Battered EU budgeting for more painful talks

The collapse of EU budget talks is not calamitous, but it does heap yet more pressure on a divided Union mired in an intractable debt crisis.

"The psychodrama will play in two acts," wrote Belgium's Le Soir newspaper in the wake of the collapse of the two days of summit talks in Brussels, with a second round of negotiations now needed next year after the EU leaders "shot themselves in the budget."

"It's depressing," said Le Libre Belgique. The failed talks "prolongs an already long list of misses, blockages,  retreats, and other avowed European failures.".

The leaders of the EU's 27 member nations predictably beg to differ.

There's "no need to dramatise" the delay, said EU President Herman Van Rompuy as the leaders broke off the talks without reaching a deal. "These budget negotiations are so complex they generally take two gos."

"I've always said that it is not dramatic if we take only as a first step today," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said as the talks neared breakdown late Thursday. "If we need a second round, then (we must) devote the time to it," she added.

But the bickering that killed budget talks came only days after Eurogroup finance ministers failed to agree a compromise on releasing crucial funds to Greece, which is desperate to receive a 31-billion-euro aid slice held up amid feuding by eurozone creditors and the IMF. Those ministers will go back to the drawing board Monday in yet another shot at solving the crisis in Athens.

A collapse of the broader budget talks is bad for the EU image, a European diplomatic source told AFP just before the talks ended, while former Prime Minister of Belgium Guy Verhofstadt warned a breakdown in budget talks "would send a bad signal."

Long before the debt crisis, agreeing an EU budget was no easy task.

It became so tricky that in the 1980's leaders agreed to pool negotiations into multi-year deals to avoid the pain of annual meets.

The budget talks for 2014-2020, which many had forecast would last deep into the weekend, instead ended Friday after leaders of richer nations to the north, led by Britain, insisted the EU push through deep budget cuts to match sacrifices made by austerity-hit citizens back home.

But have-not nations to the south and east, led by Poland and Portugal, insisted that cherished cohesion funds --  that pay for major projects like highways and infrastructure -- remain crucial, especially in a time of recession and crisis.

France and Italy meanwhile defended the EU's massive farm subsidies, the budget's most expensive item.

"The European spirit can have its feet and body stuck in national politics," opined Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo to La Libre Belgique.

"We'll meet again when there are 10 or 15 points to sort out, not 50," he said.

Amid the national demands, many EU leaders such as Merkel and France's Francois Hollande, still maintain that a closer-knit Europe, including a banking union promised for as early as next year, is what is needed to end the crisis and bring the union forward.

But Friday's talks collapse only serves to remind that reaching that goal remains far from given.

Amid the cacophony, critics, including financial investors, have bet against the European project and the early, unsuccessful end of the budget talks will have  done little to change their thinking.

"Brussels continues to exist as if it is in a parallel universe," British Prime Minister David Cameron said as he prepared to leave Brussels.

Italian Premier Mario Monti counterpunched that he saw "demagoguery" in such attacks and found them "incoherent".

Alex Pigman / AFP / Expatica

14-year-old jumps off motorway bridge

A boy of 14 jumped off a bridge spanning the Ostend Brussels Motorway (E40) on Wednesday morning.

The incident happened at Ternat, just outside the Belgian capital.

The boy ended up under the wheels of a lorry and was dead at the scene.

The incident created traffic chaos on the way into and out of Brussels. Two of the three carriageways in the direction of Ostend were closed for a while.

The youngster went to a technical school in Liedekerke (Flemish Brabant). The school is giving a news conference in the

Brides of Pakistan

EU Commission endorses controversial joint debt

BRUSSELS:  The European Commission unveiled plans for a fundamental overhaul of how the euro zone is structured on Wednesday, including the prospect of setting up a common budget for the single currency area and issuing joint debt in the years ahead.

In a five-page document dubbed a “blueprint” for creating a “deep and genuine” economic and monetary union, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso acknowledged that the 17 countries in the euro zone needed to be allowed to integrate more deeply and at a faster rate than the rest of the 27-country bloc.

EU reaches bailout deal to reduce Greek debt

BRUSSELS:  A European Union official told The Associated Press Tuesday that a deal has been reached that would pave the way for Greece to receive the next installment of its much-needed bailout loans.

Part of the agreement is that the target for Greece’s debt levels — one of the conditions of the deal going ahead — would reach 124 percent of its gross domestic product by 2020. The original goal had been 120 percent of GDP.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, welcomed the agreement.

“It will certainly reduce the uncertainty and strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece,” Draghi said.

This was the third time in the last two weeks that finance ministers from the 17 European Union countries that use the euro had tried to hammer out a deal on the next installment of bailout money for struggling Greece.

The installment, desperately needed by Greece, will total some (euro) 44 billion ($57 billion).

Greece, which is heavily in debt, is predicted to enter its sixth year of recession shortly, and there had been fears that it might be forced to drop out of the eurozone, destabilizing other countries in the process.

The so-called troika of the European Central Bank, IMF and the European Commission, which is the 27-country EU’s executive arm, have twice agreed to bail out Greece, pledging a total of (euro) 240 billion in rescue loans — of which the country has received about (euro) 150 billion so far. In return for its bailout loans, Greece has had to impose several rounds of austerity measures and submit its economy to scrutiny.

Greece’s fortunes are inextricably tied to the rest of the eurozone. Without the bailout funds that have been keeping it afloat since May 2010, the country would default and could end up having to leave the eurozone. This could have a domino effect on other financially troubled eurozone nations. ( AP )

Bails Out 4 Spanish Banks is approved by European Commission

MADRID: The European Commission approved Wednesday a payment of €37 billion from the euro zone bailout fund to four Spanish banks on the condition that they lay off thousands of employees and close offices as part of their restructuring.
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The funds approved Wednesday by the Europeam Coission of 37 billion Euro are a part of that negotiated amount and will come from the European Stability Mechanism, the bailout fund for the euro zone.

Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s antitrust commissioner, said the approval of the restructuring plans of the four banks — Bankia, Novagalicia Banco, Catalunya Banc and Banco de Valencia — was “a milestone.”

Although Madrid can tap into more of the European funding to help other troubled banks stay afloat, the government has said it will not need the full amount in any case.

Presenting its restructuring plan on Wednesday, Bankia said it would lay off 6,000 employees, or 28 percent of its work force, as well as cut its branch network by 39 percent. The bank predicted it would return to profit next year and reach earnings of €1.5 billion by 2015.

Still, the Madrid government has yet to draw a line under its banking crisis. The next step is expected in December with the creation of a so-called bad bank, in which the government is trying to partner as equity holders with private investors. But the valuation of the bad bank’s assets has in itself proved a thorny issue because of the impact such valuations could have on other real estate assets.

Even though the future of the four rescued banks is now clearer, “our banking sector is still in the middle of a road to nowhere,” said Juan Ignacio Sanz, a professor of banking at the Esade business school in Barcelona. He noted that banks had not resumed lending, “as nobody trusts that Spain’s economy will recover in the near future.”

“Everybody is just waiting to see how the bad bank can operate, whether it will have any private investors and how it will affect the Spanish real estate market,” he said.

The government wants to limit the assets in the bad bank to €90 billion. Bankia said Wednesday that it was hoping to transfer bad property loans valued at €24.6 billion, a discount of 27.9 percent compared with their current book value.

The International Monetary Fund also highlighted the difficulties in setting up the bad bank amid an ongoing correction in the housing market. In a report issued Wednesday about finance sector in Spain, the fund said future transactions by the bad bank could “become reference prices for the market, given low turnover in the housing market.” After a prolonged recession, the I.M.F. predicted, Spain’s economy would grow 1 percent in 2014.

Meanwhile, Caixabank, one of Spain’s largest institutions, is set to acquire Banco de Valencia, one of the four rescued banks, for a symbolic euro. Banco de Valencia is due to receive €4.5 billion of the European bailout money approved Wednesday.

Of the four rescued banks, Banco de Valencia was the only one for which the conclusion reached in Brussels was that “the bank’s viability could not be restored on a stand-alone basis.” On the other hand, the commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, said the other three banks had the potential to rebound once their balance sheets were cleaned. By 2017, the balance sheet of each bank will be reduced by more than 60 percent compared to 2010, the commission forecast.

The conditions set by Brussels are designed to ensure that the bailout does not distort competition in the banking sector. Mr. Almunia said the restructuring plans presented by the four banks were “very serious and very demanding.”

“I very much hope that the results that we expect to obtain from these decisions will allow the taxpayers — in this case the euro-area countries’ taxpayers who are also taking risks, not only the Spanish taxpayers — to get an adequate return for these efforts,” he said.

