Dunya TV

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• Last meeting of parliamentary committee today
• Two blasts hit railways tracks in Karachi
• US drones kill four in North Waziristan
• Gas pipeline blown up in Dera Murad Jamali
• Pro-Assad cleric among 42 killed in Damascus bombing
• Sarkozy charged with taking advantage of elderly heiress
• At least 10 dead in Mayanmar riots: MP
• Death toll in Brazil landslides rises to 31
• Chavez backers clash with protesters in Venezuela
• Serena Williams advances at Key Biscayne
• Woods scrambles to 69, trails Rose by four
• Couples, Mediate headline Gulf Resort Classic
• Italy come back to draw 2-2 with Brazil
• IOC: 2020 Madrid Olympic bid costs 'attainable'
• Mother jailed for killing he five newborns in Germany

Last meeting of parliamentary committee today Posted: The last meeting of parliamentary committee on the caretaker set-up will be held today. According to sources, parliamentary committee will succeed in finalizing name of interim PM name today.Sources said that the eight-member committee is likely to reach agreement on the nomination of Dr Ishrat Hussain for the post and he will be sworn-in as caretaker prime minister at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in the evening.On the conclusion of the meeting on the second day, parliamentary committee belonging to coalition government called on Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to apprise him of the proceedings of the meeting.The sources further said that in case of Dr Ishrat Hussain appointment as caretaker PM, the PML-N will be able to bring their own caretaker chief minister in Punjab.

Two blasts hit railways tracks in Karachi Posted: KARACHI (Dunya News): At least two powerful blasts hit railway tracks in Ban Qasim area of Karachi in Sindh, damaging the railway tracks, on Thursday night.Arrival and departure of trains was suspended as railway tracks were damaged in the blasts.Rangers and police were called on the site of occurrence in order to control over the turbulent situation.According to sources, unidentified miscreants had installed bombs on the aforesaid track which was partially damaged the track.Another bomb installed on Kotri railway track erupted when personnel of bomb disposal squad were trying to defuse it, injuring an ASI.Having information, security forces including police and Rangers reached the site of occurrence and cordoned off the related area and commenced search operation in order to avoid further mishap.A large number of passengers faced difficulties as they could not leave for their destinies according to their schedule.

US drones kill four in North Waziristan Posted: MIRANSHAH (AFP) - US drones fired two missiles at a vehicle in Pakistans northwestern tribal belt Thursday, killing four militants, security officials said.The attack took place in Datta Khel town, 35 kilometres (22 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in the lawless North Waziristan region, which borders Afghanistan. The area is a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.Four drones came to the area around midnight and fired two missiles targeting a militant vehicle, a local security official said.At least four militants were killed, their vehicle was blown up, he said.Another security official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which lies on the edge of the tribal region, confirmed the attack and the casualties.The covert strikes are publicly criticised by the Pakistani government as a violation of sovereignty but American officials believe they are a vital weapon in the war against Islamist militants.A UN envoy last week said US drone attacks violate Pakistans sovereignty.UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights Ben Emmerson visited Islamabad as part of an investigation into civilian casualties caused by drone strikes.According to Britains Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CIA drone attacks in Pakistan have killed up to 3,577 people since 2004, up to 884 of them civilians.

Gas pipeline blown up in Dera Murad Jamali Posted: According to details, some unidentified persons blew up an 18-inch diameter gas pipeline in Rabi Bairoon area of Dera Murad Jamali on Thursday, halting gas supply to Och Power Plant.Gas supply to Och Power Plant was provided from Sui while the repair work on damaged pipeline will be started today (Friday).

