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Ten-party alliance’s strike today in Sindh against riggings

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 7:00:13 AM

Staff Report
KARACHI: An alliance comprising ten political, religious, and nationalist parties has given call for shutter-down strike against alleged riggings in recent general elections, SAMAA reported Wednesday.

Keeping in view the strike, Mehran Engineering University, Sindh University Jamshoro and Mirpur Khas postponed the examinations slated for today. However, Hyderabad Education Board will conduct its examination schedule.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muslim League-Functional, Qaumi Awami Tehreek, Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Sindh United Party and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have given the strike call against the alleged rigging in May 11 polls.

Leaders hailing from these parties complain that May 11 elections were rigged; hence, the people should reject them by taking to streets and getting their protest recorded against the so-called polls. –SAMAA

Asian stocks cheered by Fed reassurance, yen awaits Bank of Japan

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 6:34:22 AM

SYDNEY: Asian stocks rose on Wednesday following a positive lead from Wall Street with Japan's Nikkei reaching a 5-1/2 year high, while the yen took a defensive stance ahead of the outcome of the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) policy meeting.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent, reversing some of Tuesday's 0.4 percent decline. Australian stocks advanced 0.2 percent, while the South Korean market climbed 0.4 percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei gained 0.9 percent, breaking above 15,500 for the first time in over five years.

"The buying just doesn't stop," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.

"Today, if the Nikkei gets above 15,500, volatility could increase, trading could become choppy, but with foreigners still buying Japanese shares, the trend might still point upward for a while."

Investors took heart after two senior Federal Reserve officials dampened market speculation that the U.S. central bank might start tapering its stimulus programme this year.

That helped the Dow and the S&P 500 close at new all-time highs on Tuesday.

Markets will be looking for more clues on the Fed's next move when Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before Congress later on Wednesday.

His remarks will be followed by the release of minutes of the last Fed meeting, which economists expect to give further details of how it will eventually manage the exit from ultra-easy policy.

"Market participants will be looking for any hints of potential changes in the Federal Reserve's asset purchase programme" Nomura analysts wrote in a note.

"With unemployment high and inflation below target, we do not think that the FOMC is ready to scale back its accommodation. Consequently, we do not expect the Chairman's testimony or the minutes to signal that a change in policy is imminent."

Closer to home, the BOJ will take centre stage when it announces its policy decision at 4:30 a.m.-6 a.m. British time. This will be followed by a media briefing by Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.

The BOJ is expected to stand pat on monetary policy, but may front-load bond purchases or offer funds via market operations more frequently to help ease recent volatility in bond markets.

Last month, the BOJ unleashed the world's most intense burst of stimulus, promising to inject $1.4 trillion (923.5 billion pounds) into the economy in less than two years to meet its pledge of achieving 2 percent inflation in roughly two years.

Following recent encouraging data, Japanese exports rose a less-than-expected 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier, marking a second straight month of gains.

Caution ahead of the BOJ decision kept the yen pinned down. The dollar, which climbed 0.2 percent against the Japanese currency on Tuesday, held steady at 102.52.

The euro rose 0.3 percent to 132.56, adding to Tuesday's 0.4 percent gain.

Commodity markets were subdued ahead of the key central bank events. Copper traded at $7,373.00 a tonne, while Brent crude was a touch softer at $103.54 a barrel. --REUTERS

Congolese army, rebels clash for a second day, 19 dead

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:49:30 AM

GOMA: Two days of clashes between Congo's army and rebel fighters near the eastern city of Goma have killed at least 19 people, threatening an uneasy six-month peace just days before a scheduled visit by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Government forces and the M23 insurgents began exchanging heavy weapons fire for a second day early on Tuesday, with explosions still being heard late into the afternoon.

A Reuters witness saw rebel fighters blocking the road heading north away from the city, as civilians streamed out of combat zones clutching their belongings and driving their livestock in front of them.

"The M23 tried to overrun our positions and we're in the process of pushing them back," army spokesman Colonel Olivier Hamuli told Reuters. "We're very confident (of defending Goma)".

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said 15 rebels and four government soldiers had been killed in Monday's clashes north of Goma, the biggest city in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Details of casualties from Tuesday's fighting were not immediately available, but both military and rebel sources said the shelling had caused further deaths.

The fighting was the first since November, when M23 troops routed Democratic Republic of Congo's army - the FARDC - and briefly seized Goma, despite the presence of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers.

M23 spokesman Amani Kabasha denied starting the clashes, saying the rebels had come under heavy army shelling for a second day and the group's military commander, Sultani Makenga, had given the order to respond.

"It seems the government wants to fight," he said. "There is no political will for bringing peace through a negotiated settlement".

During its year-long insurgency, the M23 has repeatedly used alleged army aggression as a pretext to launch offensives, but has been weakened in recent months by infighting and defections. The Congolese army is also struggling to reorganise after its humiliating defeat in Goma last year.

U.N. experts accused Rwanda of sending troops and weapons across the border to support the M23 last year. Rwanda denies the accusation.

Peace talks between the M23 and the Congolese government in Kampala, the capital of neighbouring Uganda, have stalled.

M23 is mainly made up of the members of a previous Tutsi-dominated rebel group which integrated into the ranks of the army following a 2009 peace deal.

But they deserted en masse last year and have stepped up training in their strongholds in preparation for the deployment of a U.N. Intervention Brigade with a mandate to neutralise armed groups across the region.

The U.N. brigade will count some 3,000 troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi operating alongside the existing 17,000 strong peacekeeping mission.

Ban is due to arrive in Goma this week with the president of the World Bank as part of a high-profile visit to push for an end to nearly two decades of violence in the mineral-rich region which has left millions dead.

On a stopover in Mozambique on Tuesday, Ban described the situation in eastern Congo as "very dangerous" and said he hoped to deploy the Intervention Brigade "as soon as possible".

He said he had already appointed a force commander but gave no more details on the deployment timing. --REUTERS

Miliband says Google tax behaviour 'wrong'

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 5:47:41 AM

LONDON: Google Inc's tax affairs will come under renewed scrutiny in Britain on Wednesday when the leader of the opposition Labour party accuses the Internet company of wrongly going to "extraordinary lengths" to avoid paying tax.

In comments designed to politically outflank Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of next month's G8 summit on what has become a high-profile issue, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, will say he is disappointed that Google pays so little tax.

"I can't be the only person here who feels disappointed that such a great company as Google ... would be reduced to arguing that when it employs thousands of people in Britain, makes billions of pounds of revenue in Britain, it pays just a fraction of that in tax," Miliband will tell a Google event held just outside London.

"So when Google does great things for the world, as it does, I applaud you, but when Google goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid paying its taxes, I think it's wrong."

Google's methods of minimising its British tax bill have made front page headlines in Britain and angered voters at a time when their own incomes are being squeezed, putting pressure on politicians to be seen to be taking action.

MPs have accused Google of using "smoke and mirrors" to avoid paying tax and the firm's Northern Europe boss, Matt Brittin, was called back to testify to MPs after a Reuters investigation showed the company employed staff in sales roles in London, even though he had told the committee in November its British staff were not "selling" to UK clients.

But Cameron, who has placed global tax regulation at the heart of the G8 summit he is chairing in June, has been coy about singling Google out for criticism, preferring to talk more generally about corporate tax avoidance.

Miliband, whose party is ahead of Cameron's Conservatives by up to 10 percentage points in opinion polls, criticised Cameron for not taking a tougher line.

"Google is said to have paid only 10 million pounds in corporation tax in the UK between 2006 and 2011, despite revenues of 11.9 billion pounds," Miliband wrote separately in a blog for The Huffington Post UK on Tuesday.

"I was surprised the prime minister failed to raise this when (Google Executive Chairman) Eric Schmidt attended the business advisory council's meeting." Cameron was too distracted by other issues, he said.

Britain will host a meeting of G8 leaders on June 17-18 at a golf resort in Northern Ireland and Cameron said in April that tax compliance was one of his G8 priorities.

Google is one of several high-profile companies to face far greater scrutiny of its tax affairs in recent months. Apple Inc., Microsoft and Amazon.com have all been in the spotlight at a time of weak economic growth, high levels of public debt and squeezed household incomes in Britain. --REUTERS

Iran bars candidates for presidential election

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 4:59:00 AM

DUBAI: Iranian authorities barred two potentially powerful and disruptive candidates from running in next month's presidential election on Tuesday, ensuring a contest largely among hardliners loyal to the clerical supreme leader.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a veteran companion of the Islamic Republic's founder, a former president and thought potentially sympathetic to reform, was denied a place on the ballot by the Guardian Council of clerics and jurists, state media said.

So too was Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close aide to outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose hardline followers have jockeyed with those of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Both rejections may generate angry responses and Mashaie for one said he would appeal, while urging supporters to stay calm.

Most of the remaining eight men on the ballot for the first round on June 14 are seen as loyalists to Khamenei, who seems determined to avoid a repeat of the popular unrest that followed Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009 - especially at a time when Iran is engaged in bitter economic, diplomatic and military confrontations with the West, Israel and its Arab neighbours.

The outcome - and the extent to which voters will turn out to lend the election legitimacy - remain in considerable doubt.

There is no clear frontrunner in a field that now includes Saeed Jalili, the chief negotiator for Iran's controversial nuclear programme, Ali Akbar Velayati, Khamenei's foreign policy adviser, and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran.

With economic hardships increasing as a result of Western sanctions over the nuclear dispute, some Iranians have favoured a change of tack and there is still substantial public support for reformist leaders who disputed their electoral defeat four years ago and are now under house arrest.

Some of that might have been channelled to Rafsanjani, 78, a key figure alongside Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the 1979 Revolution, who was president from 1989 to 1997 and in 2009 earned the wrath of hardliners by sympathising with reformists during the worst unrest since the state was founded.

Two of Rafsanjani's children have recently been imprisoned.

Like Mashaie, an almost constant presence by the outspoken Ahmadinejad's side, Rafsanjani registered his candidacy at the last moment, shaking up a race that failed to inspire enthusiasm among an electorate more concerned about economic difficulties.

PROTESTS
Khamenei could over-rule the Guardian Council and reinstate candidates but analysts said the moves at this stage, especially against Rafsanjani, appeared designed to nip protest in the bud.

"The cost of disqualifying Rafsanjani now is significantly less than dealing with him down the road," said Yasmin Alem, a U.S.-based analyst. "Allowing him to run and mobilise the electorate and then try to change the results would have been more costly. This is a lesson from 2009."

Four years ago, Ahmadinejad was declared outright winner in the first round against three other candidates including the reformist Mirhossein Mousavi, sparking weeks of protests. Mousavi and another leader of the liberal "Green Movement", Mehdi Karoubi, have been under house arrest for over two years.

The other five approved candidates on the Interior Ministry list were: Mohsen Rezaie, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards; Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, another close aide to Khamenei; Hassan Rohani, a former nuclear negotiator close to Rafsanjani; Mohammad Gharazi, a former telecommunications minister; and Mohammad Reza Aref, the only clear reformist left on the list.

"All of the approved candidates are either loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei or are mostly irrelevant," said Alireza Nader, an analyst at RAND Corporation. "Khamenei may still overturn the decision, but Rafsanjani's disqualification shows that Khamenei is determined to wield all power. This appears to be a presidential selection rather than an election."

Rafsanjani is seen as a "pillar of the revolution" because of his closeness to the late Khomeini and has been near the heart of power since the revolution. His candidacy was regarded as a significant threat to all other contenders.

Though the presidency is subordinate to Khamenei, who succeeded as supreme leader on Khomeini's death in 1989, the possibility the Rafsanjani might recalibrate domestic and foreign policies to limit economic and diplomatic stresses had already led to a groundswell of public support for him and his candidacy was quickly endorsed by reformist groups.

Given a rivalry between Rafsanjani and Khamenei that goes back 50 years, the former president may not go quietly.

MASHAIE
Ahmadinejad ally Mashaie was quoted by Fars news agency as saying he would contest the Guardian Council's decision: "I consider my disqualification unjust and I will pursue a resolution to it via the supreme leader."

His campaign office issued a statement calling for restraint by his followers: "We ask all grassroots and spontaneous staff and supporters of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie to stay calm," it said, "And organise their activities so that they do not provide the means for malice by enemies of the Islamic Revolution."

The Guardian Council, a 12-strong panel of clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader and Islamic jurists nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament, has the power to reject any candidate it deems unfit. No reasons were given for its decisions to bar Rafsanjani and Mashaie. A statement quoted by state media said there would be no recourse to appeal.

A new president would be unlikely to make any rapid change to Iran's nuclear or foreign policy, both of which are controlled by the supreme leader, but analysts say Rafsanjani would have sought a thaw in relations with the West.

In the United States, the "Great Satan" for Iran's leaders, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell urged the Tehran authorities to give Iranians a free vote: "The Council narrowed the list of almost 700 potential candidates down to eight officials based solely on who the regime believes will represent its interests, rather than those of the Iranian people." --REUTERS

Abducted ex-AG Balochistan Salahuddin recovered

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 4:52:56 AM

Staff Report
QUETTA: Former Advocate General Balochistan Salahud Din Mengal, who was abducted from the city area of Sariab Road on April 3, has reached his home safely late yesterday, SAMAA reported Wednesday.

It should be mentioned here that some unidentified miscreants abducted him close to his residence located in Sariab Road area on April 3.

Salahud Din Mengal’s younger brother Advocate Najmud Din said no ransom money was paid up for his release; instead, he was recovered as a result of efforts put up by government and police department.

Najmud Din thanked lawyers organization and tribal veterans on their efforts for release of his abducted brother.

Meantime, Balochistan Bar Association and High Court Bar Association announced to put an end to four-day strike against Mengal’s kidnapping. –SAMAA

Dollar dips vs euro before Bernanke testimony; yen weakens

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 4:22:41 AM

NEW YORK: The U.S. dollar fell against the euro on Tuesday after comments from Federal Reserve officials dented expectations the U.S. central bank may taper its bond purchases anytime soon.

But the dollar rose against the yen, a day before the Bank of Japan concludes a two-day policy meeting. Traders widely expect the yen to fall further on expectations Japan will continue its aggressive monetary easing.

The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.2906, having reached a session peak of $1.2933 and moving away from a six-week low of $1.2795 touched on Friday, according to Reuters data.

Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.2 percent at 102.48 yen, coming off a session peak of 102.88 yen.

Investors scrutinized Fed comments after speculation grew that it is edging closer to tapering bond buying as the labor market improves. Focus now shifts to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told an event in Frankfurt the Fed should continue quantitative easing, adjusting the pace of bond buying according to incoming data, and said U.S. inflation has recently been below target.

New York Fed President William Dudley said the economy's ability to weather lower government spending and higher taxes in the coming months will be key to the Fed's decision on whether to reduce bond purchases. Both are voting members of the Fed's policy-setting committee.

"Our view remains that Bernanke will not favor near-term 'tapering' at tomorrow's testimony and he will not support 'tapering' before he steps down as Fed Chair in January 2014," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at BNY Mellon in New York.

Analysts said if Bernanke reiterates his ultra-loose monetary policy stance, the dollar could give back some of its recent gains, but any suggestion of the Fed winding down asset purchases later this year would give a huge boost to the dollar.

"Bernanke may not be that direct and therefore I would look for implicit clues," said Paresh Upadhyaya, director of currency at Pioneer Investments in Boston. For example, if Bernanke talks about the strength of the U.S. economy or that policymakers are less concerned about the economy, markets may take that as a sign the Fed is closer to an exit, analysts said.

Also on Wednesday, the Fed will release the minutes of its April 30-May 1 policy setting meeting.

The yen had rallied from a 4-1/2-year low against the dollar on Monday after Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari suggested the yen's strength had been largely corrected.

But on Tuesday, he said he hoped the yen settled at a level justified by fundamentals and at which the impact on imports and exports was balanced.

"It appears that Mr. Amari has been reprimanded by Japanese policy leadership, not a small coincidence considering that the Bank of Japan is meeting and will announce its latest measures, if any, tomorrow," said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at DailyFX in New York.

The BOJ, which began a two-day meeting on Tuesday, is expected to keep policy unchanged but could tinker with its bond-buying plan to curb a recent rise in Japanese yields.

The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.1 percent to 83.824, not far from Friday's peak of 84.371, its highest since July 2010.

The index has gained 5 percent so far this year on speculation the Fed may start winding down its stimulus sooner than expected.

Some analysts said any near-term dollar weakness would be temporary. The U.S. economy is growing while the euro zone is in recession and the Bank of Japan is committed to flooding the market with liquidity to boost Japanese inflation to 2 percent.

The euro reached a four-month high against the Swiss franc on Tuesday at 1.2529 francs, according to Reuters data, and was last up 0.5 percent at 1.2518 francs. The dollar rose 0.3 percent to 0.9699 franc. --REUTERS

Chinese PM to arrive in Islamabad on 2-day visit today

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 4:15:02 AM

Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang will arrive today in Pakistan from New Delhi on a two-day official’s visit along with a high-level delegation to foster further the existing time tested Pak-China friendly relations, SAMAA reported Wednesday.

According to the Foreign Office, various agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) will be signed in different fields including science and technology, space technology, telecommunication, energy and economic during the visit of Chinese premier.

President Asif Ali Zardari will host a luncheon for the distinguished guest in which leadership of all the political parties has also been invited. The Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso will also host a banquet for his Chinese counterpart.

