PARIS (AFP) - The film "Diana" starring Naomi Watts, which received a critical drubbing after its premiere in London earlier this month, gets its first European general release in Hungary from Thursday.
Purporting to tell the story of the late Princess Diana s romance with UK-based Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, the movie has been dismissed by Khan as "based on hypotheses and gossip".
Some scenes in the film depict incidents already widely reported in British media such as Khan being smuggled into Diana s Kensington Palace London residence lying on the backseat of her car covered in a blanket or Diana meeting his mother in Lahore in Pakistan.
Others are either less well known or purely imaginary such as Diana accompanying Khan to a jazz club disguised in a brown wig and bedroom scenes such as one in which they are shown lying under a cover by a bed.
In the absence of testimony from Khan, the film is necessarily controversial as it draws on author Kate Snell s 2001 book "Diana: Her Last Love" with which Khan did not cooperate.
It suggests that Diana had been dating Dodi Fayed, who died with her in a car crash in Paris, in order to make Khan jealous following the break-up of the relationship, a claim disputed by many close to her.
Diana, who was divorced from Charles in 1996, died aged 36 alongside Fayed and Henri Paul, the French chauffeur of the car in which they were travelling, in August 1997.
Sixteen years earlier, as Lady Diana Spencer, she was catapulted to global fame when she married heir to the British throne Prince Charles in a "fairy tale" ceremony at St Paul s Cathedral.
But as the world s most photographed woman, she ultimately fell victim to an increasingly rapacious paparazzi.
After her death, then Prime Minister Tony Blair memorably described her as "Queen of People s hearts". Many thousands of people lined the streets of London for her funeral which was televised around the world.
The film generated controversy even before its premiere in London after Watts appeared to claim in an interview that Diana had in some way granted approval for the film from beyond the grave.
"I felt like I was spending a lot of time with her. There was one particular moment when I felt her permission was granted," the actress told Britain s Mail on Sunday newspaper.
The British-Australian actress later stormed out of a promotional interview with BBC radio, apparently offended by some the line of questioning.
Directed by Germany s Oliver Hirschbiegel, best known for his 2005 film "Downfall" about the last days of Hitler, the film has been officially ignored by the royal family.
One reviewer panned it as "atrocious and intrusive" with a "squirmingly embarrassing script".
For his part, Khan, 54, whom Diana supposedly called her "Mr Wonderful" continues to work in Britain and is also setting up a charity heart hospital near his parents home in Jhelum in Pakistan.
Played in the film by British-Indian actor Naveen Andrews, he has always refused to talk about the details of their relationship and said he has no intention of seeing the movie.
"It is based on gossip and Diana s friends talking about a relationship that they didn t know much about, and some of my relatives who didn t know much about it either. It is all based on hypotheses and gossip," he told the Mail on Sunday last month.
After Hungary on Thursday, "Diana" will be released in Iceland, Poland, Ireland and the UK on Friday, in Belgium on September 25 followed by France on October 2 and Italy October 3.
Wednesday 18 September 2013
Assad thanks Russia for help against 'savage attack
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday thanked key backer Russia for helping his regime face down a "savage attack" by Western-backed rebels, state television reported.
Russia is helping "create... a new global balance", Assad said, after Moscow opposed the use of force should the Damascus regime refuse to abide by an agreement to hand over its chemical weapons stockpile.
Assad s statement came during a meeting with Russia s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
"President Assad expressed... his gratitude to Russia for its position of helping Syria face down the savage attack... and the Western, regional and Arab-backed terrorism," he said, using the regime s term for the armed revolt in the country.
"Russia s positions on the Syrian crisis create hope of a new global balance," he added.
Ryabkov, who flew in to Damascus on Tuesday, accused UN inspectors investigating chemical attacks in Syria of being "biased and one-sided".
Russia has received "evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti and ITAR-TASS news agencies.
Damascus flatly denies using chemical weapons against opposition areas, and instead blames rebels for such attacks.
More than 110,000 people have been killed in Syria s 30-month civil war, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Russia is helping "create... a new global balance", Assad said, after Moscow opposed the use of force should the Damascus regime refuse to abide by an agreement to hand over its chemical weapons stockpile.
Assad s statement came during a meeting with Russia s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
"President Assad expressed... his gratitude to Russia for its position of helping Syria face down the savage attack... and the Western, regional and Arab-backed terrorism," he said, using the regime s term for the armed revolt in the country.
"Russia s positions on the Syrian crisis create hope of a new global balance," he added.
Ryabkov, who flew in to Damascus on Tuesday, accused UN inspectors investigating chemical attacks in Syria of being "biased and one-sided".
Russia has received "evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti and ITAR-TASS news agencies.
Damascus flatly denies using chemical weapons against opposition areas, and instead blames rebels for such attacks.
More than 110,000 people have been killed in Syria s 30-month civil war, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
PPP opposes plan to privatize PIA
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples’ Party on Wednesday strongly opposed the government’s plan to privatize national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Talking to journalists in Islamabad, Senator Raza Rabbani said that planes of the national airline fly all over Pakistan and who would control them after the privatization.
Rabbani urged that state institutions having strategic importance should not be sold.
The senior PPP leader also opposed the proposed privatization and golden hand shake scheme for employees.
To a question about IMF, he said that IMF interfered in the country’s internal affairs by approving USD6.8 billion.
He said the government was awarding those who financed their election campaign.
Talking to journalists in Islamabad, Senator Raza Rabbani said that planes of the national airline fly all over Pakistan and who would control them after the privatization.
Rabbani urged that state institutions having strategic importance should not be sold.
The senior PPP leader also opposed the proposed privatization and golden hand shake scheme for employees.
To a question about IMF, he said that IMF interfered in the country’s internal affairs by approving USD6.8 billion.
He said the government was awarding those who financed their election campaign.
Niagra Declaration will be on air very soon:
Brussels: The World Kashmir Diaspora Alliance (WKDA) and Kashmir Council-EU (KC-EU) has issued a joint statement today, 18th of September 2013, in Brussels during a press conference held at Brussels Press Club.
Farooq Papa who heads WKDA and Ali Raza Syed, chairman of KC-EU expressed their resolve to continue to work for awareness amongst international community, about the injustice and human rights abuses in Kashmir committed by Indian forces.
The two leaders who have been highlighting the cause of Kashmir in Europe and North America expressed concerns over the Indian policy of making demographic changes in Kashmir by the influx of Indian residents especially from the Indian state of Bihar and allowing them to settle without regulatory oversight and laws. This practice of implementing the Indian policy is being guarded by huge military presence in the civilian areas, cities and towns. Such practices are in contravention to the various UN resolutions on Kashmir, which safeguards any demographic changes on both sides of LOC.
Farooq Papa said that Pakistan who is a party to the dispute of Kashmir should have taken notice of such Indian practices in Kashmir and raised the issue with both international community as well as India through their diplomatic channels. It is unfortunate, Farooq Papa added, that such realisation by a party to the dispute has not been forthcoming.
Replying to a question, Ali Raza Syed said that 70% of Kashmir’s land outside the main cities and towns has become inaccessible to Kashmiri people who are indigenous to the land. Because of the presence of Indian army who have grabbed the land from their rightful owners under coercion, Kashmiris cannot benefit from their resources. Such acts are again in contravention to the article 1 of Universal Declaration of Civil and Political Rights, which states that “all people have right to pursue their economic, social and cultural goals”, and “manage and dispose of their own resources and not be deprived of its means of subsistence”. This article imposed an obligation on those parties still responsible for self governing or trust territories (colonies) to encourage and respect their self-determination”. As such, the demilitarization is an essential part for peace in Kashmir.
Replying to a question, Farooq Papa said that India and Pakistan have not matured enough to a status wherein one would expect them to develop a roadmap for peace between them. Despite many parleys between the two countries in almost all decades, both countries have put aside the humanistic approach that surrounds the issue, while pursuing their geo-political and national egos and interests.
He further said that till such time these two countries come to realize the importance of resolving Kashmir issue, Kashmiris themselves have to find the way out of continued suppression by dialogue and peaceful means so that the people of Kashmir can progress alongside other nations in the Sub-Continent.
Taking into cognizance of above, the WKDA and KC-EU heads stated that they were going to work on pro-Kashmiri declaration, which will be issued after having an in-depth interaction between Kashmiri separatists and mainstream leaders of divided parts of Kashmir. This summit, which is proposed to be held in Brussels (Europe) and Niagra Falls (border city between Canada and USA), will be termed as Niagra Declaration. The Declaration is aimed to provide a roadmap for governance, secession of draconian laws, economic growth, and environmental conservation of Kashmiri forests, water bodies and wild life. The declaration will also aim at preserving the cultural heritage and creating opportunities for employment by direct foreign investment and development of infrastructure, which at present Kashmir is lacking behind.
“We appeal both to India and Pakistan to support our initiative by allowing the leadership from both sides of the line of control to travel abroad. We also appeal to the European Union, United States and Canada to support this initiative by the people of Kashmir. In the end, we appeal to Kashmiri diaspora and Indian and Pakistani people living outside Sub-Continent to provide their support by way of volunteer work and sponsorships.
Monday 16 September 2013
APL condemns Lahore gang-rape incident
LONDON: APL Chair condemned the brutal gang
rape of a 5 year old and demanded a swift
investigation of the crime and culprits must be
brought to justice.
We can move forward, Only if we start catching, and
after a robust and fair investigation and sound trial
convicting those criminals where scientific evidence is admissible.