Over all, Spain’s banking industry could need as much as €59.3 billion in additional capital, according to an independent banking assessment published in September by Oliver Wyman, a consulting firm. Of the 14 banks assessed by Oliver Wyman at the government’s behest, half were not in need of any emergency funds, including the three leaders: Santander, BBVA and Caixabank.

Trading of shares in Banco de Valencia and Bankia was suspended Wednesday. Bankia’s collapse in May prompted lawsuits against the former management led by Rodrigo Rato, who had previously been managing director of the I.M.F. Disgruntled shareholders, who bought shares when Bankia floated last year, assert that the bank and its auditors produced an inaccurate listing prospectus for what was at the time one of the few successful initial public offerings in Europe.

Anti-money laundering cooperation and confiscation

BRUSSELS: The Committee of Ecomomy is organising its second public hearing on Anti-Money Laundering on 28.11.12. The hearing will tackle issues such as improving synergies between institutions and agencies, identifying and confiscating criminal assets and detecting physical cash movements as an element to prevent money laundering. 11 experts will address the meeting.

NASA ponders new missions for spare spy telescopes

NASA is looking for new ideas on what to do with two space telescopes left over from a once-secret U.S. spy satellite program.

The U.S. space agency asked the scientific community on Tuesday for its input into possible missions for a pair of space telescopes donated last year to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the nation's spy satellites.

"NRO offered us their leftover hardware if we want it. They've been totally open in allowing us to study whether this hardware would be of advantage to NASA," said Paul Hertz, who oversees NASA's astrophysics programs.

Topping the list of existing proposals is to use one telescope for a mission to learn more about an anti-gravity force known as "dark energy," which is believed to be responsible for speeding up the universe's rate of expansion.

The phenomenon was discovered in the 1990s by two teams of researchers who shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work.

The National Academy of Sciences has made that mission, known as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, its top choice for an astrophysics space mission for the next decade.

NASA estimates the WFIRST mission would cost $1.5 billion to $2 billion, but it cannot begin a major new astrophysics project until spending winds down on the over-budget and delayed James Webb Space Telescope, which is a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and is scheduled for launch in 2018.

The NRO telescopes, which were built to peer down at Earth, each have a primary mirror that is 7.9 feet in diameter, much larger than the 4.3-foot (1.3-meter) observatory originally proposed for the WFIRST mission.

While a larger telescope may allow for more detailed observations, it could be more expensive to outfit with instruments and launch into space.

"There's a whole lot of ways that a larger telescope might benefit you, even if it doesn't save you money," Hertz said.

Another option is to pair the WFIRST mission with a new initiative to view Earth-sized planets beyond the solar system, said Princeton University researcher David Spergel, who organized a workshop for scientists in September to discuss telescope proposals.

The extra-solar planet hunter also could be a stand-alone mission.

Another idea is to use one of the telescopes to study how the sun affects Earth's magnetic field.

Like the Hubble observatory, the NRO telescopes are capable of producing extremely high-resolution images. Although they are declassified, NASA is prohibited from using the donated telescopes to produce visible-light images of Earth.

Looking beyond astrophysics missions may get at least one of the telescopes out of storage sooner.

"Astrophysics is limited in its ability to do anything based on pre-existing project developments in our budget. The rest of the agency has potentially more flexibility," said Michael Moore, NASA's assistant director for innovation and technology.

"Can you use the hardware to address things that are being done in advanced technology development or with humans or with robotics? That expands the universe of potential users," he said.

NASA said responses to its request for mission proposals are due by January 7.

The telescopes are being stored for NASA by ITT Exelis in Rochester, New York, at a cost of less than $100,000 a year, Hertz said.

"We can keep them in storage as long as we want to keep paying the rent," he said.

Lunar eclipse darkens westren US today

Stargazers in the western United States will be able to see the moon dip into Earth's shadow during a minor lunar eclipse early on Wednesday November 28.

During the so-called penumbral lunar eclipse, the November full moon passes into the hazy outer edge, or penumbra, of the earth's shadow, where the sun's light is only partially blocked. The effect for an observer on Earth is a subtle, but perceptible, shadow that spreads over the moon's surface.

Observers in East Asia, Australia, Hawaii and Alaska will be able to see the lunar eclipse from start to finish, weather permitting. Slooh officials will provide a free webcast at the eclipse's peak time of 9:15 a.m. US EST (1415 GMT). That is about a half hour before the moon reaches its fullest phase of the month at 9:46 a.m. US EST (1446 GMT).

Bin Laden would have escaped if Pakistan permission sought: Obama

WHITEHOUSE: US President Barack Obama, in some of his most blunt remarks to date, said on Monday that Osama bin Laden would have escaped if the United States had sought Pakistan's permission ahead of the raid on the al Qaeda leader's compound.

Obama administration officials have previously justified the decision not to involve Islamabad by citing the risk that bin Laden might somehow be tipped off and flee his compound in Abbottabad before the team of Navy SEALs arrived.

Leon Panetta, then the director of the CIA and now defense secretary, said in an interview with TIME magazine shortly after the May 2011 raid that there was a concern that the Pakistanis "might alert the targets."

But in Monday's presidential foreign policy debate against Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama presented such risk as a certainty.

"If we had asked Pakistan (for) permission, we would not have gotten him," Obama said.

The bin Laden raid was one of the many issues Obama used to differentiate himself from his opponent.

Romney - during his failed bid for the 2008 Republican nomination - criticized Obama for warning publicly that, if Islamabad didn't act, he would go into Pakistan to get high value targets like bin Laden. Romney suggested such comments were not helpful in building ties.

On Monday, Romney said he also would have ordered the raid.

"We had to go into Pakistan. We had to go in there to get Osama bin Laden. That was the right thing to do," Romney said.

The question of who in Pakistan might have known about bin Laden's whereabouts is still a matter of speculation.

The Pakistani ambassador to the United States at the time of the raid, Husain Haqqani, told a forum in Washington in August that he believed someone somewhere in Pakistan must have known -- a similar sentiment echoed by Panetta.

"I don't have any hard evidence, so I can't say it for a fact. There's nothing that proves the case. But as I said, my personal view is that somebody somewhere probably had that knowledge," Panetta told CBS' "60 Minutes" program in January.

JTHJ crosses Rs 100 crore, earns 120 cr in 6 days

MOMBAI: Jab Tak Hai Jaan (JTHJ), filmmaker Yash Chopra s last directorial venture, has collected over Rs 120 crore worldwide in just six days of its release.

The film, which came out on Diwali alongside Ajay Devgn-starrer Son of Sardaar, has earned Rs.80.73 crore at the domestic box office.

In India, it earned Rs.15.23 crore (Tuesday), Rs.19.54 crore (Wednesday), Rs.14.45 crore (Thursday), Rs.11.17 crore (Friday), Rs.10.38 crore (Saturday) and Rs.9.96 crore (Sunday).

The Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma-starrer is also minting money in the overseas market where it has collected Rs.41.7 crore.

Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit together in Gulab Gang

MOMBAI: After roping in Madhuri Dixit for Gulab Gang, now filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has cast Juhi Chawla for the film and says it will be great to see them together for the first time on big screen.

"Actually, there were two reasons to cast Juhi Chawla for the film. The very first thing is that it was a creative decision taken by all of us... and we thought it would be great to see two iconic stars - Madhuri and Juhi - together in the film," Sinha, who is producing the film, told IANS.

"I couldn't have pulled off a better cast than the two most iconic female stars, Madhuri and Juhi, together for the first time on Indian screen," he added.

Inspired by Sampat Pal-led Gulabi Gang in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, which fights for the rights of women in the region, the film will be directed by Soumik Sen. Filming will start in December and the "first schedule will be shot in Bombay", Sinha said.

"We were working on the looks of the actresses, now we are ready to roll. Since the film is based in rural India, both of them will be seen in a de-glam avatar and will have a rustic look," he added.

Earlier, the plans were to release Gulab Gang on Women's Day, but Sinha said that "things got a little delayed and now I feel the film will release after March".

"Gulab Gang" also stars Mahie Gill and Shilpa Shukla.

Aamir Khan took tips from night patrolling policemen

MOMBAI: Bollywood star Aamir Khan interacted with night patrolling policemen to know more about their work after sunset so that he could give perfect shots in his forthcoming thriller Talaash.

The 47-year-old will be seen as Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat in the film for which many scenes were shot after sunset.

"Almost all of the major scenes have been shot during the night. Since the shooting would take place after sunset, there would be cops on the sets. Aamir often chatted with them asking details about their work and inquiring about the places that they would visit often," a source said.

Directed by Reema Kagti, Talaash, is a thriller that also stars Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. Slated for a Nov 30 release, the film has been co-written by Kagti and Zoya Akhtar.

