Norwegian international was MoS

The Maltese international Kevin Sammut turned off for ten years after the UEFA (European football) found him guilty of gambling fraud in the European Championship qualifying match between Malta and Norway 2007th Two other players were acquitted. Norway won the match 4-0, after making three goals the final 18 minutes. Sammut was changed in the break.
But was still obliged:
- A player can participate in a fixed game without actually being on the pitch. He can do it without being in the squad, said the Malta Football Association chairman, Norman Darmanin Demajo.
According to the Malta base was also more players involved.
- I personally do not think you can cheat with the result with only one player, said Demajo.
A representative of a notorious Croat gambling syndicates, Marijo Cvrtak, during a trial in Germany Bochum told him a meeting with three Maltese players in a hotel in Oslo for the European Championship qualifying match in June 2007.
- I would have liked to have had 5-0, but the players had already agreed, saying Cvrtak in court.
Ironically surpassed Malta itself in qualifying for Euro 2008. The Nation gathered up five points behind 2-1 victory at home against Hungary and a draw in Moldova and at home against Turkey (2-2).
Malta Football Association announced on Monday that "the necessary investigative steps had been taken".

60 dead in the FALL of the Congo

At least 60 miners were killed when the trench they were working in collapsed in a mine in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said a UN-backed radio station.The workers were 100 meters underground when the accident occurred.
The area is rich in tin and gold, and hundreds of thousands of people living from working in mines where safety regulations basically do not exist and accidents are common.

US hails OIC for suspending Syria

WASHINGTON: The United States commended Muslim states for suspending Syria’s membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, saying it sent a “strong message” to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“Today’s action underscores the Assad regime’s increasing international isolation and the widespread support for the Syrian people and their struggle for a democratic state that represents their aspirations and respects their human rights,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
A statement issued at the end of an OIC summit meeting in the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia said participants had agreed on “the need to end immediately the acts of violence in Syria.”The final statement also expressed “deep concern at the massacres and inhuman acts suffered by the Syrian people.”The OIC “sent a strong message to the Assad regime by suspending Syria’s membership in the OIC,” Nuland said.
“The United States commends the OIC for its action and commitment to a peaceful resolution in Syria.”On the sidelines of the summit, US special envoy Rashad Hussain met with OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Vice President Namadi Sambo of Nigeria and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.
They discussed Syria, as well as others in the Arab Spring series of popular uprisings against autocratic rulers in the Middle East and North Africa, and US engagement with Muslim communities, according to a State Department note.
Hussain’s attendance of the meeting “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to working with our partners in the international community to support the aspirations of the Syrian people and bring additional pressure to
bear on the Assad regime,” it added.
The move by the OIC, which represents 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, is aimed at further isolating Assad’s embattled regime, but its effect is seen as being largely symbolic.
Syria was suspended from the Arab League last year over its clampdown on the uprising that Assad characterized as a plot by Western and rival powers to overthrow his regime.
Saudi King Abdullah has presided over the meeting, attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose country has openly criticized the push to suspend Syria.