These heinous crimes force society to demand a review of criminal justice
system and those involved must be brought to justice quickly. Only then
people will fear the long arms of law which act differently from richer to poor
in Pakistan and strong message to the nation is the need of the hour that law
is the same for everyone.
Saturday 7 September 2013
Tokyo will host 2020 Olympics
BUENOS AIRES (AP) - Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Olympics on Saturday, capitalizing on its reputation as a "safe pair of hands" and defying concerns about the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Tokyo defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round of secret voting by the International Olympic Committee. Madrid was eliminated earlier after an initial tie with Istanbul.
Tokyo, which hosted the 1964 Olympics, billed itself as the reliable choice at a time of global political and economic uncertainty a message that resonated with the IOC.
"Tokyo can be trusted to be the safe pair of hands and much more," bid leader and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda said in the final presentation.
"Our case today is simple. Vote for Tokyo and you vote for guaranteed delivery. ... Tokyo is the right partner at the right time."
Tokyo had been on the defensive in the final days of the campaign because of mounting concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
In the final presentation, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave the IOC assurances that the Fukushima leak was not a threat to Tokyo and took personal responsibility for keeping the games safe.
"Let me assure you the situation is under control," Abe said. "It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo."
Abe gave further assurances when pressed on the issue by Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg.
"It poses no problem whatsoever," Abe said in Japanese, adding that the contamination was limited to a small area and had been "completely blocked."
"There are no health related problems until now, nor will there be in the future," he said. "I make the statement to you in the most emphatic and unequivocal way."
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Fukushima's operator, has acknowledged that tons of radioactive water has been seeping into the Pacific from the plant for more than two years after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami led to meltdowns at three of its reactors. Recent leaks from tanks storing radioactive water used to cool the reactors have added to fears that the amount of contaminated water is getting out of hand.
With Madrid's bid dogged by questions over Spain's economic crisis and Istanbul handicapped by political unrest and the civil war in neighboring Syria, Tokyo proved to be the least risky choice for the IOC.
"I think it was a choice between going to new shores and staying with a more traditional candidate," IOC vice president Thomas Bach said. "And this time they decided with the more traditional candidate."
IOC members have also been concerned about construction delays and other challenges plaguing preparations for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Opting for certainty in 2020 was a key priority.
"I think very much that could have been a factor," Bach said.
Tokyo delegates in the hall screamed with joy, jumped in the air, hugged and waved small flags after Rogge opened a sealed envelope and read the words: "The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the games of the 32nd Olympiad in 2020 are awarded to the city of Tokyo."
Even though it was 5 a.m. Sunday in Japan, about 1,200 dignitaries and Olympic athletes who crowded into a convention hall in downtown Tokyo celebrated the news. Cheers of "Banzai!" filled the hall when the announcement was made.
"It's a great, great honor," Takeda said. "I promise we will deliver everything we've promised for 2020."
In Istanbul's old city, a groan went through a crowd of hundreds of people.
In the first round, Istanbul and Madrid tied with 26 votes each. Tokyo had 42 votes, six short of a winning a majority. Istanbul then beat Madrid 49-45 in a tiebreak to advance to the final, which Tokyo won easily.
In their final presentations, Madrid made its case as the least-expensive option and Istanbul spoke of the historic opportunity to bring the Olympics to a predominantly Muslim country for the first time.
Madrid, bidding for a third straight time, had seemed to have gained the most momentum in recent weeks despite Spain's economic crisis and 27 percent unemployment rate. The Madrid team claimed the games would pose no financial risk because most of the venues were already built.
The Turkish delegation pressed its case of taking the games to a city linking the continents of Europe and Asia.
With the civil war in Syria posing a major issue, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said taking the games to Turkey "will send a very meaningful and strong message, not only to the world, but to our broader region."
"At this critical moment, we would like to send a strong message of peace to the whole world from Istanbul," Erdogan said.
IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco asked what hosting the games in Turkey would mean to the wider region.
"We believe that hosting the Olympics in Istanbul will give this signal, this spirit of friendship and sharing and peace," Erdogan said. "And our country is a place where there is a lot of unity and diversity, and that is the idea that we can share on a broader scale with the Olympics Games being hosted in Turkey."
Madrid said 80 percent of its venues were ready and only $1.9 billion was needed for construction, a fraction of the other two bids.
"Madrid has perhaps the most reasonable and responsible financial foundation in recent Olympic history," Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy said. "We can host the Olympics in 2020 with no risk to the Olympic movement."
Tokyo defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round of secret voting by the International Olympic Committee. Madrid was eliminated earlier after an initial tie with Istanbul.
Tokyo, which hosted the 1964 Olympics, billed itself as the reliable choice at a time of global political and economic uncertainty a message that resonated with the IOC.
"Tokyo can be trusted to be the safe pair of hands and much more," bid leader and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda said in the final presentation.
"Our case today is simple. Vote for Tokyo and you vote for guaranteed delivery. ... Tokyo is the right partner at the right time."
Tokyo had been on the defensive in the final days of the campaign because of mounting concerns over the leak of radioactive water from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
In the final presentation, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave the IOC assurances that the Fukushima leak was not a threat to Tokyo and took personal responsibility for keeping the games safe.
"Let me assure you the situation is under control," Abe said. "It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo."
Abe gave further assurances when pressed on the issue by Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg.
"It poses no problem whatsoever," Abe said in Japanese, adding that the contamination was limited to a small area and had been "completely blocked."
"There are no health related problems until now, nor will there be in the future," he said. "I make the statement to you in the most emphatic and unequivocal way."
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Fukushima's operator, has acknowledged that tons of radioactive water has been seeping into the Pacific from the plant for more than two years after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami led to meltdowns at three of its reactors. Recent leaks from tanks storing radioactive water used to cool the reactors have added to fears that the amount of contaminated water is getting out of hand.
With Madrid's bid dogged by questions over Spain's economic crisis and Istanbul handicapped by political unrest and the civil war in neighboring Syria, Tokyo proved to be the least risky choice for the IOC.
"I think it was a choice between going to new shores and staying with a more traditional candidate," IOC vice president Thomas Bach said. "And this time they decided with the more traditional candidate."
IOC members have also been concerned about construction delays and other challenges plaguing preparations for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Opting for certainty in 2020 was a key priority.
"I think very much that could have been a factor," Bach said.
Tokyo delegates in the hall screamed with joy, jumped in the air, hugged and waved small flags after Rogge opened a sealed envelope and read the words: "The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the games of the 32nd Olympiad in 2020 are awarded to the city of Tokyo."
Even though it was 5 a.m. Sunday in Japan, about 1,200 dignitaries and Olympic athletes who crowded into a convention hall in downtown Tokyo celebrated the news. Cheers of "Banzai!" filled the hall when the announcement was made.
"It's a great, great honor," Takeda said. "I promise we will deliver everything we've promised for 2020."
In Istanbul's old city, a groan went through a crowd of hundreds of people.
In the first round, Istanbul and Madrid tied with 26 votes each. Tokyo had 42 votes, six short of a winning a majority. Istanbul then beat Madrid 49-45 in a tiebreak to advance to the final, which Tokyo won easily.
In their final presentations, Madrid made its case as the least-expensive option and Istanbul spoke of the historic opportunity to bring the Olympics to a predominantly Muslim country for the first time.
Madrid, bidding for a third straight time, had seemed to have gained the most momentum in recent weeks despite Spain's economic crisis and 27 percent unemployment rate. The Madrid team claimed the games would pose no financial risk because most of the venues were already built.
The Turkish delegation pressed its case of taking the games to a city linking the continents of Europe and Asia.
With the civil war in Syria posing a major issue, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said taking the games to Turkey "will send a very meaningful and strong message, not only to the world, but to our broader region."
"At this critical moment, we would like to send a strong message of peace to the whole world from Istanbul," Erdogan said.
IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco asked what hosting the games in Turkey would mean to the wider region.
"We believe that hosting the Olympics in Istanbul will give this signal, this spirit of friendship and sharing and peace," Erdogan said. "And our country is a place where there is a lot of unity and diversity, and that is the idea that we can share on a broader scale with the Olympics Games being hosted in Turkey."
Madrid said 80 percent of its venues were ready and only $1.9 billion was needed for construction, a fraction of the other two bids.
"Madrid has perhaps the most reasonable and responsible financial foundation in recent Olympic history," Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy said. "We can host the Olympics in 2020 with no risk to the Olympic movement."
Serena to face Azarenka in US Open final today
NEW YORK (AP) - If there s a player out there who could possibly test No. 1-seeded Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final, it s her opponent on Sunday, No. 2 Victoria Azarenka.
Williams, it s worth noting, has lost only four of 70 matches this season, and two of those defeats came against Azarenka, including just last month at a hard-court tuneup.
There s one significant switch in circumstances: Those were at smaller tournaments. This time, there s a major championship on the line, and Williams is at her best when the stakes are the biggest.
"Different energy, different opportunities. This is for a Grand Slam," Williams said. "I mean, she s trying to win yet another one; I m trying to win one myself. It s just different."
Williams will be playing in her third consecutive U.S. Open final, seventh overall, and the 21st major title match of her career. Her win-loss record is 16-4, two Grand Slam titles away from two of the greats of the game: Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who each won 18. The only women with more are Margaret Court with 24, Steffi Graf with 22, and Helen Wills Moody with 19.
"Yeah, I thought about that," Williams said, "but I can t think about that. It s still so close, but it s still so far."