Pro-Assad cleric among 42 killed in Damascus bombing Posted: DAMASCUS (AFP) - A suicide bomb attack on a central Damascus mosque on Thursday killed 42 people, including Syrias most prominent pro-regime Sunni cleric, and wounded dozens of others, the health ministry said.The attack came as heavy fighting raged across Syria, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the United Nations would investigate whether chemical weapons have been used in the conflict.The bomber blew himself up inside the Iman Mosque as the cleric, Mohamed al-Bouti, addressed religious students, in an attack that echoed sectarian violence in Iraq.The number of those martyred in the terrorist suicide attack in the Iman Mosque rises to 42 martyrs with 84 injured, state television said, citing the health ministry.Bouti was the most senior pro-regime Sunni cleric in Syria whose weekly addresses at Friday prayers were frequently broadcast live on state television.His death will be a blow to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has been fighting an insurgency that flared when his forces launched a bloody crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired democracy protests that erupted in March 2011.The relentless violence has killed tens of thousands of people and caused more than one million to flee their homes as refugees.Pro-government television aired gruesome footage from inside the mosque, where dozens of corpses and body parts, including limbs and hands, were strewn on the carpeted floor among pools of blood.Emergency workers collected the remains and carried them out in grey body bags.Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the umbrella opposition National Coalition, condemned the clerics killing as a crime, and suggested the regime could have been be behind it.We categorically condemn the assassination of the scholar Dr Mohamed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, Khatib told AFP in Cairo by phone.This is a crime, by any measure, that is completely rejected, he said. Whoever did this was a criminal... and we suspect it was the regime.Khatib, himself a cleric, said he had known Bouti, who was held in high esteem among Islamic theologians, but had disagreed with him over his vociferous support for Assad.Born in 1929, Bouti was from a large Kurdish family and spent years studying Islam, including at Cairos al-Azhar University.He was reviled by the opposition, and frequently lashed out against the rebels while encouraging Syrians to join the army to fight against them.The regime is dominated by members of the minority Alawite sect and had relied in part on the cleric to bolster its claims to represent all Syrians, including Sunnis, from whom the opposition draws much of its support.The attack came as fighting continued throughout the country, with rebels reportedly gaining ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel.It appears that the rebels launched coordinated attacks on multiple parts of the Golan, taking control of areas and villages in the province of Quneitra, said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.But state media reported the armed forces restored security and stability to the towns of Al-Talal al-Hamr and Khan Arnaba (in Quneitra) after eliminating several Al-Nusra Front terrorists.Lebanese security sources said about 220 Syrians, including some wounded, had crossed over from southern Syria in the past 24 hours.A Syrian security official told AFP some 2,500 trained and equipped rebels had entered Daraa province in recent weeks, following reports American experts were training rebels in the kingdom.

Sarkozy charged with taking advantage of elderly heiress Posted: BORDEAUX (AFP) - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was on Thursday charged with taking advantage of the elderly LOreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, his lawyer told AFP, adding that he would immediately appeal.The move came after Sarkozy was unexpectedly summoned for a face-to-face encounter with staff members of Bettencourt over claims he accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from the worlds richest woman to illegally finance his 2007 election campaign.Sarkozys lawyer Thierry Herzog lambasted the decision as legally incoherent and unfair.He said he would immediately appeal and ask that the arraignment be dropped.Overall 17 people have so far been charged in the case.Judicial officials earlier told AFP Sarkozy had been summoned for an encounter with Bettencourts former butler Pascal Bonnefoy.Jean-Michel Gentil, the Bordeaux-based judge in charge of the case, was hoping the confrontation would allow him to establish how many times Sarkozy visited Bettencourt during his successful campaign.Sarkozy, 58, has always maintained that he visited Bettencourts residence only once during the campaign, contrary to testimony from several members of the multi-billionaires staff.Gentil and two other examining magistrates spent 12 hours interrogating Sarkozy in November. They decided not to formally charge him but to continue investigating the allegations against him.Bettencourt is now 90 and has been in poor health since 2006. Sarkozy, it is alleged, obtained significant amounts of money from her, simultaneously breaching electoral spending limits and taking advantage of a person weakened by ill health.Bettencourts former accountant, Claire Thibout, told police in 2010 that she had handed envelopes filled with cash to Bettencourts right-hand man, Patrice de Maistre, on the understanding it was to be passed on to Sarkozys campaign treasurer, Eric Woerth.Investigators suspect up to four million euros ($5.2 million) of Bettencourts cash subsequently made its way into Sarkozys party coffers.Sarkozy lost his immunity from prosecution when he was defeated in the 2012 presidential election by Socialist Francois Hollande.French judges demonstrated their readiness to go after former leaders with their successful pursuit of Sarkozys predecessor as president, Jacques Chirac, who was convicted in 2011 on corruption charges related to his time as mayor of Paris.Since losing to Hollande, Sarkozy has concentrated on making money on the international conference circuit, but he has repeatedly hinted that he is considering another tilt at the presidency in 2017.

