Dunya TV

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• Verdict on Dr Arsalans review petition today
• Commission on new provinces finalizes recommendations
• PML-N in favour of creation of new provinces: Shahbaz
• Paralympics: Queen Elizabeth II opens 'inspirational' Games
• Tennis: Curtain down as Clijsters crashes into retirement
• Bolt targets 2016 Rio Olympics; 2013 plans unclear
• New book raises questions about bin Laden's death
• Nine dead in Iraq as Al Qaeda claims attacks
• Egypt's Morsi says Assad must go: French presidency
• Assad says more time needed to win Syria battle
• Oil falls on supply; G-7 wants more production
• Dollar rises on better US economic growth
• Ban Ki-moon objects Iran leaders anti-Israel remarks
• Amish man details US hair-cutting attack on dad
• Israeli archeologists find rare stone age figures

Verdict on Dr Arsalans review petition today Posted: Two-members Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain had completed the proceedings on Dr Arsalan Iftikhar’s review petition on Tuesday and reserved the judgement.The applicant, Dr Arsalan took the stance that the Attorney General has no authority to write a letter to NAB. He maintained that chairman NAB has close relations with Malik Riaz and his daughter also served in Behria Town. He had also raised objection on the fairness of the NAB and said the Supreme Court in its earlier verdict did not order to hand the investigation of the case to NAB.

Commission on new provinces finalizes recommendations Posted: Parliamentary Commission on new provinces has finalized the recommendations about rules and regulations. The code of conduct of commission will be announced tomorrow (Friday).The meeting of committee was held under the chairmanship of Senator Farhatullah Babar on Wednesday. The members of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz continued boycott of the proceedings of the commission.

PML-N in favour of creation of new provinces: Shahbaz Posted: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that PML-N will fully support any sincere effort for the creation of new provinces under the constitution which is aimed at setting up of new provinces on administrative grounds and providing maximum facilities to the people belonging to backward areas.The Chief Minister said that efforts are being made to use this very important issue for achieving political interests and nefarious designs of those elements politicising this issue will be foiled as this is not a national commission but this is a commission to protect narrow political interests and, therefore, has no right to formulate recommendations with regard to new provinces.

Paralympics: Queen Elizabeth II opens 'inspirational' Games Posted: Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday officially opened the London Paralympics, at a showpiece ceremony aimed at challenging perceptions about disability and celebrating the triumph of the human spirit.The 86-year-old declared the Games open in a short speech in the traditional curtain-raiser to 11 days of sporting action at an event involving over 3,000 performers, many of them with disabilities, after a fly-past by a disabled pilot.London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said he hoped the Games would be a landmark for people with a disability everywhere, a landmark in the progress of mankind towards the light, towards seeing immense capability and possibility.The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, added that the Games were a celebration of the human spirit that had the energy to change each and every one of us.The show began with a rare public appearance by Britains most famous living scientist, Stephen Hawking.Hawking, author of the best-selling A Brief History of Time who has motor neuron disease and has been paralysed most of his life, was described by organisers as the most famous disabled person anywhere on the planet.He guided a central character on a journey of discovery in a story inspired by William Shakespeares The Tempest, taking in the Big Bang theory on the creation of the universe about which he has written extensively, to the 18th century Enlightment period and scientific discoveries of the modern era.We live in a universe governed by rational laws that we can discover and understand, the 70-year-old theoretical physicist said through his voice-synthesised computer.Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.The ceremony was billed by organisers as a celebration of the inspirational spirit of the Paralympic Games that challenges perceptions of human possibility.Margaret Maughan, Britains first Paralympic gold medallist at the inaugural 1960 Games, was given the honour of lighting the cauldron, made of more than 200 petals and engraved with the names of participating countries.Now 84, she will receive the flame from British soldier Joe Townsend, who was to descend on a zip wire from the 115-metre (377-feet) high ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower overlooking the stadium.Townsend, a Royal Marine commando, lost both legs when he stepped on a homemade bomb in Afghanistan but is now an aspiring Paralympic triathlete hoping to compete in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 when the sport makes its debut.Among the 80,000-strong crowd were the queens grandson Prince William and his wife Catherine, British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson, with the event broadcast to millions around the world.From Thursday, a record 4,200 athletes, including an unprecedented number of women, from 165 countries will compete for 503 medals in 20 sports in front of a near-sell-out crowd for the first time in the Games 52-year history.A total of 166 countries had been due to take part but the International Paralympic Committee on Wednesday confirmed that Malawis team had not travelled to London to compete in what would have been the countrys first Paralympics.Organisers believe much of the increased domestic interest in the event comes after a successful Olympics for British athletes, which saw the host nation finish third in the overall medal table behind the United States and China.Britain is considered the spiritual home of the Games, as the first recognised sports events for athletes with disabilities was held in Stoke Mandeville, southern England, in 1948.The flame -- created from four others kindled on the highest peaks of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- was brought to the venue in a 148-kilometre (92-mile) overnight relay from Stoke Mandeville to London.Shooting is set to provide the first gold of the Games on Thursday in the womens 10m standing air rifle.Medals are also up for grabs in the velodrome with the finals of the men and womens individual pursuit, in four weight categories in judo at the ExCeL Arena and at the Aquatics Centre, where 15 swimming finals are to be held.The showpiece athletics programme gets under way on Friday with the spotlight on South Africas Oscar Pistorius, who is seeking to defend his T44 100m, 200m and 400m titles from Beijing four years ago.

