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Lahore: 4 students involved in street crimes arrested
Haqqani off to Abu Dhabi
Obama confirms US drone strikes in Pakistan
US hails Pakistan for lifting Haqqani travel ban
Wife of Balochistan MPA among 6 killed in Karachi
NATO sticking to 2014 pullout date for now
Russia will not back UN resolution on Syria
Under-construction building collapses in India, two died
Winter cold snap kills 36 in eastern Europe
Davis Cup: No Nadal for Spain against Kazakhstan
Top-seeded Ljubicic advances in Zagreb Indoors
Sudan in African Cup quarter-finals
28 athletes implicated in German doping scandal
Oil prices dip near $99 a barrel
Australia rising with Ashes in their sight

Lahore: 4 students involved in street crimes arrested

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According to Township police, the accused were traced through data a mobile phone they have snatched. Those who were arrested included 16-year-old Farooq 15-year-old Ali Raza, 16-year-old Abu Bakar and 17-year-old Sajawal. During investigation, the accused revealed that they were matric students and snatched a mobile phone from Wapda Town when they were returning from tuition centre. After that they committed crimes regularly. Police have recovered three pistols, two motorcycles and six mobile phones from their possession.

Haqqani off to Abu Dhabi

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A main character in memo-gate case, Husain Haqqani left Islamabad for Abu Dhabi through Ittehad Airlines flight IY 232 in early hours of Tuesday. From Abu Dhabi, Husain Haqqani will fly to United States. Husain Haqqani reached Islamabad Airport under tight security and entered passengers launge without talking to media. On Monday, counsel for Husain Haqqani, Asma Jahangir, pleaded before the Supreme Court to allow her client to travel abroad.

Obama confirms US drone strikes in Pakistan

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President Barack Obama on Monday confirmed that US drone aircraft have struck Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets within Pakistan -- operations that until now had not been officially acknowledged. When asked about the use of drones by his administration in a chat with web users on Google and YouTube, Obama said "a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA" -- Pakistan s Federally Administered Tribal Areas. "For the most part, they ve been very precise precision strikes against Al-Qaeda and their affiliates, and we re very careful in terms of how it s been applied," Obama said. "This is a targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists, who are trying to go in and harm Americans, hit American facilities, American bases, and so on." Explaining that many strikes were carried out "on Al-Qaeda operatives in places where the capacities of that military in that country may not be able to get them," Obama confirmed that Pakistan s lawless tribal zone was a target. "So, obviously, a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA, and going after Al-Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said. "For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we re already engaging in." US officials say Pakistan s tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting for 10 years in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters.

US hails Pakistan for lifting Haqqani travel ban

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Briefin the newmen, the State Department s spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said that United States is gratified that the Government of Pakistan has lifted the travel ban on former ambassador Husain Haqqani, specifically the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and that he’s free to travel as he chooses. “And we continue to expect that Pakistan will resolve this situation and other internal issues in a transparent manner and upholding Pakistani laws and constitution” Nuland said. Replying to a question she said: “I’m not sure that there is a visa application at the moment, but if there were, it would be a matter of visa confidentiality.” To a question Victoria Nuland said that US wants Afghanistan to take up reponsobilities of reconciliation process with Taliban. She was of the view that there is a role for Pakistan in reconciliation process with Taliban. She further said that Pakistan is well aware of its responsibility in this regard.

Wife of Balochistan MPA among 6 killed in Karachi

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According to details, some unidentified attackers opened fire at a car bearing number ANR 353 ne Guzri Bridge, killing three people including two women. The dead included Zomar, wife of Balochistan MPA Sardar Bakhtiya Ahmad Domki, his daughter Jannan and driver Barkat. The family members of Sardar Bakhtiya Ahmad Domki were in Karachi to participate in the marriage ceremony of Speaker Sindh Assembly’s daughter. Sardar Bakhtiya Ahmad Domki is grandson of Sardar Akbar Khan Bugti. Commenting soon after the killing incident Bakhtiya Domki said that now the females of their family are also being targeted. In another incident near Power House Chorangi in North Nazimabad, unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on a jeep, critically injuring three people. The injured were rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in police mobile and private ambulances where all of them succumbed to their wounds. The dead were identified as Irfan, Adeel and Adnan. According to eye-witnesses the attackers were riding on two motocycles and opened fire at the jeep from two sides.

