Dunya TV

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• IHC takes up Musharraf escape case today
• Imran says he will issue white-paper on rigging
• Nawaz Sharif in talks to form government
• UN chief hails successful general elections in Pakistan
• More than 80,000 killed in Syria conflict: NGO
• Iran border guards kill 10 Afghan migrants: Kabul
• Gunmen kill seven people in Iraq
• Taliban free four Turkish engineers in Afghanistan
• Israel grounds drone aircraft fleet after crash
• Nadal wins Madrid title for fifth triumph of 2013
• Djokovic says his ankle not bothering him anymore
• Federer looking to take advantage of 7-week break
• Alonso thrills home fans with Spanish GP win
• United provides Ferguson with fitting send-off
• SARS-like virus in Saudi Arabia has killed 15: minister

IHC takes up Musharraf escape case today Posted: ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will take up today case related to the action against IGP Islamabad in the case related to the escape of former President Prevez Musharraf after cancellation of his bail in judges’ detention case.Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui will hear the case. During the last proceedings of the case, Secretary Interior Javed Iqbal appeared before the court and had assured the court to initiate action against IGP Bani Amin for his alleged involvement in Musharraf’s escape from the court. He also stated before the court that the IGP is an officer of grade-21 and, according to Civil Services Act, only prime minister could take action against him.

Imran says he will issue white-paper on rigging Posted: Chief of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf Imran Khan on Sunday vowed to issue a white-paper against alleged rigging in Karachi and other constituencies across the country.He said it was very unfortunate that Election Commission and caretaker government did not take appropriate actions against elements and parties which were involved in rigging across the country especially in Karachi.Khan thanked the youths and women of Pakistan for their overwhelming response to the party in general elections of Pakistan.“I’m thankful to the people of Pakistan, especially the youngsters who queued up for hours to cast their votes for a new Pakistan,” the bedridden Khan said in a video message recorded from Shaukat Khanam h Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital Lahore.Khan said he forgot the bitterness of defeat by seeing passion of youth and women.PTI chief said if they get chance, his party would form an ideal government in Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw added that PTI would play a vital role as opposition party in the National Assembly.He has been hospitalized after sustaining head and back injuries due to falling from a lifter at a PTI gathering in Lahore last week.Khan’s PTI has emerged as the second biggest party in Pakistan followed by the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and others.Many of the urban youths were voting for the first time in May 11 elections that saw a robust turnout of 60 percent.Imran Khan secured National Assembly seats in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Mianwali but was defeated in PML-N stronghold Lahore.

Nawaz Sharif in talks to form government Posted: LAHORE (AFP) - Pakistani election winner Nawaz Sharif was in talks Sunday to form a new government, as US President Barack Obama said Washington was ready to work with Islamabad as equal partners.Obama welcomed the historic, peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power in Pakistan, where Sharifs two biggest challenges are likely to be fixing the shattered economy and tackling Islamist militancy.My administration looks forward to continuing our cooperation with the Pakistani government that emerges from this election as equal partners in supporting a more stable, secure, and prosperous future for the people of Pakistan, Obama said in a statement.Partial, unofficial results from Saturdays election represented a stunning comeback for the wealthy 63-year-old tycoon who was deposed as prime minister in a 1999 military coup and spent years in jail and exile.harif appears to have done well enough to rule out the prospect of a weak coalition, as the party of former cricket star Imran Khan achieved its own breakthrough on an anti-corruption platform that resonated with younger voters.Khans party also looked set to take over the provincial government in the restive northwest, where he has vowed to end US drone strikes.Taliban violence marred the election campaign with attacks killing more than 150 people, including 24 on polling day.While Sharif has voiced support for peace talks with the Taliban, he has been less vocal against US drone strikes than Khan, and is considered a pragmatist with whom Washington can work.Indias Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote on his official Twitter page that he hoped to chart a new course for the relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbours.Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the incoming government to help negotiate an end to the Taliban insurgency that has ravaged his country since 2001.And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon applauded the courage and determination of political parties and election workers to engage in the electoral process despite the challenging security situation, according to a spokesman.Pakistan, which has had three coups and four military rulers, is marking the first time that one elected civilian administration will hand power to another after a full term in office.TV projections suggested no single party would win an absolute majority in the 342-seat national assembly.But Sharifs centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was well ahead with more than 115 of the chambers 272 directly elected seats, according to various projections by private channels.Sartaj Aziz, a senior PML-N official and former cabinet minister, said Sharif was in talks Sunday with some independent MPs to get them on board and in discussions to work out a few key portfolios in the cabinet.The election was defined by the tanking economy, an energy crisis that causes power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, the unpopular alliance in the US-led war on terror and chronic corruption.Sharif has vowed a pro-business agenda to revive the feeble economy for what will be his third term as prime minister, a record in Pakistan, following two tenures in the 1990s.Asked how his time in prison and exile had changed him, Aziz said it had made him more thoughtful.Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was neck-and-neck with the outgoing Pakistan Peoples Party on around 25 to 30 seats, a remarkable achievement given that it only won one seat previously, in 2002.Besides the national assembly, voters also elected four provincial assemblies and Khans party emerged on top in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, putting PTI on track to form a government on the frontline of the war against the Taliban.Khan welcomed the high turnout as a step forward for democracy but alleged vote-rigging in a televised statement from the hospital bed where he is laid up with a fractured spine following a fall at an election rally last week.They placed election staff and administration officials for rigging at various places. Rigging was done in Punjab, in Karachi it was visible to everyone and in Sindh also, he said.Khan declared he would go into opposition and said that if his party forms a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they would turn it into a model province.I want to assure that the change has come in Pakistan, he said.The Bhutto clans PPP, which led the outgoing coalition, was heavily defeated over its record of ineffectual administration over the past five years.Sharif gave a victory speech late Saturday to hundreds of jubilant supporters at PML-N headquarters in Lahore.I appeal for all parties to come to the table and sit with me and solve the countrys problems, he said, after nearly 60 percent of the 86-million electorate voted.Pakistans largest domestic observer mission, The Free and Fair Election Network, said Sunday that the polls were relatively fair despite some irregularities and violence at the polling stations.