If there were any questions about what Williams considers the truest measure of success in tennis, she made clear how she feels when she was asked to pick between Roger Federer, who owns 17 major trophies, or Rafael Nadal, who has 12.
"I go by numbers," Williams responded. "I don t think I m the greatest, because Steffi has way more Grand Slams than me. I just go by what s written down."
Most of the numbers, from their careers and these two weeks, favor Williams over Azarenka.
They ve played each other 15 times in all, and Williams has won 12.
When they met in last year s U.S. Open final this will be the first rematch at Flushing Meadows since the Williams sisters played each other in 2001 and 2002 Azarenka pushed it to a third set and was two points away from victory. But Williams took the last four games.
"Not that I don t care what happened in the past, but I think there is no need for paying so much attention to what happened. (You re) always going to take a few things, positive or negative, and try to kind of apply it in your new match, new performance," Azarenka said. "But it s always a new story. I don t even think that it s going to be close to the same as it was last year."
Well, then, let s examine the 2013 U.S. Open.
Through six matches, Williams has won every set, losing a total of only 16 games. Only once in the last 25 years has a woman dropped fewer games through six full matches en route to a Grand Slam final (Mary Pierce dropped only 10 at the 1994 French Open, then lost the final.)
Azarenka has lost two sets and 40 games, including 13 in her fourth-round match alone. Her serving has been particularly shaky: 31 double-faults, 10 aces, 20 breaks. Williams, in contrast, has been broken only twice so far.
So how can anyone solve Williams game right now?
"You ve got to fight," Azarenka said. "You know, you ve got to run, you ve got to grind, and you ve got to bite with your teeth for whatever opportunity you have."
It s clear these two have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and not just because they re the top two in the rankings.
They re the only women to reach two Grand Slam finals this season Azarenka won her second Australian Open in January, and Williams won her second French Open in June.
Williams leads the WTA with a career-high-tying eight titles in 2013; Azarenka has three. Azarenka is a tour-leading 31-1 on hard courts.
"Azarenka is the closest player to Serena in terms of level," said Williams coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. "Azarenka is a champion, and when it comes to the big matches, she s always lifting her level. Always. So you have to be ready."
Williams, it s worth noting, has lost only four of 70 matches this season, and two of those defeats came against Azarenka, including just last month at a hard-court tuneup.
There s one significant switch in circumstances: Those were at smaller tournaments. This time, there s a major championship on the line, and Williams is at her best when the stakes are the biggest.
"Different energy, different opportunities. This is for a Grand Slam," Williams said. "I mean, she s trying to win yet another one; I m trying to win one myself. It s just different."
Williams will be playing in her third consecutive U.S. Open final, seventh overall, and the 21st major title match of her career. Her win-loss record is 16-4, two Grand Slam titles away from two of the greats of the game: Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who each won 18. The only women with more are Margaret Court with 24, Steffi Graf with 22, and Helen Wills Moody with 19.
"Yeah, I thought about that," Williams said, "but I can t think about that. It s still so close, but it s still so far."
If there were any questions about what Williams considers the truest measure of success in tennis, she made clear how she feels when she was asked to pick between Roger Federer, who owns 17 major trophies, or Rafael Nadal, who has 12.
"I go by numbers," Williams responded. "I don t think I m the greatest, because Steffi has way more Grand Slams than me. I just go by what s written down."
Most of the numbers, from their careers and these two weeks, favor Williams over Azarenka.
They ve played each other 15 times in all, and Williams has won 12.
When they met in last year s U.S. Open final this will be the first rematch at Flushing Meadows since the Williams sisters played each other in 2001 and 2002 Azarenka pushed it to a third set and was two points away from victory. But Williams took the last four games.
"Not that I don t care what happened in the past, but I think there is no need for paying so much attention to what happened. (You re) always going to take a few things, positive or negative, and try to kind of apply it in your new match, new performance," Azarenka said. "But it s always a new story. I don t even think that it s going to be close to the same as it was last year."
Well, then, let s examine the 2013 U.S. Open.
Through six matches, Williams has won every set, losing a total of only 16 games. Only once in the last 25 years has a woman dropped fewer games through six full matches en route to a Grand Slam final (Mary Pierce dropped only 10 at the 1994 French Open, then lost the final.)
Azarenka has lost two sets and 40 games, including 13 in her fourth-round match alone. Her serving has been particularly shaky: 31 double-faults, 10 aces, 20 breaks. Williams, in contrast, has been broken only twice so far.
So how can anyone solve Williams game right now?
"You ve got to fight," Azarenka said. "You know, you ve got to run, you ve got to grind, and you ve got to bite with your teeth for whatever opportunity you have."
It s clear these two have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and not just because they re the top two in the rankings.
They re the only women to reach two Grand Slam finals this season Azarenka won her second Australian Open in January, and Williams won her second French Open in June.
Williams leads the WTA with a career-high-tying eight titles in 2013; Azarenka has three. Azarenka is a tour-leading 31-1 on hard courts.
"Azarenka is the closest player to Serena in terms of level," said Williams coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. "Azarenka is a champion, and when it comes to the big matches, she s always lifting her level. Always. So you have to be ready."
Hundreds protest deadly police shooting in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India (AP) - A protest erupted Saturday after Indian police said they killed two alleged militants and two civilians in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, while authorities maintained tight security for a classical music concert being staged amid separatist objections.
Inspector General Nalin Prabhat said police were retaliating against alleged militants who had opened fire on a police camp in the area, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, the main city in the Indian portion of Kashmir.
Police said they recovered weapons and were working to identify the militants. They said two civilians were also killed and one person was injured in the shootout.
Hundreds of residents, disputing the police account, swarmed the streets of the main town in Shopian district after the shooting. Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the crowds.
Adil Ahmed, a 26-year-old student shot twice in the stomach, said from a hospital that there were no alleged militants, and that police opened fire unprovoked. He said the two accused by police were actually students riding a motorcycle to an exam center to take tests.
Meanwhile, just north of Shopian, suspected separatists hurled a grenade at a group of law enforcement officers standing outside Pulwama district hospital, police said. Nine people were injured, including two civilians, they said.
Srinagar was under tight security Saturday amid calls for a strike to protest a Bavarian orchestra s concert with renowned conductor Zubin Mehta. Government buses shuttled concert guests to the outdoor garden venue on the city s outskirts.
The Kashmiris objected that the concert served to divert attention from Kashmir s problems.
"We have nothing against Zubin Mehta no one is against the event itself. But it has assumed political overtures, as an attempt is being made that everything is normal and peaceful in Kashmir, which is not the case," Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, a Kashmiri leader, told reporters in Srinagar.
Civil society groups organized an alternative concert in central Srinagar, where they were also showing photographs and giving speeches meant to highlight past years of violence and instability in the region.
Inspector General Nalin Prabhat said police were retaliating against alleged militants who had opened fire on a police camp in the area, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Srinagar, the main city in the Indian portion of Kashmir.
Police said they recovered weapons and were working to identify the militants. They said two civilians were also killed and one person was injured in the shootout.
Hundreds of residents, disputing the police account, swarmed the streets of the main town in Shopian district after the shooting. Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the crowds.
Adil Ahmed, a 26-year-old student shot twice in the stomach, said from a hospital that there were no alleged militants, and that police opened fire unprovoked. He said the two accused by police were actually students riding a motorcycle to an exam center to take tests.
Meanwhile, just north of Shopian, suspected separatists hurled a grenade at a group of law enforcement officers standing outside Pulwama district hospital, police said. Nine people were injured, including two civilians, they said.
Srinagar was under tight security Saturday amid calls for a strike to protest a Bavarian orchestra s concert with renowned conductor Zubin Mehta. Government buses shuttled concert guests to the outdoor garden venue on the city s outskirts.
The Kashmiris objected that the concert served to divert attention from Kashmir s problems.
"We have nothing against Zubin Mehta no one is against the event itself. But it has assumed political overtures, as an attempt is being made that everything is normal and peaceful in Kashmir, which is not the case," Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, a Kashmiri leader, told reporters in Srinagar.
Civil society groups organized an alternative concert in central Srinagar, where they were also showing photographs and giving speeches meant to highlight past years of violence and instability in the region.
Conservatives sweep to Australia election victory
CANBERRA (AP) - Australia s conservative opposition swept to power Saturday, ending six years of Labor Party rule and winning over a disenchanted public by promising to end a hated tax on carbon emissions, boost a flagging economy and bring about political stability after years of Labor infighting.
"I know that Labor hearts are heavy across the nation tonight, and as your prime minister and as your parliamentary leader of the great Australian Labor Party, I accept responsibility," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a speech to supporters, after calling opposition leader Tony Abbott to concede defeat. "I gave it my all, but it was not enough for us to win."
A victory for the conservative Liberal Party-led coalition comes despite the relative unpopularity of Abbott, a 55-year-old former Roman Catholic seminarian and Rhodes scholar who has struggled to connect with women voters and was once dubbed "unelectable" by opponents and even some supporters.
But voters were largely fed up with Labor and Rudd, after a years-long power struggle between him and his former deputy, Julia Gillard. Gillard, who became the nation s first female prime minister after ousting Rudd in a party vote in 2010, ended up losing her job to Rudd three years later in a similar internal party coup.
The drama, combined with Labor reneging on an election promise by imposing a deeply unpopular tax on the nation s biggest carbon polluters, proved deadly for Labor s re-election chances.