On the second day of his visit, President of Pakistan Muslim League-N Mian Nawaz Sharif will call on Mr. Li Keqiang. He will also hold a joint meeting with the Senate Chairman and the Speaker National Assembly. Later, he will visit Pak-China Friendship Centre and witness a cultural show. He will plant a sapling at Shakarparian. –SAMAA

Altaf dissolves MQM’s Tanzimi Committee in Karachi

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 3:47:47 AM

Staff Report
KARACHI: Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain late yesterday dissolved his party’s ‘Karachi Tanzeemi Committee’ (KTC), SAMAA reported Wednesday.

Addressing an important meeting of the party workers and KTC at Lal Qila Ground, Azizabad, he said such a system will be put in place that no person stays in an office for more than three years.

The decision regarding the KTC’s dissolution was made following observations and recommendations made by public and party workers during a general workers meeting held at Party’s head-quarters known as Nine Zero.

Altaf Hussain also appealed to all those senior party workers who have been inactive for a while to rejoin the party for the sake of the nation and the party’s cause. –SAMAA

Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions high

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 3:17:39 AM

BAGHDAD: A series of bomb and gun attacks across Iraq killed more than 40 people on Tuesday, a day after over 70 died in violence targeting majority Shi'ites that has stoked fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis.

Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past week as sectarian tensions, fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, threaten to plunge Iraq back into communal bloodletting.

Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds have yet to find a stable power-sharing deal and violence is again on the upswing.

In the biggest single incident on Tuesday, a car bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque in the Abu Ghraib area of western Baghdad killing 11 people and wounding 21, police and medics said.

"I heard a powerful bang and a fireball near the main gate of the mosque," said Uday Raheem, a policeman whose patrol was stationed near the mosque.

"We held back a while fearing a second explosion and then rushed to the blast location. The bodies of worshippers were scattered and some were shouting for help. bleeding to death."

Another bomb outside a cafe in the Doura district of southern Baghdad killed six more and wounded 18.

In Diyala province northeast of the capital, at least eight people, including two policemen, were killed in bombs and shootings, and in Kanaan, also to the northeast, two roadside bombs detonated in quick succession claiming three lives.

In the north of the country, three roadside bombs exploded near a livestock market in the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk, killing six people and shredding the bodies of humans and animals alike.

Mahmoud Jumaa, whose cousin was killed in the multiple bombings, appeared bewildered by their random nature.

"I heard the explosions, but never thought this place would be targeted since these animals have nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with sect, nothing to do with ethnicity or religion," he said.

Kirkuk is in a disputed oil-rich swathe of Iraq claimed both by the Shi'ite-dominated government in Baghdad and ethnic Kurds who run their own autonomous administration in the north.

Two car bomb blasts killed three people in a residential part of the town of Tuz Khurmato, also in the disputed area.

North of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed three soldiers at a checkpoint in Tarmiya, police and medics said, and in Khalis gunmen broke into a house and killed and man and his wife, both of them Sunni Muslims.

The conflict in Syria, where mostly Sunni rebels are fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, is turning in part into a regional proxy war between Sunni and Shi'ite powers.

Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah group is now openly fighting alongside Assad's forces, which are dominated by members of his minority Shi'ite-linked Alawite sect.

Iraq's Sunnis who resent their treatment by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government have staged mass protests since December. Sunni militants, some of them linked to al Qaeda, have exploited the unrest, urging Sunnis to take up arms.

More than 700 people died violently in April, according to the United Nations, the highest monthly figure in almost five years. Iraq suffered a frenzy of Sunni-Shi'ite violence in 2006-07, when monthly death tolls sometimes topped 3,000. --REUTERS

Director Ang Lee leaves pilot of TV series 'Tyrant'

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 3:13:12 AM

LOS ANGELES: Oscar winner Ang Lee canceled his plans to direct the pilot of new U.S. television series "Tyrant," saying on Tuesday that he needed to rest after spending four years working on 3D fantasy-adventure film "Life of Pi."

Lee, 58, signed on to direct the pilot of the drama series for cable network FX in March, shortly after winning the Best Director Oscar for "Life of Pi."

"It is one of the most brilliant ideas for a series that I've seen and one about which I was very excited," Lee said in a statement. "However, after spending over four years making and promoting 'Life of Pi,' I have recently realized that I need some rest."

"Tyrant" tells the story of an American family that is pulled into the workings of a restive Middle Eastern nation, and Lee was slated to begin filming the pilot this summer.

It would have been the Taiwanese-born director's first foray into television.

"Tyrant" is produced by Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff, who also are producers on Showtime's Emmy-winning counter-terrorism thriller "Homeland."

FX, which did not immediately reply to messages seeking comment, is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corp. --REUTERS

Murray pulls out of French Open through injury

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 3:04:00 AM

LONDON: Britain's world number two Andy Murray has pulled out of the French Open due to a back injury, the BBC reported on Tuesday.

"It's been a really tough decision, and I love playing in Paris, but after seeking medical advice I'm not fit to compete," Murray was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Murray retired injured in the Italian Open second round in Rome on his 26th birthday last Wednesday after levelling his match with Spaniard Marcel Granollers by winning the second set.

The French Open starts on May 26. --REUTERS

Microsoft unveils new Xbox One game console

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:36:00 PM

REDMOND: Microsoft Corp gave the world the first look at its new game console on Tuesday, hoping the Xbox One will attract existing video game fans while also becoming a hub for living room entertainment.

The third-generation Microsoft console, coming eight years after the Xbox 360, was unveiled by games unit chief Don Mattrick at an event at the software company's campus near Seattle.

The Xbox One is an "ultimate all-in-one entertainment system," Mattrick said.

The console will launch worldwide "later this year," the company said without providing an exact timeframe.

The new device interacts with a television, responds to voice and gesture commands, and includes Skype video calling, 15 exclusive game titles and original programming content.

Acclaimed movie maker Steven Spielberg will be creating a premium television series based on Microsoft's blockbuster sci-fi game "Halo" for the Xbox One, the company said.

The new console will offer exclusive National Football League content and eight new game franchises, executives said.

It will have 8 gigabytes of memory, with an updated controller and new-generation Kinect sensor that communicates a user's voice and gesture commands to the console. The technology is built on the Xbox operating system and the kernel of Windows software to handle Internet-based content.

The Xbox One will chiefly compete with Nintendo Co's new Wii U and Sony Corp's forthcoming PlayStation 4 for a bigger slice of the $65 billion-a-year computer game market.

But the world's largest software company also sees it as a broader strategic piece in the battle with Apple Inc, Google Inc and others to control consumer entertainment in the age of tablets and smartphones.

Microsoft's stock was off 5 cents at $35.03 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq. --REUTERS

PML-N plans roundtable conference on Karachi unrest

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:06:47 PM

Staff Report

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) has decided to convene a roundtable conference in the wake of poor law and order situation in Karachi.

According to sources, PML-N has ruled out the option of military operation to restore peace in the country’s commercial capital.

Sources add that peace could be restored in Karachi only through dialogue. – SAMAA

Karachi: PTI stages sit-in against alleged rigging

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 9:17:08 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday staged a token sit-in at the office of Election Commission in Karachi over alleged rigging.

Participants of the sit-in chanted slogans against the election rigging and caretaker government. They also called for re-run across Karachi.

Shara-e-Iraq was closed for traffic due to the protset.

Later, they ended the protest and dispersed peacefully. – SAMAA

Govt bans CNG for over 1000cc vehicles

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 8:58:07 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to put a ban on filling of compressed natural gas (CNG) in above 1000cc vehicles.

The government has directed authorities to ensure the ban is implemented.

“If any gas station owner fills CNG to vehicles over 1000cc, he will have to pay a fine of Rs 50,000,” it said.

The decision has been made in line with the crippling gas shortage. – SAMAA

Imran Khan to be discharged from SKMH Thursday

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 8:10:05 PM

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan will be discharged from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMC) early Thursday morning.

According to a statement released by the SKMC administration, Imran Khan was fitted with a specially designed spinal support, or brace. Following this, he stood upright and unsupported for the first time since his injury two weeks ago.

It said that Imran walked unaided for over 300 metres and remained pain-free throughout this time.

“We anticipate that Imran will Inshallah, be discharged from hospital tomorrow afternoon.”

He will continue to receive regular physiotherapy and is likely to need to wear the spinal support for some weeks to come.

It added Imran will gradually increase physical activity over the next few weeks with a return to his full functional capacity expected in approximately six to eight weeks. – SAMAA

Jordan keeps out Syrian refugees in border clampdown

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 7:47:23 PM

AMMAN: Jordan has turned away thousands of Syrian refugees in the past week in the first such clampdown since the crisis in Syria began more than two years ago, diplomats, activists and aid workers said on Tuesday.

Jordan, due to host an international conference on Syria on Wednesday, has already taken in 473,587 Syrians out of a total of 1.5 million who have fled the conflict in an exodus that has accelerated in the past four months, U.N. figures show.

All four unofficial crossing points used by refugees trying to escape bombardments in the southern province of Deraa have been closed for the past six days, refugees and aid workers say, although the official frontier post at Jaber remained open.

They said Syrian families trying to pass into Jordan from the rebel-held border villages of Nasib and Tel Shehab had been turned away with no reason given by the Jordanians.

"The Jordanian authorities have stopped receiving refugees whatever their circumstance, except the wounded," Abu Hussein al-Zubi, a Syrian aid worker contacted by phone in Nasib, where he said at least 1,000 refugees were stranded.

"There are now many refugees gathering on the border trying to enter Jordan and waiting for the border to open," he said.

The daily exodus is facilitated by Syrian rebels and Jordanian troops on either side of a border marked only by a barbed wire barrier and Jordanian sentry towers.

A Western diplomat linked the closure to security measures before Wednesday's "Friends of Syria" meeting in Amman, where foreign ministers of Western and Gulf states opposed to Assad will discuss the quest for a political solution in Syria.

"The Jordanians are worried about security issues (and) are sending signals to the international community highlighting the huge refugee burden they are now shouldering," he said.
Resource-poor Jordan has long sought to win more outside help in its struggle to cope with the vast influx of refugees.

In Geneva, a U.N. official said it was important that Jordan keep its borders open to refugees.

"Of course we are discussing with everybody, we are discussing with the Jordanian government to make sure that people are able to cross without facing any difficulty to reach safety wherever they are," Panos Moumtzis, regional coordinator of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told a news briefing.

UNHCR's representative in Jordan, Andrew Harper, confirmed to Reuters that the refugee flow had slowed to a trickle in the last few days, but said the reasons were not clear.

"What we are pretty sure of is that the refugees are not coming to the border. At the moment the access routes to the border are closed," he said.

Harper said fewer than 30 refugees had arrived in the last three days, compared to the usual 1,000 to 2,000 a day, but said Jordan had told UNHCR it was not turning back refugees.

"The Jordanians are saying the flow is restricted on the other side ... and that people are not actually getting to the border, whether that is true or not," he said.
Jordanian officials have made no public comment.

U.N. agencies say privately they cannot verify what happens at the border because they only register refugees when they arrive at Zaatari camp, which houses more than 100,000 people and is by far the largest Syrian refugee camp in the region.

Harper said much more needed to be done to expand relief efforts inside southern Syria to relieve the burden on Jordan, where resources are stretched to the utmost. Reuters

Chinese PM to visit Pakistan to boost ties

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 7:29:33 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: New Chinese Prime Minister Li Kiqiang is arriving in Islamabad tomorrow (Wednesday) from Delhi on a two-day state visit along with a high-level delegation to boost bilateral economic ties between the two neighbours.

On his first overseas trip since assuming office, new Chinese Premier will sign several agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on various sectors including science, technology, space research, communication, energy, economics and other areas.

President Asif Ali Zardari and caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso will host banquets for the visiting Chinese premier.

PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to meet the honorable guest and will accompany him to Pak-China Friendship Center. – SAMAA

Kerry visits Oman for arms deal, talks on Syria, Mideast

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6:47:58 PM

MUSCAT: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Oman on Tuesday for Raytheon Co's signing of an estimated $2.1 billion arms deal and to consult on Syria and Iran, U.S. officials said.

Oman is expected to sign a letter of intent to purchase a ground-based air defence system that would help protect against cruise missile, drone or fighter aircraft attacks, a senior U.S.
State Department official told reporters aboard Kerry's plane.

Part of the sale has been previously disclosed. In October 2011, the U.S. Defense Department notified Congress of a proposed $1.25 billion sale of Avenger fire units, Stinger missiles, and Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles to Oman.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the $2.1 billion deal included these elements - which are being funded with the help of U.S. government financing - as well as other items that Oman is buying directly from the arms maker.

The official also said terms were still being negotiated and the value of the sale could change, adding it was unclear if Kerry would attend the signing expected on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Raytheon spokesman Jonathan Kasle had no immediate comment.

Raytheon Chief Executive Bill Swanson told an earnings call last month that the company was making "considerable progress" on a number of foreign arms sales, including a deal to sell a
ground-based air defence system to Oman.

Raytheon generates more of its revenues overseas than any other large U.S. weapons maker. It has forecast a 20-percent increase in foreign bookings in 2013.

SYRIA, IRAN ALSO ON AGENDA

Oman sits opposite Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 40 percent of the world's sea-borne oil passes, and is a U.S.-allied Gulf Arab State while also maintaining good relations with the Shi'ite-ruled Islamic Republic.

Kerry's visit is the first stop on a week-long trip that will take him to Amman for talks on bringing Syria's warring parties to a peace conference and to Jerusalem and Ramallah to discuss reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Both issues were expected to come up in Kerry's talks with Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, on Tuesday, said the officials, who spoke to reporters as
Kerry flew to Oman. Kerry headed straight from the airport to meet the sultan at his main residence, the vast Bait Al Baraka palace.

"It's basically a chance to do a signals check with an important ally," said a second senior State Department official. "Oman is not a key player on Syria but, as an important player in the Gulf, I think it will be good to hear the sultan's views on the situation in the region writ large."

More than 80,000 people are believed to have died in Syria's civil war, which began with peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad more than two years ago as popular uprisings
swept long-time authoritarian rulers from power in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

It has since become a civil war fought largely along sectarian lines between mainly Sunni opposition fighters who have Gulf Arab and some Western backing and government forces supported by Shi'ite Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Assad also benefits from diplomatic support and arms sales from Russia.

Kerry on Wednesday will meet in Jordan with senior officials from mostly Western and Arab states backing Syria's opposition to discuss how to bring both sides to the negotiating table.

The United States and Russia announced two weeks ago that they would try to bring the two sides together - possibly in Geneva in June - for a peace conference that would choose a
transitional government.

But there are a host of unanswered questions, including why Assad would send representatives to a conference which Western officials believe must eventually lead to his departure, and who will represent the opposition, which resists the idea of Assad having any role in governing Syria, even during a transition. Reuters

ECP data records 55% voter turnout in General Elections 2013

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6:22:22 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that overall voters’ turnout in the general elections was recorded at 55%.

According to figures released by the ECP here on Tuesday, the least turnout was recorded in NA-42, where the turnout was as low as 11.57%, while the highest turnout of 84.77% was recorded in NA-191 Bahawalnagar.

More than 46.2 million people exercised their right to vote in the general elections.

Nawaz Sharif’s PML N secured 14, 865, 000 votes followed by PTI, which bagged 7, 679, 000 votes.

The previous ruling party PPP could manage 6, 855, 000 votes while MQM got 2, 458, 000 votes.

Surprisingly, independent candidates also got 5, 820, 000 votes. – SAMAA

Punjab Assembly session likely on May 29

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 5:43:31 PM

Staff Report

LAHORE: Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal on Tuesday advised Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmud to convene Punjab Assembly’s session on May 29.

According to sources, law ministry has already forwarded a summary to Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi.

The caretaker CM, after signing the summary, will forward it to the Punjab Governor.

Newly-elected members of the Punjab Assembly will be administered oath in the session, in which Speaker and Deputy Speaker will also be elected. – SAMAA

SHO gunned down in Chaman for rejecting leave application

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 5:08:39 PM

Staff Report

CHAMAN: A station house officer (SHO) was shot dead by his junior constable over a petty issue in here on Tuesday.

Constable Naimutllah shot SHO Muhammad Aoz to death after exchanging heated words, according to DPO Chaman.

Police sources say that Naimuttlah was angry as his request for leave was turned down by the deceased SHO.

On this, he took out his gun and shot the SHO before fleeing.

According to the police, they have launched hunt for the suspect. – SAMAA

DSP, two dacoits killed after police launch operation to free hostages in Chiniot

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 4:49:35 PM

Web Desk

CHINIOT: Police on Tuesday launched operation after dacoits held hostage officials and customers of a bank in Lalian area of the city during one DSP and two alleged robbers were killed, SAMAA reports.

According to details, several dacoits entered a bank branch in Lalian area of the city and held bank employees and other customers hostage for over four hours.

Later, police launched an operation to free the hostages during which intense exchange of fire was seen that created tension in the area. In the exchange of fire, one DSP Mohammad Nawaz and two dacoits were killed.

Police successfully managed to free the hostage. However, it is not clear yet how dacoits were involved in the incident and whether other dacoits managed to escape the scene or not. – SAMAA

PTI’s Tareen blames planned conspiracy for election defeat

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 4:34:41 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Senior PTI leader Jehangir Tareen has alleged that he was defeated in May 11 general elections under a well-planned conspiracy.