At least 10 dead in Mayanmar riots: MP Posted: MEIKTILA (AFP) - At least 10 people have been killed in riots in central Myanmar, an MP said Thursday, prompting international concern at the countrys worst communal unrest since a wave of Buddhist-Muslim clashes last year.Huge plumes of black smoke were seen rising above the town of Meiktila after buildings were set ablaze in a second day of fighting in the previously peaceful area, where a night-time curfew was imposed.Several mosques were reported to have been torched.The United States said it was deeply concerned by the unrest, which according to police erupted on Wednesday after an argument in a Muslim-owned gold shop intensified and caused about 200 people to fight in the streets.Win Htein, a member of the opposition National League for Democracy party, said he had seen bodies at the scene of fresh clashes Thursday.More than 10 people were killed, he told AFP from the town, which is his constituency seat.The unrest comes at a time of heightened tensions between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar.Communal conflict in a different region, the western state of Rakhine, left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced last year, overshadowing international optimism about the countrys widely praised political reforms since the end of military rule two years ago.A senior US State Department official told AFP that its ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, had raised concerns about the situation with top Myanmar government officials.The embassy is also in touch with community leaders. We will continue to encourage public efforts to call for calm and foster dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect, the official said, asking not to be named.UN resident coordinator Ashok Nigam called for all parties involved to exercise the utmost tolerance and restraint within their communities.A local resident, who asked not to be named, said he had seen many dead bodies, adding: The situation is getting worse. The police cannot control the people.An AFP photographer saw three burned bodies and houses on fire.Were scared. We keep the women and children at a safer building close to the police station, another local resident said.Police said several mosques were destroyed and a Buddhist monk was among two killed on Wednesday, but they did not give an updated toll for Thursday.The local hospital said it had attended to five dead and 25 wounded.Two died from burn injuries and the other three were killed because of wounds sustained from knives and sticks, a hospital official said, asking not to be named.

Death toll in Brazil landslides rises to 31 Posted: RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Three bodies were found in eastern Brazil Thursday, bringing to 31 the death toll from landslides caused by heavy rains that lashed a rugged area of Rio de Janeiro state, authorities said.Petropolis Mayor Rubens Bontempo told a press conference late Wednesday that the heavy downpour late Sunday and Monday caused $60 million in damage.The deluge in and around Petropolis, located 68 kilometers (42 miles) north of Rio, also left 18 people injured and forced 1,466 people to leave their homes or left them homeless.Nearly 250 soldiers and Civil Defense officials were mobilized to assist residents of the area where 21 districts are either under water or hit by landslides.Up to 39 centimeters (15 inches) of rain fell in parts of Petropolis during a 24-hour period, compared to just 27 centimeters expected for all of March.In January 2011, more than 900 people died in the same area after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides.

Chavez backers clash with protesters in Venezuela Posted: CARACAS (AP) - Supporters of the late President Hugo Chavez hurled rocks and bottles Thursday in an attack on student protesters who were marching against perceived bias by Venezuelas electoral council.At least 10 students were reported injured in the violence that raised tensions in a country already sharply divided ahead of next months presidential election.Hundreds of students had gathered at a central plaza in the morning and were making their way to the electoral council headquarters in downtown Caracas when they came upon a police barricade.About 100 Chavez supporters had gathered behind the barricade in the middle of broad Avenida Universidad and began throwing rocks and bottles at the approaching students. A few students lobbed the objects back, setting off a fierce volley between the two sides. At one point, several Chavez supporters pulled a student to the ground and repeatedly kicked him.National police fired tear gas and scattered most of the students, but some 100 remained behind, left vulnerable to splinter groups of Chavez supporters who attacked from side streets. Police shooting plastic bullets ultimately repelled the attackers.The government supporters have ambushed us, student leader Vilcar Fernandez told The Associated Press.It was unclear how many people in total had been injured, and police did not release an estimate.At one point, about 100 students were trapped by Chavistas who had blocked all the surrounding streets, preventing them from leaving.Many of the attackers wore T-shirts bearing the image of the late president and were chanting pro-Chavez slogans.Police later escorted the students out of the area.It wasnt our intention to confront or provoke violent acts, but the violence appeared because of minuscule groups that were sent to sabotage a legitimate protest, said student leader Gaby Arellano. She added that none of the students were seriously injured.The election council sits in a neighborhood claimed by Chavez supporters, who have attacked anti-government demonstrations there in the past.The protesters were demanding the electoral council eliminate requirements that voters have their fingerprints recorded before voting. The students also called on the council to stop Nicolas Maduro, the countrys acting president, from seizing TV and radio airwaves to promote his candidacy.

