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SC to resume hearing on by-polls under incomplete EC
Israel has not decided on attacking Iran: Obama
Shahbaz Sharif visits Services Hospital
Marseille draws 2-2 with Lyon in French league
Hopes of Dutch ice skating marathon grow
Queen plans to spend jubilee day on formal duties
Abbas proposed as PM in interim unity government
Australia: Mass evacuation due to heavy floods
Greek: Talks for debt deal today
Lahore: 2 dacoits killed in police encounter
Dera Murad Jamali: Railway track blown up
Lobbyist for Pakistan seeks US apology over NATO airstrikes
FIFA to take steps to reinstate EFA
Indian BSF arrest 12 Pakistanis in Kutch Creek area
Egypt's Mubarak to be moved to prison

SC to resume hearing on by-polls under incomplete EC

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A four-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will hear the case regarding by-elections under the incomplete Election Commission. The court will also decide about the fate of 23 parliamentarians who were elected under the incomplete Election Commission. Earlier, the court had granted time till Feb 6 to get parliamentary ratification of the elections but the government failed to meet the deadline. On the other hand, session of the National Assembly will hold on 5pm, in which the government will struggle to pass the 20th amendment.

Israel has not decided on attacking Iran: Obama

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US President Barack Obama said Sunday he did not think Israel had made a decision on whether to launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran s nuclear installations, a threat that has rattled the region. Obama -- seeking to reassure Americans over the danger posed by Tehran s suspect nuclear program, and any negative side-effects for the United States -- said Washington was working "in lockstep" with Israel to bring Iran to heel. "I don t think Israel has made a decision" to strike Iranian facilities, Obama said in a pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC. When asked if Washington would be consulted first should Israel move ahead with those plans, he said he could not go into specifics but added that the two allies had "closer intelligence and military consultations" than ever before. "My number one priority continues to be the security of the United States. But also, the security of Israel. And we re going to make sure that we work in lockstep, as we proceed to try to solve this -- hopefully diplomatically." Obama said the Islamic republic was "feeling the pinch" of ever tougher sanctions imposed by the international community, and dismissed concerns that Tehran could retaliate by striking US soil, saying such a strike was unlikely. "I ve been very clear -- we re going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and creating a nuclear arms race in a volatile region," he said. "We have mobilized the international community, in a way that is unprecedented. They are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the pressure," he said. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for strictly peaceful purposes. On whether Tehran could possibly strike US targets, Obama said: "We don t see any evidence they have those intentions or capabilities." He added: "Again, our goal is to resolve this diplomatically. That would be preferable. We re not going to take options off the table, though." Last week, a Washington Post opinion column said US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong likelihood" that Israel will strike Iran s nuclear installations this spring. When asked about the newspaper s article by reporters traveling with him to a NATO meeting in Brussels, Panetta brushed it aside. "I m not going to comment on that Israel indicated they re considering this (a strike), we ve indicated our concerns," he said. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was due in Washington on Monday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the United States in early March, though a meeting between Netanyahu and Obama was not yet confirmed. In the interview with NBC, Obama cautioned that "any kind of additional military activity inside the Gulf is disruptive. And has a big effect on us. It can affect oil prices."

Shahbaz Sharif visits Services Hospital

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Shahbaz Sharif inquired about the health of victims of contaminated medicines provided by the PIC. He directed the hospital administration to ensure best treatment for the patients free of charge.

Marseille draws 2-2 with Lyon in French league

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Marseille midfielder Benoit Cheyrou fired into the bottom corner to open the scoring in the 16th minute. Brazilian striker Brandao volleyed home a cross from Morgan Amalfitano to double Marseille s lead in the 34th. Lyon pulled one back with a close-range effort from Bafetimbi Gomis in the 36th before leveling from an own goal by Marseille center back Souleymane Diawara in the 45th. "We got off to a poor start," Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said. "We conceded two goals that were a bit stupid. We could have avoided the first goal. "Both Lyon and Marseille don t have much maneuvering room left." Lyon remained in fourth place, 10 points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain and one clear of Marseille. "It s a big disappointment for us," Marseille midfielder Alou Diarra said. "We paid dearly for lacking focus for a split second and allowed Lyon to rally. "We still have to go and get points to finish at least in third place." PSG defeated Evian 3-1 on Saturday to keep a three-point lead over second-place Montpellier at the top of the league. Also Saturday, it was: Montpellier 1, Brest 0; Nancy 0, Rennes 0; Bordeaux 2, Toulouse 0; Dijon 1, Valenciennes 2; and Ajaccio 1, Nice 1. Three games were postponed because of a frozen pitch following a cold snap. Saturday s match between Saint-Etienne and Lorient was abandoned after 10 minutes. Sunday s matches pitting Sochaux against Lille and Caen against Auxerre were called off, too. The French league has not set a new date for the postponed matches. Marseille created the first chance in the second minute when fullback Jeremy Morel charged down the left flank to make a low cross for Morgan Amalfitano, who controlled the ball before curling a shot over the bar.