Addressing a press conference along with PTI’s Information Secretary Shireen Mazarai here on Tuesday, Tareen said that he was leading by 40, 000 votes by May 11 night, but the next morning he lost by over 10, 000 votes under a plot.

“Our polling agents were forcefully dragged out of polling stations in NA-154, Londran,” he said, terming the May 11 poll as returning officers’ election.

“At my request, vote re-count is under way in my constituency. However, I will announce my next course of action after the recounting.”

On this occasion, Shireen Mazari said that blatant rigging was carried out in the election.

She called for the Election Commission to take notice of the massive rigging. – SAMAA

Govt releases Rs.90m to NADRA for thumb impression verification

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 3:59:29 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso on Tuesday ordered the release of Rs.90 million to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for development of software to verify voters’ thumb impression, SAMAA reported.

The PM House spokesman said that NADRA would purchase equipments and software from the money.

“The PM has ordered NADRA to acquire latest technology for the purpose within ten days,” the spokesman said.

On Monday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered NADRA to develop software for fingerprint verification as soon as possible. -- SAMAA

Zardari telephones Imran Khan‚ enquires about health

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 3:39:18 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday telephoned Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and enquired about his health, SAMAA reported.

According to Presidential Spokesman, the President also congratulated Imran Khan on his party’s victory in May 11 general elections.

Khan is under treatment in Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital Lahore. He had sustained head and back injuries after falling from a lifter at a PTI rally earlier this month.

His party has secured majority of seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly. -- SAMAA

IPL fixing: Dara Singh's son arrested by Mumbai police

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 3:29:03 PM

Staff Report

MUMBAI: The first Bollywood link to the IPL spot-fixing scandal established today when Mumbai police arrested Vindu Dara Singh, the son of India actor Dara Singh, SAMAA reported.

He was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch for links with bookies.

Vindu is the son of Dara Singh and a winner of Indian reality show Bigg Boss.

This arrest followed the arrest of Ramesh Vyas, who was arrested a few days back. Vyas had links to key bookies Jupiter and others who were named by the Delhi police.

He was questioned by the Mumbai Crime Branch today. During IPL 6, he has been spotted with MS Dhoni’s wife, Sakhshi at the Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings match on April 6.

According to Indian media reports, the cops have evidence linking Vindu to bookies. They have also said that Vindu was in constant touch with bookies. He was picked up late last evening.

The massive spot-fixing scandal that has cast a shadow on the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), is getting murkier every day, with more people, cricketers and alleged bookies being arrested by the police.

18 people have been arrested so far. -- SAMAA

Spot-fixing: Indian Supreme Court refuses to stop IPL matches

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 3:03:01 PM

Staff Report

NEW DELHI: The Indian Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stop all remaining matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) in view of the spot-fixing scandal, SAMAA reported.

The SC said entire IPL can't be banned just because of certain irregularities on the part of a few players.

The apex court directed the one-man inquiry committee appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to submit its report within 15 days on the spot-fixing scandal.

The SC asked the BCCI to take action against accused cricketers.

"The problem is lackadaisical approach of the BCCI and it must stop…There has to be scientific, rational, dispassionate approach on part of BCCI to solve the problem,” the SC said.

Former test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday on suspicion of spot-fixing in the IPL.

The case has prompted the Indian government to look at the possibility of introducing a law to combat matchfixing and spot-fixing.

Cricket fan Sudarsh Awasti, an architect by profession and self-declared social activist, has lodged the petition with the court demanding the scrapping of the remaining four IPL matches, including Sunday's final.

He has also called for a special investigation to be launched to get to the bottom of the spot-fixing scandal and for the league to be banned from next year.

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing while illegal betting syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport.

Media estimates put the amount gambled on India's top cricket Twenty20 competition at $427 million in 2009. -- SAMAA

Bell fit as England name unchanged squad for second test

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:21:56 PM

LONDON: England named an unchanged squad for the second test against New Zealand starting on Friday after batsman Ian Bell was declared fit following a bout of tonsillitis.

Bell climbed out of his sick bed to take his place at the crease in the first test won in stunning fashion by England on Sunday but had been a doubt for Headingley.

Yorkshiremen Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root will get the chance to play at their home ground after solid performances at Lord's, while bowler Tim Bresnan is again included in the 12-man squad having undergone elbow surgery in February.

Despite New Zealand's stunning collapse on Sunday when they were bowled out for 68 chasing 239 for victory, national selector Geoff Miller said they remain a threat.

"We are aware that there are still areas that we need to improve on and the players and coaches will be working hard ahead of the second Test to ensure we continue to get better as a side," he said.

"New Zealand showed again that they are a dangerous side and we know we will need to produce another strong performance this week to secure a series victory." -- REUTERS

Pakistan’s test cricketer Mohammad Yousuf announces retirement

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:13:17 PM

Web Desk

LAHORE: Pakistan’s test cricketer Mohammad Yousuf on Tuesday announced his retirement from all forms of the game, SAMAA reports.

He said that he will now focus on coaching, adding he has announced his retirement to give young players a chance.

Yousuf had previously announced his retirement on couple of occasions but later he withdrew his decision.

Presently, Yousuf was also not playing any first class cricket. He played his last test match against Australia in 2010.

Yousuf has played 90 test matches in which he scored 7,530 runs with 24 centuries and 33 fifties. In ODIs, he scored 9,720 runs in 288 matches with the help of 15 centuries and 64 fifties. – SAMAA

Russia says two rebels killed in North Caucasus

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 1:56:07 PM

MOSCOW: Russian security forces killed two suspected militants in the North Caucasus during a night-time sweep in the region plagued by an Islamist insurgency, investigators said on Tuesday.

A spokesman for local investigators said the men were killed in a gunbattle with officers after refusing to surrender during a raid on a house in a suburb of the capital of Ingushetia, a region to the west of Chechnya.

The wife and child of one of them left the house before the firefight, he told Reuters by telephone.

More than a decade after federal troops defeated a separatist rebellion in Chechnya, insurgents stage frequent attacks in nearby regions fighting to establish an emirate in the patchwork of mainly Muslim provinces on Russia's south.

Two car bombs killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others on Monday, in one of the bloodiest attacks this year, in capital of Dagestan, a province bordering Chechnya to the east.

The Kremlin is worried about the spread of violence outside the region. In a suburb of Moscow on Monday, security forces killed two suspected militants alleged to have been plotting an attack in the capital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered law enforcement authorities to ensure insurgents do not attack the 2014 Winter Olympics next February in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which is close to the North Caucasus. – Reuters

Balochistan: Explosive-laden vehicle seized In Pishin

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 12:58:12 PM

Staff Report

QUETTA: Levies forces on Tuesday foiled an attempt of terrorism by seizing explosive-laden vehicle near Pishin town of Balochistan, SAMAA reported.

Levies sources said the explosive was being transported for terror purpose. Driver of the vehicle was also arrested on the spot while further investigation was underway.

Officials said the vehicle was seized in Saranan area in Pishin district. - SAMAA

'Star Wars' to bring 'Rebels' to new animated Disney TV series

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 12:35:11 PM

LOS ANGELES: Disney has said it will produce a new "Star Wars" animated series to air on television in the fall 2014, giving fans of the science-fiction franchise fresh stories before the next live-action film hits theaters in 2015.

"Star Wars Rebels," based on George Lucas' multibillion dollar film franchise, will be set in the two decades between the events of the third and fourth films, where the Empire becomes a dominant force in the galaxy, Disney said.

"I think 'Star Wars Rebels' will capture the look, feel and fun that both kids and their parents love about 'Star Wars,'" Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said in a statement.

The animated series, which will premiere on the Disney Channel and shown across Disney XD channels around the world, will come before a new "Star Wars" film in 2015.

"Star Wars: Episode VII," to be directed by J.J. Abrams, is the first of three new "Star Wars" films announced by Disney in October 2012, when it purchased George Lucas' Lucasfilm company for $4.05 billion.

"Star Wars" has become a cultural phenomenon since the first film was released in 1977, making characters such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Darth Vader, and phrases like "May the force be with you" part of popular culture.

Anticipation is building among the vast "Star Wars" community for the new film, which will be filmed in Britain. The six-film franchise has grossed more than $4.4 billion at the worldwide box office.

The Disney Channel, Disney XD and Lucasfilm are units of the Walt Disney Co. – Reuters

Raja Pervez seeks unconditional apology from Supreme Court

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 12:30:57 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Tuesday filed his unconditional apology to the Supreme Court in the rental power projects (RPP) implementation case, SAMAA reported.

The apex court has been hearing a case over the implementation of its March 2012 ruling on rental power projects in which it had held the RPP contracts non-transparent and had ordered that these be rescinded.

Kamran Faisal, an officer involved in the investigation of RPP scam was found dead at the federal lodges number 2 in Islamabad in January this year.

Raja Pervez Ashraf had, in a letter, requested Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to form judicial commission under the supervision of Shoaib Suddle in the RPP case.

On this, the Supreme Court had issued a contempt of court notice to Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, describing the letter an attempt to influence the court by writing to CJP.

On Tuesday, advocate Waseem Sajjad filed unconditional apology on behalf of Raja Pervez Ashraf. The former PM has also offered to withdraw his letter. -- SAMAA

Mahatma Gandhi blood sample up for auction in London

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 12:27:20 PM

LONDON: Two microscope slides bearing the blood of former Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi are to go on sale in London on Tuesday and are expected to fetch from 10,000 pounds to 15,000 pounds ($15,200-$22,800).

The slides were obtained in 1924 when the father of the Indian independence movement was recovering from an appendectomy near Mumbai. He was thought to have donated the blood to the family he was staying with at the time.

"To Gandhi devotees, it has the same status as a sacred relic to a Christian," said Richard Westwood-Brookes, a historical documents expert at Mullock's auctioneers which is selling the item.

"It is an artefact which is revered by disciples of Gandhi, particularly in India and therefore that is the sort of person who would go for it," he added.

The slides are part of a larger collection of items obtained by Mullock's, which include the former leader's sandals, shawl and bed linen.

Demand for Gandhi memorabilia has been steadily growing since Mullock's sold soil samples and blades of bloody grass purportedly from the spot where Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, for 10,000 pounds ($15,200) last year. – Reuters

Heat wave will continue to prevail; rain likely in Punjab, Kashmir

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 12:09:09 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Tuesday said that heat waves will continue to grip most parts of country at least for the next three days, SAMAA reported.

“Severe heat wave conditions will prevail in plain areas of Punjab, upper and central Sindh, Balochistan and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa”, it added.

Severe heat wave conditions are likely to continue in plain areas of Punjab, KPK, Sindh and Balochistan during next three to four days.

It said that dust and thunderstorm with rain is likely at isolated places of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Hazara division and Kashmir. -- SAMAA

Israel fires back at Syria after gunshots at its troops

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:32:56 AM

JERUSALEM: Israeli troops shot at a target across the Syrian frontier on Tuesday in response to gunfire that struck its forces in the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

A statement said a military vehicle was damaged by shots fired from Syria but that there were no injuries. It said that soldiers "returned precise fire".

Gunfire incidents across the frontier from Syria have recurred in past months during an escalating a civil war there in which rebels have sought to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Israel's Army Radio said Tuesday's was the third consecutive cross-border shooting this week.

The Israeli military added in its statement that it viewed these incidents "with concern".

Israel captured the Golan territory from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed the area. Negotiations aimed at resolving that conflict ran aground in 2000.

Israel has not taken sides in Syria's internal conflict, but has been worried about the involvement of its Iranian-backed foe, Hezbollah, in the fighting.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of Israeli strikes inside Syria to stop Hezbollah and other opponents of Israel getting advanced weapons.

Netanyahu said Israel was "preparing for every scenario" in Syria. He added "we will act to ensure the security interest of Israel's citizens in the future as well".

Israel has neither denied nor confirmed reports it attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near Damascus this month that it believed were waiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006 and is allied with Assad. – Reuters

Finance ministry releases Rs15 bln to ease acute power crisis

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:20:14 AM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The federal ministry of finance on Tuesday released Rs15 billion to the ministry of water and power with an aim to ease severe crisis of power outages in the country, SAMAA reports.

The amount has been released on instructions of the caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso.

Sources said that the amount will be utilized to buy furnace oil for thermal power plants.

Meanwhile, Zahid Khan, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power, said that the committee has summoned officials of the water and power ministry and WAPDA.

He said that the committee would recommend action against those who are responsible for current severe load-shedding across the country. – SAMAA

Burnt bodies of man, woman found in Karachi’s SITE area

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:19:45 AM

Staff Report

KARACHI: A man and a woman were found murdered in their house in SITE area locality of Karachi, SAMAA reports Tuesday.

Police said the victims were shot dead and their dead bodies were later burnt by unknown assailants.

Sources said the deceased were killed in their house this morning in Karachi’s SITE industrial area. Motives behind the dual murder could not be ascertained as police were investigating the incident. - SAMAA

Obama declares major disaster in Oklahoma after deadly tornadoes

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:05:38 AM

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in Oklahoma after deadly tornadoes struck the state on Sunday and Monday and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts, the White House has said.

The White House said aid can include grants for temporary housing, home repairs, uninsured property losses and other recovery efforts.

Obama spoke by telephone with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin earlier on Monday, the White House said. – Reuters

What's in a name? US starts using Myanmar as well as Burma

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 11:01:36 AM

WASHINGTON: The Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma received further backing from the White House in its campaign to be called Myanmar.

Successive US governments have refused to acknowledge the name change made in the late 1980s by the country's military rulers. The United States for years deliberately referred to the nation of 60 million people as Burma, so as not to give legitimacy to military governments.

But in a nod to political reforms made by President Thein Sein, the White House acknowledged it is now employing the name Myanmar more often than before.

"We have responded by expanding our engagement with the government, easing a number of sanctions, and as a courtesy in appropriate settings, more frequently using the name Myanmar," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Thein Sein met with US President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on Monday in the first visit to the White House by a president of Myanmar, or Burma, in 47 years. Obama used the name Myanmar, not Burma, throughout his comments to reporters.

But his spokesman employed both names.

"Burma has undertaken a number of positive reforms, including releasing over 850 political prisoners, easing media restrictions, permitting freedom of speech, assembly and movement," Carney said.

In their meeting, Obama urged the president to take steps to halt violence against Muslims in his country and move ahead with economic and political reforms. – Reuters

Films in main competition at Cannes 2013

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:58:13 AM

CANNES: This year 20 films are in the main competition at the Cannes film festival, all vying for the coveted Palme d'Or award for best picture that will be handed out on May 26.

Here is the 2013 lineup with the average rating out of four by 10 international critics as published in trade magazine Screen:

- HELI by Amat Escalante, Mexico

Stars: Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara. Synopsis: A 12-year-old girl falls in love with a police cadet, dragging her family into Mexico's brutal drug war.

Average Critic Score: 1.6

- JEUNE & JOLIE (Young & Beautiful) by Francois Ozon, France

Stars: Marine Vacth, Charlotte Rampling. Synopsis: The story of a 17-year-old girl's sexual discovery.

Average Critic Score: 2.4

- THE PAST by Asghar Farhadi, Iran

Stars: Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa. Synopsis: An Iranian man returns to Paris to finalise his divorce and is caught up in an unravelling family drama.

Average Critic Score: 2.8

- TIAN ZHU DING (A Touch of Sin) by Jia Zhangke, China

Stars: Jiang Wu, Baoqiang Wang, Zhao Tao. Synopsis: A violent and brutal critique of China confronting modernity.

Average Critic Score: 3.0

- JIMMY P. PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A PLAINS INDIAN by Arnaud Desplechin, France

Stars: Benicio del Toro, Mathieu Amalric, Misty Upham. Synopsis: A Blackfoot Indian returns from World War II with a mystery illness and requires the help of a psychoanalyst.

Average Critic Score: 2.0

- SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU (Like Father, Like Son) by Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Japan

Stars: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yoko Mari, Lily Franky. Synopsis: The lives of two Japanese families are thrown into chaos when they find their children were swapped at birth.

Average Critic Score: 2.5

- INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS by Coen Brothers, USA

Stars: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake. Synopsis: A singer-songwriter navigates New York's folk music scene during the 1960s.

Review scores: 3.3

- BORGMAN by Alex Van Warmerdam, Netherlands

Stars: Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval. Synopsis: A dark fable about what happens to a typical middle-class family when the devil invades their suburban street.

Average critic score: 2.1

FILMS YET TO SCREEN OR GET RATINGS:

- WARA NO TATE (Shield of Straw) by Takashi Miike, Japan

Stars: Takao Osawa, Nanako Matsushima, Tatsuya Fujiwara. Synopsis: A thriller that charts the dangerous mission undertaken by four policemen protecting a killer.

- UN CHATEAU EN ITALIE (A Castle in Italy) by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Italy

Stars: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Louis Garrel, Filippo Timi. Synopsis: A comedy drama about a family of wealthy Italian industrialists falling apart when forced to sell their home.

- BEHIND THE CANDELABRA by Steven Soderbergh, USA

Stars: Matt Damon, Rob Lowe, Michael Douglas. Synopsis: Based on an autobiographical novel, this recounts the tempestuous relationship between Liberace and his lover.

- LA GRANDE BELLEZZA (The Great Beauty) by Paolo Sorrentino, Italy

Stars: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli. Synopsis: A successful journalist flits between culture and the high life in Rome.