Tennis: Curtain down as Clijsters crashes into retirement Posted: Triple US Open champion Kim Clijsterss career came to disappointing and lacklustre end on Wednesday when she slumped to a shock second-round defeat to British teenager Laura Robson.Clijsters, the former world number one and four-time Grand Slam title winner, lost 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) to the 18-year-old world number 89, who goes on to face Chinas ninth seed Li Na for a place in the last 16.Clijsters, who was also the 2011 Australian Open winner, was on a 22-match winning streak in New York.But she had always insisted that the 2012 US Open would be her last tournament as she intended to retire for a second time to spend more time with her four-year-old daughter Jada and husband Brian, who was watching on Wednesday.Robson, at 18, is the youngest player in the top 100 and has now reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. She was just five when Clijsters made her New York debut back in 1999.It was my dream coming true when I won here in 2005. I was always inspired and played some of my greatest matches here, said an emotional Clijsters, the champion in 2005, 2009 and 2010.Its the perfect place to retire. I wish it wasnt today but theres no doubt that if I could pick a tournament to play my last singles match then this would be it.Laura played very well. I fought but it wasnt good enough.Clijsters, who returned to the WTA Tour in 2009 after retiring for the first time, said she had no regrets over a career which also took her to number one in the world.Its been a great adventure for my team and my family. It was all worth it but now I look forward to the next part of my life.When I came back in 2009, it was crazy. I hadnt picked up a tennis racquet for two years and my dad had died. So when I won in 2009, it was a real emotional roller-coaster. It was hard to take it all in.Robsons sensational victory will be a footnote in the Clijsters story despite her stirring performance.The former Wimbledon junior champion survived a 10-minute assault on her serve in the 12th game of the opening set and then battled back from 2-5 down in the tie-breaker.She went an early break down in the second set to get level at 2-2 before the 29-year-old Clijsters fought off two break points in the sixth game.Clijsters saved two match points at 5-6 down, the second with her fifth ace of the tie, to send the set into another breaker.But Robson set up a third match point with a pinpoint down the line forehand and took her famous victory when Clijsters batted a backhand long and out.I knew I would have to work my butt off if I was going to win, said Robson.Thanks to Kim who has been a great role model. I grew up watching her. It was a great pleasure to play you.