Kamra airbase attack Seven militants killed in PAF officials

PAF officials confirmed that all seven attackers have been killed. One Pakistani soldier also lost his life in the attack, confirmed officials.
It was not immediately clear how the attackers managed to enter the sprawling base this time.
Although the attack took place at about 2 am, it is likely many of the soldiers on the base were awake for prayers or breakfast during the fasting month of Ramadan.
Faheemullah Khan, a civilian who lives near the base, said he was at a mosque praying when he heard gunfire and explosions which he thought were military exercises.
“Then we came to a restaurant, which is next to the main entrance to the base, and heard a louder explosion,” he said.
“We saw six police vans rush in, and realised something was wrong.”
Several squadrons of fighters and surveillance planes are believed to be housed there.
“One body of a suicide bomber strapped with explosives has been found close to the impact area,” said an air force statement.
Base commander, Air Commodore Muhammad Azam, who led the operation against the attackers, was wounded, but is in stable condition, said the spokesman.
“Security personnel are now in the process of scanning the entire area to check for the presence of any other miscreant,” said the spokesman.
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt has ordered investigations of the incident.
Air Chief Marshal summoned a meeting today at Air headquarter Islamabad to analyse the situation after the attack and to mull over the initial intelligence reports. The meeting would be attended by top leadership of Pakistan Air Force.
Chief of Kamra aeronautical complex and Base Commander will brief the meeting.
Officials also said that one of aircraft at the base was damaged in the attack, which appeared to have been targeted at the PAF’s fighter jets parked at the Minhas base. Air Force officials confirmed that over 30 planes parked, including state-of-the-art JF-17 Thunder fighter jets.
Three to four of the militants wore military uniforms, officials said, adding that the attackers were between 19 to 33 years of age. It was also reported earlier that some of the militants wore suicide vests.
A joint search operation of security forces and police inside and outside the base was launched. PAC Hospital Kamra was also put on high alert following the attack.
The militants were reported to have attacked the base from Pind Salman Makhan village at around 2:30 am, sources said. When security officials at the check-post attempted to halt them, the militants opened fire. An intense gun battle lasting hours followed. Commandos of the Army and PAF were engaged in the operation against the attackers.
Tehrik-iTaliban (TTP)  spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan declined to comment on the incident whereas no other group has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet.
Kamra is located about 70 kms from the Pakistani capital Islamabad. The Minhas airbase is a heavily guarded compound with the Pakistan Air Force’s Kamra Aeronautical Complex in its vicinity, where Pakistan assembles and overhauls JF-17 Thunder fighter jets in collaboration with China. According to reports, at least 11 Chinese engineers were working at the Kamra Aeronautical Complex.
All Chinese and others foreign engineers and technicians involved in co-production of Chinese and Pakistan JF-17 Thunder aircraft project were shifted to a high profile secure location, sources told Dawn.com, adding that the engineers were not present near the attack area. Sources confirmed that at least 30 aircraft were on the base.
The government and military’s top leadership, including President Asif Ali Zardari, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaque Pervez Kayani and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf were notified of the attack, and the operation was being closely monitored by the army chief.
In recent weeks, military intelligence had warned of the possibility of such an attack on military installations. However, there was no specific information about an attack being targeted at the Kamra base.
This is not the first time that Kamra has been the target of a militant attack.  On Oct 23, 2009, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra. Two security officers and six other people were killed in the attack.
Last year, six Taliban gunmen attacked a naval base in Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden. At least 10 military personnel were killed and 20 wounded in the 16-hour assault.
—Zahir Shah Sherazi and Mubashir Zaidi contributed to this report.

Super Flight crashed during test flight

Test flight of the new supersonic craft Waverider was not as planned. The unmanned plane crashed into the sea.  The flight was supposed to reach a speed of 6900 km / h.
Shortly after the rocket engine had been started to bring up the plane's speed so we had a breakdown with the helm, reports Reuters. Another 15 seconds later dropped the air traffic control over the planet.
A spokesman for the U.S. Air Base 88th Air Base Wing, Ohio, announces that the plane disintegrated immediately and plunged into the sea northwest of Los Angeles.
The test flight was supposed to last for five minutes, but ended abruptly after about 30 seconds.
There are no official data on what planet has cost.
Wave Rider, which is one of several ongoing projects aimed at creating a supersonic plane, reaching the speed Mach 5 in June last year. Had the test flight today and had managed to craft reached the speed of Mach 6 - six times the speed of sound. With that speed, a trip between New York and London take about an hour.
Read also: Wave Rider will fly six times the speed of sound.