"I now look forward to forming a government that is competent, that is trustworthy and which purposefully and steadfastly and methodically sets about delivering on our commitments to you the Australian people," Abbott told supporters after claiming victory.
In his concession speech, Rudd said he would be stepping down as party leader. "The Australian people, I believe, deserve a fresh start with our leadership," he said.
Former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke blamed the party s loss on its inability to unite. "This is an election lost by the government rather than won by Tony Abbott," he told Sky News.
Abbott, who becomes Australia s third prime minister in three months, will aim to end a period of extraordinary political instability in Australia.
The swing away from Labor was a resounding rejection of Australia s first minority government since World War II. Voters disliked the deals and compromises struck between Labor, the minor Greens party and independent lawmakers to keep their fragile, disparate and sometime chaotic coalition together for the past three years, including the carbon tax.
Abbott has vowed to scrap the carbon tax from July 2014, two years after it was implemented, and instead introduce taxpayer-funded incentives for polluters to operate cleaner.
It is unclear whether Abbott will be able to pass the necessary law changes through Parliament, but he has threatened to hold early elections if the Senate thwarts him.
Abbott s popularity seems to have peaked at the right time. Two polls published this past week by Sydney-based market researcher Newspoll are the only ones in which Abbott beat Rudd as preferred prime minister since Newspoll first began comparing the two leaders in 2010.
There is unlikely to be any honeymoon period for Abbott, as he inherits a slowing economy, hurt by the cooling of a mining boom that kept the resource-rich nation out of recession during the global financial crisis.
Australia s new government has promised to slash foreign aid spending as it concentrates on returning the budget to surplus.
Labor spent billions of dollars on stimulus projects to avoid recession. But declining corporate tax revenues from the mining slowdown forced Labor to break a promise to return the budget to surplus in the last fiscal year.
Abbott has also promised to repeal a tax on coal and iron ore mining companies, which he blames in part for the downturn in the mining boom. The 30 percent tax on the profits of iron ore and coal miners was designed to cash in on burgeoning profits from a mineral boom fueled by Chinese industrial demand. But the boom was easing before the tax took effect.
The tax was initially forecast to earn the government 3 billion Australian dollars ($2.7 billion) in its first year, but collected only AU$126 million after six months.
Abbott was a senior minister in the government of Prime Minister John Howard, who ruled for 11 years until Rudd first took office in 2007.
Under Howard, Australia, one of the world s worst greenhouse gas polluters on a per capita basis, and the United States had been the only wealthy countries to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on reducing global warming.
One of Rudd s first acts as prime minister was to ratify the Protocol, and he became Australia s most popular prime minister of the past three decades with his promise to introduce a carbon emissions trading scheme. His popularity fell after he failed to persuade the Senate to deliver the scheme.
Abbott also faces the politically thorny challenge of figuring out how to curb a growing number of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat. The Liberals have promised new policies requiring the navy to turn asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia, where they launch, and the government to buy back aging fishing boats from Indonesian villagers to prevent them from falling into the hands of people smugglers.
"In three years time, the carbon tax will be gone, the boats will be stopped, the budget will be on track for a believable surplus and the roads for the 21st century will finally be on the way," Abbott said Saturday night.
The election likely brought Australia s first Aboriginal woman to Parliament. Former Olympian Nova Peris is almost certain to win a Senate seat for Labor in the Northern Territory, but the final results will not be known for days. Less likely is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange s bid for a Senate seat in Victorian state.
"I know that Labor hearts are heavy across the nation tonight, and as your prime minister and as your parliamentary leader of the great Australian Labor Party, I accept responsibility," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a speech to supporters, after calling opposition leader Tony Abbott to concede defeat. "I gave it my all, but it was not enough for us to win."
A victory for the conservative Liberal Party-led coalition comes despite the relative unpopularity of Abbott, a 55-year-old former Roman Catholic seminarian and Rhodes scholar who has struggled to connect with women voters and was once dubbed "unelectable" by opponents and even some supporters.
But voters were largely fed up with Labor and Rudd, after a years-long power struggle between him and his former deputy, Julia Gillard. Gillard, who became the nation s first female prime minister after ousting Rudd in a party vote in 2010, ended up losing her job to Rudd three years later in a similar internal party coup.
The drama, combined with Labor reneging on an election promise by imposing a deeply unpopular tax on the nation s biggest carbon polluters, proved deadly for Labor s re-election chances.
"I now look forward to forming a government that is competent, that is trustworthy and which purposefully and steadfastly and methodically sets about delivering on our commitments to you the Australian people," Abbott told supporters after claiming victory.
In his concession speech, Rudd said he would be stepping down as party leader. "The Australian people, I believe, deserve a fresh start with our leadership," he said.
Former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke blamed the party s loss on its inability to unite. "This is an election lost by the government rather than won by Tony Abbott," he told Sky News.
Abbott, who becomes Australia s third prime minister in three months, will aim to end a period of extraordinary political instability in Australia.
The swing away from Labor was a resounding rejection of Australia s first minority government since World War II. Voters disliked the deals and compromises struck between Labor, the minor Greens party and independent lawmakers to keep their fragile, disparate and sometime chaotic coalition together for the past three years, including the carbon tax.
Abbott has vowed to scrap the carbon tax from July 2014, two years after it was implemented, and instead introduce taxpayer-funded incentives for polluters to operate cleaner.
It is unclear whether Abbott will be able to pass the necessary law changes through Parliament, but he has threatened to hold early elections if the Senate thwarts him.
Abbott s popularity seems to have peaked at the right time. Two polls published this past week by Sydney-based market researcher Newspoll are the only ones in which Abbott beat Rudd as preferred prime minister since Newspoll first began comparing the two leaders in 2010.
There is unlikely to be any honeymoon period for Abbott, as he inherits a slowing economy, hurt by the cooling of a mining boom that kept the resource-rich nation out of recession during the global financial crisis.
Australia s new government has promised to slash foreign aid spending as it concentrates on returning the budget to surplus.
Labor spent billions of dollars on stimulus projects to avoid recession. But declining corporate tax revenues from the mining slowdown forced Labor to break a promise to return the budget to surplus in the last fiscal year.
Abbott has also promised to repeal a tax on coal and iron ore mining companies, which he blames in part for the downturn in the mining boom. The 30 percent tax on the profits of iron ore and coal miners was designed to cash in on burgeoning profits from a mineral boom fueled by Chinese industrial demand. But the boom was easing before the tax took effect.
The tax was initially forecast to earn the government 3 billion Australian dollars ($2.7 billion) in its first year, but collected only AU$126 million after six months.
Abbott was a senior minister in the government of Prime Minister John Howard, who ruled for 11 years until Rudd first took office in 2007.
Under Howard, Australia, one of the world s worst greenhouse gas polluters on a per capita basis, and the United States had been the only wealthy countries to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on reducing global warming.
One of Rudd s first acts as prime minister was to ratify the Protocol, and he became Australia s most popular prime minister of the past three decades with his promise to introduce a carbon emissions trading scheme. His popularity fell after he failed to persuade the Senate to deliver the scheme.
Abbott also faces the politically thorny challenge of figuring out how to curb a growing number of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat. The Liberals have promised new policies requiring the navy to turn asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia, where they launch, and the government to buy back aging fishing boats from Indonesian villagers to prevent them from falling into the hands of people smugglers.
"In three years time, the carbon tax will be gone, the boats will be stopped, the budget will be on track for a believable surplus and the roads for the 21st century will finally be on the way," Abbott said Saturday night.
The election likely brought Australia s first Aboriginal woman to Parliament. Former Olympian Nova Peris is almost certain to win a Senate seat for Labor in the Northern Territory, but the final results will not be known for days. Less likely is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange s bid for a Senate seat in Victorian state.
Iraq orders Iranian exiles to leave camp 'without delay'
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq has ordered Iranian exiles to move from a camp where 52 of their members were killed a week ago "without delay", a government official and the UN said Saturday.
Baghdad opened a probe into the events surrounding the deaths of the members of the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, which occurred on Sunday at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, but accounts of the unrest still differ markedly.
The United Nations and Western governments have condemned the bloodshed, but have been careful not to assign blame.
"The state has the right to order them to leave," Ali Mussawi, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told AFP.
"There is an order for them to leave."
The UN's mission to Baghdad said in a statement that it believed the Iraqi government "will move to enforce this order without delay".
That would require the 42 remaining residents of Camp Ashraf to be moved to Camp Liberty, a former US military base on the outskirts of Baghdad, while PMOI members await relocation outside of Iraq.
Iraqi officials and the PMOI have offered conflicting narratives of how the 52 died.
The authorities blame infighting within the PMOI for the deaths, and insist no soldiers entered Ashraf.
Those accounts are sharply contested by the PMOI, which charges that Iraqi forces entered the camp, killed 52 of its members and set fire to the group's property and goods.
Last weekend's deaths follow two mortar attacks earlier this year on Camp Liberty in which at least eight people were killed.
Around 3,000 members of the group, which is also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), were moved from Ashraf last year to Liberty, but about 100 stayed on at the old camp to deal with remaining property and goods.
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the rebel MEK to set up the camp during his war with Iran in the 1980s.
The group was founded in the 1960s to oppose the shah of Iran, and after the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted him it took up arms against Iran's clerical rulers. It says it has now laid down its arms and is working to overthrow the Islamic regime in Iran by peaceful means.
Baghdad opened a probe into the events surrounding the deaths of the members of the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, which occurred on Sunday at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, but accounts of the unrest still differ markedly.