"Night seems to be a key player in the film's storyline. The idea of making this film had also stemmed from an incident involving cops that was witnessed by Zoya and Reema who then wrote this project," another source added.

Priyanka invited on American show X Factor

MOMBAI: Following international popularity of her first single, Priyanka Chopra was recently invited to feature on the American show.

Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra has accomplished a lot with her international debut ''In My City''. She has garnered a lot of attention in the west, and honoring her success she recently became the first ever Indian celebrity to feature on the American show ''X Factor''

PC who has constantly been visiting LA and New York to promote the official music video , got a special invite to be present on the show.

Source close to the actor says, ''Priyanka has been interacting with the international media as part of the promotions for a while now. As a result, people in America now have a fair idea of who she is. Probably that's why she was invited.''

''When Priyanka shot for the top-rated reality show on November 8, the audience too didn't take too long to recognize her. The song seems to have got her a lot of mainstream popularity,'' further adds the source.

Katrina gets Rs20M for a wedding perform

MOMBAI: A source close to leading Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has revealed that the actor was paid in crores for her recent appearance at a high-profile wedding at the Jodhpur Palace in Rajasthan. Incidentally, A-list
Bollywood leading ladies are known to usually charge only between Rs 3-4.5 million for a performance.

“She performed to some of her hit songs. Of course, her item number ‘Chikni Chameli’ was one of them and she was paid Rs. 1.5 crore for it,” says the source. And she was not the only one to enthrall the guests there. “Priyanka Chopra also took to the stage, but we are not sure how much she charged to be there. But the figure is definitely not more than what Katrina was paid,” said the source.

But the story doesn’t end here. Katrina will perform again, early next month, at an event in the city, and she will be paid an even larger amount of money.

“She has already bagged a deal for another wedding performance. This will be at the Taj Lands End, Bandra, on December 3. She is getting paid Rs. 2 crore for it,” said the source.

And who are the people who broker such deals for these stars? “There are a number of agencies functioning across the country that negotiate on behalf of their clients to have a star performance in a wedding and other social ceremonies,” the source said.

Katrina is free until mid-December, after which she will be shooting a song for Dhoom:3.

GB, Australia racers win Antarctica Marathon

Great Britain's Andrew Murray in the men's division and Australia's Demelza Farr in the women's field won the gruelling Antarctic Ice Marathon in sub zero temperatures.

Both athletes completed the double after winning the North Pole Marathon earlier this year.

The 8th Antarctic Ice Marathon took place in perfect conditions.

Forty-six athletes from 15 countries braved the sub-zero temperatures and completed the 26 mile course at the bottom of the world.

The race was a battle between the Spanish runner Luis Marcos and the 2012 North Pole marathon winner Doctor Andrew Murray from Scotland.

The lead was constantly changing between the two until Murray pulled away after the 22-mile marker.

In the end it was a comfortable win for the Flying Scot in a course record time of of three hours, 41 minutes and 15 seconds.

"Amazing conditions actually, it's only -15 degrees (five fahrenheit). Amazing visibility all the mountains are out. It's not bad under foot there are soft bits but what a experience, it's amazing, fantastic race."

Luis came in eight minutes later.

Douglas Wilson from Australia finished third in a time of four hours, 17 minutes and three seconds.

With Britain's Steve Birnie in fourth:

"Thank goodness that's over."

Eleven ladies took part in the women's competition.

Demelza Farr from Australia proved a decisive winner in a time five hours, nine minutes and 43 seconds.

"God I wanted it so bad I never thought I would do this. My back was in so much pain, I had a bad training run a few weeks ago. I never thought I would do it, I can't believe it."

While Nancy Moundalexis from USA and Amanda Barlow from Australia finished second and third, respectively.

NZealand eye win, SLanka struggle 47 for 4

COLOMBO: Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell rocked Sri Lanka with two wickets apiece to boost New Zealand's chances of posting a series-levelling win in the second and final Test on Wednesday.

The hosts, needing 363 to win, were struggling at 47-4 in their second innings at stumps on the penultimate day when 17 wickets fell at the P Sara Oval in Colombo.

Fast bowler Southee, who took five wickets in the first innings, continued to trouble the Sri Lankan batsmen as he removed openers Tharanga Paranavitana and Tillakaratne Dilshan in his lively opening spell.

Paceman Bracewell then grabbed two big wickets when he bowled Kumar Sangakkara (16) and had skipper Mahela Jayawardene (five) caught behind.

New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor, who scored a hundred in the first innings, top-scored with 74 after his team had lost three wickets for one run off four balls.

New Zealand, leading by 168 runs, declared their second innings at 194-9 to set a challenging target for the hosts, who lead the series 1-0 following their 10-wicket win in the opening Test.

Batting coach after India tour

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finally decided not to appoint coach for the Pakistan-India bilateral series and deferred the matter till South Africa tour being commenced in the last week of January 2013, it is learnt.

The board has postponed the appointment of batting coach for the Pakistan tour to India which ends on January 7 and has decided that the coach will be appointed after India tour, a source confided to this scribe on condition of anonymity.

A number of foreign and local candidates, including former captains Inzamam-ul-Haq, Zaheer Abbas, Basit Ali, Shoaib Mohammad and Salim Malik have either submitted their CVs for the batting coach job or have shown their interest publicly for the vacancy.

World Snooker: Asif's third straight success

BULGARIA: Pakistan's Mohammad Asif succeeded for the third consecutive time at the World Snooker Championship.

He out-calssed Canadian Fabian Luison by 4-0 frame in the Group H match in Sophia, Bulgaria.

Asif has won all the first four Best of Seven frames that has brightened his chance of sailing into the next phase of the Championship.

England thrash India by 10 wickets to level series

England raced to a resounding 10-wicket win in the second Test over India here to level the four-match series at 1-1. Chasing 57 to win, England openers Alastair Cook (18) and Nick Compton (30) took their team over the line in the first session itself on day four at the Wankhede Stadium.

India resumed the day on 117 for 7 with a lead of 31 runs, and England spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar took little time to wrap up the hosts’ innings for 142. Swann took his third wicket of the innings when he took out Harbhajan Singh for 6. The India offspinner lifted Panesar for a four off the first ball of the day but in the very next over he fell to a ball that kicked up unexpectedly and took the edge through to Jonathan Trott at first slip.

Panesar, who took 5 for 129 in the first innings, bagged his sixth wicket of the second innings with Zaheer Khan's departure. Zaheer tried to slog-sweep him for six but got a top edge and wicketkeeper Matt Prior ran some distance to complete the catch.

Gautam Gambhir, who was unbeaten on 53 overnight, was uncommonly defensive today considering India needed some runs to make a match of it. His and India's innings came to end when Swann trapped him lbw for 65 off 142 balls though replays showed an inside edge. Panesar finished the match with figures of 11 for 210, while Swann closed out with 8 for 113.

The match witnessed a few milestones, most notably being Cook and Kevin Pietersen hitting their 22nd centuries to join Geoffrey Boycott, Colin Cowdrey and Wally Hammond as England's highest century-makers in Tests. Cook (122) and Pietesen (186) stitched together 206 for the second wicket to help England post 413 in their first innings, in reply to India's 327. After an 86-run lead, Panesar and Swann ran through the Indian batting in the second innings to take their team to a famous win. The only real positive for the hosts came in the form of Chesteshwar Pujara who scored a brilliant 135 in the first innings.

The third Test starts at Kolkata's Eden Gardens from December 5.

Super Series: Australia beat England in Final

AUSTRALIA: A very positive experience and good preparation for the Champions Trophy was how England coach Bobby Crutchley described England s week at the International Super Series Hockey 9s after the final in Perth on Sunday.

England had to settle for the silver medals after an early Australian blitz left them chasing the goals in a match that host Australia ultimately won 5-2 despite a spirited second half performance from England.

Four down inside ten minutes with five-times World Player of the Year Jamie Dwyer among the scorers, England’s inexperienced team battled hard to establish a first half foothold in the game. The second half saw a spirited England response with Waterloo Ducks’ Alastair Brogdon and Beeston’s Harry Martin netting either side of Jacob Whetton’s second goal for Australia.

In a similar contest to Saturday’s pool phase clash between the two sides, England played well in spells but were ultimately undone by a clinical Australian side playing on home turf and gunning for a second consecutive Super Series Hockey 9s title.

While the result might not have gone England’s way, Crutchley has been pleased with how England’s young and less experienced players have acquitted themselves in the tournament which has included victories over India and Pakistan. “I’m really pleased with how the week has gone and I’m happy with how we’ve been progressing,” said Crutchley after the match. “We have learned a lot this week playing in some very hot conditions against the best in the world. Our new players have adapted well to the step up to international hockey and the wins against India and Pakistan were pleasing. It’s been good preparation for the Champions Trophy.”

