Dunya TV

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• Kerry returning to Mideast with peace talks on agenda
• Police: Attacks around Iraq kill 9 people
• Putin accuses US of 'trapping' Snowden in Russia
• UN divided on Iran sanctions violations
• Congo army kills 120 M23 rebels: Spokesman
• PHF sacks Hanif Khan as hockey coach
• Sharapova withdraws from Stanford with hip injury
• Brands beats Lorenzi, will meet Federer in Hamburg
• Real Madrid tops Forbes' most valuable teams list
• Athletics: Coe vows to step up fight against drug cheats
• Lahore: Fire at Shah Alam Market destroys four shops
• NASA finds new moon on Neptune
• Study: Later retirement may help prevent dementia
• Oil prices gain despite poor US, China data
• Pakistan to capitalise on hosts' struggling batsmen

Kerry returning to Mideast with peace talks on agenda Posted: WASHINGTON, District of Columbia, July 15, 2013 (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry was returning to Jordan Monday on his sixth trip to the region as he tries to push Israelis and Palestinians back to peace talks.Kerry will leave Monday for Amman where he will meet a delegation from the Arab League and Jordanian leaders, a top US official said.Since he took office on February 1, the US top diplomat has made a search for a long-elusive Middle East peace deal one of the top priorities of his tenure.But US officials were quick to downplay hopes that his return to the region signalled that an announcement was pending on a resumption of the talks, which have stalled since September 2010.They even could not immediately confirm whether he would meet with top Palestinian or Israeli leaders.A Palestinian official told AFP that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet Kerry in Jordan.It is expected that (Palestinian) president Abbas and Kerry will meet in Amman, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. We are waiting to see what new ideas Kerry will bring with him after his last tour of the region, he added.But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the full details of the trip were not yet finalized.Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Amman, Jordan, departing this afternoon, Psaki told reporters.He would meet on Wednesday with Jordanian leaders, including King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, as well as Arab League officials to provide an update on Middle East peace, she said.They would also discuss the political upheaval in Egypt and the conflict in Syria, and it was expected that Egypt, a key member of the Arab League, would send someone to the talks in Amman.But another US official said it was not known who would represent the interim Egyptian government following the July 3 ouster of Mohamed Morsi.Psaki downplayed expectations of any announcement of a resumption of talks, but she stressed: The secretary would not be going back to the region if he did not feel there was an opportunity to keep making steps forward.Last month the top US diplomat spent four days locked in intensive shuttle diplomacy seeking to coax the two sides to end a nearly three-year stalemate, and said with a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach.He left behind a team of top US officials who have been working to remove the last hurdles to fresh talks.

Police: Attacks around Iraq kill 9 people Posted: BAGHDAD (AP) - Attacks across Iraq killed nine people on Monday, including a 10-year-old boy out swimming with friends, the latest in a surge of violence rocking Iraq during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Violence in Iraq is now at its deadliest level in half a decade, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread bloodshed that pushed the country to the edge of civil war. More than 2,800 people have been killed since the start of April.Police said Mondays deadliest attack was a mortar barrage near a group of people trying to escape the blistering summer heat by swimming in the Tigris River near Samarra, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad.Four people were killed in the mortar shelling, including the boy, and 11 others were wounded, according to police.Temperatures in Baghdad soared above 45 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit).In the northern city of Kirkuk, a car bomb went off near a passing security patrol, killing a policeman and wounding 11 other people, including four civilians.The blast left a crater two meters (six feet) wide near the side of the road, and the charred hull of the blue police pickup truck lay mangled in the street.Hours later, a suicide bomber slammed his explosives-laden car into an army checkpoint near Kirkuk, killing two soldiers, according to Lt. Gen. Mohammed Khalaf, a senior military commander in the city.More than 140 people have been killed since Muslims in Iraq began observing Ramadan on Wednesday.The American and British Embassies each issued statements Monday condemning the daily rash of attacks.That these attacks have taken place during the holy month of Ramadan, a time for charity and compassion is especially disturbing, said Britains charge daffaires in Iraq, Robert Deane. This continued violence is clearly intended to fuel sectarian strife and destabilize the country.Pious Muslims go without food, drink, smoking and sex in the daytime during the holy month, when feelings of spiritual devotion are high. In the years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the start of Ramadan often also brought a wave of insurgent attacks a pattern being repeated this year.In other violence on Monday, police said gunmen sprayed a security checkpoint with bullets just south of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding four others.Hospital officials confirmed the death toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.Mondays attacks came a day after a wave of coordinated bombings in mostly Shiite cities and other attacks left at least 38 dead and scores wounded.

