Dunya TV

---

• Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills three Palestinians
• Defence Day of Pakistan is being observed today
• US, Pakistan working closely on counterterrorism issue
• LG Ordinance: Stalemate between MQM, PPP continues
• General election: Election Commission to meet today
• Shahbaz for consensus on caretaker PM
• Rain in Karachi, Lahore turns weather pleasant
• Paralympics: Disappointment for Pakistan medal hope Ali
• NASA Dawn spacecraft traveling to dwarf planet
• Four dead in France shooting around British car
• Huge quake jolts Costa Rica, two killed
• Oil prices slip ahead of key European bank meeting
• Euro rises against dollar ahead of ECB meeting
• Sharapova comes back to beat Bartoli at US Open
• Errani first Italian woman in US Open semi-finals

Israeli airstrike on Gaza kills three Palestinians Posted: An Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip killed three Palestinians and wounded a fourth late Wednesday, said a spokesman for the territorys health ministry.Three civilians have been killed and another seriously wounded during an Israeli air raid to the east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, ministry spokesman Achraf al-Qudra told AFP.Two of those killed had been identified, he said: Khalil al-Jerba, aged 27, and 25-year-old Khaled al-Qerem.Witnesses said the Israeli strike had targeted the car in which they were travelling.An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the attack to AFP.The Israeli army targeted a group of terrorists who were preparing to fire rockets at Israel from the centre of the Gaza Strip, she said.This team has been implicated in the previous launching of rockets targeting communities in southern Israel.In recent days, Palestinian militants have fired rockets into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, without causing any casualties, according to the Israeli army.A radical Salafist splinter group has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks.Despite an informal truce between Hamas and Israel, tensions flare periodically on the Gaza-Israel border, with Palestinian militants firing rockets into the Jewish state and the Israeli military launching retaliatory air strikes on the Palestinian territory.The last major flare-up was in June, when militants fired more than 150 rockets at southern Israel, wounding five people, and Israel hit back with air strikes that killed 15 Palestinians.

Defence Day of Pakistan is being observed today Posted: The 47th Defence Day of Pakistan is being observed today with simplicity all over the country with pledges to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan at all cost.The day dawned with prayers in Army Units, Naval Establishments and Air Force Bases for the progress and prosperity of the country. Special prayers would be offered for the eternal peace of the Shuhada, who laid down their lives in defence of the country. Special messages of the services chiefs would be read out to the troops of Army, Navy and Air Force.Wreath-laying ceremonies would be held at the graves of the recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider, the country’s highest gallantry award.Ceremonies would be held to pay homage to the country’s brave sons who had demonstrated indomitable courage and valour in the defence of the motherland.The President, in a message on the Defence Day of Pakistan, said that Pakistan was a moderate, tolerant and peaceful nation, where political choices were made by the ballot.President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the dark forces of extremism, militancy and sectarianism are posing a serious challenge to the integrity of the nation, but no one will be allowed to endanger its existence.“Let us, therefore, pledge that we will never allow anyone to endanger our existence as a moderate, tolerant and peaceful nation,” he said.Stressing an urgent need for clarity of purpose and national unity to confront the challenges, the President said that the demonstration of unprecedented cohesion among the people, singularity of purpose at the national level and valour of the armed forces made September 6, a memorable day in the national calendar.He said that on this day in 1965 the people from all over Pakistan and representing all shades of opinion joined hands in standing behind the valiant armed forces in thwarting aggression.“The commemoration of September 6 revives our spirits and strengthens our resolve to defend the country against all kinds of threats and to be always prepared for any sacrifice for its integrity and honour.”The President also paid homage to the great sons and daughters, who laid down their lives in defending the national frontiers.Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in his separate message said that 6th September is a day, which represents the nation’s unwavering commitment to unify in the face of challenges. “I have complete faith in the people of Pakistan and our armed forces. If we maintain unity in our ranks and remain resolute in the face of odds facing us, there is no reason why we cannot defeat the nefarious designs of our enemies and overcome the challenges that confront us,” the PM said.The Prime Minister said, “Let us reiterate our pledge to safeguard our independence and integrity. Let us, focus our energies for the welfare and progress of our people.”

US, Pakistan working closely on counterterrorism issue Posted: Citing the enormous loss of Pakistani lives at the hands of Al Qaeda-linked terrorists, the Pentagon has said the United States and Pakistan have common cause in the counterterrorism fight and pledged close cooperation with the country is going forward. We believe that the Pakistani government shares our view that both Pakistan and the United States face terrorists’ threat, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said. He noted at a Press briefing that scores of Pakistanis have regrettably been killed by terrorists inside Pakistan. And we, of course, have suffered losses, as well, inside Pakistan and elsewhere, from Al Qaeda and from other terrorist groups operating along the Afghan-Pakistan border. So we have common cause with the Pakistanis.We’re working closely with the Pakistanis on the counterterrorism issue, and we will continue to do so, he added. The Press secretary saw no impact on US-Pakistan relations from information contained in the book No Easy Day, written by a Navy Seal, who participated in the raid against Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad May last year.