Hopes of Dutch ice skating marathon grow

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The Netherlands  state broadcaster NOS says the organizing committee of the country s traditional Eleven Cities Tour natural ice skating marathon is gathering for the first time in 15 years to consider whether the race can be skated next week. The race would cause a national frenzy, with thousands of participants and millions of viewers but there hasn t been enough ice since 1997. The "Elfstedentocht" is one of the most deeply-cherished Dutch cultural traditions, held along a 200-kilometer (125-mile) network of canals connecting 11 cities around the province of Friesland. With a cold snap expected to continue for days, the committee will report on prospects Monday, and may proclaim the race with a Frisian expression meaning: "It s on."

Queen plans to spend jubilee day on formal duties

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Queen Elizabeth celebrates 60 years on the throne on Monday to become the 2nd British monarch to reach that milestone. During her reign, the royal family has faced tumultuous times and moments of plummeting popularity, above all after the death in 1997 of Princess Diana, the hugely popular ex-wife of her son and heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles. But the royals are enjoying fresh support after the wedding last year of the queen s grandson, Prince William, second-in-line to the throne, to Catherine Middleton. Elizabeth II, 85, became queen aged 25 on Feb. 6, 1952 on the death of her father George VI, while on tour in Kenya with her husband Prince Philip. In a documentary for BBC TV to be shown on Monday, grandson Prince Harry, younger son of Charles, said how much she relied on Prince Philip. "I don t think that she could do it without him, especially when they re both at this age," he said. Ninety-year-old Prince Philip, the longest-serving consort and oldest-serving spouse of any British monarch, had surgery at Christmas to clear a blocked heart artery.

Abbas proposed as PM in interim unity government

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Hamas on Sunday endorsed a proposal by Qatar that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas assume the role of prime minister in an interim Palestinian unity government that would prepare for general elections in the West Bank and Gaza, according to two officials close to the contacts. Such an arrangement, proposed by Qatar s emir, would help Abbas and his main political rival, the Islamic militant Hamas, clear a major hurdle in slow-moving attempts to reconcile. Abbas said in meetings Sunday with the emir and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal that he would consider the idea, said the two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. A Hamas website quoted a source close to the talks as saying Abbas and Mashaal agreed in principle that Abbas would head the interim government. Abbas and Mashaal are to meet again Monday, said Azzam al-Ahmed, a top Abbas aide. Abbas and Mashaal reached a reconciliation pact almost a year ago, seeking to end more than four years of separate governments in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is ruled by Abbas  Western-backed Palestinian Authority. As part of the deal, an interim unity government was to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections. However, both sides failed to carry out promised goodwill gestures and disagreed sharply over the composition of an interim government. Abbas initially proposed that Salam Fayyad, the internationally respected prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, serve as head of the transitional unity government, but Hamas objected. An interim government headed by Abbas could allay some of the West s concerns about his rapprochement with Hamas, branded a terrorist organization by the U.S., Europe and Israel. During Sunday s three-hour meeting in Qatar, Abbas and Mashaal did not discuss the names of other possible members of an interim government, the officials said. The transitional government is to be composed of experts without strong political affiliations. On Monday, Abbas and Mashaal are to discuss delaying the elections to the end of the year, the officials said. Last year, the two leaders said elections should be held by May, but delays have meant there may not be enough time to prepare for May elections. Delegations from Hamas and Abbas  Fatah movement will hold more meetings in coming days, the officials said.