The United Nations and Western governments have condemned the bloodshed, but have been careful not to assign blame.
"The state has the right to order them to leave," Ali Mussawi, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told AFP.
"There is an order for them to leave."
The UN's mission to Baghdad said in a statement that it believed the Iraqi government "will move to enforce this order without delay".
That would require the 42 remaining residents of Camp Ashraf to be moved to Camp Liberty, a former US military base on the outskirts of Baghdad, while PMOI members await relocation outside of Iraq.
Iraqi officials and the PMOI have offered conflicting narratives of how the 52 died.
The authorities blame infighting within the PMOI for the deaths, and insist no soldiers entered Ashraf.
Those accounts are sharply contested by the PMOI, which charges that Iraqi forces entered the camp, killed 52 of its members and set fire to the group's property and goods.
Last weekend's deaths follow two mortar attacks earlier this year on Camp Liberty in which at least eight people were killed.
Around 3,000 members of the group, which is also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), were moved from Ashraf last year to Liberty, but about 100 stayed on at the old camp to deal with remaining property and goods.
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein allowed the rebel MEK to set up the camp during his war with Iran in the 1980s.
The group was founded in the 1960s to oppose the shah of Iran, and after the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted him it took up arms against Iran's clerical rulers. It says it has now laid down its arms and is working to overthrow the Islamic regime in Iran by peaceful means.
Obama faces opposition from Congress, public on Syria
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is readying for a high-stakes week of trying to sell a skeptical Congress and a war-weary American public on a military strike against Syria.
The coming days represent one of the most intense periods of outreach for a president not known for investing heavily in consultations with Congress.
Just back from a European trip where he lobbied for support, Obama is working to salvage a policy whose fate he s placed in lawmakers hands.
His administration s lobbying campaign culminates Tuesday, the evening before a critical vote is expected in the Senate. Obama will address the nation from the White House to make his case for military action.
"Over 1,400 people were gassed. Over 400 of them were children," Obama said Friday at the close of a global summit in Russia.
"This is not something we ve fabricated. This is not something that we are using as an excuse for military action," he said. "I was elected to end wars, and not start them."
A passionate debate in Congress already is underway. Obama enters the fray having made some progress in his quest to win foreign support for a strike punishing Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical attack the U.S. blames on his forces.
Yet Obama has been unable to secure the U.N. backing that many nations say is needed to legitimize any strike.
The president returned from Europe with a joint statement from nations backing "a strong international response to this grave violation of the world s rules and conscience."
His administration said the statement, signed by France, Saudi Arabia, Japan and others at the close of the Group of 20 economic summit in St. Petersburg, was a clear endorsement for the limited military action the U.S. has been publicly contemplating for weeks.
Absent from the list was Russian President Vladimir Putin, a stalwart Assad ally and staunch opponent of a U.S. strike.
The coming days represent one of the most intense periods of outreach for a president not known for investing heavily in consultations with Congress.
Just back from a European trip where he lobbied for support, Obama is working to salvage a policy whose fate he s placed in lawmakers hands.
His administration s lobbying campaign culminates Tuesday, the evening before a critical vote is expected in the Senate. Obama will address the nation from the White House to make his case for military action.
"Over 1,400 people were gassed. Over 400 of them were children," Obama said Friday at the close of a global summit in Russia.
"This is not something we ve fabricated. This is not something that we are using as an excuse for military action," he said. "I was elected to end wars, and not start them."
A passionate debate in Congress already is underway. Obama enters the fray having made some progress in his quest to win foreign support for a strike punishing Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical attack the U.S. blames on his forces.
Yet Obama has been unable to secure the U.N. backing that many nations say is needed to legitimize any strike.
The president returned from Europe with a joint statement from nations backing "a strong international response to this grave violation of the world s rules and conscience."
His administration said the statement, signed by France, Saudi Arabia, Japan and others at the close of the Group of 20 economic summit in St. Petersburg, was a clear endorsement for the limited military action the U.S. has been publicly contemplating for weeks.
Absent from the list was Russian President Vladimir Putin, a stalwart Assad ally and staunch opponent of a U.S. strike.
Politics in Parliament not in streets, says Zardari
ISLAMABAD: Talking to media persons Saturday in the Presidency Asif Ali Zardari said PPP will play role of an effective Opposition in the Parliament but would not take to streets against the PML-N government.
Some people were using judiciary for political purposes, he said.
Zardari said in future he would like to be the prime minister of the country rather than the president.
Bilawal will take part in the coming general elections, he said.
He said he was going to Lahore in order to reorganize the party and infuse new blood in the leadership.
“I will advise the old leaders of the party to make way for young leadership,” he said.
He said PPP government gave rights to the provinces through 18th Amendment, adding in India provinces got these rights after a lot of bloodshed.
Zardari revealed that many leaders in PPP were not in favour of surrendering of the 58(2)b.
PPP will soon establish that it was the biggest political party of the country, he said.
Some people were using judiciary for political purposes, he said.
Zardari said in future he would like to be the prime minister of the country rather than the president.
Bilawal will take part in the coming general elections, he said.
He said he was going to Lahore in order to reorganize the party and infuse new blood in the leadership.
“I will advise the old leaders of the party to make way for young leadership,” he said.
He said PPP government gave rights to the provinces through 18th Amendment, adding in India provinces got these rights after a lot of bloodshed.
Zardari revealed that many leaders in PPP were not in favour of surrendering of the 58(2)b.
PPP will soon establish that it was the biggest political party of the country, he said.
Wednesday 4 September 2013
'India economy faces challenges'
MUMBAI (AFP) - India s new central bank governor said Wednesday the economy faced challenges but was fundamentally sound, as the country battles a plummeting rupee and decade-low growth.
Raghuram Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, also said achieving "low and stable" inflation was crucial, in his first public comments since taking over as Reserve Bank of India governor earlier on Wednesday.
"The economy does face challenges, at the same time India is fundamentally a sound economy with a bright future," he said in comments broadcast live on television.
Rajan added that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) needed to be a "beacon of responsibility" and that protecting the value of money is an "important objective".
He replaces Duvvuri Subbarao as RBI governor.
Subbarao said earlier Wednesday that his successor was in for a bumpy ride with the rupee having fallen sharply and an economy that grew at a decade low of five percent in the last financial year.
Rajan takes charge as some analysts fear the once-booming economy could be heading for a meltdown, with a record current account deficit and a currency which has lost up to a quarter of its value against the dollar this year.
Raghuram Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, also said achieving "low and stable" inflation was crucial, in his first public comments since taking over as Reserve Bank of India governor earlier on Wednesday.
"The economy does face challenges, at the same time India is fundamentally a sound economy with a bright future," he said in comments broadcast live on television.
Rajan added that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) needed to be a "beacon of responsibility" and that protecting the value of money is an "important objective".
He replaces Duvvuri Subbarao as RBI governor.
Subbarao said earlier Wednesday that his successor was in for a bumpy ride with the rupee having fallen sharply and an economy that grew at a decade low of five percent in the last financial year.
Rajan takes charge as some analysts fear the once-booming economy could be heading for a meltdown, with a record current account deficit and a currency which has lost up to a quarter of its value against the dollar this year.
Priyanka Chopra wants to balance life like Beyonce
MUMBAI: "I admire Beyonce a lot because she is an amazing performer and more than anything, she balances her personal and professional life very well," Priyanka said in Mumbai.
"She has a child, and at the same time, her professional life also, which is amazing! That s the kind of a person I would like to be - who can balance both personal and professional life together," she added.
Priyanka, who is charting her own singing career after becoming a successful actress, says it was her late father, who always wanted her to be a singer.
The 31-year-old has already launched two international singles - In my city and Exotic.
But it was a well-timed decision to get into the singing field, she believes.
"In the beginning of my career, I never knew acting. I have learnt everything in my career itself. When you have gone to acting school, when you are in the film industry, there is some familiarity, but I didn t have these familiarities.
"So it took some time and when I reached somewhere, I got this opportunity of music and that time I was little more comfortable in films and my dad really wanted me to do it," Priyanka said.
"She has a child, and at the same time, her professional life also, which is amazing! That s the kind of a person I would like to be - who can balance both personal and professional life together," she added.
Priyanka, who is charting her own singing career after becoming a successful actress, says it was her late father, who always wanted her to be a singer.
The 31-year-old has already launched two international singles - In my city and Exotic.
But it was a well-timed decision to get into the singing field, she believes.
"In the beginning of my career, I never knew acting. I have learnt everything in my career itself. When you have gone to acting school, when you are in the film industry, there is some familiarity, but I didn t have these familiarities.
"So it took some time and when I reached somewhere, I got this opportunity of music and that time I was little more comfortable in films and my dad really wanted me to do it," Priyanka said.
Worlds credibility at stake over Syria, say Obama
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama said Wednesday the international community s credibility is at stake in the debate over a military response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.
His top advisers took the argument for action to the opposition-controlled House of Representatives, where the significant support seen in the Senate will be harder to find.
Asked about his past comments drawing a "red line" against the use of chemical weapons, Obama said that line had already been drawn by a chemical weapons treaty ratified by countries around the world.
"That wasn t something I made up," he said. He spoke in Sweden before he attends a G-20 economic summit in Russia later this week.
With Obama in Europe, his top national security aides were facing public and private hearings at the Capitol to argue for Congress authorization for strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad s regime.