LG Ordinance: Stalemate between MQM, PPP continues Posted: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders met at Chief Minister House in Karachi to resolve differences on legal clauses of Sindh Local Government (LG) Ordinance.Sindh Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad led the talks that sought to resolve the Local Government Ordinance as the stalemate between MQM and PPP continued for a third day.Earlier on, the draft law was being prepared and a notification on the system was expected to be issued as the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2012 and is said to be an updated version of the Local Government Ordinance Act 2010.According to the new system, the appointment of administrators would be on a political basis whereas district coordination officers would be posted along with commissioners within a division.The matter has led to a rift between the coalition partners and remains unsettled after a series of over a dozen meetings, with President Asif Ali Zardari often stepping in as a mediator.Meanwhile, provincial Minister for Local Government Agha Siraj Durrani said that the people of Sindh would soon hear good news regarding LG system.

General election: Election Commission to meet today Posted: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) former Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim will chair the meeting. Heads of provincial/federal election commissions will also attend the meeting and will deliberate over the budget requirement for holding general election.Officials in ECP informed that the meeting will also review other options for the upcoming elections. It will be followed by a consultation meeting of all political parties, which will be summoned at the last week of current month, with the purpose to seek their consents over various steps proposed by ECP for general election.

Shahbaz for consensus on caretaker PM Posted: Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif said Wednesday the meeting between the MQM and PML-N had set the right direction and he was ready to visit MQM headquarters Nine Zero for further talks.Speaking to the media in London, Shahbaz Sharif criticised President Asif Ali Zardari and said the federal government had only given corruption and despair to people during its four year tenure. He said step-motherly treatment is being meted out to Punjab, through agonizing load-shedding. He also said that local bodies elections should be held after general elections.Leaders from the MQM and PML-N met at the Punjab House in Islamabad on Friday. Speaking to the media following the meeting PML-N leader Ishaq Dar had said that his party and the MQM shared similar views on national issues.

Rain in Karachi, Lahore turns weather pleasant Posted: Rain in different cities of Pakistan, including Lahore, Karachi and Sibbi, has turned the weather pleasant. The Met Office has predicted more rains for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the next 48 hours.According to Met Office, strong monsoon currents would start to penetrate in Pakistan from today, giving widespread monsoon rains with scattered heavy downpours in the country from Thursday to Saturday. Heavy downpours would generate urban and flash floods in the vulnerable areas during the period. There is also a probability of riverine floods, particularly in eastern rivers.The Met Office sources informed that more rains are expected in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir on Friday and Saturday.

Paralympics: Disappointment for Pakistan medal hope Ali Posted: Pakistans Haider Ali on Wednesday crashed out of the mens long jump, ending hopes of becoming the troubled South Asian nations first Paralympic gold medallist.The 27-year-old from the City of Wrestlers in Gujranwala, north of Lahore, had three no-jumps in the F37/38 final at the Olympic Stadium, which eliminated him from the competition.The gold was won by Gocha Khugaev with a jump of 6.31m. In combined class field events, distance is converted into points, leaving the Russian on a new world record of 1,028.Ma Yuxi of China won silver, with Dyan Buis of South Africa in bronze.Ali, who has cerebral palsy, won silver at the last Games in Beijing behind Mohamed Farhat Chida of Tunisia. Chida could only manage fourth this time round.The Pakistani athlete is one of only two at the London Games and the countrys only Paralympic medallist.But Pakistans National Paralympic Committee is hoping their participation will be a spur to greater funding and help change traditional attitudes towards disability in the conservative Muslim nation.