- ONLY GOD FORGIVES by Nicolas Winding Refn, Denmark

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas. Synopsis: A drug-smuggler in Bangkok's underworld has his life further complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill the people behind his brother's recent death.

- GRISGRIS by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Chad

Stars: Souleymane Deme, Anais Morory, Cyril Guei. Synopsis: Grisgris dreams of being a dancer despite a paralysed leg but when his uncle falls ill he joins a gang to save him.

- NEBRASKA by Alexander Payne, USA

Stars: Bruce Dern, Will Forte. Synopsis: An aging alcoholic father heads to Nebraska to claim a million dollar prize he claims to have won, accompanied by his estranged son.

- LA VIE D'ADELE (Blue is the Warmest Colour) by Abdellatif Kechiche, France

Stars: Lea Seydoux, Adele Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechikouche. Synopsis: A love story between a 15-year-old girl named Adele and sensual blue-haired girl who initially visits her in dreams.

- THE IMMIGRANT by James Gray, USA

Stars: Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard. Synopsis: An immigrant is forced into a life of burlesque until a magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister.

- MICHAEL KOHLHASS by Arnaud des Pallieres, France

Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Melusine Mayance, Delphine Chuillot. Ali Mosaffa. Synopsis: A period revenge drama which centres on a horse dealer in 16th century France.

- ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE by Jim Jarmusch, USA

Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska. Synopsis: An underground musician and his enigmatic lover are together for several centuries in this film.

- LA VÉNUS À LA FOURRURE (Venus in Fur) by Roman Polanski, France

Stars: Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric. Synopsis: An actress tries to convince a director that she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production. -- REUTERS

Apple, Congress spar over taxes ahead of Tuesday hearing

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:42:12 AM

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO: Using an unusual global tax structure, Apple Inc has kept billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries to pay little or no taxes to any government, a Senate report on the company's offshore tax structure has revealed.

In a 40-page memorandum released a day before Apple CEO Tim Cook is scheduled to testify before Congress, the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations identified three subsidiaries that have no "tax residency" in Ireland, where they are incorporated, or in the United States, where company executives manage those companies.

The main subsidiary, a holding company that includes Apple's retail stores throughout Europe, has not paid any corporate income tax in the last five years.

The subsidiary, which has a Cork, Ireland, mailing address, received $29.9 billion in dividends from lower-tiered offshore Apple affiliates from 2009 to 2012, comprising 30 percent of Apple's total worldwide net profits, the report said.

"Apple has exploited a difference between Irish and US tax residency rules," the report said.

Apple said in a comment posted online on Monday it does not use "tax gimmicks." It said the existence of its subsidiary "Apple Operations International" in Ireland does not reduce Apple's US tax liability and the company will pay more than $7 billion in US taxes in fiscal 2013.

Subcommittee staffers said on Monday that Apple was not breaking any laws and had cooperated fully with the investigation.

CODE OVERHAUL SOUGHT

Tuesday's hearing is the second to be held by Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the subcommittee, to shed light on the weaknesses of the US corporate tax code. Levin has sought to overhaul the code in Congress.

Lawmakers globally are closely scrutinizing the taxes paid by multinational companies. In Britain, Google faces regulatory inquiries over its own tax policies, while Hewlett-Packard Co and Microsoft Corp have been called to Capitol Hill to answer questions about their own practices.

Corporations must pay the top US 35-percent corporate tax on foreign profits, but not until those profits are brought into the United States from abroad. This exception is known as corporate offshore income deferral.

In submitted testimony ahead of Tuesday's hearing, Apple said any tax reform should favor lower corporate income tax rates regardless of revenue, eliminate tax expenditures and implement a "reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows free movement of capital back to the US."

"Apple recognizes these and other improvements in the US corporate tax system may increase the company's taxes," it said.

Large US companies boosted their offshore earnings by 15 percent last year to a record $1.9 trillion, avoiding hefty tax bills by keeping the profits abroad, according to research firm Audit Analytics.

TAX SCRUTINY

Apple also uses two conventional offshore tax practices typical of multinational companies' tax-avoidance strategies, the report said.

Multinational corporations value goods and services moving across international borders from one corporate unit to another. Known as "transfer pricing," these moves are frequently managed to reduce corporations' global tax costs.

Apple's tax structure highlights flaws in the US corporate tax code so that Congress "can effectively close the loopholes used by many US multinational companies," Arizona Senator John McCain, the subcommittee's top Republican, said in a statement on Monday.

Levin, who announced he will retire at the end of 2014, introduced legislation in February to close tax loopholes. At a news conference on Monday, Levin said his bill should pass independent of any broader tax reform push in Congress.

McCain, the top Republican on the subcommittee, told the joint news conference he would co-sponsor Levin's bill, the first Republican to support the bill. He called Apple's tax practices "egregious, and (a) really outrageous scheme."

Similar legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

Government tax officials from the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department also are scheduled to testify before the subcommittee on Tuesday. – Reuters

More tornadoes likely in parts of 10 US states

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:25:50 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY: The central United States braced for another round of violent weather on Monday after tornadoes struck the region over the weekend, killing two Oklahoma men and injuring at least 39 people.

Severe storms were expected to pummel as many as 10 states on Monday, the National Weather Service said. It predicted a 10 percent chance of tornadoes in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Parts of four other states - Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa - have a 5 percent risk of tornadoes, the service said.

The area at greatest risk includes Joplin, Missouri, which on Wednesday will mark two years since a massive tornado killed 161 people.

The threat comes as Oklahoma was still recovering from a strong storm front that hammered the state on Sunday with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile-wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City.

Two men in their 70s died in the storm, including one at a mobile home park on the edge of the community of Bethel Acres near Oklahoma City, said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management. Thirty-nine people were injured around the state as storms toppled trees and ripped through rooftops, she said.

Several hundred homes and buildings were thought to have been damaged or destroyed and approximately 7,000 customers were left without power in Oklahoma. "There is definitely quite a bit of damage," Cain said.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared 16 counties disaster areas, and she and other local and state officials were touring damaged areas on Monday morning.

MULTIPLE TWISTERS

More than two dozen tornadoes were spotted in Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and local news reports. Hail stones, some as large as baseballs, were reported from Georgia to Minnesota, NOAA said.

Wind gusts of 72 miles per hour (115 kilometers per hour) were reported near Gardner, Kansas, and 60 mph in Atchison, Kansas. The high winds toppled trees, downing power lines and smashing cars and rooftops in communities around the Midwest.

A tornado that touched down southwest of Wichita, Kansas, on Sunday afternoon was rated an EF1 on Monday by the National Weather Service. The most powerful is an EF5. The tornado stayed on the ground for about 4.5 miles, with winds of 86-110 mph, the service said.

The tornado damaged homes and outbuildings, felled trees and knocked out power to about 11,000 residents but caused no injuries, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Division of Emergency Management.

"We came through this one very fortunate," Watson said.

In southwest Missouri, a tornado touched down shortly after midnight Monday in Barton County, said Tom Ryan, the county's director of emergency management. The tornado damaged some farm buildings and two houses but caused no injuries, he said, noting that it struck in a rural area.

Just east of Barton County, in Dade County, the tornado tore off roofs at a grocery store, golf course and city swimming pool complex in Lockwood, said Bob Kitsmiller, director of emergency management for the county, adding that no injuries were reported.

Forecasters were particularly aggressive in issuing warnings on Sunday evening. The National Weather Service's storm prediction center in Norman, Oklahoma, posted a Twitter alert on a tornado about to strike Pink, a town on the edge of Oklahoma City.

"Large tornado west of Pink!" the post read. "Take cover RIGHT NOW in Pink! DO NOT WAIT!"

The storm also prompted an unusually blunt warning from the central region of the National Weather Service, which covers 14 states.

"You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter," it said. "Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals."

Pat Slattery, National Weather Service spokesman for the US Central region, said the advisory was part of a new warning system reserved for severe tornadoes with the potential to form into "supercell" storms, which produce powerful winds and flash flooding.

The tornado season in the United States had been unusually quiet until last week, when a tornado struck the town of Granbury, Texas, killing six people. – Reuters

Palestinian film of love and betrayal breaks new ground at Cannes

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:18:41 AM

CANNES: A tragic love story between two Palestinians living under Israeli occupation received a standing ovation at the Cannes film festival on Monday and broke new ground as the first film fully funded by the Palestinian cinema industry.

"Omar" by director Hany Abu-Assad, known for the 2005 award-winning film "Paradise Now", is a political thriller interwoven with a story of trust and betrayal as two lovers are torn apart by Israel's secret police and Palestinian freedom fighters.

Omar, a baker, is in love with Nadia, the sister of his friend Tarek who is a Palestinian fighter on the West Bank.

Arrested and humiliated by the Israeli military police, Omar, played by Adam Bakri, joins Tarek and colleague Amjad in a mission to kill an Israeli soldier and ends up imprisoned, tortured, and under pressure to betray his friends.

Earmarked a traitor, he starts to doubt Nadia's fidelity, especially as she is also pursued by Amjad, and his life falls apart as he is pursued across the ravaged Palestinian landscape.

Abu-Assad said he was delighted by the reception his film received at Cannes, where picky critics are known to boo films that do not meet their expectations, and he hoped the festival would help gain international attention for "Omar".

"But my first audience is the Palestinians and the Arabs and I hope they will be engaged with it," said Abu-Assad after the film's premiere at the 66th Cannes festival.

"Even if they are not on the West Bank or Palestinians ... it is about the youth and Arab world now and I hope they can accept it and that they can relate to it."

PALESTINIAN FUNDING

Abu-Assad said it had taken him about a year to raise the $1.5 million needed to make "Omar" which was shot in the West Bank and the Israeli-Arab town of Nazareth last year.

He said it was the first film to be fully funded by individual Palestinians and Palestinian businesses.

"For the first time, we convinced businessmen from Palestine to invest in the film industry. It's incredible," he said.

A second Palestinian film at Cannes, the short film "Condom Lead" by brothers Mohammed and Ahmad Abunassar, was funded by the filmmakers themselves. It is the first time a Palestinian film has been included in the short film competition at Cannes.

"Omar" is one of 18 films being screened in the second major competition category at Cannes, Un Certain Regard, which showcases emerging directors and more daring films than those in the main competition vying for the top prize, the Palme D'Or.

Cambodian director Rithy Panh's documentary "L'Image Manquante" ("The Missing Picture") is one of the experimental movies in Un Certain Regard pushing story-telling boundaries.

He used small clay figures intercut with historical footage to tell the story of how his family perished in the Khmer Rouge's brutal revolution after their 1975 capture of Phnom Penh.

Other films in Un Certain Regard to receive positive reviews include Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" starring Emma Watson in a gang of celebrity-obsessed teenagers breaking into their Hollywood idols' homes to steal luxury goods.

"Fruitvale Station" by American filmmaker Ryan Coogler was praised by critics as provocative with exceptional performances.

The film is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, an unarmed San Francisco Bay Area resident who was shot and killed by police in the early hours of New Year's Day in 2009. -- REUTERS

Kerry visits Oman for arms deal signing, talks on Syria, Mideast

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:15:29 AM

SHANNON, Ireland: US Secretary of State John Kerry flies to Oman on Tuesday for Raytheon Co's signing of an estimated $2.1 billion arms deal and to consult on Syria and Iran, US officials said.

Oman is expected to sign a letter of intent to purchase a ground-based air defense system that would help protect against cruise missile or drone attacks, a senior US State Department official told reporters aboard Kerry's plane.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the terms were still being negotiated and the final value of the sale could change, adding that it was not clear whether Kerry would attend the signing expected on Tuesday or Wednesday. Raytheon spokesman Jonathan Kasle had no immediate comment.

Raytheon Chief Executive Bill Swanson told an earnings call last month that the company was making "considerable progress" on a number of foreign arms sales, including a deal to sell a ground-based air defense system to Oman.

Raytheon generates more of its revenues overseas than any other large US weapons maker. It has forecast a 20-percent increase in foreign bookings in 2013.

Oman sits opposite Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, through which some 40 percent of the world's sea-borne oil passes, and is a US-allied Gulf Arab State while also maintaining good relations with the Shi'ite-ruled Islamic republic.

Kerry's visit is the first stop on a week-long trip that will take him to Amman for talks on bringing Syria's warring parties to a peace conference and to Jerusalem and Ramallah to discuss reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Both issues are expected to come up when Kerry meets Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, on Tuesday, said the officials, who spoke to reporters while Kerry flew to Ireland for refueling before heading to Oman.

"It's basically a chance to do a signals check with an important ally," said a second senior State Department official. "Oman is not a key player on Syria but, as an important player in the Gulf, I think it will be good to hear the sultan's views on the situation in the region writ large."

More than 80,000 people are believed to have died in Syria's civil war, which began with peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule more than two years ago as popular uprisings swept long-time authoritarian rules from power in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

It has since become an all-out fight between opposition fighters who have Arab and some Western backing and government forces that are supported by Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah and that benefit from diplomatic support and arms sales from Russia.

Rebel and government forces engaged in their fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, Syrian activists said, saying about 30 Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to Assad have been killed in the clashes.

The reported Hezbollah losses reflect the extent to which the Syrian conflict is turning into a proxy war between Shi'ite Iran and US-aligned Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which back Assad's mostly Sunni foes.

Kerry on Wednesday will meet in Amman with senior officials from mostly Western and Arab states that are backing the Syrian opposition to discuss how to bring both sides to the negotiating table.

The United States and Russia announced two weeks ago that they would try to bring the two sides together - possibly in June in Geneva - for a peace conference that would choose a transitional government. – Reuters

Asian shares ease; dollar index off three-year high

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:09:32 AM

SINGAPORE: The dollar nursed losses versus a basket of currencies on Tuesday, having retreated the previous day as traders pared back expectations that US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would hint at tapering bond buying this week.

The market's focus is shifting to Bernanke's testimony to Congress on Wednesday after recent comments by Fed officials fuelled speculation the US central bank may trim its bond purchases sooner than expected.

"Markets remain jittery about the potential for the tapering of asset purchases ahead of Chairman Bernanke's testimony to Congress," analysts at Barclays said in a research note.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, edged up 0.2 percent to 83.939. It dropped 0.6 percent on Monday, retreating from Friday's high of 84.371, its strongest level since July 2010.

Asian shares were mixed in early trading. South Korean equities edged up 0.2 percent after global markets mostly rose on Monday, but Japan's Nikkei index eased 0.1 percent due to a pause in the yen's weakness.

"Profit-taking will be dominant in the Tokyo market today. But the downside will be supported because there are many investors who didn't purchase stocks in the sharp rally who will come into the market," said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Inc.

Against the yen, the dollar edged up 0.3 percent to 102.53 yen but remained below a 4-1/2-year high of 103.32 yen set on Friday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1 percent to 483.08.

Global equity markets had mostly pushed higher on Monday, driven up by a flurry of merger and acquisition activity, with MSCI's all-country world equity index touching its highest level since June 2008.

US stocks ended little changed on Monday, but both the US benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow briefly hit all-time intraday highs.

Gold eased 0.4 percent to $1,388.56, steadying after gaining nearly 3 percent on Monday.

Brent crude held steady at $104.81 a barrel. – Reuters

Re-polling underway in Bannu, Khuzdar, Waziristan

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 9:58:17 AM

Staff Report

KHUZDAR/BANNU: Re-election was underway in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, South Waziristan and Balochistan’s Khuzdar district for national and provincial assembly seats, SAMAA reported Tuesday.

According to the regional election commissioner‚ the re-polling on four polling stations in PK-71 Bannu and three polling stations in PK-72‚ Bannu is in progress.

It started at 8:00 am today and will continue till 5:00 pm.

In Khuzdar, the polling was in progress on two polling stations of NA-269 constituency of the National Assembly.

In South Waziristan Agency, the polling was underway on four polling stations of NA-41 constituency.

Security personnel are performing duties on the polling stations to avert any untoward incident during the reelection. – SAMAA

KSE index crosses record 21,000-point level as post-election rally continues

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 9:47:13 AM

Web Desk

KARACHI: The Karachi stock market’s benchmark index on Tuesday crossed the historic 21,000-point level as post-election rally continues to push share prices higher.

In early trade, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s 100-share index was trading at 21,025 points, up 210.99 points, or 1.01 percent. By 09:43 am, 20.1 million shares changed hands.

Dealers said that investors’ sentiment is buoyant on hopes that the Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif’s government would focus its efforts towards reviving the economy.

Since May 11 general elections in which PML (N) emerged as single-largest party, the market has seen bullish trend. The KSE index has gained impressive 1,000 points in the last seven sessions. - SAMAA

MQM cancels protests, calls emergency meeting of workers

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 9:42:45 AM

Staff Report

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has directed its workers to cancel all scheduled protest demonstrations in Karachi and attend an emergency meeting this evening, SAMAA reports Tuesday.

On Monday, hundreds of MQM workers gathered outside the Karachi Press Club and protested against PTI chief Imran Khan who blamed the killing of his local party leader, Zehra Shahid Hussain, on MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

MQM also sue Imran Khan for Rs50 billion for defaming Altaf Hussain.

The PTI also staged counter protests in Karachi, demanding arrest of Shahid’s killers.