Britterna hotar storma ambassad

The British are threatening to storm the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and pick up Assange. On Thursday, the answer to Assange's application for political asylum.According to Ecuador's Foreign Minister, the decision is Asylum decision will be announced at 14 Swedish time, according to Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino. But the British government has threatened to make a raid on Ecuador's embassy in London unless Assange surrendered

- Today we received a threat from the UK, a clear written threat that they may storm our embassy in London on Ecuador refuses to hand over Assange said Patino told reporters in Quito.
- Let's make it perfectly clear. We are not a British colony. The colonial period is over, said Patino.
- If the British are doing seriousness of the threat, it will be seen as a hostile and unacceptable action and an attack on our sovereignty.
A spokesman for the British Foreign Office confirmed that the UK retains the right to storm the Ecuadorian embassy to pick up Assange.
- According to British law, we can one-week notice to get into the premises. The Embassy will no longer have diplomatic protection, he said.
- No such decision has yet been taken. We will not do so overnight. We stress that we want to reach a diplomatic solution
If Assange was granted political asylum in Ecuador, the question remains how he intends to escape from the embassy and the airport.
According to the Swedish Foreign Ministry, he could escape in a ambassadbil, but analysts are skeptical.
- Ecuador has no right to take him out of the country, and I can not see any practical possibility of how to achieve it if they fail to deceive both the British police and the authorities at the airport, says Pål Wrange, Associate Professor of Law at Stockholm University.
- It is clearly an illegal act under UK law to bring a suspected criminal. Diplomats can not be prosecuted or detained, but they can be stopped if they commit a crime, says Wrange.
Assange has been at the embassy since the British Supreme Court ruled that he be extradited to Sweden where he is interrogated in connection with allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Assange fear that Sweden should leave him to the United States.already made in Quito.

Usain Bolt attracted to Australian cricket league

Hope to Bolt to play cricket
The supreme sprinter Usain Bolt managed in London to defend their three Olympic gold medals from Beijing four years ago. Soon, he can begin a new career - in the Australian cricket league. The former cricketer Shane Warne confirms that he has had contact with Usain Bolt and hope that the world's fastest man wants to come to Australia and play for the Melbourne Star in Big Bash League this winter.
Sprint star Bolt played cricket at junior level in his native Jamaica before he started his athletics career and is a great cricket enthusiast.
- If I get the chance, I would definitely try to take it because it would be great fun. I do not know how good I am. I will probably have a lot of training, said Bolt of the Australian television station Channel Nine.The former cricketer Shane Warne confirms that he has had contact with Usain Bolt and hope that the world's fastest man wants to come to Australia and play for the Melbourne Star in Big Bash League this winter.
Sprint star Bolt played cricket at junior level in his native Jamaica before he started his athletics career and is a great cricket enthusiast.
- If I get the chance, I would definitely try to take it because it would be great fun. I do not know how good I am. I will probably have a lot of training, said Bolt of the Australian television station Channel Nine.

Afghan policeman fires on Nato allies, wounds two: officials.

JALALABAD: An Afghan policeman wounded at least two foreign soldiers when he opened fire on troops from the US-led Nato mission on Monday, officials said, adding to a spike in such attacks.

The shooting took place in Achin, a remote district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, local police chief Abdullah Azim Stanikzai told AFP. Nato confirmed the incident but gave no details.

The majority of Nato troops in Nangarhar are American.

The shooter escaped unhurt but an Afghan intelligence officer was wounded when coalition soldiers returned fire, Stanikzai added.

Seven soldiers of the US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) lost their lives over four days last week when Afghan forces turned weapons on their Nato allies.

According to Nato, 37 of its soldiers have died in 27 such attacks so far this year, up from 21 incidents and 35 deaths in all of 2011.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack and said the gunman was with the militia. “He’s a brave Afghan. He’s with us,” Mujahid told AFP by telephone.

Stanikzai said the policeman had just returned from leave.

“He was on vacation but had just returned to duty. He grabbed a weapon from a colleague and opened fire,” he added. He said a hunt to arrest him was under way.

An Isaf spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Hagen Messer, said “a man wearing civilian clothes fired at ISAF-ANSF troops”, using the acronym for Afghan security forces.

“The shooter was a member of the Afghan uniform police,” Messer said, confirming the injuries.