Putin accuses US of 'trapping' Snowden in Russia Posted: MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused the United States of trapping US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden in Moscow, saying he would leave Russia as soon as possible.As soon as theres the chance to move somewhere he will certainly do this, Putin said in his first public remarks since Snowden summoned several rights activists and lawyers for a dramatic meeting Friday at state-controlled Sheremetyevo airport.Putin accused Washington of preventing Snowden from leaving Russia after the fugitive ex-intelligence analyst arrived from Hong Kong on June 23.He arrived on our territory uninvited, he did not fly to us, he was flying in transit to other countries, Putin said in televised remarks.But as soon as he was in the air, it became known, and our American partners essentially blocked off his further flight.Snowden was checked in for a flight from Moscow to Havana, Cuba on June 24 but never boarded the plane.They themselves scared off all the other countries, no one wants to take him, and therefore they essentially themselves trapped him on our territory, Putin said.A nice gift to us for Christmas, the strongman president was quoted as saying by Russian reporters travelling with him on a visit to the island of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland.Asked what will happen to Snowden, Putin said: How would I know? Thats his life, his fate.But he also noted a change in position by Snowden, who said Friday he wanted to apply for asylum in Russia until he can travel on to Latin America.The Russian president conspicuously refrained from indicating if or when he might grant asylum to the worlds most famous fugitive.Putin said earlier this month that Snowden could claim asylum in Russia only if he stopped his leaks.The condition initially prompted Snowden to withdraw his application, before the rights activists who met him on Friday said he had promised not to harm US interests in the future.Judging by his latest statement, he is somewhat changing his position, but the situation has not been finally clarified so far, Putin said.Russias Federal Migration Service said earlier Monday that it had not yet received an application from Snowden.Putin, who is set to host US President Barack Obama for a bilateral summit in Moscow followed by the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg in early September, reiterated Russias refusal to damage ties with Washington for Snowdens sake.Putin said Russia had told Snowden: We have certain ties with the United States. We do not want you through your activity to damage our ties with the States.He said no. You are laughing but I am serious, added Putin, addressing a group of students.He said Snowden had vowed to continue his activism.We said: That will be without us, then. We have other battles to fight, he said with a smile.Snowden, whose passport has been revoked by Washington, has been marooned in the airports transit zone for the past three weeks.In a sign that Moscow may seriously consider an application from him, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, SergeiNaryshkin, said Friday that Snowden could apply for either temporary asylum or political asylum.Requests for political asylum are reviewed by the Kremlin and granted by the president.

UN divided on Iran sanctions violations Posted: UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council has refused to back a report by a panel of experts which unanimously concluded that Iran violated U.N. sanctions when it launched several ballistic missiles last July.Australias U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan, who chairs the committee monitoring sanctions on Iran, said Monday the council also refused to endorse the panels conclusion that Iran violated or probably violated sanctions by shipping weapons to Yemeni insurgents in January that were seized by the government.Quinlan told the council that a number of council members backed the panels view that the launches violated sanctions and therefore all U.N. member states should redouble efforts to implement ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran. But Quinlan said at this stage some committee members cannot share this view.

Congo army kills 120 M23 rebels: Spokesman Posted: GOMA (AP) - The Congolese army claimed on Monday that it killed 120 rebels in eastern Congo.The army has captured Kibati village from the rebels, according to local residents. Twelve Congolese troops were also killed in the fighting, said government spokesman Lambert Mende in the capital, Kinshasa.The heavy fighting between Congos army and the M23 rebels resumed Monday after erupting Sunday afternoon following the arrival from Rwanda of more than 100 armed men disguised in womens clothing, say residents.They were wearing kikwembe a Congolese shawl worn by women over their uniforms, and womens headscarves, said Bifumbu Ruhira, a farmer at the village of Kanyarucinya on the front line between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels, who started fighting the government last year.Ruhira told the Associated Press he saw the oddly dressed combatants get off two trucks on the Rwandan side and run across the border. They were wearing kikwembe to confuse us, to conceal the fact they were soldiers, he said. The whole village was afraid and I said to my wife, Get to Goma, he said, naming the nearby provincial capital which he thought would be safe from the fighting.A report by the United Nations panel of experts studying Congo, made public in June, alleges that Rwandan soldiers have joined the M23 in recent months, a claim that Rwanda adamantly denies.Last year, the U.N. experts alleged that entire units from the Rwandan army had travelled to Congo to reinforce the M23 in battle. Though Rwanda has consistently denied supporting M23, the allegations have been deemed plausible by numerous donor countries, which have cut off aid to Rwanda over the accusations.Both sides blamed each other for the renewed fighting.The Congolese army and Rwandan rebel allies attacked the M23 positions 12 kilometers (7 miles) north of Goma, charged rebel spokesman Vianney Kazarama.Small arms, mortar and rocket fire was moving westwards Sunday, suggesting the M23 made some initial gains.But the heavier fire appeared to be coming from the Congolese army, which was reinforced with tanks, and on Monday the army launched an attack at Kibati, an M23 controlled village.Peace talks between the Congolese government and the M23 stalled again last week as the head of the M23 delegation, Rene Abandi, complained that the head of the government delegation had left the talks.