In a statement on Tuesday, MQM said that Altaf Hussain has summoned an emergency meeting of workers at Lal Qila Ground at 6pm today, and directed party activists to cancel today’s protest demonstrations. -- SAMAA

Monster tornado wrecks havoc in US as death toll rises to 91

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 9:34:44 AM

MOORE, Oklahoma: A 2-mile-wide (3-km-wide) tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, killing at least 91 people while destroying entire tracts of homes, piling cars atop one another, and trapping two dozen school children beneath rubble.

Twenty of the confirmed deaths were children, the Oklahoma medical examiner said, and at least 45 of the 230 people injured were children, according to area hospitals. It was the deadliest US tornado since one killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago.

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts.

Rescue teams raced against the setting sun and worked into the darkness in search of survivors throughout the wide swath of devastation, while the dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters. Severe weather was expected through the night from the Great Lakes south to Texas.

Emergency crews searched the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School for two dozen missing children, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb said. The school took a direct hit from the tornado, Lamb told CNN.

The town of Moore, population about 50,000, was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out and houses completely obliterated.

Another elementary school and a hospital were among the buildings leveled.

"We thought we died because we were inside the cellar door...It ripped open the door and just glass and debris started slamming on us and we thought we were dead to be honest," survivor Ricky Stover said while surveying the devastated remains of his home.

Cyndi Christopher was at work and went to pick up her son from daycare when she heard the storm warning. After taking her son home, she was forced to flee when she noticed the storm was coming their way.

"I drove as fast as I could and I outran the storm," Christopher said.

The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 miles per hour (320 km per hour).

Witnesses said Monday's tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the area on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes. That tornado ranked as an EF5, meaning it had winds over 200 mph.

The 1999 event in Oklahoma ranks as the third-costliest tornado in US history, having caused more than $1 billion in damage at the time, or more than $1.3 billion in today's dollars. Only the devastating Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornadoes in 2011 were more costly.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center provided the town with a warning 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. local time (2001 GMT), which is greater than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the center in Norman, Oklahoma.

The notice was upgraded to emergency warning with "heightened language" at 2:56 p.m., or five minutes before the tornado touched down, Pirtle said.

Television media measured the tornado at more than 2 miles wide, with images showing entire neighborhoods flattened.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a temporary flight restriction that allowed only relief aircraft in the area, saying it was at the request of local police who wanted quiet to search for buried survivors.

Oklahoma activated the National Guard, and the US Federal Emergency Management Agency activated teams to support recovery operations and coordinate responses for multiple agencies.

SCHOOL IN TWISTER'S PATH

Briarwood Elementary School, which also stood in the storm's path, was all but destroyed. On the first floor, sections of walls had been peeled away, affording clear views into the building, while in other areas, cars hurled by the storm winds were lodged in the walls.

Across the street, people picked through the remains of their homes.

The number of injured as reported by several hospitals rose rapidly throughout the afternoon.

Oklahoma University Medical Center alone was treating 65 patients, 45 of them children, though it was no longer expecting a further mass influx of casualties, spokesman Scott Coppenbarger said.

Moore Medical Center sustained significant damage.

"The whole city looks like a debris field," Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, told NBC.

"It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it's pretty much destroyed," Lewis said.

The massive twister struck at the height of tornado season, and more were forecast. On Sunday, tornadoes killed two people and injured 39 in Oklahoma. – Reuters

US panel votes to speed up airport fingerprinting of immigrants

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 8:41:45 AM

WASHINGTON: High-tech systems for tracking the movements of immigrants and other foreigners when leaving the United States would be installed at major U.S. airports under a plan approved by a congressional panel on Monday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 for an amendment to a wide-ranging immigration bill that would require the installation of devices to check immigrants' fingerprints at the 10 busiest U.S. airports within two years of enactment of the legislation.

Checks currently are made at airports for foreigners arriving and re-entering the country but not when they leave. "It's just a matter of having records we can keep so we know where we're going," Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah told reporters of his successful amendment.

Advocates argued that the extra layer of screening also would help identify foreigners suspected of committing crimes or who are on terror-watch lists.

But opponents questioned whether the move would improve the ferreting out of foreigners who have overstayed their visas and expressed concerns that it could open the door to broader fingerprinting of travelers.

If the "biometrics" systems at major airports work out, they would be expanded to more airports across the United States and eventually be used at land and sea ports as well, under the amendment.

During a work session that extended into the night, the Judiciary Committee defeated several Republican attempts to narrow the bill, including limiting some immigrants' access to federal programs, such as food aid and healthcare for the poor.

The panel, however, added protections for young children of parents being deported from the United States and approved additional screenings for those coming from countries or regions seen as presenting a security threat to U.S.

"RESPECTFUL EXCHANGE"

After four long work sessions, the Democrats and Republicans on the committee have mostly been workmanlike, avoiding the contentious arguments that marked the last attempts, during the Bush administration, to revamp immigration law.

Angela Kelley, an immigration expert with the liberal Center for American Progress, said that while the attempt in 2007 "was a real nail-biter, this feels more like a respectful exchange."

With a growing Hispanic population in the United States demanding immigration changes, Republicans have become more open to enacting a bill this year, although it still faces many hurdles in Congress.

The Senate panel is trying to wrap up work by mid-week on a nearly 900-page immigration bill that aims to ratchet up security along the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico and establish a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States.

The bipartisan bill also would create a new visa system so that farmers, high-tech firms and other American companies could get better access to both low- and high-skilled foreign workers.

If the measure is passed by the committee this week, it could be ready for debate in the full Senate next month - a debate that could take several weeks to complete on the first major overhaul of U.S. immigration law in 27 years.

The United States has been trying for years to tighten the monitoring of entries and exits by visa holders. An estimated 40 percent of the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants have overstayed their visas, according to government estimates.

But the implementation of equipment at ports has lagged.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary panel defeated an amendment from Republican Jeff Sessions that would have required the installation of biometric equipment at all U.S. ports before any of the undocumented could be eligible for permanent residency, or a green card.

Sessions of Alabama, an outspoken opponent of the immigration bill moving through the Democratic-controlled Senate, argued on Monday that the United States has the ability to fully implement the program now.

Saying that many local police departments already use the technology in their cars, Sessions said, "I'm getting ... tired" of the delays.

HIGH-SKILLED WORKER VISAS

Meanwhile, senators were working behind the scenes on a controversial move to reduce the steps high-tech companies would have to take before hiring foreign workers.

Hatch has emerged as one of the most influential lawmakers working on the immigration bill and has introduced amendments to make it easier for companies to hire foreigners.

In an attempt to secure his vote, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York is trying to broker a deal between technology companies and the AFL-CIO labor organization on the high-skilled H-1B work visa program.

During a break in the committee's work, Hatch told reporters that he must have changes to the high-skilled worker visa program, otherwise "you're just pushing these businesses off- shore."

Lobbyists for technology companies and trade associations said the two senators were nearing a deal. But sources close to the AFL-CIO disputed industry's characterization.

Even if Hatch gets what he wants on the H-1B program, he said there are other amendments he would insist upon during the Senate floor debate.

Without those amendments, which he refused to elaborate on, "I will vote against it (the entire immigration bill) on the floor," Hatch said. One amendment is thought to require that undocumented residents who win legal status must provide their own health insurance and not take advantage of government-backed programs.

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek of The Doors dies at age 74

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6:55:35 AM

LOS ANGELES: Ray Manzarek, a founding member and keyboardist of 1960s rock group The Doors, died on Monday at a medical clinic in Germany at age 74 following a battle with cancer, the group's manager Tom Vitorino said.

Manzarek, who lived in Northern California's Napa Valley wine country for the past decade, had been seeking treatment in Germany for bile duct cancer, Vitorino said. He died in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his wife and brothers.

Singer Jim Morrison and then-UCLA film student Manzarek formed The Doors in 1965 after a chance meeting at Los Angeles' Venice Beach, and Manzarek's keyboard work would go on to be a touchstone of hits like "Break On Through to the Other Side" and "Light My Fire."

The band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, sold some 100 million records since its heyday with psychedelic-era classics such as 1971's "Riders on the Storm."

Manzarek's electric organ was a defining aspect next to Morrison's booming voice in the band's blues- and jazz-influenced take on rock and roll.

"I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today," The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger said in a statement. "I'm just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."

The Doors broke up shortly after Morrison's death from heart failure in 1971, but their mythology exploded following the 1980 publication of the biography "No One Here Gets Out Alive" and the 1991 film, "The Doors," by director Oliver Stone.

The band recorded a total of eight albums between 1967 and 1972. After the band's break up, Manzarek released two albums with the rock band "Nite City" in the late 1970s and six solo albums, most recently "Translucent Blues" in 2011 with blues-rock guitarist Roy Rogers.

Manzarek and Krieger became locked in a legal battle with drummer John Densmore in 2003 after the two reunited under The Doors name and later "The Doors of the 21st Century," but were finally forced to tour as Manzarek-Krieger.

Manzarek, who was born in Chicago in 1939, embraced old age in a 2006 interview with Reuters.

"We occupy these bodies for 70, 80, 90 years, and it's so much fun being alive on planet Earth that you want to keep this thing as fresh as you possibly can," he said.

"The spirit, the mind, the soul, what's inside of you just gets hipper and hipper as you get older. ... You get a whole broadened outlook on things," he added. "That just naturally keeps going, but the damn body slows down."

Manzarek is also the author of two novels and most notably the 1998 memoir, "Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors."

Manzarek is survived by his wife, Dorothy, two brothers, a son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. --reuters

Power crisis intensifies in Punjab

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6:32:23 AM

Staff Report
LAHORE: The power crisis aggravated in the Punjab cities, as shortfall is going out of control in Lahore region, SAMAA reported Tuesday.

According to the sources of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), the power shortfall widened beyond 1800 Megawatts in Lahore region, as region’s demand bulged to over 3000 MWs but the supply is meager 1200MWs.

Lahore region is suffering from the load shedding of two hours every second hour owing to the mounting shortfall. –SAMAA

At least 37 dead in Oklahoma tornado

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 5:52:34 AM

Oklahoma: At least 37 people have been confirmed dead from the huge tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, on Monday, a medical official said.

The number of fatalities is expected to rise, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer of the Oklahoma chief medical examiner's office.

The powerful tornado, rated the second highest strength level of EF4 and packing winds of up to 200 miles per hour, touched down at midafternoon and devastated a wide area of the town. --REUTERS

Altaf Hussain hails Nawaz Sharif’s speech

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 5:36:10 AM

Staff Report
KARACHI: Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain welcomed the address by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, SAMAA reported Tuesday.

In a statement issued here, he said Mian Nawaz Sharif’s speech that he delivered to his party’s workers and representatives at Alhamra Hall, was balanced and highly moderate, adding he hails his (Sharif’s) speech sincerely from the core of his heart on the historic victory of their party in the general elections of 2013.

“National solidarity and welfare rests in truly accepting in each other’s mandate and cooperating each other following the policy of live and let live,” the Muttahida chief asserted praying Almighty Allah to enable Sharif to fulfill the noble views expressed by him for putting the country on the path of progress and for solving the problems.

Altaf Hussain prayed Almighty Allah to give everyone the courage, resolve and determination to come out of difficult circumstances. –SAMAA

U.S. concerned over Myanmar violence against Muslim: Obama

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:18:43 AM

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama said on Monday that Myanmar's President Thein Sein planned to release more political prisoners and institutionalize democratic reforms in his country.

Obama told reporters that he had expressed U.S. concern about violence against Muslims in Myanmar to Thein Sein during a meeting at the White House.

Thein Sein said his country faced challenges in carrying out reforms but vowed to address them. –REUTERS

IMF says Washington cutting budget deficits too quickly

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:09:59 AM

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund on Monday said the United States was getting carried away with a government austerity drive, offering some of the institution's bluntest criticism yet of Washington's rush to cut its budget deficit.

Despite high unemployment, Washington is on track to slash its budget shortfall this year by the most in nearly a half century.

"We think this is too much," Carlo Cottarelli, head of the IMF's fiscal affairs division, told a conference.

The IMF has advised European governments embroiled in a debt crisis to shrink their deficits aggressively to win back the confidence of lenders who doubt their ability to pay back loans.

But there is very little risk of similar turmoil will ensnare the United States anytime soon, Cottarelli said. Interest rates remain low in the United States, even when factoring in inflation, a sign that lenders still trust the U.S. government to make good on its debts.

"There is no need for the U.S. to move so quickly," he said.

Cottarelli said a slower pace of fiscal consolidation should be accompanied by a long-term plan to keep the budget sustainable as America's population ages and demands more government services like health care and pensions.

Most economists think the U.S. economy would be growing much more quickly were it not for efforts to shrink the deficit. The U.S. public sector began to tighten its belt in 2011. This year, Washington stepped up its austerity drive, raising taxes in January and enacting sweeping budget cuts in March.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated last week that the deficit was on track to shrink this year to the equivalent of 4 percent of national economic output, down from 7 percent last year. That would be the sharpest contraction in the deficit since 1969.

The fiscal consolidation is putting further drag on an economy already held back by the weak household finances, which were battered by the 2007-09 recession.

A drop in federal spending led the economy to barely expand in the fourth quarter of 2012. The economy picked up in the first three months of this year, although it remained subdued and most economists expect the austerity will slow growth again in the April-June period.

"It's affecting growth unnecessarily," said Cottarelli. –REUTERS

No reservations over Pervez Khattak as CM: Sherpao

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2:00:16 AM

Staff Report
LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan continued consultations for the formation of government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as he was assured by Qaumi Watan Party’s chief Aftab Sherpao that he has no objection to the name of Pervaiz Khattak for the office of Chief Minister, SAMAA reported Tuesday.

QWP chief Aftaf Sherpao called on Imran Khan who is recuperating at Shaukat Khanum Hospital from his injuries which he sustained in collapse from the electric lifter.

Sherpao was accompanied by Khurshid Kasuri who informed that Imran Khan will visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after complete recovery.

Earlier, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi also paid a visit to the PTI chairman and voiced good wishes for his early health. –SAMAA

Karachi unrest claims 11 lives

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 1:35:32 AM

Staff Report
KARACHI: The fresh spate of violence following May 11 general elections, erupted in the metropolis as 11 people were killed in the firing incidents in different areas, SAMAA reported Tuesday.

Some unidentified miscreants lobbed a cracker at a shop near the residence of Siraj Lala, a local leader of Awami National Party (ANP) in Landhi Hospital Chowrangi. The cracker blast wounded three people.

As regards other incidents of violence, Ashiq was killed near Banaras Bridge, Hussain and Muhammed Jamal in Orangi Town and a man Yaqub was gunned down near Denso Hall.

Also, an unknown youth was shot to death in Landhi’s 36-B and a man Mehtab was killed near Malir-15 P-1 bus stop.

A 40-year man Nasir Muhammed was shot down near Airport Signal, Arshad in Old Golimar and some unidentified miscreants killed a youth Junaid in front of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in Nazimabad.

An area near Meteorological Department in Gulistan-e-Jauhar turned into flashpoint after a local office-bearer of a political party Qasim Chandio was killed here. Police and the rangers brought the volatile situation under control. While, grappling with the rioters, SHO Sahchal Saqib Goga was injured.

Police and the rangers arrested four suspected people and recovered firearms from their possession. –SAMAA

Keanu Reeves makes director debut with modern Kung Fu film

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 1:10:00 AM

CANNES: He's played a science-fiction hero, policeman and even Hamlet. But now actor Keanu Reeves is taking on a new role - as director of a contemporary martial arts movie aimed at both Chinese and Western audiences.

Reeves has stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut with "Man of Tai Chi", a trilingual film loosely based on the life of a stuntman, Tiger Chen, whom he befriended while working on the sci-fi "The Matrix" trilogy.

At the Cannes film festival to promote his new movie, due out later this year, Reeves said he knew he had always wanted to try directing and spent five years developing the script.

"It was also tied to getting older," Reeves, 48, who was long one of Hollywood's most glamorous action stars, told Reuters Television in an interview at a hotel on Cannes palm-lined waterfront.

He said the main character of the film, in which he also acts, is a stuntman and martial arts expert, struggling to maintain his traditional values and beliefs against the pressures of modern society. This character is played by Chen.

Reeves plays the villain who lures him into underground fighting and the promises of money, glamour and power.

The film, made in English, Cantonese and Mandarin and filmed in China and Hong Kong, is meant to appeal to both the huge market in China, where Reeves won fans with "Matrix" and for having a Chinese great-grandparent, and in Western countries.

"Man of Tai Chi" was co-produced by the China Film Group, Wanda Media, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia and Universal Pictures and will be distributed internationally by Universal, owned by Comcast through its subsidiary NBCUniversal.

Clips from the movie suggested there would be big fight sequences and high-speed car chases along Chinese highways, as could be expected from the star of the 1994 thriller "Speed".

"I loved the responsibility of telling a story," said the Canadian-born Reeves. "I hope I get the chance to do it again." –REUTERS

Five killed, six hurt in Illinois van crash

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 1:00:22 AM

ST. LOUIS: Five people were killed and six were injured Monday morning when a van carrying them home from a religious gathering in California rolled over off of Interstate 70 near Vandalia in southern Illinois, police said.

Fayette County Sheriff's Department Deputy Shawn Carter said the van had Maryland plates, but the van's destination is as yet undetermined.

Carter said the van was eastbound about four miles west of Vandalia, which is about 70 miles northeast of St. Louis, when it went into the median, then crossed back over eastbound I-70, and rolled several times south of the highway.