Although the Taliban often claim credit, Afghan and Western officials say most attacks are motivated by cultural differences between troops fighting the Taliban side by side.

Known as “green on blue”, there has been a dramatic spike in such attacks in recent months.

On Friday, two such incidents killed six Americans in the southern province of Helmand. One of the shooters was a man in police uniform and the other a civilian staff member on a joint Afghan-Nato base.

Wife of kidnapped US aid worker Weinstein urges return.

WASHINGTON: The wife of a US aid worker abducted in Pakistan is pleading for his safe return on the one-year anniversary of his kidnapping, saying her husband is in poor health and is missed by grandchildren who ask for him every day.
Warren Weinstein, a 71-year-old aid worker from Rockville, Maryland, was kidnapped last August after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home in Lahore.
Al Qaeda released a video in May in which Weinstein said he would be killed unless President Barack Obama agreed to the group’s demands. It was not clear when the video was recorded.
The White House has called for Weinstein’s immediate release but has said it won’t negotiate with Al Qaeda.
His wife, Elaine, observed the anniversary of his disappearance Monday with a statement urging his release. She said he suffers from a heart condition, severe asthma and high blood pressure and fears that his health ”will deteriorate if he is not allowed to see the doctors and specialists that have helped keep him alive in recent years.”
Our grandchildren are growing and changing so fast. They miss their grandfather and ask for him every day. It is so difficult to explain why he can’t be with them,” the statement says.
”It is impossible to describe the pain and sadness my daughters and I feel. We are simply heart sick. I always imagined growing old with Warren and enjoying our family together.”
Weinstein was the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a US-based development contractor that advises different Pakistani business and government sectors.
The company has said Weinstein worked with a wide range of Pakistani government agencies, and that his work helped create hundreds of well-paying jobs and raise the standard of living in communities where the businesses are located.
He had told his staff he expected to wrap up his latest project and move out of Pakistan within days.
”Warren loves Pakistan and lived there for eight years so he could dedicate his time and energy to working with the people. I don’t understand why he was taken,” Elaine Weinstein said in her statement.
In the video released in May by Al Qaeda’s media arm and posted on militant websites, Weinstein sits in front of a white background, near books and what appears to be a plate of food, and makes a direct appeal to the president.

Military Helicopters missing over Kenya

Four Ugandan military helicopter took off on Sunday with Somalia in sight, but only one reached a scheduled stop. The other three disappeared down the road and bad weather makes it more difficult.The three helicopters lost in the area around Mount Kenya and a pilot should have been able to send out a call for help. Difficult circumstances sprain, however, the search, Kenyan authorities announced on Monday.
- Right now we do not know that it has crashed ... the terrain and the weather is aggravating, says the Kenyan military spokesman Bogita Ongeri.A rescue team has taken possession of the crew from one of the three helicopters that disappeared at the Mount Kenya area. The helicopter forced to land in the mountains and the five crew members are now in security, announced a spokesman for the Ugandan army.
The search for the other two helicopters are still ongoing.
The helicopters had left Entebbe in Uganda to strengthen the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia. In Wajir in Kenya, they would refuel for the onward journey to Somalia where they are needed in the fight against Islamist rebel group al-Shabaab.
Ugandan soldiers are the backbone of the AU force in Somalia Amilon. The force includes troops from Kenya and Burundi.
Kenya has suffered several grenade attacks and kidnappings since the country went into Somalia in October 2011, and allegations made against al-Shabaab.
In July 2010, took al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Uganda and argued that it was due to its involvement in Amilon.

Mother arrested for murder of baby

A woman was arrested today by Halmstad District Court on suspicion of murdering her five-month old baby. She will also undergo a psychiatric evaluation.In late July found the baby dead in a home in Halmstad. After the forensic examination and interrogation of the suspected woman asked prosecutor Ann-Christin Claesson her arrested Friday on suspicion of murder.
The woman denies the crime, says her defense lawyer George Ruthenberg.
- She admits the facts but denies responsibility for the crimes. She has been in a state that she had no control over her own body, but other forces have controlled his actions, he says.