Serena Williams advances at Key Biscayne Posted: KEY BISCAYNE (AP) - Playing again at No. 1, Serena Williams routed Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday in the second round of the Sony Open.Williams is playing her first tournament since she regained the No. 1 ranking at the Qatar Open. Williams lost the Doha final to Victoria Azarenka, but overtook her for the top ranking the week of Feb. 11.Williams trailed 40-0 in the first and fifth games in the first set, but went on to hold serve both times. In the first game, she uncharacteristically double-faulted on the first and third points.I dont think it was too much rust, Williams said. I think I missed a few shots, but only because I was off footwork-wise. Its always just good to win a match and stay in the tournament and keep going.Williams is trying to break the tournament record of five titles she shares with Steffi Graf.That would be really cool, Williams said. I have a lot of matches to play. If I can just stay relaxed, I really feel like I can do it, but Im sometimes my own worst enemy.Sloane Stephens rallied to beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. Stephens is ranked 16th, the highest-ranked American after Williams.Stephens won only four points in her three service games and 10 points overall in the opening set.I wasnt playing that great, Stephens said. I was asleep out there. I definitely just needed to wake up and start playing. A lot just battling and just hanging in there.Stephens will play the winner of the match between 32-year-old Venus Williams and 42-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan.Polands Agnieszka Radwanska, the defending champion who is seeded fourth, defeated Taiwans Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.Just very happy to have a quick match, Radwanska said. The first match is always a little bit tough and tricky.

Woods scrambles to 69, trails Rose by four Posted: ORLANDO, Florida, March 21, 2013 (AFP) - Tiger Woods, chasing Rory McIlroy for golfs world No. 1 ranking, scrambled to a 69 on Thursday that left him four shots off the early first-round round pace of Justin Rose at Bay Hill.Woods can overtake Northern Irelands McIlroy atop the world rankings with a successful defence of his Bay Hill title. McIlroy isnt playing the event.He got off to an erratic start, hitting just eight fairways and 12 greens and needing 28 putts in his first round of the $6.2 million US PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational.I didnt drive it well, didnt hit my irons well and didnt control my distances or trajectory well, said Woods, a seven-time winner of this event.But he countered his three bogeys with an eagle at the par-five 16th and four birdies, including three in a row from the par-five fourth.Several key par saves included one at his opening hole, the 10th, where his approach from a bunker was long. He chipped to within three feet and made the putt.I certainly didnt play my best, but I got around and made a few good saves out there, he said.Englands Rose was in the clubhouse on 65, his seven-under effort including an eagle and six birdies -- including a stretch of four in a row from the fourth.John Rollins was his closest pursuer in the clubhouse on 68, while Woods was joined on 69 by Japans Ryo Ishikawa, Charley Hoffman, Nick Watney and Sean OHair.

Couples, Mediate headline Gulf Resort Classic Posted: SAUCIER, Mississippi (AP) - Fred Couples returns this week to defend his title at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic and hell have plenty of competition when the tournament starts on Friday.This years field includes Champions Tour rookies Rocco Mediate, Steve Elkington and Bart Bryant, along with others who have had success at Fallen Oak, including perennial contenders Jeff Sluman and David Frost.Frost and Mediate already have victories this season. Mediate became just the 16th player in Champions Tour history to win in his debut, finishing first at the Allianz Championship in February.Frost and Mediate are in the same threesome for the first round. Mediate said he hopes Frosts presence will inspire a quick start.The 50-year-old said one of the biggest adjustments in switching from the U.S. PGA Tour to the Champions Tour was events have just three rounds instead of four.If the pedal is not down on Friday, you will not win the golf tournament, period. You will not even do well in the golf tournament, Mediate said. You have to be ready to go. ... Youve got to come out firing fast.Mediate is sure to be a crowd favorite at Fallen Oak. The affable veteran is a six-time U.S. PGA Tour winner, but maybe best known for losing on the first sudden-death hole after an 18-hole playoff against Tiger Woods in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.The weather may make Fallen Oak play more difficult this weekend. The forecast calls for bouts of rain and wind, especially on Friday and Saturday.Mediate said the course was in very good condition during Wednesdays practice round and had heard good and honest reviews of the 7,054-yard Fallen Oak.Its one of our (tours) hardest and one of our longest, so Im intrigued by that, Mediate said.Couples has had a good start this season, finishing in the top five in both events hes played, including second in last weeks Toshiba Classic.