Carter said the five people who died were thrown from the white 2002 Dodge van.

Four of the injured were taken to Fayette County Hospital in Vandalia and were in fair condition, a spokeswoman said. Two were taken to Greenville Regional Hospital in Greenville, Illinois, but their conditions were not immediately available.

Both eastbound lanes of 70 are closed while the crash is being investigated and will remain closed through mid-afternoon, police said. --REUTERS

Dagestan bombs kill 4; 2 dead in shootout near Moscow

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 12:51:24 AM

MAKHACHKALA: Two car bombs killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others on Monday in one of the bloodiest attacks this year in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an insurgency.

Car bombs, suicide bombings and firefights are common in Dagestan, at the centre of an insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighbouring Chechnya.

Such attacks are rare in other parts of Russia, but in a separate incident in a suburb of Moscow on Monday, security forces killed two suspected militants alleged to have been plotting an attack in the capital and arrested a third suspect after a gunbattle.

One elite police officer was lightly wounded in the exchange of gunfire with the suspects - Russian citizens but trained in Afghanistan or Pakistan - who had holed up in a home in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo east of Moscow, authorities said.

Investigators initially said eight people had been killed by the successive blasts in Dagestan's provincial capital Makhachkala, but law enforcement and health officials later put the death toll at four and said about 40 people were wounded.

The explosions occurred with the space of a few minutes near the headquarters of the court bailiffs' service and appeared to have been detonated by remote control, said the federal Investigative Committee, a Russian state agency.

Twisted wreckage of a car could be seen near the building, which was cordoned off by police, and blackened chunks of metal lay in the street.

The Health Ministry said 35 people remained in hospital, including one child, a few hours after the blasts, which the Investigative Committee called a "terrorist act".

The main suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in the United States, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, lived in Dagestan with his family about a decade ago and visited the region last year.

The visit by Tsarnaev, who was shot dead by U.S. police after the April 15 bombings that killed three people and wounded 264 others, is being scrutinised by U.S. investigators for signs of ties with insurgents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered law enforcement authorities to ensure insurgents do not attack the 2014 Winter Olympics next February in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which is close to the North Caucasus.

All those wounded or killed were apparently caught by the second of Monday's explosions, a few minutes after the first, the investigators said.

Insurgents in the North Caucasus have often sought to increase casualties by setting off an initial blast to attract law enforcement officers and then detonating a second bomb.

Dagestan, an ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has become the most violent province in the North Caucasus, where insurgents say they are fighting to carve out an Islamic state out of southern Russia.

At least 405 people were killed in Dagestan in violence linked to the insurgency last year, according to the Caucasian Knot website, which tracks developments in the region.

Putin launched the second war in Chechnya as prime minister in 1999 and likes to take credit for preventing the region from splitting from Russia. But his 13 years in power have been marred by deadly attacks claimed by or blamed on the insurgents. --REUTERS

Bomb attacks kill more than 70 across Iraq

Monday, May 20, 2013 11:20:13 PM

BAGHDAD: More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011.

The attacks increased the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to more than 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict.

No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Iraq has a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, which has targeted Shi'ites in a bid to kindle a wider sectarian conflagration.

Nine people were killed in one of two car bombings in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite city 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police and medics said. "I was on duty when a powerful blast shook the ground," said a police officer near the site of that attack in the Hayaniya neighbourhood.

"The blast hit a group of day labourers gathering near a sandwich kiosk," he said, describing corpses littering the ground. "One of the dead bodies was still grabbing a blood-soaked sandwich in his hand."

Five other people were killed in a second blast inside a bus terminal in Saad Square in Basra, police and medics said.

In Baghdad, at least 30 people were killed by car bombs in Kamaliya, Ilaam, Diyala Bridge, al-Shurta, Shula, Zaafaraniya and Sadr City - all areas with a high concentration of Shi'ites.

A parked car bomb also exploded in the mainly Shi'ite district of Shaab in northern Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 26 others, police and hospital sources said.

In Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a parked car blew up near a bus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran, killing five Iranian pilgrims and two Iraqis who were travelling to the Shi'ite holy city of Samarra, police said.

Eleven people were killed by a car bomb and a suicide bomber in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police and medics said. Both attacks occurred near a Shi'ite place of worship and an outdoor market.

CORPSES FOUND
In the western province of Anbar, the bodies of 14 people kidnapped on Saturday, including six policemen, were found dumped in the desert with bullet wounds to the head and chest, police and security sources said.

When Sunni-Shi'ite bloodshed was at its height in 2006-07, Anbar was in the grip of al Qaeda's Iraqi wing, which has regained strength in recent months.

In 2007, Anbar's Sunni tribes banded together with U.S. troops and helped subdue al Qaeda. Known as the "Sahwa" or Awakening militia, they are now on the government payroll and are often targeted by Sunni militants as punishment for co-operating with the Shi'ite-led government.

Three Sahwa members were killed in a car bomb explosion as they collected their salaries in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said.

And a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself at a Sahwa checkpoint, killing two fighters and wounded another seven in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad.

Iraq's fragile intercommunal fabric is under increasing strain from the conflict in nearby Syria, which has drawn Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims from across the region into a proxy war.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally is Shi'ite Iran, while the rebels fighting to overthrow him are supported by Sunni Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Iraq says it takes no sides in the conflict, but leaders in Tehran and Baghdad fear Assad's demise would make way for a hostile Sunni Islamist government in Syria, weakening Shi'ite influence in the Middle East.

The prospect of a shift in the sectarian balance of power has emboldened Iraq's Sunni minority, which is embittered by Shi'ite dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in 2003.

Thousands of Sunnis began staging street protests last December against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalising their sect.

A raid by the Iraqi army on a protest camp in the town of Hawija last month ignited a spate of violence that left more than 700 people dead in April, according to a U.N. count, the highest monthly toll in almost five years.

At the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07, the monthly death toll sometimes topped 3,000. --REUTERS

MQM denounces Imran Khan in Karachi protest

Monday, May 20, 2013 10:19:30 PM

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of an influential Pakistani political party took to the streets of Karachi on Monday to protest against cricket-hero-turned-politician Imran Khan, who has accused it of killing one of his senior staff a week after a general election.

Furious members of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) have denied responsibility for the killing of Zara Shahid Hussain on Saturday outside her home in the upscale Defence area of Karachi, capping a bloody election in which about 150 people were killed nationwide.

MQM leaders condemned the killing by unidentified gunman and demanded a retraction from Khan.

The May 11 elections gave the MQM 18 of 19 national assembly seats in Karachi, which has long been the party's power base. Khan's party won a re-vote in part of one constituency of Karachi on Sunday, giving it one seat and also angering the MQM.

About 3,000 MQM joined the protest to denounce Khan, whose Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party was to hold a rally later in the evening and elsewhere in the city.

"We won't allow Imran Khan to come Karachi if he continues with these baseless allegations," senior MQM member Nabeel Gabol said as protesters chanted anti-Khan slogans.

There was no sign of violence, but the mood of protests in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, can turn quickly.

Karachi generates about half of the government's revenue and is home to Pakistan's main port, stock exchange and central bank. Stability in the city is key to the stability of the nuclear-armed country.

The MQM, a secular party, is locked in a battle with various rivals for influence in Karachi, including Pakistan's Taliban movement, which has sought to gain a foothold in various districts on the outskirts of the city in recent years.

The general election handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). But Khan's campaign electrified many Pakistanis, pushing the PTI from the margins to Pakistan's third-largest party.

"THREATS"

Results from a handful of constituencies across the country are still uncertain amid accusations of vote-rigging. There is re-polling in a few others where security issues prevented voting.

Police said that two gunmen shot Hussain on Saturday outside her home in Defence.

"I hold (MQM leader) Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts," Khan, recovering in hospital from a fall during campaigning, said.

"I also hold the British government responsible as I had warned them about British citizen Altaf Hussain after his open threats."

Altaf Hussain is accused of murder in Pakistan and leads his party remotely from exile in England. His party is designated a terrorist organization by Canada, a charge it strongly denies.

In recent days, he gave a speech which many Pakistanis felt was an incitement to attack political rivals. British police are investigating whether or not it constituted a hate speech.

"We are in the early stages of the investigation and are assessing the information which has now been brought to our attention," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Karachi is home to 18 million people. It typically sees about a dozen murders a day, a combination of political killings, attacks by the Pakistan Taliban and sectarian militant groups, and street crime. REUTERS

PTI protests against Zahra Hussain’s murder in Karachi

Monday, May 20, 2013 9:55:12 PM

Staff Report

KARACHI: Activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are protesting against the killing of their party leader, Zahra Shahid Hussain, here on Monday, SAMAA reports.

PTI chief Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan is also participating in the sit-in protest.

The protest is being staged at M.A Jinnah Road near Mazar-e-Quaid.

Talking with media, Aleema Khan said that Zahra Shahid Hussain’s sacrifice will not go in vain. SAMAA

Shakespeare's sonnets come to life in new app

Monday, May 20, 2013 9:20:43 PM

TORONTO: A new app launched on Monday aims to bring William Shakespeare's sonnets to the masses with the help of short films starring stage actors performing them in front of New York landmarks.

The Sonnet Project is a free app for the iPhone and iPad that showcases the bard's poetry through films of up to two minutes and performances by Tony-Award winning actors Joanna Gleason and Cady Huffman, among others.

"Shakespeare gets a bad rap. A lot of people say 'I don't like Shakespeare, he's over my head,' or 'Shakespeare is boring,'" said Ross Williams, the artistic director of the New York Shakespeare Exchange, the non-profit organization behind The Sonnet Project.

"I wondered what happens if we share Shakespeare in really easily digestible chunks so people can get used to having him in their lives?" he added.

Shakespeare's 154 sonnets, first published in 1609 explore themes such as the love, beauty, and death.

Different locations across New York were selected for each sonnet, including the World Trade Center Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge. Actors and directors and text coaches helped to interpret the themes.

To mark the launch of the app, 10 short films will be released on Monday, and a new one every few days after that. About 75 more films have been completed or are in the works. Users can receive notifications with the iPhone app when a new one is released.

Another iPad app released last year called The Sonnets by William Shakespeare includes performances by actress Kim Cattrall, of "Sex and the City" fame, Patrick Stewart of "Star Trek" and British actor Stephen Fry.

Created by Britain's Touch Press, it also features commentary and information about the sonnets. The app, which costs $6.99, also includes a replica of the original sonnets, and interviews with scholars and Shakespeare experts.

Cambridge University Press also launched two new iPad apps for Shakespeare lovers in February as part of their "Explore Shakespeare" series, including the plays "Twelfth Night" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Other plays in the series include "Macbeth" and "Romeo and Juliet." Each cost $13.99 and feature audio performances, commentary and other interactive content.

Williams said the New York Shakespeare Exchange's mission is to bring Shakespeare to the masses. He hopes that by introducing Shakespeare's sonnets in small bites people will appreciate and understand the works.

"When you hear those words something just moves, shifts inside of you," he explained. "There is a simplicity of spirit within the poetry and I think that's why people can connect to it in such an amazing way." REUTERS

Vettori joins NZ squad early after Martin ruled out

Monday, May 20, 2013 8:14:19 PM

LONDON: Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori could play his first test for 10 months after spinner Bruce Martin was ruled out of the rest of the tour of England with a calf injury.

"Bruce Martin out of England tour, Dan Vettori to join squad early, BJ Watling making good progress," New Zealand Cricket tweeted on Monday.

Wicketkeeper Watling hurt his knee on Saturday diving to make a run-out and captain Brendon McCullum took over the gloves for the rest of the first Lord's test which New Zealand lost by 170 runs.

Vettori, who has been struggling with a long-term Achilles injury, was originally included in New Zealand's one-day squad that will also contest the Champions Trophy in June but not the test side.

The second and final test starts at Headingley in Leeds on Friday.

"Daniel's come over 24 hours earlier for us to have a chance to have a look at him," New Zealand coach Mike Hesson was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"We won't risk Dan for the sake of a test but, in saying that, it is an important test match for us.

"We won't be pushing Dan if he's not ready but if he is we'd certainly love to have him."

The 34-year-old all-rounder's last test was against the West Indies in Antigua last July. He did play in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka last year.

Left-armer Vettori is New Zealand's second highest test wicket-taker with 360 behind Richard Hadlee (431). REUTERS

PPP, MQM should restore peace in Karachi: Nawaz Sharif

Monday, May 20, 2013 7:27:36 PM

Web Desk

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has said an elected government has every right to complete its constitutional tenure, SAMAA reports on Monday.

Addressing the parliamentary party meeting of PML-N, he said the PPP and MQM have got mandate in Sindh and they should form government there. He also said that both parties should end violenece and restore peace in Karachi.

Sharif said that the PML-N did not resort to any negative campaigning and gave only positive message to the masses for change.

The PML-N chief, who is to be the next prime minister of the country said that to end load shedding from country is one of his priorities.

'Offer of peace talks by the Taliban must be taken seriously' he added. SAMAA

Massive traffic jam at Karachi roads due to PTI protest

Monday, May 20, 2013 6:58:05 PM

Staff Report

KARACHI: Severe traffic jam was witnessed at Mohamad Ali (M.A) Jinnah Road and its surroundings due to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sit-in protest, SAMAA reports on Monday evening.

The PTI’s protest will start soon at the road but before it police have closed the road for traffic.

Traffic jam was witnessed on Shahra-e-Faisal, M.A Jinnah Road, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Awan-e-Saddar Road and others.

Long queues of vehicles were also seen on Burn Road, Jama Cloth, Kala Pul, Korangi Road, Qayyumabad Crossing and other main roads.

Long queues of vehicles were witnessed and commuters looked angry, sweating in hot conditions. SAMAA

MQM workers stage protest in Karachi

Monday, May 20, 2013 6:18:55 PM

Staff Report

KARACHI: Hundreds of MQM workers today staged a protest in front of Karachi Press Club (KPC), condemning allegations against Altaf Hussain.

Addressing the participants, MQM leaders said that those making allegations against Altaf Hussain want to get cheap publicity.

A large number of women were also present in the demonstration.

MQM leader Wasim Aftab said that Imran Khan showed political immaturity by making absurd allegations against Altaf.

The protesters later dispersed after five hours of protest. – SAMAA

Car bombs kill eight in Russia's Dagestan: investigators

Monday, May 20, 2013 5:33:12 PM

MAKHACHKALA: Two car bombs exploded in Dagestan on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding about 20 others, investigators said, one of the deadliest attacks this year in a region plagued with violence linked to an Islamist insurgency.

The blasts occurred in swift succession outside the headquarters of the court bailiffs' service in the provincial capital, Makhachkala.

Car bombs, suicide bombings and firefights are routine in Dagestan, centre of an Islamist insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighbouring Chechnya.

The main suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in the United States, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, lived in Dagestan with his family about a decade ago and visited the region last year.

The visit by Tsarnaev, who was shot dead by police after the April 15 bombings that killed three people and wounded 264 others, is being scrutinised by U.S. investigators for signs of
ties with insurgents. Reuters

Zardari says conspiracies hatched for PPP’s defeat

Monday, May 20, 2013 5:13:18 PM

Web Desk

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that through conspiracies the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was defeated in the elections, SAMAA reports on Monday.

The president said that the conspiracies were hatched by international and local institutions.

He said that he himself would enter in the political ground again after leaving the presidential post.

Zardari said that he would compensate whatever was done by the party. SAMAA

Zehri unhappy over not being nominated for Balochistan CM

Monday, May 20, 2013 4:34:20 PM

Web Desk

LAHORE: Sardar Sanaullah Zehri has expressed his unhappiness over not being nominated for the post of Balochistan chief minister, SAMAA reports on Monday.

The PML-N faces differences over the government issues in the province.

On the other hand, the PML-N leader Khwaja Asif said that unhappiness is part of politics but we need to go forward. SAMAA

Thirty Hezbollah fighters killed in Syrian town: activists

Monday, May 20, 2013 4:17:28 PM

AMMAN: About 30 fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were killed in heavy fighting with rebels in the town of Qusair, Syrian activists said on Monday.

Opposition sources and state media gave sharply differing accounts of the outcome of Sunday's ferocious battles in the town, long used by rebels as a supply route from the nearby Lebanese border to the provincial capital Homs.

The assault on Qusair appeared to be part of a campaign by Assad's forces to consolidate their grip on Damascus and secure links between the capital and the government strongholds on the coast via the contested central city of Homs.

State news agency SANA said the army had "restored security and stability to most Qusair neighborhoods" and was "chasing the remnants of the terrorists in the northern district".

However, opposition activists said rebels in Qusair, about 10 km (six miles) from the Lebanese border, had pushed back most of the attacking forces to their original positions in the east of the town and to the south on Sunday, destroying at least four Syrian army tanks and five light Hezbollah vehicles.

The activists did not give a figure for the number of rebel fighters and civilians killed in the clashes. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 48 rebels had been killed, as well as four civilians, three of them women.

The Observatory's director, Rahim Abdurahman, put Hezbollah casualties at 23 dead and 70 wounded. Lebanese security sources said at least 12 Hezbollah fighters had been killed.

Tareq Murei, a local activist, said troops backed by Hezbollah had "made incursions into Qusair but they are now basically back to where they started at the security compounds in east Qusair and at a ... roadblock to the south."

"Hezbollah's multiple rocket-launchers are now hitting Qusair from Syrian territory west of the Orontes river, along with Syrian army artillery. Six people have been killed since the morning," he told Reuters on Monday.