PHF sacks Hanif Khan as hockey coach Posted: LAHORE (AFP) - Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) sacked hockey coach Hanif Khan on Monday over the national teams poor finish in the World Hockey League, which raised fears they will not qualify for next years World Cup.Hanif Khan, a gold medallist from the 1984 Olympics, served as coach during this months League in Malaysia where Pakistan dropped to seventh after topping the group phase.We have replaced Hanif Khan with Tahir Zaman, our consultant, as coach while Akhtar Rasool will remain the head coach and manager, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif Bajwa told reporters.The top three teams -- Germany, Argentina and England -- from the league qualified for the World Cup, to be held in the Netherlands next year.Pakistan now must win next months Asia Cup -- also scheduled in Malaysia -- to earn a berth in the World Cup, an event introduced to field hockey in 1971.We took into account managers report as Hanif failed to achieve an easy task, said Bajwa of the League, where Pakistan lost to South Korea in the quarter-finals.Zaman, a member of Pakistans last World Cup win in 1994 is a certified coach of the International Hockey Federation.Hanif lashed out at the decision to sack him.For the past two months there were efforts to displace me, Hanif Khan told AFP. I will hold a press conference to tell everyone about the politics in the PHF and of reasons for my ouster.Pakistan have won three Olympic gold medals in hockey and been world champions four times but have slumped at international level in the last few years.They finished at their worst 12th and last in the 2010 World Cup held in India and were eighth and seventh respectively in the last two Olympics.India, who also failed to qualify for the World Cup from a separate round of the league in the Netherlands, sacked their Australian coach Michael Nobbs earlier this month.Besides Pakistan and India, South Korea, China, Malaysia and Japan will feature in the Asia Cup.

Sharapova withdraws from Stanford with hip injury Posted: STANFORD (AP) - Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next weeks Bank of the West Classic at Stanford because of a left hip injury suffered during Wimbledon.Tournament director Kim Hall said in a statement Monday that organizers are disappointed for our fans. She added that unfortunately injuries are a part of the sport.The second-ranked Sharapova lost 6-3, 6-4 to Michelle Larcher de Brito in the second round of Wimbledon last month. Sharapova tumbled several times during the match, complaining about court conditions, taking a medical timeout and later saying she thought she strained a hip muscle.Sharapova announced on her website Saturday that she had hired Jimmy Connors as her new coach, one day after she parted ways with Thomas Hogstedt.

Brands beats Lorenzi, will meet Federer in Hamburg Posted: HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Daniel Brands advanced to a second-round match against top-seeded Roger Federer at the German Tennis Championships by beating Paolo Lorenzi 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.Federer is seeking his fifth title in Hamburg, where he won his first tournament title in 2002 and broke into the top 10. The 17-time Grand Slam champion entered the event after his early elimination in Wimbledon.Federer says Brands can serve super and plays constantly and vows not to underestimate the German.Brands says he has nothing to lose and is going to enjoy it. Like all seeded players, Federer had a bye into the second round.Other winners included Spanish pair Albert Montanes and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Real Madrid tops Forbes' most valuable teams list Posted: NEW YORK (AP) - Real Madrid tops Forbes list of 50 most valuable sports teams, with Manchester United and Barcelona holding the next two spots.Forbes says Real Madrid is worth $3.3 billion. The Spanish power moved up a spot from No. 2 last year.Man United, which was No. 1 last year, is worth $3.17 million. Barcelona, Real Madrids fierce rival and Spanish League champions last season, is worth $2.6 billion.The New York Yankees are fourth with a value of $2.3 billion and the Dallas Cowboys are fifth at $2.1 billion.Thirty of the 32 NFL teams made the list (http://onforb.es/15HuUAm ) , along with seven baseball teams and seven soccer teams.