Super Series: Pak thrash India, clinch bronze

AUSTRALIA: Pakistan beat India 5-2 in the play-off for the third-fourth place in the nine-a-side hockey International Super Series to win the bronze medal at the Perth Hockey Stadium in Australia on Sunday.

Rashid Mehmood scored twice to help Pakistan register their first win of the series after losing all three of their first round matches.

The Greenshirts lost the opening match to Australia 4-2, were crushed by England in the second match by the same scoreline and were beaten by arch-rivals India 5-2 in the third match.

The International Super Series will be followed by the Champions Trophy which will be played from December 1-9.

T20 event moved to Lahore due to unrest in Khi

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the schedule of Faysal Bank National Twenty20 tournament.

PCB says that the tournament was shifted to Lahore from Karachi due to law and order situation.

Director Domestic PCB Zakir Khan addressing a press conference along with the officials of sponsor Faysal Bank said that the tournament was to be held in Karachi but due to recent uncertain situation in Karachi it has been shifted to Lahore.

Zakir Khan said that the tournament in Lahore would be a test case between the PCB and the Punjab government.

The tournament would be played from November 1-9 and 14 teams from 12 ranges are participating in it.

Thai police use tear gas in clash with royalist protesters

THAILAND: Police fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators and made dozens of arrests on Saturday as thousands demanded the overthrow of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in the biggest street protest yet against her 16-month-old government.

Protesters from the royalist Pitak Siam group, led by retired military general Boonlert Kaewprasit, repeatedly tried to breach police lines in the Thai capital and rammed a six-wheel truck into a security barrier but were held back.

They accused Yingluck's government of corruption, being a puppet of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, and of disloyalty to Thailand's monarchy. Many were members of a yellow-shirt protest movement that helped trigger a coup by royalist generals in 2006 that toppled Thaksin.

"If I can't overthrow this government, I am prepared to die," Boonlert told supporters. He made a plea for "soldiers to come and protect us" shortly before ending the protest as torrential rain fell in early evening.

The clashes revived memories of a tumultuous 2008, when yellow-shirted protesters seized government offices, fought street battles with police, and occupied Bangkok's main airports for eight days. Amid that turbulence, two pro-Thaksin prime ministers were forced to resign by the courts.

Yingluck won a 2011 election by a landslide on support from the rural and urban poor. Her supporters, who wear red shirts at protests, held mass street rallies in 2010 against a military-backed Democrat-led government. Those demonstrations ended with a bloody army crackdown in which 91 people were killed.

"Our biggest concern is if Pitak Siam decides to escalate their rally or protesters move into key government buildings including parliament," said Piya Uthayo, a national police spokesman.

Pitak Siam, or Defend Siam — an old name for Thailand -- taps many of the same supporters who backed the yellow shirts: the traditional Bangkok elite that includes generals, royal advisers, middle-class bureaucrats and old-money families.

Saturday's rally follows a visit to Thailand by U.S. President Barack Obama -- part of a three-country tour of Asia -- during which he praised Yingluck, calling her a "democratically-elected Prime Minister who is committed to democracy."

Thaksin, a billionaire former telecoms tycoon, remains a divisive figure, revered by the rural poor and reviled by Bangkok's elite. He fled Thailand in 2008 and was convicted in absentia of abuse of power -- charges he says were politically motivated. He now lives in Dubai but remains influential.

The confrontation started in the morning when about 500 protesters tried to breach police barricades at Saphan Makawan Bridge and the Misakawan intersection to make their way to a large plaza where about 15,000 protesters gathered. They ignored police who told them to pass through a designated entry point.

At least 42 people were wounded, including seven police, according to the Erawan Medical Center which monitors Bangkok hospitals. Up to 132 protesters were arrested, police said. Knives and bullets were seized from some protesters, they added.

Authorities deployed 17,000 police at the rally site after the government invoked the Internal Security Act allowing police to detain protesters and carry out security checks and set up roadblocks.

The protest highlights tensions that have been simmering since Yingluck's Puea Thai party swept to victory in July 2011.

Yemen: Saudi diplomat shot dead in Sanaa

SANAA: A Saudi diplomat was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported, citing diplomatic sources.

The station give no further details. Yemen has been grappling with a number of security problems including the local offshoot of al Qaeda.

King Abdullah recuperating after surgery

RIYADH: Saudi state television has broadcast the first public images of King Abdullah since the 87-year-old monarch underwent what was described as back surgery 11 days ago.

The video shows the king sitting down, as members of the royal family greet him and kiss his hand in a hospital suite in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The Wednesday broadcast appeared aimed at quieting speculation about the overall health of Abdullah, a key U.S. ally in the region. The official Saudi Press Agency says the top-level delegation was “reassured” about Abdullah’s recovery.

The king underwent more than 10 hours of surgery Nov. 17 for what officials said was a procedure to secure a loose vertebra.

The king had back operations in 2010 and twice in 2011.

Afghan FM to arrive In Islamabad Friday

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul would arrive in Islamabad on Friday on a two-day visit of Pakistan.

He would hold talks with his Pakistani counter Hina Rabbani Khar over bilateral relations.

Sources said that the two leaders would also discuss peace and reconciliation process initiated by the Afghan government and would also raise the issue pertaining to release of further Taliban leaders with the Foreign Ministry.

Pak, US talks underway over Afghanistan:FM

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said that full cooperation between the intelligence of US and Pakistan has been restored and Pakistan would take further measures to make reconciliation process successful with Afghan Taliban.

Full cooperation between Islamabad and Washington is critical to U.S. efforts to stabilise Afghanistan before most NATO combat troops withdraw by 2014.

"There was a fairly difficult patch and I think we've moved away from that into a positive trajectory," Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told Reuters in an interview, referring to Pakistani-U.S. relations.

"We are coming closer to developing what could be common positions. We wish to see a responsible transition in Afghanistan."

Relations between the uneasy allies were severely strained by a series of incidents in 2011. The crisis in ties began when a CIA contractor shot dead two men he suspected of trying to rob him in the city of Lahore.

Months later, U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid and kept the Pakistan military in the dark, humiliating the country's most powerful institution.

Then a NATO air raid mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border in November that year.

In response, Pakistan expelled U.S. military trainers and CIA agents and placed limits on the numbers of visas given to U.S. diplomatic personnel.

Pakistan, which relies heavily on American aid, also closed supply routes for trucks carrying supplies to U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Now, Khar said, relations were fully repaired, including military and intelligence contacts.

"We are having very useful, deep conversations with the U.S.," she said, as the two countries try to find common ground on Afghanistan ahead of the scheduled 2014 pullout.

Ahsanullah Ahsan hiding in Peshawar: Malik

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the spokesman of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Ahsanullah Ahsan is hiding in Peshawar and he has also been provided the best protection.

Security agencies would trace his hideout soon, Rahman Malik added.

Talking to media at Oman's National Day ceremony in Islamabad Malik said that Taliban are divided into fragments.

Replying to a question the interior minister said that advance information about threats during Moharram was conveyed to the provincial governments but they were not able to act timely on it.

Progress have been made in investigations, he added.

He also disclosed that National Counter Terrorism Authority would be established soon and it would be headed by the prime minister while members would comprise DG ISI; DG IB, representatives of provincial governments and parliamentarians.

Cooperation with Iran in security sector is being further enhanced, he added.

Palestine’s UN status: UK to abstain from vote

GENEVA: Britain said Wednesday it will abstain on a vote for unless the Palestinians commit to an unconditional return to talks with Israel.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain would only support Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Thursday s vote at UN headquarters if Abbas agreed to negotiations over a lasting two-state deal with Israel.

To secure Britain s vote, Hague said the Palestinians would also have to drop their pursuit of International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank and confirm that the UN resolution would not reply retrospectively.

"Up until the time of the vote itself, we will remain open to voting in favour of the resolution if we see public assurances by the Palestinians on these points," Hague told parliament."However, in the absence of these assurances the United Kingdom would abstain on the vote."

He added that the guarantees sought by Britain would "not be difficult to make" and could be made either in the text of the Palestinian resolution, or in accompanying statements.

There was no question of Britain voting against the resolution, Hague said.

Meanwhile, More European states joined France on Wednesday in backing a Palestinian bid for limited statehood.

Germany said it was opposing the diplomatic upgrade for the Palestinians at the United Nations, joining Israel and the United States which say the only genuine route to statehood is via a peace agreement made in direct talks with Israel.