Video footage purportedly showed a Syrian tank at a street corner in the town on fire. In another video a warplane was shown flying over the town amid the sound of explosions.

Syrian government restrictions on access for independent media make it hard to verify such videos and accounts. – Reuters

PTI’s Abrar challenges Narowal’s election results

Monday, May 20, 2013 4:11:04 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMAABD: PTI leader Abrar-ul-Haq on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), seeking a probe into alleged rigging in NA-117, Narowal.

Haq, in his petition, accused rival candidate Ahsan Iqbal of carrying out rigging in the election.

He alleged Iqbal was engaged in casting of votes through illegal means. Bogus votes could be identified through NADRA, he argued.

The PTI leader pleaded that apex court order inquiry into rigging by suspending notification of Iqbal’s win. - SAMAA

NADRA to develop software for thumb print verification in 2 weeks

Monday, May 20, 2013 3:45:55 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: NADRA chief Tariq Malik announced that a software would be developed in two weeks to enhance the capacity of NADRA regarding verification of thumb prints.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Malik said that NADRA would be able to verify up to 500, 000 thumb prints per day after enhancing it capacity at the request of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He said that a summary would be forwarded to the caretaker government to seek expenses needed for this exercise.

“We have assured our complete cooperation with the commission,” he said.

He added that verification of thumb prints would cost Rs10 to Rs15 per vote.

Speaking on this occasion, ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed said that demands for verification of votes through thumb prints show people have faith in the commission. – SAMAA

Ex-Balochistan Finance Minister joins PML-N

Monday, May 20, 2013 3:28:40 PM

Staff Report

QUETTA: Former Balochistan Finance Minister Asim Kurd, who won as an independent candidate, announced his decision to join Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday.

Addressing a press conference at his residence here, Kurd expressed complete confidence in PML-N’s leadership.

PML-N Balochistan chief Sardar Sanaullah Zehri was also present on this occasion.

Zehri said that PML-N was committed to resolve the problems being faced by people in Balochistan. – SAMAA

India mulls spot-fixing law after arrests

Monday, May 20, 2013 3:28:19 PM

NEW DELHI: India is mulling a law to deal with the issue of spot-fixing in sport following last week's arrest of cricketers and bookmakers, government officials said on Monday.

Former India test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other players were arrested along with 11 bookmakers on Thursday on suspicion of spot-fixing in the country's ongoing Twenty20 league.

The cricket board immediately suspended the trio, who have been accused of taking money to concede a certain number of runs in a particular over.

Law Minister Kapil Sibal has consulted sports minister Jitendra Singh and the new bill will likely be introduced in the next session of the Indian parliament.

"We have been looking at different ways to control and regulate that part of illegal betting," sports secretary P.K. Deb told Reuters by telephone.

"We have been studying how they deal with it in the UK and Australia and the information we have gathered will be shared with the Law Ministry. We are still some distance away from it (the law)."

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing while illegal betting syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport.

Media estimates put the amount gambled on India's top cricket Twenty20 competition at $427 million in 2009.

"We need to have a separate law," Law Minister Sibal told reporters on Sunday.

"I don't think the Indian Penal Code has matchfixing and spot-fixing as an offence and I don't think the 'offence of cheating' is something that adequately deals with issues of spot-fixing and matchfixing," the law minister told reporters.

"I have requested my ministry to work on such a law ... Once the broad parameters of the law are made out, I'll hand it over to the sports ministry to take it to the cabinet and hopefully introduce it in the coming session of the parliament."

Spot-fixing is manipulation of individual incidents within a match which may not affect the outcome of the contest, most famously exposed in a London trial and jailing of three Pakistan cricketers in 2011.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and team mates Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed in Britain for their role in a spot-fixing scandal relating to a test match against England at Lord's in August 2010.

The International Cricket Council subsequently banned the three players for a minimum of five years. REUTERS

People voted despite terror threats, says Army chief

Monday, May 20, 2013 3:16:37 PM

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has paid rich tribute to the people of the country as they actively took part in elections despite terror threats, SAMAA reports on Monday.

Addressing a symposium, Kayani said that the people defeated the misleading minority through their votes.

‘The people proved their bravery during elections as they voted and did not afraid’, he said.

The COAS said that the Pakistani nation is democratic and peace loving.

‘Pakistan is determined to defeat terrorism’ he added. SAMAA

Musharraf granted bail in Benazir murder case

Monday, May 20, 2013 3:10:50 PM

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Anti-Terrorist Court Rawalpindi on Monday accepted the bail plea of for former army chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in the murder case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, SAMAA reported.

Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar appeared before ATC judge Chaudhry Habib Urrehman and contended during today’s hearing.

He said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is only authorized to investigate corruption cases; therefore, it can’t probe into Benazir’s murder.

He said that none of the witnesses named Musharraf in the case, adding that the former president has been involved in the murder to bar be barred from politics. - SAMAA

NZ media muted in critique of first test loss

Monday, May 20, 2013 2:59:59 PM

WELLINGTON: New Zealand's media were muted in their reaction to their side being bundled out for just 68 runs to give England a 170-run victory in the first test at Lord's on Sunday, instead turning their focus towards the second match in Leeds.

Their second innings score, sparked by Stuart Broad's career-best figures of seven for 44, was New Zealand's ninth-lowest in their 83-year test history.

Unlike the furore that enveloped the team when they were bundled out for 45 by South Africa in January, however, the outcry on Monday was more restrained.

No doubt the fact Brendon McCullum's team had actually competed, if not held a slight advantage for the first three innings before "one hour of madness" on Sunday when Broad ran through the visitors lineup, helped lessen the criticism.

"In a flash, it was gone," Fairfax Media's senior cricket writer Mark Geenty wrote. "New Zealand boldly dared to dream of a rare test win at Lord's but in the space of one horror hour it became a nightmare.

"Memories of the Cape Town collapse for 45 in January had almost faded. This pavilion procession revived them as New Zealand slumped to 29-6 at lunch, with Broad taking five of the first six.

"The question is now, what kind of psychological damage this causes to New Zealand heading into Friday's second and final test at Leeds."

The New Zealand Herald's Andrew Alderson, however, was slightly more critical.

"If New Zealand's second innings capitulation was a classified ad it might read something like this: 'For sale. 2013 New Zealand second innings at Lord's. Promises much, but runs out of gas in a shade under two hours on the brink of history. Dial 196058 for disappointment'," he wrote.

Alderson, however, agreed the onslaught from Broad and James Anderson, who were the only two bowlers used in the 22.3 overs in the New Zealand's second innings was world class.

"Broad claimed the spoils but Anderson offered as much scrutiny as they swung the ball from a full length anywhere from off to an imaginary fourth stump," Alderson wrote.

"Any international batsman would have found it formidable."

Both reporters, who are following the team in England, however, found some positives from the New Zealand performance, notwithstanding the fourth innings collapse.

"Despite the loss it wasn't a completely hopeless experience for the Black Caps," Geenty wrote.

"There were positives to cling to, particularly the bowling where Tim Southee had his name etched on the Lord's honours board with his second innings 6-50 to give him 10 wickets for the match.

"Trent Boult and Wagner were excellent foils as the New Zealand pace attack continued to cause problems for England's batting lineup." REUTERS

Blast injures 4 in Peshawar’s plaza

Monday, May 20, 2013 2:34:52 PM

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: A powerful explosion occurred in a central Peshawar area on Monday, injuring four people.

The blast took place on the second floor of busy Bilour Plaza in Saddar area.

Rescue teams and security forces reached the scene and cordoned off the area.

According to reports, four people have been injured to Lady Reading Hospital.

The nature of the blast is not clear. But initial reports suggest it was a generator explosion. – SAMAA

North Korea fires fifth missile in three days

Monday, May 20, 2013 2:28:45 PM

SEOUL: North Korea fired its fifth short-range missile in three days on Monday and condemned South Korea for criticising what it said were its legitimate military drills.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said a missile had been fired on Monday morning, according to the South's Yonhap news agency, although it was unclear what type of missile was used.

The launches come hard on the heels of more than two months of threats from North Korea that it would wage a nuclear war against South Korea and the United States if it were attacked.

The North condemned joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises, that ended in late April, as a rehearsal for an attack on its territory.

"We are conducting intense military exercises to strengthen our defence capacity," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, the body that handles inter-Korean issues, as saying on Monday.

"Our military is conducting these exercises in order to cope with the mounting war measures from the U.S. and South Korea, which is the legitimate right of any sovereign country."

North Korea frequently fires short-range missiles, although the current spate of launches has drawn criticism from South Korea and the United States after the recent threats from the
North.

Seoul on Monday condemned the launches for stoking tension in the region while Beijing, the North's sole major ally, called for restraint.

"These launches are its tactic of signalling to the world that the regime is willing to negotiate now, while at the same time saving face," Kim Yeon-su, a professor at Korea National
Defense University in Seoul, which is part of the Defense Ministry, said of North Korea.

Kim said that North Korea had an arsenal of hundreds of short- and medium-range missiles.

There appears to be little prospect of talks between North Korea and the United States as Washington insists that Pyongyang needs to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, something the isolated and impoverished state has said it will not do. Reuters

Extreme global warming seen further away than previously thought

Monday, May 20, 2013 2:25:25 PM

OSLO: Extreme global warming is less likely in coming decades after a slowdown in the pace of temperature rises so far this century, an international team of scientists have said.

Warming is still on track, however, to breach a goal set by governments around the world of limiting the increase in temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, unless tough action is taken to limit rising greenhouse gas emissions.

"The most extreme rates of warming simulated by the current generation of climate models over 50- to 100-year timescales are looking less likely," the University of Oxford wrote about the findings in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The rate of global warming has slowed after strong rises in the 1980s and 1990s, even though all the 10 warmest years since reliable records began in the 1850s have been since 1998.

The slowdown has been a puzzle because emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases have continued to rise, led by strong industrial growth in China.

Examining recent temperatures, the experts said that a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere above pre-industrial times - possible by mid-century on current trends - would push up temperatures by between 0.9 and 2.0 degrees Celsius (1.6 and 3.6F).

That is below estimates made by the U.N. panel of climate scientists in 2007, of a rise of between 1 and 3 degrees Celsius (1.8-5.4F) as the immediate response to a doubling of carbon concentrations, known as the transient climate response.

OCEANS

The U.N. panel also estimated that a doubling of carbon dioxide, after accounting for melting of ice and absorption by the oceans that it would cause over hundreds of years, would eventually lead to a temperature rise of between 2 and 4.5 C (3.6-8.1F).

Findings in the new study, by experts in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland and Norway, broadly matched that range for the long-term response.

But for government policy makers "the transient response over the next 50-100 years is what matters," lead author Alexander Otto of Oxford University said in a statement.

The oceans appear to be taking up more heat in recent years, masking a build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that passed 400 parts per million this month for the first time in human history, up 40 percent from pre-industrial levels.

Professor Reto Knutti of ETH Zurich, one of the authors, said that the lower numbers for coming decades were welcome.

But "we are still looking at warming well over the two degree goal that countries have agreed upon if current emission trends continue," he said.

Temperatures have already risen by about 0.8 Celsius (1.4F) since the Industrial Revolution and two degrees C is widely viewed as a threshold to dangerous changes such as more floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels.

"The oceans are sequestering heat more rapidly than expected over the last decade," said Professor Steven Sherwood of the University of New South Wales in Australia, who was not involved in the study.

"By assuming that this behaviour will continue, (the scientists) calculate that the climate will warm about 20 percent more slowly than previously expected, although over the long term it may be just as bad, since eventually the ocean will stop taking up heat."

He said findings "need to be taken with a large grain of salt" because of uncertainties about the oceans. – Reuters

One dead, 5 hurt as police, protesters clash in Jacobabad

Monday, May 20, 2013 2:22:02 PM

Staff Report

JACOBABAD: One person died and five people were injured in a clash with police during a protest demonstration against the kidnapping of a woman in Jacobabad on Monday.

Participants of the protest tried to set a local police station on fire.

On this, police resorted to firing, killing one person and leaving five others injured. – SAMAA

Chinese Premier Li seeks trust in India, border issue irks

Monday, May 20, 2013 2:01:03 PM

NEW DELHI: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is seeking to build trust with India on his first foreign trip since taking office,
which comes just a few weeks after a military standoff between the Asian giants on their ill-defined border in the
Himalayan mountains.

The number two in the Chinese leadership offered India a "handshake across the Himalayas" in an editorial published on
Monday in The Hindu newspaper and said that together the emerging economic giants could become a new engine of the world
economy.

China and India disagree about large areas on their 4,000-km (2,500-mile) -long border and fought a brief but bloody war 50
years ago. There has not been a shooting incident in decades, but the long-running dispute gets in the way of improving
economic relations between the world's two most populous nations.

The editorial was part of a media campaign apparently aimed at cooling Indian public anger against China following the
three-week standoff on a freezing Himalayan plateau that ended on May 3.

In an impromptu speech after an official welcome ceremony at India's colonial-era presidential palace on Monday, a
relaxed-looking Li stood with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said he wanted to build trust and cooperation on
his trip.

"World peace and regional stability cannot be a reality without strategic mutual trust between India and China. And
likewise, the development and prosperity of the world cannot be a reality without the cooperation and simultaneous
development of China and India," he said.

The two leaders held closed-door talks on Sunday, shortly after Li arrived in the Indian capital.

Singh told Li that friction on the border could affect relations. He pressed his counterpart to do more to redress a trade
imbalance that has left a $29 billion deficit with China at a time India is struggling with a record current account gap
that has emerged as its main economic weak point.

The latest incident distracted diplomats' attention from negotiations on investment and trade ahead of Li's trip and soured
Indian public opinion toward China.

Also raised in the meeting was the issue of the Dalai Lama, who China considers a separatist and who lives in exile in
India.

India repeated its position that the Dalai Lama is a spiritual and religious leader, a senior Indian government official
said. On Monday, a protester dodged tight security to unfurl a banner saying "Tibet will be free" in front of the hotel
where Li is staying in Delhi.

TRADE

Bilateral trade between the two countries touched $73 billion in 2011, making China India's largest trade partner, but
slipped to $66 billion last year.

Singh told Li it was important to balance out trade as the two countries aim for $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015.

"While we are committed to the $100 billion by 2015 we will have to have a more balanced rate," said the senior government
official, who was briefed about the restricted meeting.

India is pressing for greater access for its pharmaceuticals and IT services.

The official described the conversations as constructive and cordial. Earlier statements from Chinese officials have given
some hope that India's gripes are being heard.

"China attaches great importance to the China-India trade deficit issue. We are willing to expand our market for India's
products and provide facilitation," deputy foreign minister Song Tao said last week.

Up from next to nothing in the 1990s, trade has been heavily skewed in favor of China. It exports power and telecoms
equipment to its neighbor, which as one of the world's fastest growing major economies could offer brighter opportunities
for business than the stagnant West.

Li said trade, an economic corridor and industrial loans would feature in the talks being held on Monday. A joint statement
is due to be signed later in the day.

Prior to the visit, Li said he chose his first destination on the four-nation tour to show how important India is for China
and also because he had fond memories of visiting as a Communist youth leader 27 years ago.

India's Economic Times newspaper said the Essar Group conglomerate would sign a financial agreement with China's China
Development Bank and China's largest oil and gas producer PetroChina Company during the trip.

After India, Li is due to visit Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany and is likely to carry a message that China wants more
open foreign relations and should not be seen as a threat.

"We stand ready to embrace the world with a more open mind and hope that the world will view China with a calm frame of mind," he wrote in the editorial. – Reuters

'Star Trek' sequel tops weekend box office in North America

Monday, May 20, 2013 1:52:38 PM

LOS ANGELES: Star Trek Into Darkness," the newest installment in the classic intergalactic franchise, blasted to the top of
movie box office charts with $70.6 million in weekend ticket sales at theaters in the United States and Canada.

The new 3D voyage for Captain Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise knocked mighty "Iron Man 3" into second place,
while the Marvel superhero sequel grabbed $35.2 million. Jazz Age drama "The Great Gatsby" finished third with $23.4
million, according to studio estimates.

Weekend ticket sales for "Into Darkness" failed to reach the level of 2009 movie "Star Trek," which took in $75.2 million
at U.S. and Canadian theaters without a lift from higher 3D ticket prices.

However, its overall take from Wednesday through Sunday beat the 2009 numbers, with "Into Darkness" taking in $84.1
million. The 2009 installment took in $79.2 million for the same period, according to distributor Paramount.

"Into Darkness," a $190 million production, opened late on Wednesday to grab a head start on the weekend. The take through
Sunday was shy of the $100 million some box office analysts projected.

Paramount said the film's audience was comprised largely of longtime "Star Trek" fans, but was optimistic that good reviews
and word of mouth would bring in a broader audience in coming weeks.

Paramount also expressed satisfaction with the film's performance abroad.

"To a large extent, the last film was uniquely a U.S. and Canada event, but we're really pleased that the foreign sales are
neck-and-neck with the domestic market," said Don Harris, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Paramount, a
unit of Viacom Inc.

The movie has rung up $80.5 million in international markets since opening outside North America on Thursday, Paramount
said, for a combined global total of $164.5 million.