That s in retaliation for what the administration says was a deadly sarin gas attack by his forces outside Damascus last month.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote on authorizing the use of force as early as Wednesday the first in a series of votes as the president s request makes its way through Senate and House committees before coming before the two chambers for a final vote.
Asked whether he would take action against Syria if he fails to get approval from Congress, Obama said that as commander in chief, "I always preserve the right and the responsibility to act on behalf of America s national security."
The Senate panel s top members drafted a resolution late Tuesday that permits Obama to order a "limited and tailored" military mission against Syria, as long as it doesn t exceed 90 days and involves no U.S. troops on the ground for combat operations.
But Republican Sen. John McCain, an outspoken advocate of intervention against Assad s regime, said Wednesday he doesn t support the Senate resolution.
He expressed support for the administration s plan after meeting with Obama at the White House on Monday, but he has wanted more support to Syria s rebels.
The White House had no immediate reaction to the Senate measure. Secretary of State John Kerry, testifying earlier before the committee, signaled that the troop restriction was acceptable.
Now the administration needs to persuade a Republican-dominated House of Representatives has opposed almost everything on Obama s agenda since the party seized the majority more than three years ago.
The top opposition Republican in Congress, House Speaker John Boehner, has signaled key support, saying the U.S. has "enemies around the world that need to understand that we re not going to tolerate this type of behavior."
His top advisers took the argument for action to the opposition-controlled House of Representatives, where the significant support seen in the Senate will be harder to find.
Asked about his past comments drawing a "red line" against the use of chemical weapons, Obama said that line had already been drawn by a chemical weapons treaty ratified by countries around the world.
"That wasn t something I made up," he said. He spoke in Sweden before he attends a G-20 economic summit in Russia later this week.
With Obama in Europe, his top national security aides were facing public and private hearings at the Capitol to argue for Congress authorization for strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad s regime.
That s in retaliation for what the administration says was a deadly sarin gas attack by his forces outside Damascus last month.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote on authorizing the use of force as early as Wednesday the first in a series of votes as the president s request makes its way through Senate and House committees before coming before the two chambers for a final vote.
Asked whether he would take action against Syria if he fails to get approval from Congress, Obama said that as commander in chief, "I always preserve the right and the responsibility to act on behalf of America s national security."
The Senate panel s top members drafted a resolution late Tuesday that permits Obama to order a "limited and tailored" military mission against Syria, as long as it doesn t exceed 90 days and involves no U.S. troops on the ground for combat operations.
But Republican Sen. John McCain, an outspoken advocate of intervention against Assad s regime, said Wednesday he doesn t support the Senate resolution.
He expressed support for the administration s plan after meeting with Obama at the White House on Monday, but he has wanted more support to Syria s rebels.
The White House had no immediate reaction to the Senate measure. Secretary of State John Kerry, testifying earlier before the committee, signaled that the troop restriction was acceptable.
Now the administration needs to persuade a Republican-dominated House of Representatives has opposed almost everything on Obama s agenda since the party seized the majority more than three years ago.
The top opposition Republican in Congress, House Speaker John Boehner, has signaled key support, saying the U.S. has "enemies around the world that need to understand that we re not going to tolerate this type of behavior."
Russia wants sound evidence on chemical weapons
MOSCOW (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin Wednesday suggested Russia could approve military strikes against the Syrian regime if the West presented watertight evidence of chemical weapons crimes but warned the use of force without UN approval would be an "aggression".
In an interview with state-run Channel One television ahead of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg this week, Putin sought to adopt a more conciliatory tone on the Syria crisis which had widened the rift between Russia and the West.
But in later comments at a Kremlin meeting with his human rights council, Putin warned the US Congress that it would be legitimising an "aggression" if it gave its blessing to military action.
Asked in the interview whether Russia would agree with US-led military strikes if it was proven that the Syrian regime had carried out the chemical attack, Putin replied: "I do not exclude that."
But he said it would be unacceptable for the West to go ahead with military action against the regime of Bashar al-Assad without the assent of the UN Security Council, where Russia has veto-wielding permanent membership.
"Only the UN Security Council can give approval for the use of force against another state," Putin said.
"Any other ways to justify the use of force against another sovereign and independent state are unacceptable and cannot be qualified as anything other than aggression," Putin said.
Putin, speaking in the afternoon in the Kremlin, warned the US Congress against approving US military action outside the UN, which he said "in principle would be unacceptable".
"They would be allowing an aggression since everything that is outside the framework of the UN Security Council is an aggression, unless it is self-defence," he said.
The United States has indicated it is prepared to go ahead with military action without UN approval, but President Barack Obama is first seeking approval from Congress which will push back the timetable until after the G20 which begins Thursday.
Speaking in Sweden ahead of travelling to the G20, Obama said he hoped Putin would change his position on Syria.
Putin said the West still needed to put forward cast-iron proof of the circumstances of the attack, which some Russian officials have previously blamed on rebels seeking to discredit the regime.
"If there is evidence that chemical weapons were used, and by the regular army,... then this evidence must be presented to the UN Security Council. And it must be convincing," Putin said.
If there was clear proof of what weapons were used and who used them, Russia "will be ready to act in the most decisive and serious way," Putin said.
But he reaffirmed his past arguments it would have been "absurd and not in line with any logic" for the Syrian regime to have used chemical weapons at a time when it is on a military offensive.
Putin appeared to acknowledge he had seen the "horrific images" posted on the Internet that allegedly show children killed in the chemical attack outside Damascus.
"But the question is, who did what and who is guilty," Putin said.
Putin confirmed that Russia had delivered some components of sophisticated S-300 missile systems to Syria but revealed for the first time deliveries had now been halted.
"We have delivered separate components but the whole delivery has not been completed and for the moment we have suspended it," Putin said, without specifying the reason for halting the deliveries.
The contract had been vehemently condemned by the West which argued that Moscow was handing Damascus the firepower to hit back at eventual air attacks.
In an interview with state-run Channel One television ahead of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg this week, Putin sought to adopt a more conciliatory tone on the Syria crisis which had widened the rift between Russia and the West.
But in later comments at a Kremlin meeting with his human rights council, Putin warned the US Congress that it would be legitimising an "aggression" if it gave its blessing to military action.
Asked in the interview whether Russia would agree with US-led military strikes if it was proven that the Syrian regime had carried out the chemical attack, Putin replied: "I do not exclude that."
But he said it would be unacceptable for the West to go ahead with military action against the regime of Bashar al-Assad without the assent of the UN Security Council, where Russia has veto-wielding permanent membership.
"Only the UN Security Council can give approval for the use of force against another state," Putin said.
"Any other ways to justify the use of force against another sovereign and independent state are unacceptable and cannot be qualified as anything other than aggression," Putin said.
Putin, speaking in the afternoon in the Kremlin, warned the US Congress against approving US military action outside the UN, which he said "in principle would be unacceptable".
"They would be allowing an aggression since everything that is outside the framework of the UN Security Council is an aggression, unless it is self-defence," he said.
The United States has indicated it is prepared to go ahead with military action without UN approval, but President Barack Obama is first seeking approval from Congress which will push back the timetable until after the G20 which begins Thursday.
Speaking in Sweden ahead of travelling to the G20, Obama said he hoped Putin would change his position on Syria.
Putin said the West still needed to put forward cast-iron proof of the circumstances of the attack, which some Russian officials have previously blamed on rebels seeking to discredit the regime.
"If there is evidence that chemical weapons were used, and by the regular army,... then this evidence must be presented to the UN Security Council. And it must be convincing," Putin said.
If there was clear proof of what weapons were used and who used them, Russia "will be ready to act in the most decisive and serious way," Putin said.
But he reaffirmed his past arguments it would have been "absurd and not in line with any logic" for the Syrian regime to have used chemical weapons at a time when it is on a military offensive.
Putin appeared to acknowledge he had seen the "horrific images" posted on the Internet that allegedly show children killed in the chemical attack outside Damascus.
"But the question is, who did what and who is guilty," Putin said.
Putin confirmed that Russia had delivered some components of sophisticated S-300 missile systems to Syria but revealed for the first time deliveries had now been halted.
"We have delivered separate components but the whole delivery has not been completed and for the moment we have suspended it," Putin said, without specifying the reason for halting the deliveries.
The contract had been vehemently condemned by the West which argued that Moscow was handing Damascus the firepower to hit back at eventual air attacks.
18 of same family among 33 killed in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Attacks around Baghdad and north Iraq left 33 people dead on Wednesday, including 18 members of a Shiite family killed by militants, the latest in a nationwide surge of violence.
The unrest came a day after a wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Baghdad and shootings and bombings elsewhere killed 61 people, further raising fears Iraq is slipping back into the all-out sectarian bloodshed that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.
Authorities, meanwhile, announced the arrest of an alleged senior aide to Izzat al-Duri, the highest-ranking member of executed dictator Saddam Hussein s regime still on the run.
Wednesday s violence struck towns on the outskirts of Baghdad as well as predominantly Sunni cities in the north of the country, with the deadliest attack hitting south of the capital.
Shortly after midnight, militants bombed adjacent houses belonging to Shiite Muslim brothers in the town of Latifiyah, which lies about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Baghdad.
A total of 18 people were killed, including five women and six children, and a dozen others were wounded, according to an army officer and a doctor at a nearby hospital.
Latifiyah lies within a confessionally-mixed region known as the "Triangle of Death", so named for the brutal violence that plagued the area during the peak of Iraq s sectarian war in 2006-2007.
Last week, another attack on a Shiite family in the same town killed at least five people.