Switzerland, Denmark and Austria said they would vote for the upgrade. France gave its approval on Tuesday. Britain said it would not oppose the move but needed more assurances to give its support.

The United States has suggested aid for the Palestinians - and possibly some funding for the United Nations - could also be at risk if the Palestinians win the U.N. upgrade. Israel has said it may cancel the Paris Protocol, an economic accord it maintains with the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.

Red Square bomb plotter gets 15 years jail

MOSCOW: - A man who plotted to organize suicide bombings on Moscow s iconic Red Square on New Year s Eve 2010 was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in jail.

Ilyas Saidov, an Islamic militant, brought explosives-laden belts disguised as heaters for two female suicide bombers. But the belt attached to a cellphone exploded at a rented apartment after the detonator was activated by a spam text message, killing one of the women and prompting the arrest of the other. She was sentenced to 10 years in jail in May.

The Moscow City Court also found Saidov guilty of gunning down two police officers and three civilians in his native Dagestan, a southern province in the Caucasus region plagued by almost daily clashes between Islamists and federal forces.

Saidov pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators, giving up the leader and several members of an underground Islamist group he was part of. His testimony led to the killing of several Islamists.

Four members of the group have been convicted, and six more are currently standing trial, investigators said.

Since 2000, at least two dozen female suicide bombers, most of them from the Caucasus, have carried out terrorist attacks on security officers and civilians in Russian cities and aboard trains and planes.

The bombers are often called "black widows" in Russia because many of them are the wives, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces.

Islamic militants are believed to convince "black widows" that a suicide bombing will reunite them with their dead relatives beyond the grave.

Spain to recognize Palestinian state at UN

BARCELONA: Spain's foreign minister says Spain will vote in favor of recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week.

Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo told parliament Wednesday that Spain would support the Palestinian bid at the U.N. because it feels it is the best way to advance toward peace.

France on Tuesday became the first major European country to come out in favor of U.N. recognition, a move seen as a setback for Israel.

The assembly is expected to vote Thursday on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel.

Amnesty Int’I urges Kuwait to allow peaceful protests

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti authorities must allow protesters to gather peacefully and express their views without the threat of arrest, Amnesty International said ahead of an opposition march over voting rules planned later this week.

Protesters plan a march in central Kuwait on Friday, on the eve of parliamentary elections which the opposition is boycotting in protest.

Opposition politicians and youth protest groups say new voting rules introduced by Kuwait s 83-year-old ruler in October are an attempt to skew the Dec. 1 election in favour of pro-government candidates.

The emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, says the voting system is flawed and that the changes are constitutional and needed for the sake of Kuwait s "security and stability".

"Protesters must be allowed to peacefully assemble to voice their views without hindrance or fear of arrest and such gatherings should be permitted to form into marches or other types of peaceful protest," London-based Amnesty said in a statement posted on its website.
Kuwait s prime minister said on Monday that the planned protest march had been given permission to go ahead, in a step which could ease tensions ahead of the vote.

Kuwait allows the most dissent among the Gulf Arab states and its citizens often hold rallies in a designated area outside parliament. But recent protest marches in the streets beyond have been broken up by police using tear gas, smoke bombs and baton charges.

Authorities are keen to prevent the kind of unrest Kuwait experienced on Oct. 21, when thousands of demonstrators tried to reach government headquarters in the largest march and were forcibly dispersed by police.

Amnesty said users of social media should also be able to enjoy protection whether they support or oppose the government, as long as they did not incite racial hatred or violence.

Sheikh Sabah is on a state visit to Britain this week and Amnesty called on Prime Minister David Cameron to tell the emir that Kuwait "needs to avoid a crackdown."

"The Kuwaiti authorities need to call a halt to increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly."

Several people, including politicians, have been arrested for remarks deemed to undermine the status of the emir.

The most prominent was Musallam al-Barrak, a former parliamentarian who polled strongly in the last elections in February. He made remarks about the emir at a public rally.

Earlier this month four Kuwaitis were arrested for making remarks about the emir on Twitter that were also deemed illegal.

Amnesty reiterated a call on Kuwait to drop the charges against Barrak, as well as others held either for making remarks about the emir or for taking part in demonstrations.

"Mr Cameron should make it clear that targeting of Musallam al-Barrak and other activists is totally unacceptable and ought to be ended immediately," it said.

Egypt court awards death to 8 over blasphemous film

CAIRO: An Egyptian court convicted in absentia Wednesday seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor, sentencing them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world.

The case was seen as largely symbolic because the defendants, most of whom live in the United States, are all outside Egypt and are thus unlikely to ever face the verdict.

The charges were issued in September amid a wave of public outrage in Egypt over the amateur film, which was produced by an Egyptian-American Copt.

Egypt s official news agency said the court found the defendants guilty of harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam, and spreading false information charges that carry the death sentence.

Maximum sentences are common in cases tried in absentia in Egypt.

Capital punishment decisions are reviewed by the country s chief religious authority, who must approve or reject the sentence. A final verdict is scheduled on Jan. 29.

The man behind the film, Mark Basseley Youssef, is among those convicted. He was sentenced in a California court earlier this month to a year in federal prison for probation violations in an unrelated matter.

Youssef, 55, admitted that he had used several false names in violation of his probation order and obtained a driver s license under a false name. He was on probation for a bank fraud case.

Florida-based Terry Jones, another of those sentenced, is the pastor of Dove World Outreach, a church of less than 50 members in Gainesville, Fla., not far from the University of Florida.

He has said he was contacted by the filmmaker to promote the film, as well as Morris Sadek, a conservative Coptic Christian in the U.S. who posted the video clips on his website, were also among those charged.

The connection of the other five sentenced by the court was not immediately clear.

They include two who work with Sadek at a radical Coptic group in the U.S. that has called for an independent Coptic state, a priest who hosts TV programs from the U.S., and a lawyer living in Canada who has previously sued the Egyptian state over riots in 2000 that left 21 Christians dead.

Hamas chief to make first-ever visit to Gaza

GAZA CITY: Meshaal will arrive in the Gaza Strip accompanied by a number of members of the Hamas politburo-in-exile a day before the Hamas anniversary, to participate in the celebrations, the source said, referring to the start of festivities on December 8 to mark the Islamist movement s 25th birthday.
The actual date of the anniversary is December 14, but this year the celebrations are starting early.
News of the visit was confirmed to AFP by two other sources, each of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
Should the trip go ahead, it would be a historic first for Meshaal who was born in the West Bank but went into exile after the 1967 Six Day War.
He had been due to visit Gaza at the start of this year but the trip never happened.

The visit would come just two weeks after Hamas and Israel agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal which ended more than a week of deadly fighting that claimed the lives of more than 170 Palestinians and six Israelis.

The fighting was sparked by Israel s targeted killing of top Hamas military chief Ahmed Jaabari in an air strike on November 14.

Founded in 1987 shortly after the beginning of the first intifada, or uprising, against Israel s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Hamas was inspired by Egypt s Muslim Brotherhood.

Its charter calls for the eventual destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state on the pre-1948 borders of the British Palestine Mandate.

In 2006, Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian elections, routing the long-dominant Fatah party of president Mahmud Abbas, and took over Gaza in June 2007 after months of factional unrest.

The two factions signed a reconciliation deal in late April 2011 in Cairo, pledging to set aside years of bitter enmity, form a consensus interim government and work towards presidential and legislative elections within a year.

But implementation of the deal has stalled, with the two sides failing to agree on the make-up of the interim government and the promised elections never taking place.

Meshaal has spoken publicly about the need for Palestinian unity, at times clashing with members of his organisation in the Gaza Strip, who have taken a harder line on Fatah, and accused him of acting without consulting them.

The trip will also come directly after Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the head of the rival Fatah movement, goes to the United Nations General Assembly to submit a bid for non-member state status for the Palestinians.

The bid is expected to succeed, despite fierce opposition from Israel and the United States, boosting Abbas s profile and opening up a range of international organisations to the Palestinians.

Hamas s Gaza leadership had been publicly sceptical of the bid, but changed their tone this week after Meshaal declared his backing for the status upgrade request in a telephone call with Abbas.