Bolt targets 2016 Rio Olympics; 2013 plans unclear Posted: Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt has a clear focus on the next Summer Games. His plans for the 2013 season? Theyre not so clear.Bolt said Wednesday that hes looking forward to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, though has yet to decide which events he will compete in at the world championship season next year.If I can go to Rio and really defend all my titles, that would make it even greater, Bolt said ahead of the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting on Thursday.With just two races remaining this season the 200 meters in Zurich and a 100 in Brussels next week his future plans have attracted more attention.Bolt has revived his old flirtation with adding the long jump to his usual program of 100 and 200 meters and 4x100 relay in Jamaica colors at the 2013 world championships in Moscow or beyond.The strategy of track and fields biggest and most marketable star will be discussed soon with coach Glen Mills.I will be saying long jump, hell probably be saying 400 meters, said Bolt, who has traditionally dismissed thoughts of training for the one-lap event. Im not sure what Im going to do next season. We have to work all that out first.Bolt said his options included focusing on lowering his world record times 9.58 in the 100 and 19.19 in the 200 or adding more titles and gold medals.You never know what we might come up with. Lets try to run under 19 seconds, lets try to run 9.4, 9.3, he suggested, before adding that he judged himself by performing at major events.When you have world records its kind of hard to focus solely on trying to go faster, said Bolt, while acknowledging that is exactly what fans want to see.He intends lining up at Moscow next August, without a doubt, though insisted he does not know in which events. Still, the 200 is his favorite event and he will surely want to regain the 100 world title he ceded to training partner Yohan Blake after being disqualified from the final for a false start last year.Bolt responded without obvious enthusiasm to a question about competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. He also missed the last Commonwealths held in New Delhi, and much of that 2010 season appeared designed to avoid burning out midway between summer Olympics.If you push your body every year it is going to deteriorate quickly, Bolt explained. I want to last as long as I possibly can in this sport.Bolt is unlikely to challenge his 200 world record on Thursday, even if forecast heavy rain does not fall on the Letzigrund stadium.I just want to go home. Im counting the days now, he said.

New book raises questions about bin Laden's death Posted: A firsthand account of the commando raid by U.S. Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts by administration officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him.Bin Laden apparently was shot in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in No Easy Day. The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)s Dutton imprint.Bissonnette says he was directly behind a point man going up the stairs in the pitch black hallway. Near the top, he said, he heard two shots, but the book doesnt make it clear who fired them. He wrote that the point man had seen a man peeking out of a door on the right side of the hallway.The author writes that the man ducked back into his bedroom and the SEALs followed, only to find the man crumpled on the floor in a pool of blood with a hole visible on the right side of his head and two women wailing over his body.Bissonnette says the point man pulled the two women out of the way and shoved them into a corner. He and the other SEALs trained their guns laser sights on bin Ladens still-twitching body, shooting him several times until he lay motionless. Only when they wiped the blood off his face, were they certain it was bin Laden.The SEALs later found two weapons stored by the doorway, untouched, the author said.Administration officials briefing reporters in the days after the May 2011 raid in Pakistan said the SEALs shot bin Laden only after he ducked back into the bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor would not comment on the apparent contradiction late Tuesday. But he said in an email Wednesday, As President Obama said on the night that justice was brought to Osama bin Laden, We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.No Easy Day was due out Sept. 11, but Dutton announced the book would be available a week early, Sept. 4, because of a surge of orders due to advance publicity that drove the book to the top of the Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com best-seller lists.The Associated Press purchased a copy of the book Tuesday.The account is sure to renew questions about whether the raid was intended to capture or simply to kill bin Laden. Bissonnette writes that during a pre-raid briefing, an administration lawyer told them that they were not on an assassination mission. According to Bissonnette, the lawyer said that if bin Laden was naked with his hands up, they should not engage him. If bin Laden did not pose a threat, they should detain him.A former deputy judge advocate general for the Air Force said the shooting was understandable according to the orders the SEALS had.It wasnt unreasonable for the SEALs to shoot the individual who stuck his head out, said the former JAG, ret. Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, who now teaches at Duke University law school.In a confined space like that where it is clear that there are hostiles, the SEALs need to take reasonable steps to ensure their safety and accomplish the mission, Dunlap said.Dunlap adds that shooting bin Ladens fallen form was also reasonable in his legal opinion, to keep the terrorist from possibly blowing himself up or getting a weapon and shooting at the SEALs.In another possibly uncomfortable revelation for U.S. officials who say bin Ladens body was treated with dignity before being given a full Muslim burial at sea, the author reveals that in the cramped helicopter flight out of the compound, one of the SEALs was sitting on bin Ladens chest as the body lay at the authors feet in the middle of the cabin, for the short flight to a refueling stop inside Pakistan where a third helicopter was waiting.This is common practice, as U.S. troops sometimes must sit on their own war dead in packed helicopters. Space was cramped because one of the helicopters had crashed in the initial assault, leaving little space for the roughly two dozen commandos in the two aircraft that remained. When the commandos reached the third aircraft, bin Ladens body was moved to it.Bissonnette writes that none of the SEALs were fans of President Barack Obama and knew that his administration would take credit for ordering the raid. One of the SEALs said after the mission that they had just gotten Obama re-elected by carrying out the raid.But he says they respected him as commander in chief and for giving the operation the go-ahead.