No group claimed responsibility for the latest violence, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda frequently carry out attacks against Iraq s Shiite Muslim majority who they regard as apostates.
Separate attacks in Besmaya, Iskandiriyah and Tarmiyah, also on Baghdad s outskirts, killed nine people, including seven soldiers.
Bombings in two Sunni-majority cities north of the capital killed six people, including five policemen who died in a suicide car bombing against a police station in Mosul, one of Iraq s most restive cities.
The latest bloodshed came as Baghdad was still reeling from a wave of car bombs targeting Shiite neighbourhoods on Tuesday evening that killed 50 people, while unrest elsewhere left 11 others dead.
Among the attacks was a car bombing in the central commercial district of Karrada where four storefronts were badly damaged.
Workers were still picking up the pieces from the previous evening s violence on Wednesday.
At one restaurant, where windows were completely shattered by the blast, three men were consoling each other as they tried to clean up the aftermath of the attack.
"Please, we have cried enough," one of them told another, before himself breaking into tears, while one man held up the clothes of a friend who died in the attack and shouted, "These are his clothes -- what should I do with them?"
Attacks have surged since the beginning of the year, killing more than 3,900 people already in 2013, according to an AFP tally.
AKE Group, a risk consultancy, said it recorded an average of 155 deaths per week since April, compared to an average of around 60 per week from the beginning of 2011 until April of this year.
"This is a clear escalation and AKE expects conditions to remain more hostile than usual for the foreseeable future," it said in a statement.
Iraqi officials have trumpeted wide-ranging operations targeting militants in which hundreds of alleged fighters have been captured and dozens killed.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Service announced the arrest of Hussein al-Khazraji, who security forces say is a top aide to Izzat al-Duri, Saddam s vice president.
Saddam s Baath party has said Duri, the king of clubs in the US deck of cards showing the most-wanted members of the ousted president s regime, died in 2005.
But audio messages have been attributed to him in recent years and he is accused of orchestrating violent attacks.
Despite the string of operations and arrests, a long-running political deadlock combined with frustrations in Iraq s Sunni Arab minority and concerns that neighbouring Syria s civil war is spilling over into Iraq have fuelled warnings that violence is unlikely to abate.
The unrest came a day after a wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Baghdad and shootings and bombings elsewhere killed 61 people, further raising fears Iraq is slipping back into the all-out sectarian bloodshed that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.
Authorities, meanwhile, announced the arrest of an alleged senior aide to Izzat al-Duri, the highest-ranking member of executed dictator Saddam Hussein s regime still on the run.
Wednesday s violence struck towns on the outskirts of Baghdad as well as predominantly Sunni cities in the north of the country, with the deadliest attack hitting south of the capital.
Shortly after midnight, militants bombed adjacent houses belonging to Shiite Muslim brothers in the town of Latifiyah, which lies about 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Baghdad.
A total of 18 people were killed, including five women and six children, and a dozen others were wounded, according to an army officer and a doctor at a nearby hospital.
Latifiyah lies within a confessionally-mixed region known as the "Triangle of Death", so named for the brutal violence that plagued the area during the peak of Iraq s sectarian war in 2006-2007.
Last week, another attack on a Shiite family in the same town killed at least five people.
No group claimed responsibility for the latest violence, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda frequently carry out attacks against Iraq s Shiite Muslim majority who they regard as apostates.
Separate attacks in Besmaya, Iskandiriyah and Tarmiyah, also on Baghdad s outskirts, killed nine people, including seven soldiers.
Bombings in two Sunni-majority cities north of the capital killed six people, including five policemen who died in a suicide car bombing against a police station in Mosul, one of Iraq s most restive cities.
The latest bloodshed came as Baghdad was still reeling from a wave of car bombs targeting Shiite neighbourhoods on Tuesday evening that killed 50 people, while unrest elsewhere left 11 others dead.
Among the attacks was a car bombing in the central commercial district of Karrada where four storefronts were badly damaged.
Workers were still picking up the pieces from the previous evening s violence on Wednesday.
At one restaurant, where windows were completely shattered by the blast, three men were consoling each other as they tried to clean up the aftermath of the attack.
"Please, we have cried enough," one of them told another, before himself breaking into tears, while one man held up the clothes of a friend who died in the attack and shouted, "These are his clothes -- what should I do with them?"
Attacks have surged since the beginning of the year, killing more than 3,900 people already in 2013, according to an AFP tally.
AKE Group, a risk consultancy, said it recorded an average of 155 deaths per week since April, compared to an average of around 60 per week from the beginning of 2011 until April of this year.
"This is a clear escalation and AKE expects conditions to remain more hostile than usual for the foreseeable future," it said in a statement.
Iraqi officials have trumpeted wide-ranging operations targeting militants in which hundreds of alleged fighters have been captured and dozens killed.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Counter Terrorism Service announced the arrest of Hussein al-Khazraji, who security forces say is a top aide to Izzat al-Duri, Saddam s vice president.
Saddam s Baath party has said Duri, the king of clubs in the US deck of cards showing the most-wanted members of the ousted president s regime, died in 2005.
But audio messages have been attributed to him in recent years and he is accused of orchestrating violent attacks.
Despite the string of operations and arrests, a long-running political deadlock combined with frustrations in Iraq s Sunni Arab minority and concerns that neighbouring Syria s civil war is spilling over into Iraq have fuelled warnings that violence is unlikely to abate.
Syria vows to retaliate if attacked
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria said Wednesday it had taken "every measure" to retaliate if hit by a feared US-led military strike and would never give in, even if a third world war erupts.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad also insisted that Russia had not wavered in its support, despite comments by President Vladimir Putin suggesting a more conciliatory tone towards the West.
"Syria has taken every measure to retaliate against an aggression," he said, although he refused to provide any clue as to what that might mean.
"The Syrian government will not change position even if there is World War III. No Syrian can sacrifice the independence of his country," he added.
US President Barack Obama is busy trying to convince Congress to approve a strike against the Assad regime in retaliation for a suspected deadly poison gas attack on August 21 that Washington blames on Damascus.
The regime categorically denies any responsibility for the alleged attack in Damascus suburbs and has said it is cooperating with UN inspectors who are currently analysing samples taken from the sites of the suspected incident.
Analysts fear that the conflict currently tearing Syria apart will spill over permanently into fragile, neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, where supporters of the Damascus regime are already pitted against its opponents.
And allies Russia and Iran have warned that any military intervention would have devastating regional consequences.
But in an interview broadcast earlier Wednesday, Putin appeared to strike a more conciliatory note by saying he did not exclude agreeing to strikes if it was proven the regime had carried out the alleged gas attack.
Yet Muqdad stressed that Moscow had not wavered in its support of Damascus.
"The Russian position is unchanged; it s a responsible position of a friend that is in favour of peace," he said.
In later comments at a Kremlin meeting, Putin appeared to corroborate this, warning the US Congress that it would be legitimising an "aggression" if it gave its blessing to military action in a vote expected next week.
Washington says the alleged chemical weapons attack on August 21 killed more than 1,400 people.
Since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011 with an uprising against the Assad regime, more than 110,000 people have died, including over 40,100 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad also insisted that Russia had not wavered in its support, despite comments by President Vladimir Putin suggesting a more conciliatory tone towards the West.
"Syria has taken every measure to retaliate against an aggression," he said, although he refused to provide any clue as to what that might mean.
"The Syrian government will not change position even if there is World War III. No Syrian can sacrifice the independence of his country," he added.
US President Barack Obama is busy trying to convince Congress to approve a strike against the Assad regime in retaliation for a suspected deadly poison gas attack on August 21 that Washington blames on Damascus.
The regime categorically denies any responsibility for the alleged attack in Damascus suburbs and has said it is cooperating with UN inspectors who are currently analysing samples taken from the sites of the suspected incident.
Analysts fear that the conflict currently tearing Syria apart will spill over permanently into fragile, neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, where supporters of the Damascus regime are already pitted against its opponents.
And allies Russia and Iran have warned that any military intervention would have devastating regional consequences.
But in an interview broadcast earlier Wednesday, Putin appeared to strike a more conciliatory note by saying he did not exclude agreeing to strikes if it was proven the regime had carried out the alleged gas attack.
Yet Muqdad stressed that Moscow had not wavered in its support of Damascus.
"The Russian position is unchanged; it s a responsible position of a friend that is in favour of peace," he said.
In later comments at a Kremlin meeting, Putin appeared to corroborate this, warning the US Congress that it would be legitimising an "aggression" if it gave its blessing to military action in a vote expected next week.
Washington says the alleged chemical weapons attack on August 21 killed more than 1,400 people.
Since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011 with an uprising against the Assad regime, more than 110,000 people have died, including over 40,100 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Rangers to conduct operation in Karachi: Nisar
KARACHI: A decision has been taken to immediately launch targeted action in Karachi against terrorists‚ target killers‚ kidnappers for ransom and extortionists.
This was announced by Minister for Interior Ch Nisar Ali Khan while briefing newsmen after special cabinet meeting in Karachi and two days of consultation there on how to address the deteriorating law and situation in the city.
A committee‚ led by Chief Minister Sindh, and having representation from federal and provincial institutions concerned and intelligence agencies would oversee‚ manage‚ administer and control the operation. The committee will meet at least once a week to review the situation and take necessary decisions.
Another operational committee headed by Director-General Rangers would meet daily and take necessary decisions.
Nisar said Rangers would lead the action and police will have supporting role. He said federal and provincial governments have issued necessary guidelines to empower Rangers.