Twin car bombings kill 50 in Damascus town

DAMASCUS:: The explosives-packed cars blew up at daybreak in a pro-regime neighbourhood of the mainly Christian and Druze town of Jaramana, residents, state media and a rights watchdog reported.
The blasts ripped through a central square near a petrol station, one going off as one of the bomb-laden car was driven against the traffic down a main road lined by many people.
There was a ball of fire at the end of a narrow lane, and the impact of the explosions brought walls down onto cars, crushing them and scattering debris over the ground.
Pools of blood and severed body parts were on the streets, said an AFP photographer.
The death toll mounted as the day wore on, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights giving tallies of 20, then 29, 38 and later 54. All of the dead were civilians.
More than 120 people were wounded, and many residents rushed with them to hospital.
"What do they want from Jaramana? The town brings together people from all over Syria and welcomes everybody," one told AFP.
Jaramana has now been targeted by four such bomb attacks in three months. It is home to predominantly Christians and Druze, an influential minority whose faith is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Sectarian divides are a key factor in Syria s armed rebellion, with many in the Sunni Muslim majority frustrated at more than 40 years of Alawite-dominated rule.
The uprising erupted in March 2011 with peaceful democracy protests. It transformed into an armed insurgency when the government began a bloody crackdown.
The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, himself from the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, insists it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists".
The failure of international diplomacy has enabled it to press on with its all-out military campaign to crush the rebellion, and the fighting has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths, according to the Observatory.

Hugo Chavez heading to Cuba for more treatment

VENEZUELA: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced plans to travel to Cuba as early as Tuesday for more medical treatment after spending much of the past 18 months fighting cancer.

In a written request to the legislature, Chavez said doctors have recommended he "begin special treatment consisting of various sessions of hyperbaric oxygenation" and physical therapy to continue "consolidating the process of strengthening health."

The request did not provide more details about the treatment or Chavez s condition and was promptly approved by allied lawmakers at a special session in the city of Maracay. National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello read the request on television.

It said Chavez would travel to Cuba as soon as Tuesday. It did not say how long he will stay, though it said he would be back by Jan. 10, when he is being sworn in for a fourth term. Venezuelan law requires presidents to receive legislative approval before leaving the country for extended periods. The treatment that Chavez is to undergo generally involves breathing pure oxygen while in a pressurized, sealed chamber. Its value is well-established for treating burns, carbon monoxide poisoning and some other medical conditions, and to aid wound healing and help repair bone and tissue damaged by radiation treatments.

However, the American Cancer Society says there is no evidence the treatment can cure cancer.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment is employed by doctors in Cuba for the rehabilitation of patients with chronic illnesses, said Jesus Pena, a Venezuelan internist with a private practice in Caracas. But Pena said the announcement after a period of silence about Chavez s condition raises suspicions about the reasons behind the treatment.

The 58-year-old president first underwent cancer treatment in Cuba in June 2011 and suffered a relapse in February. He has since said he s recovered from the pelvic cancer and won re-election in October.

 

Throughout his previous chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Chavez kept many details of his illness secret, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors.

Opposition lawmaker Alfonso Marquina expressed concern about what he said seems to be a "veiled or deliberate attempt to continue creating uncertainty."

Marquina told The Associated Press in a phone interview that if Chavez is traveling to Cuba for normal medical treatment as his request says, "the correct thing to do would be for a much more precise medical report to be given, and to not continue on with this sort of permanent uncertainty."

Dr. Michael Pishvaian, an oncologist at Georgetown University s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in the United States, said several of his patients have received hyperbaric oxygen treatment, usually to promote the healing of wounds or damage to nerves and muscles that can be caused by radiation therapy. Pishvaian said such cases are unusual.

"These are definitely cases that the patients are really suffering from the side effects ... of the radiation therapy, and we don t know how to help them and hyperbaric oxygen is kind of something we reach for as a last resort," Pishvaian said.
He said that while it s unclear why Chavez is having the treatment, "it may be promoting wound healing if there s something about the surgical site or his prior radiation sites that aren t healing well."

Chavez last appeared publicly during a televised meeting on Nov. 15, prompting some critics to publicly wonder where he went after his election win.

Chavez was absent on Tuesday from a military air show in Maracay where some Venezuelans had speculated he could reappear.

Before the announcement of Chavez s plans to return to Cuba, opposition newspaper editor Teodoro Petkoff published an editorial in the daily Tal Cual on Tuesday criticizing the president s long absence from the public eye.

Under the headline "The invisible man," Petkoff said: "The health of those who govern can t be a secret."

IB funds: SC serves notices to current, former DGs

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the current and two former Director Generals of the Intelligence Bureau in the case pertaining to utilization of Rs 270 million allegedly drawn by the PPP government from the secret fund of the IB to topple the Punjab government.
Notices have been issued to Masood Sharif Khattak, Tariq Lodhi and the current DG IB Akhtar Hussain.
During the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the Supreme Court also summoned records and information on the Intelligence Bureau’s budget and money received from the treasury between 1988 to 1990 and 2008 to 2009.
The Director Legal of the IB also presented the report in the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked that if the IB had any information it could be exchanged in-camera.
The Chief Justice also directed the DG IB to submit documents before the next hearing.
The issue came in the notice Supreme Court during the hearing of the Asghar Khan.

India faces IOC suspension

MUMBAI:-India faces suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to government interference in the forthcoming election of its national Olympic body.
In a letter to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), the IOC said it will propose the country s suspension at its executive board meeting next week if the elections are not held strictly on the basis of the Olympic Charter and the IOA constitution.
"It is hereby confirmed that a proposal for suspension of the IOA will be presented to the IOC Executive Board at its next meeting on 4-5 December 2012," IOC director general Christophe de Kepper wrote in a letter to IOA acting chief V.K. Malhotra.
The IOA has been directed by a Delhi court to hold the elections adhering to the government s sports code, while the IOC wants the governing body to abide by the Olympic charter.
The IOC blamed non-cooperation by the Indian government and the IOA for the current situation.
"The issues at hand have been discussed for more than two years and have unfortunately not been resolved adequately by the Government authorities and the IOA in spite of all the efforts made by the IOC," the letter said.
"Consequently, the IOC and Olympic Council of Asia will not send delegates to India at this stage."
The IOA will have to provide written guarantees to the IOC by Friday that the Dec. 5 elections will be held without government interference.
The run-up to the highly politicised IOA poll has been mired in controversy with beleaguered president Suresh Kalmadi bowing to pressure in October and not seeking re-election.
Kalmadi had been arrested in April 2011 on charges of inflating tenders worth millions of dollars for equipment used at the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games which he was heading.
He was released from prison in January after serving nine months. The vote, originally scheduled for Nov. 25, has already been postponed once to Dec. 5 after the chairman of the election commission resigned, caught in the imbroglio surrounding the IOA constitution and the government s sports code.

Lebanon's sectarian tensions spill into basketball

BEIRUT: - Even when it comes to basketball, no one in Lebanon seems to forget who worships in a mosque and who prays in a church.
Only three weeks after it started, the Middle Eastern country s basketball league was postponed indefinitely as Beirut s two rival teams one backed by Christian politicians, the other by Muslims fight over who has control of Lebanon s most popular game.
The controversy between the Christian-backed Sagesse club and Sunni Muslim-supported Riyadi is yet another sign of how the religious and sectarian tensions that have bedeviled the country for decades still have the power to paralyze Lebanese society.
The latest feud erupted three weeks into the season, which already had been delayed twice because of political interference as both teams pour millions of dollars into new players and coaches. Elections for the federation s board led to more political disputes and canceled play all together last week.
"It s typical Lebanon. Basketball federation is just like the government," said Elie Mechantaf, the president of Sagesse and a retired player. "We have election, and the side that does not like the result decides to boycott. Shame on us, really."
The season, in which eight-time champion Sagesse was expected to once again challenge Riyadi for the league title, appeared doomed before it even started.
A car bomb ripped through a Christian neighborhood a day before Sagesse planned to throw a lavish party to unveil the new squad with several prized players, including Lebanese-American twins Charles and Philip Tabet and Lebanese-Australian player Julian Khazzouh. The league was postponed for a week out of respect for the victims of the bombing, which killed Lebanon s top security official in the Christian district in east Beirut on Oct. 19.
The season was further delayed because several squads in the 10-team league refused to play against Sagesse because they signed Khazzouh, who had previously played basketball in Israel.
Lebanese law prohibits anyone who s worked in Israel from obtaining a work permit in Lebanon, a country at war with the Jewish state. But a military court eventually cleared Khazzouh of any wrongdoing, saying that the law does not apply to the former Sydney Kings center, who was an Australian citizen when he played for Israeli club Ramat Gan during the 2009-10 season.
The 26-year-old Khazzouh, whose deceased father was Lebanese, became a Lebanese citizen last month. After missing two games, Khazzouh was allowed to play in the country for the first time on Nov. 16, when Sagesse hosted Riyadi and beat its archrival 74-66.
Soon after, sectarian tensions among the country s politicians that devastated the nation during years of civil war spilled over into the basketball arena, suspending play indefinitely last week and leaving the newly elected leadership of the sport s federation at a loss for ways to resume.
"We have a big problem now, because they are mixing politics and religion with basketball," Mechantaf said.
He said Riyadi and four other teams are refusing to play league games because they do not like the makeup of the federation s 15-member board that was elected Friday.
Tammam Jaroudi, a member of the Riyadi board, says the Christian politicians bankrolling Sagesse manipulated the federation s election to continue holding a monopoly on the running of the sport.
"They are using the game of basketball to pit Christians against Muslims again," said Jaroudi, who is also a son of Riyadi s longtime president, Hisham Jaroudi. "It s extremely dangerous in Lebanon. We are always on the edge here, so we are afraid it could lead to another war."
Sectarian sensitivities still prevail in Lebanon, more than two decades after the end of the 1975-90 civil war between Christians and Muslims that killed 150,000 people. Basketball games often resemble tense political gatherings, with Lebanese soldiers separating rival fans, chanting politically and religiously charged slogans.
Lebanon s population of 4 million is divided between 18 sects, including Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Druze, and every community is sensitive to anything that could tip the balance of power in a country with a grim history of sectarian strife.
After the war ended in 1990, national reconciliation was based on an agreement dividing seats in the National Assembly and Cabinet along sectarian lines. Muslims make up an estimated 55 percent of the population and Christians 45 percent. The divisions within the two communities give neither group a majority to rule, leaving the elected governments and the country s sports federations in a state of constant paralysis.
Lebanon s basketball league was established a year after the end of the war. It thrived during the 1990s, with Christian and Muslim politicians pouring money into the clubs, encouraging their sect to rally behind basketball teams instead of armed militias.
"This Muslim against Christian thing came from the war and went into basketball," said Ghassan Nalccor, a 30-year-old Sagesse supporter. "It s what makes the fans support one team against another.
"They come to watch Christians beat Muslims and Muslims beat Christians, and not because they care about basketball. This is Lebanon."