NASA Dawn spacecraft traveling to dwarf planet Posted: After spending a year gazing at a giant asteroid, NASAs Dawn spacecraft on Wednesday began the cruise toward an even bigger target a voyage that will take nearly three years.Ground controllers received a signal from Dawn that it successfully spiraled away from the asteroid Vesta and was headed toward the dwarf planet Ceres, where it will arrive in early 2015.Launched in 2007, Dawn is on track to become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with two celestial bodies in a bid to learn about the solar systems evolution.Firing its ion propulsion thrusters, Dawn gently freed itself from Vestas gravitational hold Tuesday night. Since its antenna was pointed away from Earth during the maneuver, NASA did not get confirmation until the next day.It was smooth and elegant and graceful, said chief engineer Marc Rayman of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $466 million mission.Vesta and Ceres are the largest bodies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter thats littered with space rocks that never quite bloomed into full-fledged planets. As cosmic time capsules, theyre ideal for scientists trying to piece together how Earth and the other planets formed and evolved.Dawn slipped into orbit last year around Vesta and beamed back stunning close-ups of the lumpy surface. It used its cameras, infrared spectrometer and gamma ray and neutron detector to explore the asteroid from varying altitudes.Dawn uncovered a few surprises. Scientists have long known that Vesta sports an impressive scar at its south pole, likely carved by an impact with a smaller asteroid. A closer inspection revealed that Vesta hid a second scar in the same region evidence that it had been hit twice within the last 2 billion years.The collisions spewed chunks of debris into space. Some fell to Earth as meteorites.With its rugged exterior complete with grooves, troughs and pristine minerals and iron core, Vesta acts more like an almost planet than the usual lightweight asteroids.Vesta was on its way to planethood if it continued to grow, said chief scientist Christopher Russell of the University of California, Los Angeles.Scientists expect a different world at Ceres, which has a dusty surface with an icy interior. Some think it may even have frost-covered poles.Almost everything we see at Ceres will be a surprise and totally different from Vesta, Russell said.Asteroids have received renewed attention of late. President Barack Obama canceled a return to the moon in favor of landing astronauts on a yet-to-be-selected asteroid as a stepping stone to Mars.

Four dead in France shooting around British car Posted: Four people were shot dead in or close to a British-registered car that was found Wednesday in a forest car park on the edge of the French Alpine village of Chevaline.The car, a BMW, contained the bodies of a man, in the front, and two women who were seated in the back, police said.The body of a second man, a cyclist, was found nearby along with a seriously wounded girl, who was in a critical condition in intensive care after being taken to hospital by helicopter.Local prosecutor Eric Maillaud had earlier mistakenly told journalists the girl had died.The car was registered in Britain, Maillaud said in a briefing to reporters in Chevaline, located close to Lake Annecy in the Haute-Savoie area of eastern France.We havent yet been able to establish the nationality of the victims, said Maillaud, who did not have access to the car pending forensic examinations.For the moment we have not been able to establish a theory about what has happened here.A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London said: We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently.The victims were discovered by another cyclist at around 3:50 pm (1350 GMT).A large number of spent cartridges were discovered on the ground around the BMW.Police had sealed off the area around the car to allow forensic experts to go over the scene. Around 60 gendarmes were involved in the search for potential clues.The prosecutor said he would be giving an update on the course of the investigation in a press conference at 2pm Thursday in the nearby town of Annecy.

Huge quake jolts Costa Rica, two killed Posted: A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Costa Ricas Pacific coast Wednesday, killing two people, briefly knocking out power and phone lines, and triggering tsunami warnings, authorities said.Residents reported trees toppled, rooftops damaged and roads split by the quake near the epicenter in the coastal province of Guanacaste. People rushed into the streets 150 kilometers (95 miles) away in the capital San Jose.A Red Cross spokesman said a man and a woman died after suffering heart attacks in the town of Filadelfia, not far from Nicoya, which is roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) from the epicenter.Here in Nicoya, fortunately we have only seen very minor injuries, people with minor cuts -- nothing significant given the magnitude of the storm, said the spokesman, Adolfo Saenz.Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said: The most important thing is to remain calm, there is no major damage.The US Geological Survey initially said the quake, which struck off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, measured 7.9 on the Moment Magnitude Scale, but revised both the intensity and location in a subsequent advisory.In its latest advisory, the USGS said the quake measured 7.6 and struck at a depth of about 40 kilometers.A tsunami warning was issued for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, but later cancelled, the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Initially, the warning had extended from Mexico to Peru.

Oil prices slip ahead of key European bank meeting Posted: The price of oil fell slightly as the market awaits the latest move by Europes central bank to ease the debt crisis that has hamstrung the regions economy.Benchmark oil slipped 4 cents to $95.26 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, fell 56 cents to $113.62 per barrel in London.Weak manufacturing reports earlier in the week from China and the U.S., as well as Europes dire economic picture, weighed on trader sentiment on Wednesday. But that was countered by hope for measures from central banks and governments to promote global economic growth, which could translate into more demand for energy products.Traders are awaiting two key developments later this week.The European Central Bank is expected to announce a bond-buying program Thursday to reduce high borrowing costs in Spain and Italy. The program is designed to help stabilize the regions financial crisis and promote growth.Analysts say oil prices likely will fall without additional aid for the European economy because that would heighten concerns about a Europe-wide recession, Tradition Energy oil analyst Gene McGillian said.He speculated that the price could drop into the mid-$80 per barrel range. Oils low for the year was $77.69 per barrel in late June.Traders also are awaiting the U.S. nonfarm jobs report, which is due out Friday. It should offer fresh clues about where the economy is headed.