Athletics: Coe vows to step up fight against drug cheats Posted: LONDON (AFP) - Sebastian Coe insists athletics chiefs will intensify the war against drugs cheats in the aftermath of the positive tests for Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell.It was revealed on Sunday that Americas Gay, the fastest man in the world this year, and Jamaicas former world record holder Powell had both tested positive for banned substances.It is not known which substance Gay took, although that should be confirmed after his B sample is analysed.Powell, who has run 9.88secs this year but failed to make the Jamaican team for next months World Championships, was tested at the national trials in June and returned an adverse finding for oxilofrine, a stimulant that boosts fat-burning.Jamaicas Sherone Simpson, a three-time Olympic medallist, has also tested positive.And Coe, vice-president of the international athletics federation IAAF and chairman of the British Olympic Association, is determined to ensure the sport clamps down on doping.The most important thing for me is that the testing system is working and for the sake of clean athletes it is very important we do not flinch in our efforts, he said.This is not a war we can afford to lose, and it is important for any athlete to know that if they want to risk cheating that they are going to get caught.Of course we would rather not wake up to the headlines that we have done today but we have taken a tough stance on doping and will continue to do so.We would rather have the short-term embarrassment from the sorts of stories we have today rather than a decline in the sport to a position where no one has any trust in the athletes. Thats what we are fighting for.We are still waiting for the B samples and as vice-president of the IAAF it is very important we go through this process in a proper way to really understand what we are dealing with.But the message is getting through and we are not taking our foot off the pedal.

Lahore: Fire at Shah Alam Market destroys four shops Posted: LAHORE (Dunya News) – According to details, fire erupted at the basement of a plaza in Bara Market situated in Shah Alam Market on early Tuesday morning.The fire, which started due to short circuit, quickly engulfed four shops and destroyed plastic toys and other material worth million of rupees.Rescue teams and fire brigade reached the sight and brought the fire under control after a hectic effort of two hours.

NASA finds new moon on Neptune Posted: WASHINGTON (AFP) - A tiny new moon has been spotted circling Neptune -- the 14th known to be orbiting the faraway planet, the US space agency said on Monday.The moon is the smallest ever glimpsed around Neptune and measures just about 12 miles (19 kilometers) across, based on observations from the Hubble Space telescope, NASA said.Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, and NASA said the moon, named S/2004 N1, is about 100 million times fainter than the dimmest star that can be seen with the naked eye.Astronomers found the moon by tracking a white dot that appeared repeatedly in more than 150 photos taken by Hubble from 2004 to 2009.Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, found the moon July 1 while studying the faint arcs around Neptune, NASA said.The moons and arcs orbit very quickly, so we had to devise a way to follow their motion in order to bring out the details of the system, he said.Its the same reason a sports photographer tracks a running athlete -- the athlete stays in focus, but the background blurs.The moon is believed to circle Neptune once every 23 hours.

Study: Later retirement may help prevent dementia Posted: BOSTON (AP) - New research boosts the use it or lose it theory about brainpower and staying mentally sharp. People who delay retirement have less risk of developing Alzheimers disease or other types of dementia, a study of nearly half a million people in France found.Its by far the largest study to look at this, and researchers say the conclusion makes sense. Working tends to keep people physically active, socially connected and mentally challenged all things known to help prevent mental decline.For each additional year of work, the risk of getting dementia is reduced by 3.2 percent, said Carole Dufouil, a scientist at INSERM, the French governments health research agency.She led the study and gave results Monday at the Alzheimers Association International Conference in Boston.About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimers is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimers 1 in 9 people aged 65 and over. What causes the mind-robbing disease isnt known and there is no cure or any treatments that slow its progression.France has had some of the best Alzheimers research in the world, partly because its former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, made it a priority. The country also has detailed health records on self-employed people who pay into a Medicare-like health system.Researchers used these records on more than 429,000 workers, most of whom were shopkeepers or craftsmen such as bakers and woodworkers. They were 74 on average and had been retired for an average of 12 years.Nearly 3 percent had developed dementia but the risk of this was lower for each year of age at retirement. Someone who retired at 65 had about a 15 percent lower risk of developing dementia compared to someone retiring at 60, after other factors that affect those odds were taken into account, Dufouil said.To rule out the possibility that mental decline may have led people to retire earlier, researchers did analyses that eliminated people who developed dementia within 5 years of retirement, and within 10 years of it.The trend is exactly the same, suggesting that work was having an effect on cognition, not the other way around, Dufouil said.France mandates retirement in various jobs civil servants must retire by 65, she said. The new study suggests people should work as long as they want because it may have health benefits, she said.June Springer, who just turned 90, thinks it does. She was hired as a full-time receptionist at Caffi Plumbing & Heating in Alexandria, Virginia, eight years ago.Id like to give credit to the company for hiring me at that age, she said. Its a joy to work, being with people and keeping up with current events. I love doing what I do. As long as God grants me the brain to use Ill take it every day.Heather Snyder, director of medical and scientific operations for the Alzheimers Association, said the study results dont mean everyone needs to delay retirement.Its more staying cognitively active, staying socially active, continue to be engaged in whatever it is thats enjoyable to you thats important, she said.My parents are retired but theyre busier than ever. Theyre taking classes at their local university, theyre continuing to attend lectures and theyre continuing to stay cognitively engaged and socially engaged in their lives.