Adele's Album'21' Reaches 10 Million Sales Mark

LONDON: The UK's most popular album of the 21st century has spawned several top 10 records including the stomping chart-topper 'Rolling In The Deep,' ballad 'Someone Like You' and 'Set Fire To The Rain.'

According to Billboard, 21 has become the 21st record to reach the 10 million unit sales mark since Nielsen SoundScan records began in 1991, with the offical total standing at 10,020,000. Interestingly, the highest-selling album to date in the States is Metallica's self-titled 1991 album which has so far sold 15.8 million.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that 21 has dropped out of the UK top 40 album charts for the first time since it was released 92 weeks ago. It has also sold more than 200,000 copies in its first week, debuting straight at number one and has been certified platinum 15 times by the British Phonographic Industry after shifting 4,500,000 units.

However, 22 months later, it has now been charted at 42 in this weekend's album charts, which is currently being reigned by Rihanna, whose seventh studio album Unapologetic debuted straight in at number one.

Meanwhile, Louis Walsh sparked up controversy earlier when he claimed that new mum Adele should leave her baby son at home and get back to recording hits.

"If I had someone like Adele, no way would she not be working now. Fine, have a baby, but then get back out there before they forget who you are!" the 60-year-old told Q magazine.

Adding: "She'd be on every other TV show and there'd be another album ready. Work the room! That's my philosophy."

China media slams Elton John for Ai Weiwei dedication

BEIJING: A top Chinese daily on Wednesday condemned pop star Elton John for dedicating his Beijing show to dissident artist Ai Weiwei, saying it was disrespectful and could lead to bans on other Western performers.

The Sunday night dedication was reminiscent of Icelandic singer Bjork chanting "Tibet, Tibet" at a 2008 concert in Shanghai, which resulted in China s cultural minders refusing performance permits for some Western acts.

"John s unexpected action was disrespectful to the audience and the contract that he signed with the Chinese side," the Global Times said in an editorial.

"He forcibly added political content to the concert, which should have been nothing more than an entertaining performance."

Ai, 55, is a world-renowned conceptual artist and outspoken critic of China s communist government.

He disappeared into police custody for 81 days last year, drawing worldwide headlines and casting a spotlight on the government s growing concern over social unrest, especially as "Arab spring" street protests rocked the Middle East.

After being released he was convicted of tax evasion, fined $2.4 million by the Beijing tax bureau and barred from leaving the country for one year.

"John s action will also make the relevant agencies further hesitate in the future when they invite foreign artists," said the Global Times, a paper run by the ruling Communist Party s People s Daily.

"John himself is a senior entertainment figure, but has raised difficulties for future arts exchanges between China and other countries."

The iconic Grammy Award winning artist is scheduled to return to China next week to play at a concert in the southern city of Guangzhou, following shows in South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Tickets for the performance remained on sale Wednesday and the promoter told AFP that cultural authorities had not informed them of any cancellation.

But the Global Times suggested "that Chinese audiences need not hesitate to protest the provocateur and boo him off the stage".

Ai said he welcomed the editorial because it was a rare instance of state-run media mentioning his name and reporting on controversial issues that are routinely censored.

"I m quite happy they did this, at least they are starting to talk about the things that a lot of people think about," Ai told AFP.

"They (the paper) realise that they need to have their own voice and that they can t remain silent all the time" on controversial issues censored by the authorities.

Mexican beauty queen shot dead

CULIACAN: A 22-year-old Mexican beauty queen killed during a gunfight between a suspected drug gang and soldiers appeared to have been used as a human shield, an official said Tuesday.

The soldiers reported that Maria Susana Flores Gamez was holding a weapon when she came out of the gang s car during the clash in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, said the official from the federal prosecutor s office.

The soldiers  report "does not say if she fired, only that they used her as a human shield" during Saturday s confrontation, the official, who had access to the defense ministry document, said on condition of anonymity.

The state prosecutor had stated on Monday that Flores, who held the title of Woman of Sinaloa 2012, was part of the gang and that an AK-47 was found next to her body after the shooting. A forensics test found gun residue on her body.

Two men and two women, including Flores, and a soldier died in the gunbattle in the municipality of Mocorito.

Mexican media say the brunette, who participated in the Miss Oriental Tourism pageant in China in May, was traveling with her boyfriend, a suspected hitman, when the shootout erupted. The boyfriend also died.

The armed group is linked to Orso Ivan Gastelum, alias "El Cholo Vago," the suspected leader of a group of hitmen working for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.

Marriage should be a fun: Moore

LONDON: Sir Roger Moore, who is the longest-serving and most prolific  James Bond  star, has reflected on his life as the iconic spy in a revealing new book  Bond On Bond .

In the book the 85-year-old, who wrote his best-selling autobiography  My Word Is My Bond  four years ago, reveals what he wishes he had known at the age of 18.

"I am now happily married to the love of my life, Kristina. But this is my fourth marriage - I was married to my first wife at 19," the Sun quoted him as saying.

"So it s taken a long time to learn one simple fact, which is I wish I d known what marriage meant when I was 18.

"Was I too young to get married at 19? Maybe. "Marriage is a commitment and a lot of us forget how much of a commitment it is. "It should also be a commitment that is a pleasure. How I wish I could have known that!

"Kristina has brought so much to my life during the best part of the 20 years we ve been together, proving to me that a successful marriage is possible.

"I would not have written my books, which I had always sworn against, without her inspiration," he added.

Gilani not to appear before FIA

ISLAMABAD: Yousuf Raza Gilani had to appear before FIA on November 28 in connection with the Hajj Scam.

Yousuf Raza Gilani’s counsel Fawad Choudhry is of the view that all the relevant details have been provided to FIA so there is no need for his client to appear before the state agency.

Fawad Chaudhary noted that the summons against Yousuf Raza Gilani was issued without consultation with the Law Ministry and are aimed at malice against his client.

All the appointments made by Gilani as the premier were in accordance with the constitutional obligations, Chaudhary maintained.

No alliance with Musharraf in upcoming polls: Imran

LAHORE:-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan ruling out any chance of alliance with former President Pervez Musharraf has said that no alliance will be made with Musharraf before or after the upcoming elections.

Expressing the post-election policies of his party in an interview to a private news channel on Wednesday, imran Khan said that the PTI is not the party of families as is the case with other political parties in Pakistan.

He expressed gratitude over positive statements by Pervez Musharraf about him but denied any likelihood of having a coalition with the APML in future.
Earlier, former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) gave a hint on the possibility of building an alliance with PTI after the elections.