Nine dead in Iraq as Al Qaeda claims attacks Posted: Attacks in Baghdad and north Iraq on Wednesday killed nine people, including a general, as Al Qaedas front group claimed to have carried out nearly 150 strikes on security forces over the summer.The unrest came a day after after six soldiers were killed nationwide, including a colonel, as insurgents have sought to target senior security officials with assassinations of three top officers in as many days.In Baghdad, gunmen killed an Iraqi general on Wednesday morning, security and medical officials said.The murder of Brigadier General Nadhim Tayeh, the head of police emergency responders in west Baghdad, followed an ambush on the convoy of an army colonel a day earlier and the shooting of a border guards brigadier general in the city on Monday.Several armed men opened fire with silenced pistols against Brigadier General Nadhim Tayeh and killed him immediately while he was driving his private car and wearing civilian clothes, an interior ministry official said.A medic at Karkh hospital confirmed Tayehs assassination.Armed men using silenced pistols also shot dead a policeman near Al-Nida mosque in north Baghdad, the interior ministry official and a doctor at Al-Kindi hospital said.Another shooting in east Baghdad left a Sunni sheikh dead, according to security and medical officials.North of Baghdad in the restive city of Baquba, a local district chief, or mukhtar, was shot dead by gunmen as he was leaving his home, according to a police officer and a doctor at the citys hospital.A spate of bombings in the disputed northern province of Kirkuk, meanwhile, killed four policemen and wounded six other members of the security forces, police and doctor Abdullah Hassan from Kirkuk citys main hospital said.Three policemen were killed and three others were wounded by a roadside bomb targeting the convoy of police Brigadier General Sarhad Qader in Kirkuk province, as it passed through Al-Riyadh town southwest of the eponymous provincial capital.Qader himself escaped unscathed.Two separate bombings in southern Kirkuk city, meanwhile, killed one policeman and wounded three security force members -- a policeman and two Kurdish peshmerga members.A roadside bomb against a police patrol in the main northern city of Mosul killed a police major and wounded another policeman, according to police First Lieutenant Khalaf Hassan al-Juburi and doctor Mahmud Haddad at Mosul hospital.The latest deaths took to 274 the number of people killed in nationwide attacks so far in August, including 108 members of the security forces, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.Violence has significantly decreased in Iraq compared to the brutal years of 2006 and 2007, but attacks are still common.Al Qaedas front group the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), meanwhile, claimed in a statement posted on jihadist forums on Tuesday that it was behind 163 attacks in June and July, 148 of which were against police and soldiers, with several others targeting the Sahwa, a Sunni tribal militia.The claim could not be independently verified.