Oil prices gain despite poor US, China data Posted: NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices pushed higher on Monday despite weak economic data in China and the United States, the two biggest global consumers of crude.In New York the benchmark WTI crude for August delivery gained 37 cents to $106.32 a barrel.In London trading, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August added 28 cents, settling at $109.09.China reported that economic growth slowed to a 7.5 percent pace in the April-June quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the previous three months.The slower growth rate came in as expected, which analysts said might explain the lack of impact on the market.China has also been heavily relied upon to lift the rest of the world out of the slump, Gekko Markets analyst Anita Paluch told AFP.As such, every piece of news tends to dominate the headlines. With today's data, this seems to have been priced in.Even so, Paluch said, slower growth will have impact on those countries who have strong trade links with China, like Australia, Brazil and (the) Southeast Asia region.Crude prices also showed little reaction to the US Commerce Department's report of a tepid 0.4 percent expansion in retail sales in June, a number which led economists to cut their US growth estimates for the second quarter.New York oil spiked last week to a 15-month pinnacle of $107.45 -- last seen in late March 2012 -- after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged to retain the central bank's easy-money stimulus policy.The market has also won a boost from supply fears linked to the political turmoil in Egypt.But Citi Futures analyst Timothy Evans said the market was still looking expensive.After a 21.6 percent rise this year in the WTI contract price, he said, we view the market as increasingly overvalued relative to its underlying fundamentals, with possible risk to more conservative valuations such as $82-85 for WTI and $90-95 for Brent over the intermediate term.

Pakistan to capitalise on hosts' struggling batsmen Posted: PROVIDENCE (AFP) - In the wake of a thumping 126-run series-opening victory, Pakistan will again seek to capitalise on the struggles of the West Indies batting line-up for the second One-Day International at the Guyana National Stadium on Today (Tuesday).The match between Pakistan and West Indies will start at 6:00pm (PST).Sundays capitulation for just 98 represented a continuation of the declining performances of the Caribbean sides batsmen.At the preceding Tri-Nations Series also involving Sri Lanka and eventual winners India, West Indies won their first two matches in Jamaica but were eliminated from the final on the back of heavy defeats in their remaining encounters in Trinidad with the team managing totals of 171 and 190 for nine.Its about a lack of confidence among the batters, West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo lamented following the humiliating loss in front of a full house on Sunday.When youre not scoring runs, things just dont seem to go your way. Its really tough.Compounding the woes of the home side is the fact that their only other batting option in the 13-man squad, Devon Smith, failed to score in the two innings he played during the Tri-Nation Series.It suggests therefore that the West Indies essentially have no choice but to persist with the same combination for the second match in the hope that they can come good against a top-class bowling line-up and in conditions that Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has acknowledged are very challenging.It was one of the most difficult pitches on which Ive ever played. It was seaming. It was even stopping a bit, was Misbahs post-match assessment of the playing surface.Shahid Afridi played a really good innings for us, you really cant be too hard on the other batsmen on a pitch like this.Pakistan rallied from 47 for five to 224 for nine on the back of Afridis bludgeoning 76 and Misbahs patient 51.The all-rounder then returned the outstanding bowling figures of seven for 12 in routing the West Indies.Conditions are not expected to be much different for the second game on Tuesday. The teams then head to St Lucia for the remaining three matches of the series.It is unprecedented for senior international cricket to be played in Guyana at the start of the rainy season, and with inclement weather on Monday forcing the West Indies to cancel their scheduled practice session, batsmen on both sides are again expected to face an almighty task on a pitch offering considerable assistance to the bowlers.

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