UN chief hails successful general elections in Pakistan Posted: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday congratulated the people and government of Pakistan on the successful conduct of the general elections, calling it a significant step forward for democracy in the country.By exercising their constitutional right to vote, the people of Pakistan have reaffirmed their desire for and commitment to a democratic Pakistan and their respect for the constitution of the country, the UN chief said of the Saturday elections, in a statement issued by his spokesman.This is the first ever transition from one civilian government to another and a significant step forward for democracy in the country, he praised.Pleased to note the significant turnout for the elections, especially the youth and first-time voters, who came out in millions to take part, Ban also noted the increase in the participation of women, but regretted that in some parts of the country, they were deterred from voting.The Secretary-General applauds the courage and determination of political parties and election workers to engage in the electoral process despite the challenging security situation ahead of the voting, the statement said.In the statement, Ban also commended the Electoral Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for successfully organizing the polls, and reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations to continue to support and assist the ECP.Polling in the Pakistani general elections concluded Saturday evening and counting of ballots has been started. The election was described as relatively peaceful by election officials despite some attacks and complaints, particularly in the country's southern port city of Karachi.During the 22-day campaign for the elections, over 110 people, including three candidates, were killed and over 350 injured in bomb attacks and firing by unidentified assailants.

More than 80,000 killed in Syria conflict: NGO Posted: BEIRUT (AFP) - More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it erupted more than two years ago, a monitoring group said on Sunday.Nearly half of those who have died were civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.The Britain-based watchdog said it has documented the killing of around 82,257 people, including 34,473 civilians -- among them 4,788 children and 3,049 women.It has also recorded the deaths of 16,687 rebels, including defected military personnel.The Observatory said 16,729 soldiers and more than 12,000 shabiha (pro-regime militia) and regime informants have also been killed.The bodies of another 2,368 people were found across Syria, it added. The conflict started out in March 2013 as a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad but spiralled into a civil war after the army unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent.Some 1.4 million people have fled the country and 4.2 other Syrians have become internally displaced, the UN says.The Observatory says its toll does not include more than 10,000 people missing in detention in regime jails, or some 2,500 pro-regime prisoners kept in rebel hands.In Saturday's violence alone, at least 86 people were killed across Syria, the Observatory said, listing them as 23 civilians, 40 rebels and 23 soldiers.

Iran border guards kill 10 Afghan migrants: Kabul Posted: KABUL (AFP) - Iranian guards shot dead 10 Afghan migrants illegally trying to cross the border from the western province of Herat, officials in Kabul said Sunday.Thousands of Afghans cross illegally into Iran every year to seek work as Afghanistan's economy struggles to grow amid an Islamist insurgency that erupted after the 2001 fall of the Taliban.There was a big group, maybe around 200 people, who were trying to cross the border into Iran, Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the interior ministry, told AFP about the incident on Friday night.They were shot at by Iranian border guards. Ten people were killed and 12 others were wounded, he added, confirming they were illegal immigrants.An Iranian embassy spokesman in Kabul was not immediately available to comment.About 2.4 million Afghans -- refugees and illegal immigrants -- live in Iran, many of whom moved after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.In December, Afghan demonstrators tried to storm the Iranian consulate in Herat in protest at the alleged killing of migrants by Iranian security forces.The protesters claimed 13 Afghans who had crossed the border into Iran were seized and later shot dead.

