DINA for the issue of August 22, 2014

DAWN INTERNET NEWS ALERT	August 22, 2014 | Shawwal 25, 1435
The DAWN Internet News Alert (DINA) is a free daily news service from Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the Daily DAWN.
Govt, PTI back to square one Khawar Ghumman Islamabad: Less than half a day after meeting each other, the government and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday suspended their committee-level talks and were back to exchanging barbs.	For suggestions and comments: Email: webmaster@dawn.com Website: http://www.dawn.com Fax: +92(21) 35693995 Karachi Stocks up 200.41 points: KARACHI, August 21 : At the close of trading, the KSE-100 index was 28865.25,up 200.41 po Forex Update : KARACHI, August 21: The Pakistani Rupee was traded at 100.75 to the US Dollar in the open market.
PTI workers will remain peaceful, SC assured Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD: The Sup­re­me Court maintained on Thursday its cautious stance on the political impasse between the government and the parties holding sit-ins in the federal capital after Hamid Khan, representing PTI Chairman Imran Khan, said his party was against extra-constitutional measures and its workers and supporters would remain peaceful. “The PTI has a commitment to the constitutional rule and will abide by the Constitution. Its workers will neither storm any building nor obstruct free movement,” the counsel assured a five-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.
NA rejects demand for Sharif’s resignation Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly, minus the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and some allies, on Thursday unanimously rejected the demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and its dissolution, but the prime minister himself would not give out his mind as crowds besieging parliament pressed on for his ouster. The rejection, in a joint resolution signed by various parties, came as the house still had no inkling of any progress, or failure, of talks between government-mandated mediators and negotiators of the PTI and non-parliamentary Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) over their demands for Mr Sharif’s removal for alleged rigging of last year’s general elections and for fresh polls under reformed electoral laws.
US throws its weight behind PM Anwar Iqbal WASHINGTON: The United States has firmly put its weight behind the “elected government”, declaring that it did not support any “extra-constitutional chan­ges” in Pakistan or those “attempting to impose” such changes. At a news briefing in Washing­ton, State Department spokesperson Marie Harf made it clear that the US believed “Nawaz Sharif was elected and is prime minister” and that “there’s a government in place that was elected”.
Talks stall as Imran, Qadri look to regroup Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD: The process of dialogue, that began a day earlier, came to a screeching halt on Thursday as both the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) lashed out at the government for trying to sabotage the talks by trying to seal off the sit-in venue. Warning the United States against interfering in the “internal affairs” of Pakistan, PTI chief Imran Khan went as far as to declare, “As long as I am alive, I will not move from here,” as he reiterated his call for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down.
Footprints: Metaphors in Maples Aurangzaib Khan WE came across a maple on a morning walk, at its base a gaping black hole, a hollow for a heart. Some tramp made fire here. And still, the gnarled old tree grew. Maples, it would seem, are more resilient than men. They can survive a hole in their side. Of the people of Parachinar, I wouldn’t be so sure. I can only detect a simile for their sorrow in a wounded maple, the tree the town is named after.
Israel kills three Hamas commanders in Gaza Agencies GAZA CITY: Three senior Hamas commanders and four children were among 24 Palestinians killed in Gaza on Thursday as Israel stepped up air strikes on day 45 of the bloody conflict. Apart from the 24 people killed in air strikes, rescue workers found the body of a child under the rubble who had been killed on Tuesday and a man died of his injuries sustained earlier in the conflict, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Hamas, which dominates Gaza, named the slain commanders as Mohammed Abu Shammala, Raed al-Attar and Mohammed Barhoum, the three highest-ranking casualties it has announced since Israel started its offensive six weeks ago.
Amid Afghanistan’s escalating war, a battle to beat polio Reuters KABUL: Tens of thousands of volunteers fanned out across Afghanistan this week, braving deteriorating security situation and distrusting parents to administer two chilled drops of the oral polio vaccine each to millions of children. Keeping the highly infectious polio disease in check in any country is a daunting task. But in a nation where Taliban militants are fast gaining ground against government forces, it’s also a dangerous one.
Nine men freed from Bagram Hassan Belal Zaidi ISLAMABAD: Nine Pakistani detainees have been released from the infamous prison at the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and repatriated to Pakistan, the Foreign Office (FO) told Dawn on Thursday. According to a statement issued by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) — a legal aid firm that represents some of the detainees — the families of the released prisoners were informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the men had been handed over to Pakistani authorities.
US moves against hawala group The Newspaper's Correspondent WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday targeted the financial and leadership networks of the Taliban by designating one entity and two individuals as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. The Pakistan-based hawala group, Haji Basir and Zarjmil Company and, its owner, Haji Abdul Basir, have been designated for providing financial services or other support to the Taliban, the US Department of Treasury said.
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