The minister said there should be no doubt that the action would be under the leadership of the provincial chief minister as he has the mandate of the people.
Nisar said that the federal cabinet and high level meetings in Karachi took several decisions and some of them would not be made public. He‚ however‚ said these decisions too would be visible when the action is taken.
He said another committee headed by Zahid Hamid and which would include among others Prosecutor General Sindh and MQM's Barrister Farogh Naseem‚ would review the relevant laws and make recommendations for their revamping.
The decision about the operation was taken in a special meeting headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the Prime Minister focused his attention to restore law and order situation in Karachi.
Responding to a question he said that, fake cell phone SIMs were one of the main reasons behind increase in crime. He said that soon the decision would be taken to block more than four million fake SIMs.
This was announced by Minister for Interior Ch Nisar Ali Khan while briefing newsmen after special cabinet meeting in Karachi and two days of consultation there on how to address the deteriorating law and situation in the city.
A committee‚ led by Chief Minister Sindh, and having representation from federal and provincial institutions concerned and intelligence agencies would oversee‚ manage‚ administer and control the operation. The committee will meet at least once a week to review the situation and take necessary decisions.
Another operational committee headed by Director-General Rangers would meet daily and take necessary decisions.
Nisar said Rangers would lead the action and police will have supporting role. He said federal and provincial governments have issued necessary guidelines to empower Rangers.
The minister said there should be no doubt that the action would be under the leadership of the provincial chief minister as he has the mandate of the people.
Nisar said that the federal cabinet and high level meetings in Karachi took several decisions and some of them would not be made public. He‚ however‚ said these decisions too would be visible when the action is taken.
He said another committee headed by Zahid Hamid and which would include among others Prosecutor General Sindh and MQM's Barrister Farogh Naseem‚ would review the relevant laws and make recommendations for their revamping.
The decision about the operation was taken in a special meeting headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the Prime Minister focused his attention to restore law and order situation in Karachi.
Responding to a question he said that, fake cell phone SIMs were one of the main reasons behind increase in crime. He said that soon the decision would be taken to block more than four million fake SIMs.
Syrians have become the EU's fastest growing group of asylum seekers
Brussels: The number of Syrian asylum seekers in the EU has more than tripled in just one year, the fastest growth rate for any group, according to the European Asylum Support Office's annual report. They numbered 24,110 in 2012 compared to 7,885 the year before. Overall the number of refugees increased by 11% in 2012, with the largest group coming from Afghanistan. The report will be presented to the civil liberties committee on 5 September. Follow the discussion live on our website.
The annual report provides an overview of the asylum situation in the EU in 2012 and analyses how member states dealth with asylum requests and sets out the increase and decrease in the number of applications compared to the year before. In addition it focuses on the increasing asylum flows from Afghanistan and Syria. The report was released on 8 July and will be presented to the civil liberties committee on 5 September by Dr Robert K. Visser, the executive director of the European Asylum Support Office.
The number of asylum seekers in the EU increased to 335,365 in 2012. The three countries that received the most applications are:
In the UK applications went up by 7%, while in Ireland they went down by 26%.
Most asylum seekers come from:
The annual report provides an overview of the asylum situation in the EU in 2012 and analyses how member states dealth with asylum requests and sets out the increase and decrease in the number of applications compared to the year before. In addition it focuses on the increasing asylum flows from Afghanistan and Syria. The report was released on 8 July and will be presented to the civil liberties committee on 5 September by Dr Robert K. Visser, the executive director of the European Asylum Support Office.
The number of asylum seekers in the EU increased to 335,365 in 2012. The three countries that received the most applications are:
- Germany (77,650 applications, a 46% increase compared to 2011)
- France (61,455 applications, a 7% increase)
- Sweden (43,945 applications, a 48% increase)
In the UK applications went up by 7%, while in Ireland they went down by 26%.
Most asylum seekers come from:
- Afghanistan (28,005 in 2012, similar to the 28,015 in 2011)
- Russia (24,280, an increase of 32%)
- Syria (24,110, an increase of 206%)The Parliament endorsed earlier this year new asylum rules, that should enter into force in the second half of 2015. These new rules lay down common procedures and deadlines for handling asylum applications and set out basic rights for asylum seekers arriving in the EU.
Foreign affairs committee calls on Egypt to retake path to democracy
Brussels: The EP’s foreign affairs committee has called on the Muslim Brotherhood to return to the negotiation table and give up violence. The committee held a special meeting on 28 August, during which members debated how to get the troubled country back on the track to democracy. They also insisted on better protection for Christian Copts after 40 of their churches were burnt by Islamic fundamentalists.
Egypt has been in turmoil ever since the army took over the reins due to disagreements with the government led by the Muslim Brotherhood. The European Parliament has been concerned about the outbreaks of violence in the country and supports a rapid return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
Committee chair Elmar Brok, a German member of the EPP group, said: “We have to see what is helpful for the ordinary people, for the young people, and therefore the programmes of the European Union should support these people and be used to introduce again the roadmap to democracy as it was promised by the present government.”
Egypt has been in turmoil ever since the army took over the reins due to disagreements with the government led by the Muslim Brotherhood. The European Parliament has been concerned about the outbreaks of violence in the country and supports a rapid return to the democratic process, including the holding of free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
Committee chair Elmar Brok, a German member of the EPP group, said: “We have to see what is helpful for the ordinary people, for the young people, and therefore the programmes of the European Union should support these people and be used to introduce again the roadmap to democracy as it was promised by the present government.”
Ukraine: MEPs criticise Russian pressure ahead of possible EU deal
Brussels: Foreign Affairs MEPs today criticised Russian trade restrictions imposed on Ukraine, ahead of a possible EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. In a separate debate on the future of Ukraine, opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Vitali Klitschko told MEPs that the country's future lies with Europe.
The debates were held in an extraordinary meeting of the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, also discussing the current situation in Egypt and Syria.
The debates on Ukraine followed recent moves by Russia to block imports of Ukrainian confectionary. While Russian authorities had cited quality and safety concerns, the measures have been widely viewed as politically motivated.
MEPs described the restrictions as an act of intimidation to discourage Ukraine from concluding the Association Agreement with the EU. MEPs also said the actions were in breach of World Trade Organization rules and an attack on Ukraine's citizens.
MEPs who participated in the debate broadly voiced their support for signing the EU-Ukraine association agreement in the near future, but also warned that Ukraine's government must meet the EU's conditions, as defined at the Foreign Affairs Council of December 2012, which include addressing use of selective justice, necessary reform of the Prosecutor General's Office and freeing imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko.
"The future of Ukraine — whether it chooses to ally with Russia or with the EU in its trade and political relations — should be decided in Kyiv, not Moscow or Brussels", said Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Elmar Brok (EPP, DE).
Ukrainian parliamentary opposition leaders Vitali Klitschko (UDAR) and Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Batkivschchyna) told MEPs that Ukraine's future lay with Europe. Mr Klitschko said the opposition will press the government to take the necessary steps towards signing the agreement. Mr Yatsenyuk said that an Association Agreement offered the EU and Ukraine the best tool to respond to the geopolitical challenge posed by Russia.
The debates were held in an extraordinary meeting of the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, also discussing the current situation in Egypt and Syria.
The debates on Ukraine followed recent moves by Russia to block imports of Ukrainian confectionary. While Russian authorities had cited quality and safety concerns, the measures have been widely viewed as politically motivated.
MEPs described the restrictions as an act of intimidation to discourage Ukraine from concluding the Association Agreement with the EU. MEPs also said the actions were in breach of World Trade Organization rules and an attack on Ukraine's citizens.
MEPs who participated in the debate broadly voiced their support for signing the EU-Ukraine association agreement in the near future, but also warned that Ukraine's government must meet the EU's conditions, as defined at the Foreign Affairs Council of December 2012, which include addressing use of selective justice, necessary reform of the Prosecutor General's Office and freeing imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko.
"The future of Ukraine — whether it chooses to ally with Russia or with the EU in its trade and political relations — should be decided in Kyiv, not Moscow or Brussels", said Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Elmar Brok (EPP, DE).
Ukrainian parliamentary opposition leaders Vitali Klitschko (UDAR) and Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Batkivschchyna) told MEPs that Ukraine's future lay with Europe. Mr Klitschko said the opposition will press the government to take the necessary steps towards signing the agreement. Mr Yatsenyuk said that an Association Agreement offered the EU and Ukraine the best tool to respond to the geopolitical challenge posed by Russia.
Anti-Dangu Walk at Govt. MAO College
(Lahore) Today an Anti-Dangu Walk was staged as per the directions of the CM Punjab as part of awareness program. Besides Cleanliness Day was also observed. Cleanliness campaign is part of Fighting Anti-Dangu virus.
According to the details An “ANTI DENGUE WALK” was organized at Govt. M.A.O College, Lahore on 04-09-2013, for the awareness against the dengue disease. A large number of teachers and students participated in the walk. Vice Principal, Prof. Tahir Yousaf Bukhari leaded the event and delivered a message among the students and staff to play their vital role in creating awareness about dengue fever in the community.
According to the details An “ANTI DENGUE WALK” was organized at Govt. M.A.O College, Lahore on 04-09-2013, for the awareness against the dengue disease. A large number of teachers and students participated in the walk. Vice Principal, Prof. Tahir Yousaf Bukhari leaded the event and delivered a message among the students and staff to play their vital role in creating awareness about dengue fever in the community.
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