Gunmen kill seven people in Iraq Posted: BAGHDAD (AFP) - Gunmen shot dead four women in Baghdad and killed three men north of the capital on Sunday, security and medical officials said.The women were killed in a house in the Karrada area of central Baghdad, while the men were shot dead while walking on the main road in the Mishahada area, they said.It was not immediately clear why the victims were attacked. Shootings in Iraq often target security forces or government employees.Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, killing more than 200 people in each of the first four months of this year.With the latest attacks, 109 people have been killed in violence so far this month, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.

Taliban free four Turkish engineers in Afghanistan Posted: KABUL (AFP) - The Taliban Sunday freed four of eight Turkish engineers taken hostage last month after their helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Afghan officials announced.The engineers were in good health and the other captives would also be released soon, according to the district governor in the area where the hostages were taken.Eight Turkish engineers were kidnapped recently in Afghanistan when their helicopter crash-landed. Thanks to the efforts of MIT (Turkish intelligence), four of them were handed over to us and are safe, Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.A Russian, a Kyrgyz and an Afghan were kidnapped along with the eight Turks on April 21 after the crash-landing of their helicopter in Logar, a Taliban stronghold south of the capital Kabul.Four Turkish nationals were freed in a remote area of Nangarhar province this afternoon. They were handed over to a Turkish delegation, Hamidullah Hamid, the district governor of Hazra in the eastern province of Nangarhar, told AFP.They were freed after the efforts and mediation of tribal leaders. The Taliban told the tribal leaders that they would free the rest of them in the near future. They are all in good health.The Taliban were not immediately reachable for comment.The seizure was the largest abduction of foreigners in almost six years and highlighted Afghanistan's continuing insecurity as NATO combat troops prepare to pull out next year.The last time a major group of foreigners was abducted in the country was in July 2007, when the Taliban seized 23 South Korean church volunteers travelling through the south by coach.The militants killed two men before releasing the rest, reportedly in return for ransom payments.The Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led invasion and have been battling Afghan and foreign troops ever since.Attacks by them and other insurgents rose 47 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to January-March 2012, according to figures from the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office.NATO member Turkey has around 1,850 non-combat soldiers in Afghanistan, mainly in Kabul.

Israel grounds drone aircraft fleet after crash Posted: JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's military has grounded a fleet of high altitude surveillance drones after one was downed over the Mediterranean Sea.The military says it intentionally crashed the unmanned aircraft late Saturday because of a malfunction.The military would not say how many aircraft were grounded. The planes will stay down during an investigation.An Israeli defense official said the drone was the Israeli-made Heron 1, which flies at high altitudes and can stay in the air for about 45 hours. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.Last year, a larger Heron TP drone crashed on a routine flight.Israel is a world leader in drone technology. Palestinians say Israel uses drones to fire missiles, but Israel does not confirm that.

Nadal wins Madrid title for fifth triumph of 2013 Posted: MADRID (AFP) - Rafael Nadal sealed his fifth title in seven tournaments since returning from a seven-month injury layoff as he claimed a third Madrid Masters title with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday.Nadal now has 55 career titles with 40 coming on clay, an astonishing record that prompted Wawrinka to describe the Spaniard as a killer on clay courts.Nadal, who holds a 9-0 career record over Switzerland's Wawrinka, rolled through the first set thanks to two early breaks in little over half an hour.And after a little more resistance from Wawrinka in the second, Nadal broke again to go ahead 4-3 before serving out to claim his 23rd Masters Series title.I played my best match of the week in the final, said Nadal, who looks set to be the overwhelming favourite for a record eighth French Open.I started very aggressively and my movement was very good. I managed to get the double break and that is almost the set, especially here in Madrid with the altitude where the service does more damage.Stan is a player that plays with very good angles so at a tactical level I played very well and obviously tennis-wise it was very good as I suffered very little on my own serve.The Spaniard believes his performances towards the end of the week are the best he has produced on the European clay this year and he is now targeting the defence of his title at the Rome Masters next week.Of the latest tournaments, for sure that is the best one that I have played. My forehand has worked at the highest level. I also played very well in Acapulco and Indian Wells, but since I returned to Europe these last two matches is the level I am aspiring to.The confidence from winning here is big, especially the way I won, playing good tennis.I need to adapt to playing to slower conditions than here in Rome and I have to do it with right concentration from tomorrow and then for first match from Wednesday.Wawrinka, meanwhile, lamented not being able to be at his best physically after three gruelling three set matches against Grigor Dimitrov, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Tomas Berdych in the last three days.I think he started really well. For sure I was not 100% physically and mentally and even if I am feeling completely fresh it is so difficult, so if you are not then he completely kills you, admitted the Swiss.He was always dictating the points and against him if you are not 100% then it is impossible.I was not injured, just tired from the last two weeks. In the second set I tried to make it more difficult and make him come the net a bit earlier in the point, but I think he was just too difficult and good for me today.