Egypt's Morsi says Assad must go: French presidency Posted: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi agrees that there can be no political solution for Syria unless President Bashar al-Assad leaves power, the French presidency said Wednesday.In a statement issued following a telephone conversation between Morsi and French President Francois Hollande, the Elysee said: The two heads of state mainly raised the situation in Syria and observed that no political solution is possible without the departure of Bashar al-Assad.During the call, Hollande reiterated his commitment to provide effective support for the Syrian opposition, including on the ground.He also said he hoped that, at the appropriate moment, it (the opposition) can form a provisional, inclusive and representative government, so that the new Syria can have legitimate authorities.The two heads of state agreed to meet soon and to maintain close contact on Syria and other topics of common interest.

Assad says more time needed to win Syria battle Posted: President Bashar al-Assad said his forces need more time to win the battle in Syria and scoffed at the idea of creating buffer zones for displaced people, as fighting raged nationwide on Wednesday.Assads statements, in an interview with pro-regime Addounia channel, came after a car bomb rocked a funeral in a Damascus suburb on Tuesday, killing 27 people.I can summarise in one phrase: we are progressing, the situation on the ground is better but we have not yet won -- this will take more time, Assad said in the interview with the private channel.He also rejected an idea being championed by Turkey of creating buffer zones within Syria to receive those displaced by the conflict so they do not flood across the borders into neighbouring countries.Talk of buffer zones firstly is not on the table and secondly it is an unrealistic idea by hostile countries and the enemies of Syria, he said.Assad also accused the Turkish state of bearing a direct responsibility for the spilling of blood inside Syria.French President Francois Hollande said on Monday France was working with its partners on the possible establishment of such buffer zones.But his foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, admitted on Wednesday implementing these would be very complicated and require the imposition of partial no-fly zones.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said Turkey is in talks with the United Nations on ways to shelter thousands of refugees on Syrian soil.We expect the United Nations to step in for the protection of refugees inside Syria and if possible housing them in camps there, Davutoglu was quoted as saying by Turkeys Anatolia news agency.He was speaking before leaving for New York to attend UN Security Council meeting on refugees on Thursday.Human Rights Watch urged Syrias neighbours to keep their borders open to refugees, but Jordan said it would send home Syrians who attacked and injured more than 20 police in clashes at the Zaatari refugee camp near the border on Tuesday.Assad on Wednesday also mocked regime defectors, saying their departure amounted to a self-cleansing of the government firstly and the country generally.Syrias government has been rattled by several high-profile defections as the conflict has escalated, including former premier Riad Hijab and prominent General Manaf Tlass, a childhood friend of Assad.Despite several mistakes, there is a strong bond between the regime and the Syrian people, Assad insisted, boasting the support of the majority of the population.What is happening is neither a revolution nor a Spring, it is about terrorist acts in every sense of the term, he said.

