Residents are trying to help deserters fight their way out of Rastan and reach the positions of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army," added the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The clashes in Al-Ghuta left at least six civilians and 11 members of the security forces dead, said the Observatory. Meanwhile, an ambush on a bus near the rebel stronghold of Douma, just north of Damascus, killed seven Syrian soldiers, including an officer, the official SANA news agency reported, blaming the attack on a "terrorist group." Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar said the authorities were determined to "cleanse" the country of outlaws and to restore order.

Azarenka wins Australian Open women's title

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Victoria Azarenka had produced one of the most lopsided Australian Open final victories to capture a Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking for the first time. She started celebrating on Rod Laver Arena, then suddenly did a double-take to ask her coach, "What happened?" The answer: She routed three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on Saturday night, winning 12 of the last 13 games after dropping her first service game and falling behind 2-0. "It s a dream come true," she said. "I have been dreaming and working so hard to win the Grand Slam, and being No. 1 is pretty good bonus. Just the perfect ending and the perfect position to be in." Azarenka won 11 straight matches, including a run to the Sydney International title, to reach her first Grand Slam final. Her previous best performance at a major was a semifinal loss to Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon last year. Sharapova had all the experience, being in her sixth major final and having won three dating back to her 2004 Wimbledon title. But it didn t unnerve the 22-year-old Azarenka, who is the first woman from Belarus to win a singles major. She s also the seventh different woman to win a Grand Slam title since Francesca Schiavone won the 2010 French Open, and the fifth different winner in as many majors. Azarenka became only the third woman to earn the No. 1 spot after winning her first Grand Slam title. She moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in the rankings, helped by Caroline Wozniacki s loss in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Azarenka set up championship point with a stunning forehand, her 14th clean winner, and sealed it when Sharapova netted a backhand. She dropped on to her knees at the baseline with her hands over her face. She got up, held up her hands up and jogged up to her coach, Sam Sumyk, in the stands to celebrate. "The best feeling, for sure," Azarenka said. "I don t know about the game. I don t know what I was doing out there. It s just pure joy what happened. I can t believe it s over." And she paid special credit to her grandmother, "the person who inspires me the most in my life." Azarenka has been a distinctive presence at Melbourne Park as much as for her shrieks and hoots with each shot and seemingly boundless energy as for her white shorts, blue singlet and lime green head and wrist bands. Against Sharapova, she maintained the frenetic movement that has been the hallmark of her campaign in Australia, her 25th consecutive major. She won the Sydney International title the weekend before the year s first major and is now on a 12-match winning streak the first player since 2004 to win a WTA tour event the week before winning a major.

Woods hits 6-under to share lead in Abu Dhabi

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Tiger Woods took a share of the lead at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on Saturday by "staying away from trouble" with a 6-under 66. "It just seemed like I didn t do a lot of things right but I didn t do a lot of things wrong today, it was just very consistent," Woods said. "You know, made a couple putts here and there ... I stayed away from trouble and tried to keep the ball towards the fat side of some of these pins and I think I did a pretty good job." The 14-time major winner finished at 11-under and a three-day total of 205. Woods is tied with newcomer Robert Rock, who birdied his final two holes to earn the 117th-ranked Englishman a first-ever pairing with the American on Sunday. Rory McIlroy (68), Peter Hanson (64), Francesco Molinari (66) and Peter Lawrie (68) share third at 9-under. Four more players, including overnight leader Thorbjorn Olesen (71) of Denmark, are a shot further back. Woods, who was two shots back after the second round, started climbing up the leaderboard Saturday with an opening birdie, followed by another on No. 7. He stepped up his game on the back nine, running off four birdies in a bogey-free round that was memorable not for stunning shots but Woods  ability to sink clutch putts and keep his ball in play. The former top-ranked golfer grabbed a share of the lead after he just missed eagle putt on 10 and settled for a birdie. He briefly took the outright lead with a birdie on 14 and rolled in a six-footer for birdie on 18. The crowd roared with every birdie but Woods held off from his trademark fist pumping. "There s too many guys up there right now. There s a ton of guys with a chance to win," Woods said. "You know, we have not separated ourselves from the field. The field is very bunched. I need to go out there and put together a solid round of golf, and I can t go out there and shoot even par and expect to win. I ve got to go out there and go get it." Rock, who got his first European Tour win last year in Italy in a playoff with Sergio Garcia, admitted he was star-struck at the prospect of facing off against Woods, calling him "the best guy I ve ever seen play golf."

Guinea hit six to equal African Cup record

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Guinea equalled the record victory margin for an Africa Cup of Nations match by overwhelming 10-man Botswana 6-1 Saturday in Group D at Stade Franceville. Sadio Diallo (2), Abdoul Camara, Ibrahima Traore, Mamadou Bah and Naby Soumah were on target for the National Elephant and Dipsy Selolwane from a penalty for the Zebras, who had substitute Patrick Motsepe sent off late in the first half.

Liverpool scores late to edge Man United in FA Cup

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Liverpool reached the fifth round of the FA Cup at the expense of arguably its fiercest rival on Saturday, Dirk Kuyt scoring an 88th-minute goal to earn his side a 2-1 win over Manchester United. While Chelsea progressed with a 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers, Kuyt hit a low shot past goalkeeper David de Gea to win the game for Liverpool following first-half goals by Daniel Agger and United s Park Ji-sung. Victory means Liverpool is unbeaten in its last three matches against United.

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

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