Djokovic says his ankle not bothering him anymore Posted: ROME (AP) - Novak Djokovic says his right ankle is not bothering him anymore. The top-ranked player twisted his ankle while representing Serbia in the Davis Cup in April then appeared to hurt it again in a second-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov at the Madrid Open on Tuesday.Speaking at the Italian Open on Sunday, Djokovic said I feel better. The ankle is not bothering me anymore. ... I'm already slowly starting to release the protection from the ankle because I feel more and more stable on it. There's no pain, which is great.Djokovic won the Italian Open in 2008 and 2011 and he's looking forward to a warm reception at the Foro Italico after the Madrid crowd turned against him in the loss to Dimitrov.

Federer looking to take advantage of 7-week break Posted: ROME (AP) - Roger Federer said it's time for him to step up his game if he wants his recent seven-week break from the tennis circuit to start paying off.The 17-time Grand Slam winner returned to action last week at the Madrid Open and got his clay-court season off to a difficult start with a third-round loss to Kei Nishikori of Japan.I hope it's going to have some effect eventually, Federer said Sunday at the Italian Open, having just completed a three-hour training session for the second consecutive day. Clearly for that I need to start playing well now and put myself deep into a tournament.If he does manage to put together a few wins, Federer believes he'll be fresher mentally than his opponents.Most of them have played two or three tournaments on clay and I'm still looking to get into it, but that can be a big advantage down the stretch, the second-ranked player said. But for that I need to start winning matches, and I hope I can start here.Federer has never won the Italian Open, with his best results two runner-up finishes. He lost the 2003 final to Felix Mantila and in 2006 dropped a fifth-set tiebreaker to Rafael Nadal.This tournament is a key warm-up for the French Open, the year's second Grand Slam, which starts in two weeks.At 31, Federer has narrowed his focus to the Grand Slams and spending more time with his wife and twin daughters.Federer advised against reading too much into the Nishikori loss, although wasn't aware of anyone writing him off already.Has it started again? I didn't read anything, Federer said when asked how many times he had been written off after a loss like the one in Madrid. I'm happy that the last year or so I didn't have to answer many questions. Clearly, when you play well and you win many tournaments then nobody really dares to attack you.In the five tournaments he has played this year, Federer has failed to reach a final. After losing to Nadal in the Indian Wells quarterfinals in March, he began his scheduled break.I could have played six weeks in a row. I chose to take seven weeks off, Federer said. There's no glory in that. People don't respect it enough until I'm going to win a big tournament again, then they'll say how smart I was. That's why you just take it as it comes.The Nishikori loss came after Federer opened in Madrid with a win over Radek Stepanek.After a first-round bye at the Foro Italico, Federer will open against either Stepanek again or Italian wild card Potito Starace.