"Into Darkness" stars Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, the pointy-eared, human-Vulcan first
officer. British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, best known as the detective Sherlock Holmes in the BBC drama "Sherlock," plays
a villain who launches an attack on Starfleet's base in London.

The movie is the second "Star Trek" film directed by "Lost" TV show creator J.J. Abrams, who rebooted the Star Trek
franchise with more action and has attempted to broaden it to a wider audience beyond hard-core "Trekkies" who were fans of
the classic 1960s TV show and 10 previous big-screen adaptations.

Abrams' 2009 installment was a critical success, though analysts were disappointed with foreign box office sales of about
$130 million, just one-third of its global take of $386 million.

Critics have embraced "Into Darkness," which as of Sunday had earned an 87 percent positive rating on review aggregation
website Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences responded with an "A" rating in surveys by CinemaScore.

"Iron Man 3" added to its blockbuster sales around the world, reaching $736.2 through Sunday for a global total of $1.07
billion less than one month after its April 24 overseas debut, according to Walt Disney Co. The movie, from Disney's Marvel
Studios, stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a billionaire businessman with a superhero alter-ego.

"The Great Gatsby," starring Leonardo DiCaprio in an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, brought its
worldwide total to $132.3 million through two weekends, according to Warner Bros., the Time Warner Inc unit that released
the film.

Rounding out the top five, dark action comedy "Pain & Gain," released by Paramount and starring Mark Wahlberg, landed in
fourth place with takings of $3.1 million. Animated family flick "The Croods" took the No. 5 slot with $2.8 million.

In the U.K. and Ireland, "Fast and Furious 6" brought in $13.8 million (9 million pounds) this weekend, a record opening
for distributor Universal in those territories. The film will open in the United States, Canada, and 59 international
territories on Friday.

Universal Pictures is a unit of Comcast's NBC/Universal. – Reuters

Imran Khan’s sister reaches Karachi to attend Zahra Hussain’s soyem

Monday, May 20, 2013 1:44:53 PM

Staff Report

KARACHI: Aleema Khan, sister of Imran Khan, arrived in Karachi on Monday to attend the soyem of slain PTI leader Zahra Shahid Hussain.

Zahra Hussain was shot dead at her Defense residence in Karachi on Saturday night.

Interacting with reporters at Jinnah airport here, Ms Khan said that Imran Khan held the British government responsible for the threats issued to PTI workers in Karachi.

To a question, she said that many people tried to stop her from coming to Karachi over security reasons.

Responding to another question, she said that Imran Khan did not receive any defamation notice from MQM. Ms. Khan complained that PTI workers were getting threats over their sit-ins and protests.

“It is difficult to stop people once they decide not to get deterred by threats,” she said.

She stated that the British government also contacted Imran Khan. - SAMAA

Heat wave to prevail for next 12 hours: PMD

Monday, May 20, 2013 1:41:44 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Monday said that hot and dry weather will continue to grip most parts of country during the next 12 hours, SAMAA reported.

“Severe heat wave conditions will prevail in plain areas of Punjab, upper and central Sindh, Balochistan and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhawa”, it added. -- SAMAA

First Pakistani woman conquers Mount Everest

Monday, May 20, 2013 1:25:53 PM

Web Desk

SKARDU: Samina Baig, 21, became the first Pakistani woman to conquer Mount Everest.

According to details, Baig accomplished her mission in five stages during which his elder brother Mirza Ali Baig was with
her.

Baig, who belongs to Hunza valley, hoisted Pakistani flat at the top of Mount Everest, some 8,848 meters above the seal
level.

Baig set off the historic mission on April 1. She began her mountaineering career in 2010. – SAMAA

Musharraf did not take decision on Benazir’s postmortem: Lawyer

Monday, May 20, 2013 1:23:11 PM

Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: Anti-Terrorist Court Rawalpindi on Monday reserved its verdict on the interim bail for former army chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf in the murder case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, SAMAA reported.

Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar contended before the ATC judge Chaudhry Habib Urrehman during today’s hearing.

He said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is only authorized to investigate corruption cases; therefore, it can’t probe into Benazir’s murder.

He said that none of the witnesses named Musharraf in the case, adding that the former president has been involved in the murder to bar be barred from politics.

The lawyer said that Musharraf could not be held responsible for the decision of Benazir’s autopsy as it was decided by her husband President Asif Ali Zardari.

After hearing the arguments, the judge reserved his verdict on a plea seeking interim bail for Musharraf in the case.

The ATC had indicted Musharraf in the case in February 2011, declaring him a proclaimed offender.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007 soon after addressing an election campaign rally in the city.

Musharraf returned last month after nearly four years of self-imposed exile. -- SAMAA

PML-N challenges key appointments of caretaker set-up

Monday, May 20, 2013 1:01:21 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) today filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), challenging high-level appointments made by the caretaker set up.

Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif submitted the plea, in which he challenged the appointments of heads of 13 semi-autonomous corporations.

Asif maintained that the apex court has also ruled that the caretaker government doesn’t have authority to make key appointments and that it’s task is to perform day-to-day matters. – SAMAA

Saifullah meets Nawaz in Lahore

Monday, May 20, 2013 12:52:36 PM

Staff Report

LAHORE: PML-LM (like-minded group) leader Salim Saifullah called on PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif at his residene here on Monday.

According to sources, two leaders exchanged views on post-election political situation and matters of mutual interests.

It is mentioned here that Mr. Saifullah lost from NA-27, Lakki Marwat. - SAMAA

Car bombs kill at least 31 in Iraq

Monday, May 20, 2013 12:43:20 PM

BAGHDAD: At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad,
on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said.

Scores of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shi'ites who
now lead Iraq have reached their highest level since US troops pulled out in December 2011.

Eight car bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killed at least 20 people on Monday, police and
medics said.

Two car bombs hit Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite southern city 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The first struck
the Hananiya neighbourhood, near a busy market and restaurants, and the second was detonated inside a bus terminal in Saad
Square, police and medics said. Eleven people were killed.

More than 700 people were killed in April by a U.N. count, the highest figure in almost five years. Relations are coming
under more strain by the day from the increasingly sectarian conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Minority Sunnis, embittered by Shi'ite dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by US-led forces in 2003, have also
been staging street protests against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki since December. – Reuters

Eight killed in on-going violence in Karachi

Monday, May 20, 2013 12:32:49 PM

Staff Report

KARACHI: Eight more people were killed on Monday in different incidents of firing and violence in the country’s commercial hub Karachi, SAMAA reports.

According to details, a worker of a political party – Qasim Chandio – was gunned down in Safora Goth area. Following the incident tension gripped the area as commercial areas were shut and traffic remained suspended.

A 40-year old Siraj was shot dead in Iqbal Market, Organgi Town area while another 45-year-old Yaqub was killed by firing near Denso Hall. Similarly, in Malir 15 area a 30-year-old Mehtab was killed.

A 40-year-old Nasir Mohammad was killed and a woman was injured in a similar firing incident near Airport Signal at Shar-e-Faisal. – SAMAA

No headway in Zehra Shahid’s murder, FIR yet to be registered

Monday, May 20, 2013 12:31:26 PM

Staff Report

KARACHI: The police have not yet found a clue to the assassination of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s senior vice president of Sindh chapter Zehra Shahid Hussain who was gunned down in Karachi late on Saturday, SAMAA reported.

Imran Khan has blamed the killing of Zehra Shahid on MQM chief Altaf Hussain who denied responsibility, condemned the killing and demanded a retraction from Khan.

MQM also sue Imran Khan for Rs50 billion for defaming Altaf Hussain.

The PTI and MQM, which have locked horns after May 11 general elections, announced protests and counter protests in Karachi today.

Zara was gunned down on Saturday night in Karachi, drawing strong reaction from the PTI whose candidates have secured majority of votes in Sunday’s reelection in 43 polling stations of NA-250 constituency of Karachi.

According to the postmortem report, she was shot in head from close range and died owing to excessive bleeding.

The case of his murder has not so far been registered by the authorities. - SAMAA

Cannes - where celebrity sells and celebrities sell

Monday, May 20, 2013 11:59:19 AM

CANNES: Film stars come to Cannes to promote themselves and their projects - so where better to launch a wry documentary bemoaning the seeming dominance of celebrity pulling-power over content?

With parties, pitching and paparazzi already in overdrive at the world's premier movie market, director James Toback on Sunday showed "Seduced and Abandoned", the story of how he and actor Alec Baldwin talked to directors, investors and studio heads at Cannes last year to seek funding for a film with no A-list star.

They never intended to make the film, but its seemingly bankable plot about a spy and a journalist in Iraq turned out to be no compensation for its lack of big names.

Baldwin himself was dismissed as a mere television actor, and the female star, Canada's Neve Campbell, star of the "Scream" films, was said to have little box office power.

"Money follows stars," says Toback in the documentary, acquired by Time Warner's (TWC.N) HBO.

As well as being the world's top cinema showcase, Cannes brings together up to 40,000 professionals to buy and sell films and seek funding for projects, but many of these never see a film.

One investor tells Toback that he doesn't even read scripts but decides whether to back a project based on the stars involved, as the marketing of a movie has become more important than its content.

Small wonder, then, that the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake and Emma Watson are not merely promoting finished movies showing in the 12-day Cannes festival, but also taking advantage of the limelight to talk up their new projects and seek distributors.

CELEBRITY AS SUBJECT

And Baldwin and Toback are not the only ones taking celebrity and its occupational hazards as their subject.

Former "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff, 60, was in town with his 32-year-old girlfriend Hayley Robert to promote "Killing Hasselhoff", his yet-to-be-shot film about a man who hires a hitman to kill a celebrity - Hasselhoff himself - to win money in a bet.

Paris Hilton, never shy of publicity, attended a party for Sofia Coppola's film "The Bling Ring", premiered in Cannes, in which she plays a cameo role as a gang of celebrity-obsessed teen burglars break into their idols' homes, including Hilton's house.

DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese announced their next movie venture, "Silence", while Timberlake and his wife Jessica Biel held a disco-themed party for buyers of "Spinning Gold", their planned biopic of record executive Neil Bogart.

Jennifer Lawrence, who won the Oscar this year for best actress, was working the floors with Australian actor Liam Hemsworth to promote the second and third "Hunger Games" movies, which start shooting in September.

Kung Fu star Jackie Chan rolled in with China's big screen darling Fan Bingbing talking about next year's comedy action film, "Skiptrace".

Elsewhere, actresses Liv Tyler, Jane Fonda and Eva Longoria, models Cindy Crawford and Cara Delevingne and pop singer and DJ Boy George were among those partying and pressing flesh around Cannes to talk up their projects, or merely using their celebrity status to be "brand ambassadors".

Beyond promoting films and careers, Cannes does provide at least a few occasions to put celebrity to more altruistic use.

Sharon Stone, Jessica Chastain, and Janet Jackson are all on the guest list for Thursday's annual amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS research, where the bill of performers includes Shirley Bassey and Duran Duran. – Reuters

Bangladesh factory banned by Wal-Mart still makes Wrangler shirts

Monday, May 20, 2013 11:53:25 AM

GAZIPUR, Bangladesh: A Bangladesh factory where Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Inditex SA inspectors spotted cracks in the wall this month is still making Wrangler shirts for the world's largest apparel maker, US-based VF Corp.

VF confirmed on Saturday it was still using Liz Apparels to make its clothing following an inspection ordered by the factory owner, Nassa Group, on May 12. VF, whose other clothing brands include North Face, Timberland and Nautica, said its philosophy was to "stay and improve" working conditions.

"We are in daily contact with the facility and VF's leadership is closely monitoring the status in this facility and others in our Bangladesh supply chain," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

VF's continued relationship with Liz Apparels stands in stark contrast to the approach by some of the world's best-known retailers, who immediately severed ties with the same factory.

The differing views show how Western retailers and brands are struggling to assess safety risks at thousands of Bangladesh garment factories after the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza in another Dhaka suburb, which killed 1,127 people.

Their task is made tougher by a lack of robust safety rules, a severe shortage of trained building inspectors and equipment needed to make proper safety assessments, and widespread concerns about corruption.

"RED LIST"

Wal-Mart told Reuters on Friday that Liz Apparels in Gazipur, near the capital Dhaka, had previously made clothing for its stores but was now on its "red" list of unapproved suppliers after a safety audit in early May found the cracks.

Wal-Mart has not published the full findings of that audit, conducted by testing and inspection company Bureau Veritas, which also included checks for fire hazards and a review of building plans. It has asked the Bangladesh government to investigate what it called "potentially dangerous conditions" in the building.

Inditex, which owns the Zara clothing chain, said it sent inspectors to the factory on Wednesday after seeing Wal-Mart's report, and they too saw wall cracks, which the company plans to report to the Bangladesh authorities.

But VF said the building was cleared for "normal operations" after the May 12 inspection. VF, headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, later said it would pay for its own inspections which had not yet been completed.

"The cracks that developed here are not really dangerous, not dangerous for the structure," said Mohammad Jasim Uddin, an executive director of the Nassa Group. He said he had studied civil engineering and was responsible for looking after structural safety of all the factories owned by the group.

The day before Rana Plaza crumbled, the building's owner dismissed concerns over cracks in the wall and insisted the structure would stand for a century. The 8-storey building had three additional floors added without proper approval. There was no indication that the building housing Liz Apparels deviated from its approved plans.

Reuters Television video taken inside Liz Apparels on Wednesday showed a vertical crack running up one wall, which appeared to have been re-plastered recently. Other cracks were visible near the ceiling. Reuters could not independently assess whether the cracks posed a structural risk, and it was not clear how they compared with those seen at Rana.

NORMAL OPERATIONS

Liz Apparels, which is not currently making clothes for Wal-Mart or Inditex, is one of 34 factories owned by Nassa Group, a major player in Bangladesh's fragmented $20 billion garment industry with annual sales volume of $270 million.

Inside the factory on Wednesday, rows of workers stitched denim-coloured fabric into long-sleeved shirts, adding Wrangler labels and price tags. Nassa has about 3,500 employees working in the 7-storey building, which was built in 2003.

Liz Apparels was inspected on behalf of Nassa Group by Shaheedullah and New Associates Ltd, which VF called "one of the top three engineering companies in Bangladesh." The third-party engineering consultant examined all the columns and beams on all floors and found "no significant or impermissible foundation settlement has taken place."

"We also certify that the building can continue to be used for normal operation," Shaheedullah wrote in a letter dated May 14, a copy of which Nassa officials gave Reuters.

Sultan Mahmud, a civil engineer who works for Shaheedullah, said he inspected the building on his own and spent two hours taking measurements, studying soil reports and structural and architectural drawings. He also used a hammer to knock on columns to listen for any void and to gauge the strength.

On Wednesday, VF said based on Shaheedullah's inspection and a review by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Export Association, "it has been determined that normal operations can continue at this facility."

Two days later, in response to further questions from Reuters, VF said it was paying for additional inspections but provided no details on who would conduct the reviews or when they would take place.

"VF will continue to be diligent about following up on any concerns in relation to structural integrity, fire safety and any issues where we determine there is a concern of worker safety," the company said, adding that it had increased the frequency of unannounced inspections in Bangladesh.

Inditex declined to comment on the inspection done for Nassa. Wal-Mart said its ethical sourcing team had asked to see the entire Shaheedullah report and will review it.

$10,000 AUDITS

Jamilur Reza Choudhury, a former professor of civil engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said Shaheedullah's founder was a "very reputed engineer" but that a proper inspection required machines such as Ferro scanners which are used to check for steel reinforcement in concrete. Visual inspections were not enough.

"To complete a proper, thorough and dependable inspection it requires up to two months, not two hours," he said.

Because Bangladesh is prone to earthquakes, groups such as the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center recommend Ferro scans. However, a review of Bangladesh's building code posted on its website found no requirement for these scans.

Wal-Mart has asked Bureau Veritas to examine the 279 Bangladesh factories that make clothing for its stores, part of its response to a series of garment factory disasters including a fire that killed more than 100 people in late November.

Wal-Mart said the review conducted at Liz Apparels included thermal circuit imaging to check for possible electrical faults, a comparison of approved building designs against the actual building construction, and a visual inspection.

It was not clear whether this audit included a Ferro scan. The retailer has so far released only a few details of the inspection, but said it intends to start publishing results from its Bangladesh factory audits on its website starting in June.

Bangladesh has only about 200 trained building inspectors and should have 200,000, said Emdadul Islam, the chief engineer of the state-run City Development Authority. The country's population is above 160 million, making it the world's eighth largest, according to the CIA World Factbook.

"There are 1.25 million buildings in the capital city alone and there are no statistics on how many buildings there are in the country," Islam said.

Jay Jorgensen, Wal-Mart's chief compliance officer, said Veritas sends in a small team of engineers to conduct fire, electrical and structural reviews at the Bangladesh factories. It takes between 8 and 20 days to complete each safety audit at a cost that can exceed $10,000 per factory, he said.

"The audits that we're doing now, with this special focus on safety, I still don't know anybody else who does that level of detail," Jorgensen told Reuters on Thursday.

When a review turns up safety concerns, Wal-Mart notifies the factory owner and the local authorities, and also calls other companies that may use the same supplier.

After Rana Plaza collapsed, Nassa Group voluntarily shut down three of its factories for safety reasons, said Khandaker Mohammed Saiful Alam, managing director of the group.

But it left Liz Apparels operating because "the tiny and hair-like crack lines are only on plaster and not the bricks on the main wall," Alam said. – Reuters