Italy come back to draw 2-2 with Brazil Posted: GENEVA (AP) - Mario Balotelli scored a stunning goal as Italy came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Brazil in an entertaining friendly in Geneva on Thursday.It looked as if Italy would pay for its missed opportunities when Brazil took a 2-0 halftime lead thanks to goals from Fred and Oscar.However, Daniele De Rossi pulled one back nine minutes after the interval and the in-form Balotelli leveled with a screamer three minutes later, taking his tally to eight goals in 2013 for club and country.Mattia De Sciglio and Alessio Cerci were given their Italy debuts with the AC Milan defender starting, while Torino winger Cerci came on at halftime.There was a minutes silence before the game in memory of Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea, who died Thursday.

IOC: 2020 Madrid Olympic bid costs 'attainable' Posted: MADRID (AP) - The IOC believes the $1.9 billion construction costs for holding the 2020 Olympics in Madrid are attainable for the recession-hit country.The IOC are very well aware the games simply cannot get more expensive, more expensive and more expensive every time, IOC vice president Craig Reedie said Thursday at the close of his evaluation commissions four-day inspection of Madrids Olympic bid.With Spain sinking into a second recession in three years and with unemployment at 26 percent, the financing of Madrids Olympic project was always going to be a key factor.We were certainly made aware by the bid committee where the Spanish economy is, and we thank Madrid for their openness and honesty, Reedie said. They told us that the Spanish economy has had a very difficult time, but that it has stabilized and will improve, and we have noted that in our report.Madrid organizers say 28 of the 35 venues are already built, meaning construction and infrastructure costs will be relatively modest.As chair of the commission I think we have looked closely at the capital costs and we believe them to be attainable, Reedie said.Gilbert Felli, IOC executive director for the Olympic Games, said the inspectors had looked at the bid committees budget with good eyes. He said that taking into account our past experience, we believe that the numbers proposed to us are feasible.Madrid is competing against Tokyo and Istanbul. The panel has already visited the Japanese capital and will be in Istanbul next week.By comparison, Tokyos budget for capital costs is $4.9 billion, and Istanbuls is $19.2 billion.The full IOC will select the 2020 host city by secret ballot on Sept. 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.We were greatly impressed by what we have seen here, Reedie said.Outside the hotel where the IOC was based, a group of 30 health care workers protested blowing whistles and sounding an ambulance siren.Reedie said he had seen a couple of protests but that none of the demonstrators had asked to speak to members of the IOC.

Mother jailed for killing he five newborns in Germany Posted: BERLIN (AFP) - A German court sentenced a married mother of two to nine years in jail on Thursday for killing five of her babies whose births she had concealed.The 29-year-old woman had admitted during the trial in the northern town of Flensburg to secretly giving birth and immediately killing the five newborns between 2006 and 2012.Three of the infants were suffocated and two stabbed with scissors, the court concluded, finding the woman, who is from the town of Husum and was not named, guilty of five counts of manslaughter.Although the trial was unable to clarify exactly why the woman killed the infants, she had said in questioning by the police that her husband did not want any more children.Presiding judge Michael Lembke said that, when it came to pregnancy and birth, the defendant had virtually suppressed, ignored, completely blanked (it) out and that the labour pains had taken her by surprise.But her actions were always unplanned, he said. Although an offender, she was no monster, he added.A psychiatric assessor ordered by the court said her motive remained unclear.The woman, who has two children of school age, gave birth at home or in the woods.Two bodies were found in a paper recycling plant and a car park in 2006 and 2007.Last year when the woman was asked to provide a routine DNA sample as part of investigations, she turned herself in and took police to the bodies of three further babies hidden in her cellar.Her husband was described at the time the woman was charged as completely devastated. He told police he knew nothing about the pregnancies.The case is thought to be the worst to come to light in Germany since 2005, when a mother was sentenced to 15 years in prison after killing eight of her newborns.

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