Australia: Mass evacuation due to heavy floods

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Flood waters rose Monday in parts of Queensland as the Australian state raced to complete the largest evacuation in its history with police boosting their presence to prevent looting. Thousands of Australians have been forced to abandon their homes as a record deluge sweeps through areas still reeling from last year s devastating flooding. The area in most danger Monday was the town of St George, in Queensland s south, with most of its residents fleeing Sunday evening, although some 400 have stayed to help limit the damage despite a mandatory evacuation order. Local mayor Donna Stewart said the swollen Balonne River in St George, flooding for the third time in less than two years, had reached 13.48 metres (44 feet) and was expected to keep rising until at least Tuesday night. Forecasters have estimated it could top 15 metres, breaching the town s 14.5-metre levee, with fears mounting for other small towns south of St George, including Cunnamulla and Dirranbandi. State Premier Anna Bligh said it was not looking good. "The town of St George has no prospect of holding back that water with the levee that they built," she told ABC radio, but said there had been no "panic or disorderly behaviour". It had been the largest ever evacuation of a town in Queensland, she added. "The heartbreaking job of calculating the loss is still in its early stages," she said. Reports said about 30 houses and business had been inundated so far. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the Moonie Highway on the outskirts of town was now flooded and the only way out was by air. "There will be more planes and we expect to take about another 400 (residents) out today, so in a town of just under 3,000 people we don t expect to see very many people stay," added Bligh. While most residents have fled, Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said officers would stay to prevent looting. "We are going to do everything we can to make sure people s homes are safe," he told reporters. St George has seen major flooding twice in the past two years, once in March 2010 and again last year during Queensland s flooding disaster, which claimed 35 lives and swamped vast tracts of farmland and tens of thousands of homes. Flooding has been hitting parts of Queensland over the past week but has claimed just one life, a woman whose car was swept from a roadway in Roma, further north of St George. An 18-month-old baby girl drowned in a dam on a property south of St George, although authorities said it was not directly linked to the floods.

Greek: Talks for debt deal today

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Crisis talks on a debt deal for Greece among the three leaders of parties supporting the coalition government were suspended and will continue Monday. Greece is racing to finalize austerity reforms needed for a new €130 billion ($171 billion) bailout without which it would face bankruptcy in late March. But in a country deep in recession, with unemployment at 19 percent, many politicians and unions oppose more austerity measures. The three party leaders held a five-hour meeting late Sunday with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos to hammer out a deal with debt inspectors representing eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund, but failed to reach an agreement. An announcement from Papademos  office said the three had agreed on measures to cut spending in 2012 by 1.5 percent of gross domestic product about €3.3 billion ($4.3 billion) improve competitiveness by cutting wages and non-wage costs, such as social security contributions, reduce auxiliary pensions and re-capitalize banks without nationalizing them. But the three leaders socialist George Papandreou, Antonis Samaras of conservative New Democracy and Giorgos Karatzaferis of the rightist Popular Orthodox Rally differed as to what this would mean in detailed proposals. All three have called meetings of their party executives to consider the proposals. Samaras said upon leaving the talks that Greece s creditors "are asking for more recession which the country cannot bear. I am fighting, with all my means, to prevent this." "I will not contribute to the breakout of a revolution by the new poor that will consume the whole of Europe," Karatzaferis said. Papandreou objects to cutting actual wages and wants the state to take over banks, at least temporarily. "Political party leaders are obliged to provide a first response to the proposals by" Monday morning, socialist party spokesman Panos Beglitis told reporters after the party leaders  meeting with Papademos. Papademos has resumed talks with representatives of the "troika" of Greece s creditors the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund later Sunday and will be joined by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Labor Minister Giorgos Koutroumanis. Unions and employers  associations have warned that private-sector wage cuts would deepen the nation s recession, now in its fourth year. Papademos and Venizelos also met separately with representatives of banks in an effort to complete a bond swap deal that would reduce Greece s debt by €100 billion ($131.6 billion). The talks involved Charles Dallara, managing director of Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF), and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of French bank BNP Paribas. Josef Ackermann, the CEO of Germany s Deutsche Bank and the IIF s board chairman, is also in Athens. About 60 people gathered outside parliament Sunday evening to protest what they view as the political leaders  readiness to make concessions to the creditors. When they tried to block traffic, they were pushed back by police using tear gas.

Lahore: 2 dacoits killed in police encounter

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According to police, some people riding on two cars were trying to escape after attacking a police party. The dacoits started firing on police when they chased them. The police also retaliated which led to exchange of fire that continued for more than half an hour. Two of the dacoits were killed in police firing while others managed to flee. The bodies were shifted to hospital for medico legal requirements. The police said that the dacoits killed in the firing were wanted by various police stations in different cases of robberies and other crimes.

Dera Murad Jamali: Railway track blown up

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As per details, unknown miscreants planted explosives material under a bridge to damage the track. After the incident, law enforcement agencies reached the spot and cordoned off the area.