Alonso thrills home fans with Spanish GP win Posted: BARCELONA (AP) - Fernando Alonso gave his Spanish home fans exactly the kind of daring and dominant drive they came to see.Keeping them celebrating at the end of the season might be a lot more difficult, though.Alonso won the Spanish Grand Prix with a commanding performance on Sunday, but then said Ferrari still needs a little bit more pace to topple three-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel in the race for the Formula One title.Alonso was fifth on the grid but used an aggressive start to take control of the race and ended up beating Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus by nearly 10 seconds, with teammate Felipe Massa 26 behind. More importantly, Vettel was a distant 38.2 back in fourth, meaning the Alonso cut the gap to the German to 17 points in the overall standings after five races.With two Ferrari drivers on the podium and none from Red Bull, Alonso still cautioned that the Italian team still hasn't caught up to its main rival.Last year we didn't win (the championship). We were one second off (the pace), but we managed to fight until the Brazil race, said Alonso, a two-time former champion. This year we have a package that is still not the fastest but we are working on it.Alonso lost out to Vettel by three points last year, but will head to Monaco in two weeks' time in an optimistic frame of mind.We are not the quickest over one lap, we maybe do not set the fastest time in the race, but we have fantastic pit stops, starts, (limited) tire degradation, said Alonso, who started from fifth on the grid. Many ingredients to have a competitive car to fight for the championship ... In the four years with Ferrari this is the best (car) we've had.Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali dedicated the day to those working behind the scenes to make Ferrari faster.For sure, very, very happy. It was a good day for the team, Domenicali said. The win was for the people who are working hard at the factory.The race was once again heavily affected by Pirelli's fast-degrading tires, which forced teams into four-stop strategies when they had planned for three.Our aim is to have between two and three stops at every race, so it's clear that four is too many, Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said. In fact, it's only happened once before, in Turkey during our first year in the sport.There is no time for Pirelli to make changes in time for Monaco.We'll be looking to make some changes, in time for Silverstone, Hembery said. To make sure that we maintain our target and solve any issues rapidly.Red Bull struggled a lot more than Ferrari with the tires, and the mood in the team's camp was subdued after the race.The first three cars were a little bit too fast for us and regarding looking after the tires, they did a better job, said Vettel, who finished ahead of teammate Mark Webber. We need to catch up; we're not going the pace of the car, we're going the pace of the tires and obviously we do something to make the tires wear more. The start was good, we then tried to hold on with a three-stop strategy, but had to change to four stops.Raikkonen finished second for the third straight race.It was Alonso's second win in Barcelona the first coming in 2006 and his seventh career podium on the Circuit de Catalunya.It's very special winning at home and it doesn't matter how many times you repeat it, said Alonso, who moved up to third overall, while Raikkonen is only four points behind Vettel.Massa's performance was arguably even better than Alonso's, as he started from ninth due to a grid penalty in qualifying.I think we are in the right direction so I hope from now on we are fighting for the podium in every race, Massa said.Mercedes had a disappointing day after Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton started on the front grid. As has been the case this season, the Mercedes cars which are fast in qualifying again lacked race pace and durability as Rosberg finished sixth and Hamilton drifted way back to 12th.

United provides Ferguson with fitting send-off Posted: MANCHESTER (AP) - Alex Ferguson was given a fitting send-off in his final home game in charge of Manchester United his club of nearly 27 years scoring a trademark late winner against Swansea to cap an emotional day of celebrations at Old Trafford on Sunday.Rio Ferdinand slammed in an 87th-minute volley to seal United's 2-1 victory, before Ferguson joined his players in lifting the Premier League trophy for a 13th and final time.It's fantastic, said Ferguson, whose haul of 38 trophies at United makes him Britain's most successful football manager. What a send-off. I was bubbling there for a bit. The atmosphere was unbelievable.Tottenham climbed provisionally to fourth above Arsenal by beating Stoke 2-1, while Newcastle and Norwich secured their Premier League survival with victories.

SARS-like virus in Saudi Arabia has killed 15: minister Posted: RIYADH (AFP) - Fifteen people in Saudi Arabia have died from a SARS-like virus out of 24 people who contracted it since last August, Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia said on Sunday.The number of people who contracted the virus in the kingdom since August/September is 24, of whom 15 have died, Rabia told a news conference in Riyadh.An earlier toll provided on Tuesday by the World Health Organisation said 11 people had died in Saudi Arabia since last year from the disease whose medical term is NCoV-EMC, or novel coronavirus.Rabia also said three other people are suspected of having contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia, pledging to announce with full transparency the results of their medical tests.The WHO's assistant director general for health security and the environment, Keiji Fukuda, told a Riyadh news conference on Sunday the new virus posed an important and major challenge for countries affected and the world generally.He said experts were still grappling to understand all aspects of the virus and how humans become infected, stressing, however, that this new virus is not the SARS virus.This is a new infection and there are also many gaps in our knowledge that will inevitably take time to fill in, a WHO statement cited Fukuda as saying.The greatest global concern, however, is about the potential for this new virus to spread. Of most concern, however, is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from person-to-person, he said.This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some small clusters, and so far, there is no evidence that this virus has the capacity to sustain generalised transmission in communities.Since the virus was first recorded in September 2012, there have been 34 cases reported worldwide, and 18 of those have died, according to the WHO.While it has been deadliest in Saudi Arabia, cases have also been reported in Jordan, Germany, Britain and France where two patients are now in hospital in the northern city of Lille.It is a cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which triggered a scare 10 years ago when it erupted in east Asia, leaping to humans from animal hosts and eventually killing some 800 people.

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