NATO sticking to 2014 pullout date for now

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NATO s top official said Monday that the alliance will adhere to its plans to hand over security to local forces in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, comments that came after France said it would push NATO to speed up its timeline for the handover of combat operations by a year. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen acknowledged that the final transition phase, which involves handing over lead responsibility for provinces and districts to Afghan authorities, would start from "mid-2013." A number of areas and towns already have been handed over to the Afghan army and police since the transition started a year ago. Nonetheless, the overall NATO plan is still pegged on a 2014 pullout date, Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu. "We will stick to the roadmap that was outlined at the NATO summit in Lisbon in 2010, according to which we will gradually hand over lead responsibility to the Afghans, a process that has been started and hopefully will be completed by the end of 2014," Fogh Rasmussen said. Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy jolted NATO by announcing France would speed up its exit and ask NATO to end its combat mission in 2013. The announcement came after an Afghan soldier killed 4 French soldiers on Jan. 20. The move was seen as the latest crack in a coalition already strained by economic troubles in Europe and the United States, the Afghan government s sluggish battle against corruption, and a Taliban insurgency that remains unbeaten after more than a decade of war. It s unclear if Sarkozy s call for all foreign forces to hand security over to the Afghan forces in 2013 will have traction when is presented on Thursday and Friday at a NATO defense ministers  meeting in Brussels. Britain and Germany have already indicated they would stick to the 2014 timeline. Basescu said Romania, with a contingent of 1,900 troops, will focus on training Afghanistan s paramilitary police forces. Fogh Rasmussen said "there is nothing new" in the fact that from mid-2013 the role of coalition forces in Afghanistan will start changing from combat to a support role. NATO is speeding up the training of the Afghan security forces, which are due to gradually expand to over 350,000 members. But incidents in which Afghan soldiers have turned on NATO troops have raised fears of increased Taliban infiltration of the Afghan police and army. France, which now has about 3,600 soldiers in the coalition force, joins Britain, Germany and Italy in the top five largest troop-contributing nations. All those national contingents are dwarfed by the 90,000-strong U.S. force. Sarkozy s government has been under political pressure to withdraw French troops before the United States  pegged pullout in 2014. Polls show most French want an early pullout and such a move could affect Sarkozy s re-election prospects.

Russia will not back UN resolution on Syria

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Russia will not back a new draft resolution on Syria, its deputy foreign minister said Monday ahead of the UN Security Council s debate over the latest Western-backed proposal. "The current Western draft has not gone too far from the October version, and, certainly, cannot be supported by us," Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency in an interview. "The draft has statements in it calling on the member states to stop arms deliveries to Syria," he said. "But there is no clear line between arms contraband that some countries engage in to support extremist forces in Syria, and the legal military-technical ties with this country," he said. Russia, which has resisted Western calls to back UN sanctions against Damascus, had suggested to both President Bashar al-Assad s regime and the opposition that they should meet in Moscow for "informal contacts" without any preconditions.

Under-construction building collapses in India, two died

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A six-storey under construction building collapsed in western India s Nagpur city on Monday  that claimed at least two lives and injured eight people. Rescuers are still engaged to extricate persons feared trapped under the debris. The building which was a cold storage center caved in at about 6.30 pm (IST). The building had been inaugurated a few days ago but some of its portions were yet to be completed. The local police and municipal authorities rushed immediately to the spot. "We have deployed a lot of our people soon after we received the information. They are making the arrangements here. Our Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Desai has also sent in his officials. He is also here. In this rescue operation, we are first trying to remove the debris. For that all the machinery and manpower of the corporation are engaged. We are still not sure about the number of people trapped inside," said city s police commissioner Ankur Dhananjay. The injured people have been admitted to the nearby hospital. The disruption in power supply in the area post collapse has troubled rescuers to disentangle persons feared to be trapped under the debris.