Lobbyist for Pakistan seeks US apology over NATO airstrikes

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Pakistan’s chief lobbyist asked the United States to apologize for NATO airstrikes that inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, according to Justice Department records. On Dec. 22, 2011, Mark Siegel, a partner at Locke Lord Strategies, emailed a nine-page memo to offices on Capitol Hill that detailed Pakistan s version of the events surrounding the airstrikes. The memo said that the incident "seriously damaged" the relationship between the Pakistani Army and U.S.-led NATO forces and aroused "suspicions in the rank and file of the Pakistan Army that it was a premeditated attack … conducted to undermine the sovereignty and stature of Pakistan." "Considering the circumstances of the 25/26 November attacks that resulted in the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers, an apology by the U.S. Department of Defense to the people of Pakistan would not be inappropriate," the memo concludes. Siegel noted in the memo that the document was prepared after “briefings by multiple officials of the Embassy of Pakistan." In an interview with The Hill, Siegel said his firm’s memo on the NATO airstrikes was sent to all lawmakers, chiefs of staffs and foreign policy legislative aides on Capitol Hill. “What we were attempting to do there was summarize the Pakistan version of events and compare it to the U.S. version of events and note where the two are in conflict,” Siegel said. Siegel said an apology still has not been offered to Pakistan for the airstrikes. “There have been expressions of regret but there has not been an apology,” Siegel said. “It certainly would have helped. Now, two months after the fact, it could still be helpful.”

FIFA to take steps to reinstate EFA

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FIFA will take steps to reinstate Egypt s Football Association (EFA), suspended by Cairo after 74 people died in violence at a match in Port Said, FIFA chief Sepp Blatter said on Sunday. Blatter, attending an extraordinary congress of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) at its Paraguay headquarters, said the EFA s suspension after Wednesday s violence was a direct intervention into soccer affairs which FIFA could not accept. "The information we have received at FIFA confirms the number of dead as 74. It was also confirmed that the (Egyptian) government intervened directly by suspending the football association," Blatter told a news conference. "We are going to take up the case from tomorrow (Monday) so that this association is reinstated because it is the (body) that has the responsibility to organise the competitions and it must carry on (its work)," the president of world soccer s governing body said. The incident, when fans invaded the pitch in Port Said after home team al-Masry beat Cairo giants al-Ahli, was Egypt s worst soccer disaster and Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri sacked the EFA board. It was also the incident with the highest number of victims in Egypt since an uprising brought down the government of Hosni Mubarak early last year. Most of the deaths were among people trampled in the crush of the panicking crowd. Demonstrators who staged anti-government protests after the incident blamed the country s military authorities. "FIFA s number one objective is to protect football, protect the association and naturally ensure these situations are not repeated," Blatter said. "But we also need a police (force) or army because in football we don t have the power to intervene directly." The Conmebol congress attended by Blatter decided to modify its statutes to reduce the intervention of regional governments in football affairs. Its president, Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz, recalled the case in 2008 when FIFA suspended Peru from all football after the Peruvian government declared the re-election of the country s football federation president Manuel Burga illegal because of allegations of corruption."We have had problems in some South American countries because some governments have become involved in issues that are exclusively for the sporting authorities. The new statute follows clear FIFA laws on this matter," Leoz said.Blatter also said he was confident Brazil would be ready on time to stage the 2014 World cup finals. "One matter we have (pending) is to obtain all the guarantees from the political authorities. We still lack some guarantees but at the end of March we will have everything and I m sure Brazil will organise a great World Cup," he said.

Indian BSF arrest 12 Pakistanis in Kutch Creek area

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Twelve Pakistani nationals were arrested and their boats seized from Creek area in Gujarat s Kutch district, BSF officials said. BSF Crocodile commandos caught the Pakistanis from the district s west coast by following footmarks left by them in the mud, they said. The twelve had arrived in two boats, officials said, adding their trawlers got stuck in the marshy creek area as the sea water had receded. The Pakistani nationals were handed over to Narayan Sarovar police station, from where they would be taken to the Joint Interrogation Centre in the district headquarters of Bhuj for questioning by various intelligence agencies. Besides fishing equipment, nothing incriminating was found from the seized boats, BSF officials said. The creek, which opens into the Arabian Sea, divides the Kutch region of Gujarat with the Sindh province of Pakistan. On February 1, the BSF had seized three boats and arrested a Pakistani national while five of his accomplices had managed to escape.

Egypt's Mubarak to be moved to prison

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Egyptian officials say Hosni Mubarak will be moved to a prison hospital as soon as the facility is upgraded to house the 83-year-old former president. The officials said Sunday the hospital in Tora prison in Cairo will be upgraded in "record time," but that there is no set date for the move. Since his arrest last April, Mubarak has been held in custody first at a hospital in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh and later at a military hospital outside Cairo. The officials said nearly 50 stalwarts of Mubarak s regime held at Tora would also be dispersed to five different jails in the Cairo area. They include Mubarak s two sons. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

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