Draft to form new counter-terrorism body approved

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s federal cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law to establish a new counter terrorism body aimed at better coordinating efforts to defeat Taliban and al Qaeda-linked violence.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the main objective was to defeat terrorism, but he provided no details on exactly how the new organization would help.
“The cabinet today approved the National Counter-Terrorism Authority Bill the need for which has been felt for a long time,” Kaira told reporters after a regular cabinet meeting.
To come into effect the bill needs to be approved by parliament and signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari.
Kaira said the new authority would “devise policies and improve coordination among provincial governments and intelligence agencies” as well as “research and devise long-term policies to defeat” the terrorist mindset.
“The authority may suggest changes in curriculum, drama and films and it can also suggest introducing modern education in madrassas,” Kaira said.
Previous attempts to reform religious seminaries, considered by many as nurseries for recruits to the Taliban and other extremist organizations, have born little fruit.
At least 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks and the 2001 US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan, according to the government.
Suicide attacks, roadside bombings and shootings are a near day-to-day reality, particularly in parts of the northwest near the Afghan border.

TEAM OF AWAAZ

President Schulz warns leaders over irresponsible cuts to EU budget

STRASBOURG:  "Advocating cuts in the EU budget may be popular, but it is hugely irresponsible," warned EP president Martin Schulz in a speech to EU leaders at the start of special summit on the EU's long-term budget for 2014-2020 on Thursday. "If Europe is finally to find a way out of the crisis, then we must recognise that the EU budget is not part of the problem, but part of the solution."

As always, the European Council started with the leaders discussing the situation with the president of the European Parliament and Mr Schulz reminded them of Parliament's demand, adopted with an overwhelming majority in October, for sufficient financing for the Union in the years to 2020.

Acknowledging the genuine difficulties faced by certain member states, the president said at first sight it might appear irresponsible and illogical to call for an increase in the EU budget at a time of crisis. However, he explained: "Europe needs the EU budget in order to invest in growth. In order to create jobs. In order to support the member states in their efforts to make the structural adjustments which are now essential to address the problems of declining competitiveness and rising unemployment and poverty in particular."

Mr Schulz continued: "There is no escaping one simple fact: the focus on austerity to the exclusion of all else is not working. Now, at long last, Europe needs growth, not least because growth is the best way to reduce debt."

 

EU on migrants' security in Libya, executions in Iran, violence in Burma

STRASBOURG:  The European Parliament expressed grave concerns about the human rights situation of refugees and migrants in Libya and the resurgence of ethnic violence in Burma, in resolutions passed in Strasbourg on Thursday.

Parliament is gravely concerned that Libya is detaining foreign persons, including women and children, in extreme conditions. It urges the democratically-elected Libyan authorities to protect all foreign nationals, regardless of their status, from violence, exploitation, threats, intimidation and abuse. Libya should adopt appropriate legislation and instructions to this end and respect its international obligations, says the resolution.

MEPs also call upon the EU and its members states to act accordingly when negotiating future cooperation or migration control agreements with the new Libyan authorities.

Parliament voices serious concern about the steadily deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, citing the growing number of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, the high number of executions, including of juveniles, widespread torture, unfair trials and heavy restrictions on freedom of information, expression, assembly, religion, education and movement. MEPs are also deeply concerned about the death in prison of blogger Sattar Behesthi. and urge the Iranian authorities to conduct a thorough enquiry into the case.

Parliament also urges Iran to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including 2012 Sakharov Prize winner Nasrin Sotoudeh and cites concerns that she is being held in conditions detrimental to her health. It calls upon the Iranian authorities to allow both Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi to collect their Sakharov prize in December 2012 in Strasbourg.

Despite steps taken by the Burmese government to restore civil liberties, the recent atrocities in Rakhine State underline the enormous difficulties still to be overcome, says the resolution. MEPs are alarmed by the resurgence of ethnic violence in Rakhine, which has caused many deaths, injuries and mass displacement of local populations. These may jeopardise the country's transition to democracy and could have wider repercussions across the entire region.

MEPs urge the authorities to step up the political and civil rights reform efforts and call on them to end discriminatory practices against the Rohingya minority.

PML-Q vows to create Hazara province: Elahi

MANSEHRA: Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi has said the Pakistan Muslim League-Q would make electoral alliance with other religious parties also after Sunni Ittehad Council.

Addressing a public gathering in Mansehra on Sunday‚ he said that his party favoured Hazara and vowed to create the province after coming in power. He said a passport office will soon be established in Mansehra.

 

Debate on corruption – public and private aspects

BRUSSELS:  On 03.12.12, the Special Committee will focus on corruption issues based on four thematic papers prepared by the MEPs Mariya GABRIEL (EPP, BG), Barbara WEILER (S&D, DE), Theodoros SKYLAKAKIS (ALDE, GR) and Cornelis DE JONG (GUE/NGL, NL). Each of these documents deals with a specific aspect of public or private corruption and include relevant suggestions on the fight against corruption.

Judiciary is a role model for others

Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Thursday said that no institution on its own can ensure good governance in the country adding that the judiciary is a role model for other institutions.

Pakistan’s Muhammad Asif clinches World Snooker Championship title

SOFIA: Pakistan’s cueist Muhammad Asif defeated Gary Wilson of England by 10-8 in the final to clinch the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday.

He became the second Pakistani player to win the snooker world cup after Muhammad Yousuf, who claimed the title in 1994. Besides, he is also the third Pakistani cueist to play the final of the championship.

It was Asif’s tenth consecutive win of the event. On Saturday, he beat Malta’s Alex Borg to qualify for the final.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif felicitated Asif for his outstanding feat.

Chief Minister Sharif announced a cash prize of Rs1 million for the world cup winner.

Messi is FIFA 13's New

IFA 13 Demo, after much anticipation and waiting, draws closer and gets another update, a couple insider details that every avid player must know has recently surfaced.

Angry Imran

I am very shocked when one of my very good and old friend yasir hussain sheikh whose strong affiliations with Pakistan Tahreek e Insaf (PTI) shared a link of an android game

US Navy denies Iran drone capture claim

Iran said on Tuesday it had captured a U.S. intelligence drone in its airspace over the Gulf in the last few days, but the U.S. military quickly denied having lost any unmanned aircraft in the Middle East.

The incident highlighted tensions in the Gulf as the Islamic Republic and the United States demonstrate their military capabilities in the vital oil exporting region in a standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - through which about 40 percent of the world's seaborne crude oil is shipped - if it comes under attack. U.S. commanders have said they will not let that happen.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on its website that the ScanEagle drone had been flying over the Gulf in the last few days and was "captured" when it strayed into Iranian airspace.

A spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain said no U.S. drone had gone missing in the region.

"The U.S. Navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles (UAV) operating in the Middle East region. Our operations in the Gulf are confined to internationally recognized water and air space," Commander Jason Salata said.

"We have no record that we have lost any ScanEagles recently."

The IRGC statement did not specify when or where the drone was caught, or whether the unmanned spy plane was shot down or crashed. But it released what it said was video of an apparently undamaged ScanEagle being examined by uniformed officers beneath a sign reading "We shall trample on the U.S." in English.

The incident is the latest in a string of complaints by Iran over what it says are U.S. violations of its territory in an often clandestine conflict over Tehran's nuclear program that has featured assassinations, espionage and cyber sabotage.

The ScanEagle is a 4-ft (1.25-metre) long "off the shelf" spy plane manufactured by U.S.-based Boeing. The company also supplies and operates drones for customers in several Middle Eastern countries, including to help ensure oil platform security in the Gulf, according to its website.

Iran and OPEC rival Saudi Arabia have also accused each other of violating each other's territory near oil and gas fields in the Gulf over the past year.

VIOLATIONS

In November, the United States said Iranian warplanes shot at a U.S. surveillance drone flying in international airspace. Iran said the aircraft had entered its airspace to spy on Iranian oil platforms and said it would respond "decisively" to any incursions.

Days later Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee, wrote to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to complain about alleged repeated U.S. violations of Iranian airspace, describing them as "illegal and provocative acts".

Khazaee said that U.S. craft had entered southern Iran seven times in October around Bushehr where Iran's only nuclear power station is situated.

A year ago to the day, Iranian forces announced they had captured a U.S. RQ-170 reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran which was reported lost by U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

Iranian commanders have since announced they have extracted valuable technology from the aircraft and were in the process of reverse-engineering it for their own defense industry.

The United States and its allies believe Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and have imposed tough economic and financial sanctions. Iran says its program is purely peaceful.

Israel has threatened to bomb Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy and sanctions fail to stop its nuclear activities. In October, Israel shot down an Iranian-made drone launched into the Jewish state by Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah.

According to Boeing's publicity material, the ScanEagle drone can be launched by a catapult from mobile vehicles or small ships, making it independent of runways.

It can fly pre-programmed or operator-run missions guided by the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and its onboard flight control system.

It is retrieved using a "Skyhook" system in which the drone catches a rope hanging from a 50-ft (16-metre) high pole.

 

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