Winter cold snap kills 36 in eastern Europe

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A severe and snowy cold snap across central and eastern Europe has left at least 36 people dead, cut off power to towns, and snarled traffic. Officials are responding with measures ranging from opening shelters to dispensing hot tea, with particular concern for the homeless and elderly. This part of Europe is not unused to cold, but the current freeze, which spread to most of the region last week, came after a period of relatively mild weather. Many were shocked when temperatures in some parts plunged Monday to minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit). Officials have appealed to people to stay indoors and be careful. Police searched for the homeless to make sure they didn t freeze to death. In some places, heaters will be set up at bus stations. Still, 18 people, most of them homeless, died in Ukraine from hypothermia and nearly 500 people sought medical help for frostbite and hypothermia in just three days last week, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. In Poland, at least 10 people froze to death as the cold reached minus 26 C (minus 15 F) on Monday. In central Serbia, three people died and two more were missing, while 14 municipalities were operating under emergency decrees. Efforts to clear roads blocked by snow were hampered by strong winds and dozens of towns faced power outages. Police said one woman froze to death in a snowstorm in a central Serbian village, while two elderly men were found dead, one in the snow outside his home. Further south, emergency crews are searching for two men in their 70s who are feared dead. In Bulgaria, a 57-year-old man froze to death in a northwestern village and emergency decrees were declared in 25 of the country s 28 districts. In the capital of Sofia, authorities handed out hot tea and placed homeless people in emergency shelters. The situation was similar in Romania, where reports said four people have died because of freezing weather. There, authorities sent prison inmates to shovel snow and unblock paths leading to a shelter with some 300 stray dogs and puppies. Weather forecasts say the cold snap will continue through the week.

Davis Cup: No Nadal for Spain against Kazakhstan

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Defending champions Spain will be without Rafael Nadal and his three team-mates who won last year s Davis Cup when they take on Kazakhstan in this season s first round, the Spanish tennis federation said Monday. World number 11 Nicolas Almagro, Marcel Granollers (26), Juan Carlos Ferrero (47) and 29-year-old debutant Marc Lopez (41 in doubles) were selected by Davis Cup captain Alex Corretja for the February 10-12 match-up in Oviedo, north Spain. Spain won the 2011 Davis Cup when Nadal, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco teamed up to beat Argentina 3-1. Nadal and Ferrer said after that victory that they were going to concentrate on their individual careers in 2012.

Top-seeded Ljubicic advances in Zagreb Indoors

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Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat Slovakia s Karol Beck 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Zagreb Indoors tournament. Ljubicic, the 2006 champion and a finalist in 2007 and 2008, made the decisive break in the eighth game of the third set. He didn t drop another point after that. He said "it was a tough one, but it is important that I won and not how I did it." He added it was his first match for three months. Germany s Matthias Bachinger defeated Izak Van Der Merwe of South Africa, 6-3, 6-3, while another Slovak, Lukas Lacko, beat Italy s Potito Starace 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 6-3.

Sudan in African Cup quarter-finals

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Sudan reached the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 42 years on Monday, beating Burkina Faso 2-1 to squeeze through on goal difference and edge out Angola. Mudather Tayeb scored both of Sudan s goals to deliver the nation s biggest sporting moment since it won the African Cup on home soil in 1970. It was also Sudan s first win at the tournament since that triumph. Mudather broke clear to beat Burkina Faso goalkeeper Daouda Diakite in the 33rd minute and then punished a mistake by the keeper in the second half to carry Sudan through, despite a 97th minute goal from the Burkinabes. Angola lost 2-0 to already-qualified Ivory Coast in Group B s other game in Malabo to be eliminated.