Oil falls on supply; G-7 wants more production Posted: Oil fell Wednesday as U.S. supplies rose for the first time in a month and finance ministers from leading industrialized nations pleaded with top producers to boost crude production to help lower crude prices and help the global economy.Traders also awaited assessments of any damage from Hurricane Isaac as it passed over oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. About 93 percent of Gulf production was shut ahead of the storm.Benchmark oil fell $1.05 to $95.28 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, fell 12 cents to $112.46 per barrel in London.The government reported that crude inventories increased 3.8 million barrels to 364.5 million barrels last week. Analysts had expected a drop of 2 million barrels, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill.Separately, finance ministers from the Group of Seven countries said they are concerned that higher oil prices pose a risk to the sluggish global economy. They appealed to oil-producing countries to increase output while also suggesting they could ask the International Energy Agency to release oil from strategic reserves. The G-7 includes the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada. The IEA represents more than two dozen oil-importing nations.Maria van der Hoeven, who heads the IEA, told Bloomberg News there is no need for a release from stockpiles. The market is sufficiently well supplied, she said in an interview in Stavanger, Norway, adding that any action would require a serious disruption of supply.The price of oil has risen by more than 20 percent since late June. But both benchmark U.S. oil and Brent crude remain more than 10 percent below their highs for the year.Meanwhile, Hurricane Isaac pushed inland, but it could be days before the extent of any damage to oil production facilities in the Gulf and coastal refineries is known.About 1.3 million barrels per day of oil production was shut down because of the Gulf closures. Some of that impact has been softened by changes in the market and the facilities themselves over the past few years.Technological advances have led to a jump in oil production from onshore operations since hurricanes last hit the Gulf in 2008. And rigs have been constructed to be more durable and well-grounded after previous hurricanes.The storm wasnt strong enough to probably do any serious infrastructure damage, said Kyle Cooper, managing director of research at Cyprus Energy LP.Offshore oil production could begin to resume within two to three days if there is no damage, he said.

Dollar rises on better US economic growth Posted: Better-than-expected economic growth and strong home sales in the U.S. are pushing the dollar higher against most major currencies.The Commerce Department said that the economy grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. Thats better than its initial estimate of 1.5 percent.Separately, the National Association of Realtors said that its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes jumped to 101.7 in July from 99.3 in June. That the highest reading since April 2010.The euro fell to $1.2540 in midday trading from $1.2564 late Tueday.The dollar rose to 78.75 Japanese yen from 78.53 yen and to 0.9574 Swiss franc from 0.9559 Swiss franc.The British pound rose to $1.5840 from $1.5822.

Ban Ki-moon objects Iran leaders anti-Israel remarks Posted: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Irans supreme leader and president on Wednesday that their recent anti-Israel comments were offensive and inflammatory, a UN spokesman said.Ban strongly objected to the remarks in meetings with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has called Israel a cancerous tumor, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has doubted Israels right to exist, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters from Tehran.

Amish man details US hair-cutting attack on dad Posted: It left his father shaking and relatives screaming.Andy Hershberger was the first witness in the federal trial of a breakaway Amish group from the US state of Ohio accused of hate crimes in hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish.Prosecutors say Hershbergers father was among those attacked because he and the leader of the breakaway group had religious differences.Andy Hershberger testified that his father, an Amish bishop, pleaded for the men not to shear him. But he said within minutes, the hair from his fathers beard had been cut and scattered across the floor.He said clumps of hair were missing from his fathers head and his scalp was bleeding.Beards and hair have great religious importance among the Amish.Andy Hershberger testified that the men arrived at the house in the evening and said, We want to talk with you and your dad.Once inside, one of the defendants, whom he identified as Johnny Mullet son of accused ringleader Sam Mullet Sr stood up and said: Were from Bergholz. Were here to do what you did to our people.Hersherger described a chaotic scene, with the men holding him, his father, Raymond, and his brother down while his father was sheared.I saw the hair fly, Andy Hershberger testified. Afterward, he said, his father was shaking all over.The women and my dad were crying, he said.Prosecutors say his father, Raymond Hershberger, was targeted because he was among several bishops who had religious disagreements with Mullet.Attorneys for the defendants dont deny that the hair cuttings took place. Instead, they argued that the Amish are bound by different rules guided by their religion and that the government shouldnt get involved in what amounted to a family or church dispute.Their attorneys say members of the breakaway group took action out of concern that some Amish were straying from their beliefs.

Israeli archeologists find rare stone age figures Posted: The discovery will help shed light on religion and society during the stone age.It says archaeologists unearthed the two rare figurines last week in Tel Motza between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv during a dig ahead of the expansion of a major highway in the area.One of the objects is shaped like a ram and made of limestone. The other depicts an ox and is made of dolomite. Both are 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) long.

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