Euro rises against dollar ahead of ECB meeting Posted: The euro is rising against the dollar on expectations that the European Central Bank will announce a plan to help ease Europes debt crisis.The ECB is meeting Thursday, and traders are expecting details of the plan. Expectations have been high since ECB President Mario Draghi said in July that the bank will do whatever it takes to save the single currency. However, he hasnt yet offered concrete details.The euro rose to $1.2602 in afternoon trading from $1.2571 late Tuesday. The British pound rose to $1.5904 from $1.5879.The dollar fell to 78.39 Japanese yen from 78.45 yen and to 0.9553 Swiss franc from 0.9555 Swiss franc.

Sharapova comes back to beat Bartoli at US Open Posted: Maria Sharapova came from behind after a rain delay for the second straight match, advancing to the U.S. Open semifinals with a three-set victory over Marion Bartoli on Wednesday.The four-time Grand Slam champion won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, a day after the quarterfinal started.Sharapova had trailed 4-0 when rain halted play. After more wet weather delayed the restart, she couldnt erase the deficit in the first set but gritted out the win to improve to 12-0 in three-set matches this year.I think that rain break gave me a few hours to think about things, Sharapova said in an on-court interview afterward. I came out so flat yesterday; she came out on fire. Shes so tough.The 11th-seeded Bartoli was in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time.In the fourth round Sunday, the third-seeded Russian was down a break in the third set to Nadia Petrova before rallying after an hour-long break. She next faces top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, who finished her match Tuesday.Sharapova broke Bartolis serve at 4-4 in the decisive set to put herself in position to serve out the match. The Frenchwoman saved two break points and earned a game point, but Sharapova pressured her into three straight mistakes to go up 5-4.Sharapovas 10th ace gave her match point.Half of the other semifinal is also set after Sara Errani beat best friend and doubles partner Roberta Vinci.The normally feisty Errani didnt pump her fist or even smile after clinching the 6-2, 6-4 victory. The two embraced at the net afterward, the 10th-seeded Errani looking far more relieved than joyful.We know each other very well. We played together many times, said Errani, this years French Open runner-up. So was also strange to see her on the other side of the net. Normally also when you walk on the court, we go together, we speak.Their matchup guaranteed an Italian woman would reach the semifinals at this tournament for the first time in the Open era, which began in 1968.Wearing identical pink and black outfits in a mostly empty Louis Armstrong Stadium after rain disrupted the schedule, the two played a subdued match that often felt more like a practice than a Grand Slam quarterfinal.Errani and Vinci, who won a French Open doubles title this year, have reached the semifinals together here.Following Sharapova and Bartoli on Arthur Ashe Stadium was Andy Roddick, trying to postpone retirement against Juan Martin del Potro. The two were in a first-set tiebreaker when rain suspended play Tuesday night.Janko Tipsarevic closed out a victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets in another match spread over two days.The eighth-seeded Serb will make his second straight quarterfinal trip here after beating Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2.He led 5-2 in the first set when play was suspended. Tipsarevic will next play fourth-seeded David Ferrer, who completed his match Tuesday.

Errani first Italian woman in US Open semi-finals Posted: Sara Errani swept past compatriot, doubles partner and best friend Roberta Vinci to become the first Italian woman in the Open era to make the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday.Errani, the 10th seed who was the French Open runner-up to Maria Sharapova this year, defeated the 20th-seeded Vinci 6-2, 6-4 and goes on to face either three-time champion Serena Williams or Ana Ivanovic for a place in the final.The 25-year-old Errani was playing in her third Grand Slam quarter-final of the year while Vinci, four years older, was making her debut in a last-eight at a major at the 32nd time of asking.The pair have won seven doubles titles in 2012, a haul which includes the French Open, but it was Erranis greater big-match experience which proved decisive on Wednesday.Its always hard to play against a friend and it was strange seeing her on the other side of the net, said Errani, who already has four tour singles titles to her name this year.I am happy to get to the final. Can I win the title? I will tell you in three or four days.Errani broke in the first and seventh games of the first set, taking the opener on a fourth set point with Vinci undone by 21 unforced errors.Only a few hundred fans roused themselves into Louis Armstrong Stadium to witness the first time that two Italian women had made the last eight of a major.They then saw Errani take a crucial break, the fifth of the set, to lead 5-4 in the second set and wrap up the tie after 72 minutes when Vinci netted a service return, her 37th and final error of the match.

You are subscribed to email updates from Dunya TV To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610