28 athletes implicated in German doping scandal

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Germany s national anti-doping agency will investigate 28 athletes to see whether they received blood transfusions from a doctor at the centre of a doping scandal. NADA said Monday it will review the court documents from an ongoing case against Dr. Andreas Franke, who worked at a training centre run by the German Olympic Sports Confederation for top-level athletes in Erfurt, central Germany. NADA President Andrea Gotzmann said she hopes the documents will help the body "decide which athletes we proceed with" in the investigation. Franke is suspected of treating athletes  blood with UV light before re-injecting it back into the same athlete, a procedure banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Public broadcaster ARD said Sunday it had a list of the 28 names implicated in the scandal, including former Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein, former 800-meter Olympic champion Nils Schumann, rising German cycling star Marcel Kittel, and Jamaican long jumper James Beckford. It did not reveal all the names, but said some athletes were minors when they received transfusions at the state-funded center. "Of course we will use due diligence to look into each case ... regardless of whether we re dealing with Olympic champions or young athletes," Gotzmann said Monday. Authorities searched Franke s clinic and the training center for evidence last April, and NADA said it was pushing the investigation into possible doping offenses "as quickly and intensively as legally possible." It had already brought two cases before the German Institution of Arbitration, including that of the 22-year-old cyclist Jakob Steigmiller, whose blood was allegedly treated by Franke following an infection. "Jakob informed NADA openly and honestly what happened, when and how," Thueringer Energie Team manager Joerg Werner told the dapd news agency. "He asked the doctor if the treatment was permitted," Werner said. "Names are being burned without it being certain what actually happened."

Oil prices dip near $99 a barrel

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Oil prices are down on concerns that the U.S. economy could slow and investors  worries eased about supply disruptions in the Persian Gulf. Benchmark crude fell by 34 cents to $99.22 per barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, lost 28 cents at $111.18 per barrel in London. The Commerce Department said Americans kept a tighter grip on their wallets in December. Consumer spending was flat, even though incomes rose by the most in nine months. The economy relies heavily on consumer spending, and analysts say the economic recovery could stall and energy demand may stay weak if spending doesn t pick up. Meanwhile, Iran welcomed international weapons experts into the country in hopes of refuting claims that it is building a nuclear weapon. That eased concerns about possible military action in the region. Still, Europe plans to embargo Iranian oil this summer to pressure Iran about its nuclear program. If that happens, Iran says it could retaliate by blocking passage through the Persian Gulf, where tankers carry one-sixth of the world s oil exports. The U.S. is ready to implement sanctions on Iran s central bank that will make it harder for Iran to sell oil. In other energy trading, heating oil was flat at $3.07 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 5 cents to $2.88 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell by 1 cent to $2.75 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Australia rising with Ashes in their sight

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Only months ago, one-time powerhouse Australia were wallowing fifth in the Test rankings but now they are nudging India for third spot after the 4-0 series annihilation of M.S. Dhoni s men. The pain of being humiliated at home in the Ashes 12 months ago is still deeply ingrained in the Australians and they are determined to get their act together for another tilt at number one ranked England some 500 days away. Andrew Strauss s England team comprehensively outplayed Australia in the 2010-11 series, inflicting an unprecedented three innings defeats on the home side to claim their second consecutive Ashes win. That prompted a major overhaul of Australian cricket and ushered in a new captain, new coach and a revamped selection panel with a view to restoring Australia to the top of world cricket. Michael Clarke, who took over as captain from Ricky Ponting last March, is at the helm of a reinvigorated team, identifying new potential Test stars, revitalising the old stagers and working hard towards becoming number one again. One-time top ranked India now shade Australia by only a decimal point in third place in the ICC Test rankings after crashing to four huge defeats in their ill-fated series Down Under. After his team s thumping 298-win in the fourth Test in Adelaide last weekend, Clarke was asked how he would rate Australia s chances if they had to play England next week. "Fortunately, I don t have to worry about it. I wouldn t have a clue. I look forward to playing them when we get there but right now I m just enjoying this success against India, to be honest," he said. "There s a long way to go before we have to play England and there s a lot of hard work we have to put in as a team before we even have to worry about that."   Australia struggled to dismiss England regularly in the Ashes, but against India the bowlers were a revelation. Clarke, who with new coach Mickey Arthur is now part of the selection panel, said the 2010-11 debacle has fired the Australians to retrieve the Ashes in England in 2013. "I think it (last summer s Ashes defeat) has played a part, it certainly has for me personally," he said. "We said and knew we had to do a lot of work to improve our games, both personally and as a team. It s obviously a very special feeling beating India 4-0, knowing that last summer I couldn t buy a run. It s a great feeling." Before the Ashes in 2013, Australia face the West Indies away in March-April and South Africa and Sri Lanka at home next southern summer.

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

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