Pietersen axed by England after texting controversy

LONDON: Kevin Pietersen has been dropped from England’s squad for the third Test against South Africa after the controversial batsman was caught up in a text message row.
England’s selectors made their decision to axe Pietersen following reports he sent text messages to several South Africa players during the second Test at Headingley that were believed to contain derogatory comments about English captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower.
Jonny Bairstow has been selected in place of Pietersen, whose involvement in the final Test at Lord’s, which England must win to draw the series and retain their place on top of the world rankings, had been in doubt throughout a dramatic week.
South Africa-born Pietersen suggested after the second Test that he might walk away from the sport at the end of the current series because he had grown disillusioned with what he perceived as problems in the England squad.
But on Saturday night he appeared to have a change of heart when he posted a video on YouTube in which he agreed to make himself available again for his adopted country in all formats after recently opting out of one-day action.
That wasn’t enough to convince the selectors though, who remained furious about the texting controversy, and Pietersen’s international career now looks in tatters.
Hugh Morris, the Managing Director of England Cricket, said: “During the past week we have held several discussions with Kevin Pietersen and his advisors.
“Following a constructive meeting it was agreed that a number of actions needed to be completed to re-engage Kevin within the England dressing room.
“A fundamental item was to confirm publicly that no derogatory texts had been sent by Kevin to the South African team.
“This has not been forthcoming despite clear timelines being set to allow the selectors to pick the squad for the third Test Match.
“We provided an additional six hours this morning (Sunday) to provide every opportunity for agreement to be reached but regrettably this has not been possible.
“The success of the England team has been built on a unity of purpose and trust. Whilst we have made every attempt to find a solution to enable Kevin to be selected we have sadly had to conclude that, in the best interest of the team, he will miss the Lord’s Test.”
England’s selectors delayed naming their 13-man squad by an extra five hours on Sunday to allow Pietersen extra time to publicly declare he did not send critical texts to the South African team.
But it seems he refused to bow to the request and that has cost the 32-year-old his place despite his dashing century in the second Test.
Pietersen has proved a divisive presence in the England dressing room this year following his much-debated decision to quit limited overs cricket and team-mate Jimmy Anderson used his newspaper column on Sunday to suggest the controversy had played a key role in the team’s poor performances against South Africa.
Geoff Miller, a member of the England selection panel, underlined that feeling when he said: “We need a squad fully focussed on this Test match to be able to play the sort of cricket we know is necessary if we are to win this week and level the series.

Manchester City beat Chelsea to claim Community Shield

BIRMINGHAM: Manchester City may not have yet secured the big-name signing manager Roberto Mancini craves, but they sent a message to their Premier League rivals after a 3-2 win over 10-man Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.
With Wembley busy with Olympic duties, Birmingham’s Villa Park hosted the traditional curtain-raiser to the English season, which pitted league champions City against FA Cup and Champions League winners Chelsea, a week out from the start of the Premier League.
Chelsea have spent more than 60 million pounds ($94.15 million) over the close season while City’s only major activity has been the likely purchase of Everton’s Jack Rodwell, which came to light hours before kickoff.
However goals from Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri within the space of 12 second-half minutes proved they have more than enough firepower already.
They were helped by the first-half dismissal of Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic for a challenge on Aleksandar Kolarov.
City, employing a new 3-4-3 formation, started the brightest and it was somewhat against the run of play when Chelsea opened the scoring five minutes before halftime when Fernando Torres scored with the outside of his foot after a jinking run by Ramires.
It did not take City long to take advantage of their numerical superiority after Ivanovic’s red with Toure, Tevez and Nasri putting their side two goals up with some clinical finishing.
Ryan Bertrand, a replacement for lively new signing Eden Hazard, pulled a goal back for the European champions on 80 minutes, reacting fastest when City keeper Costel Pantilimon failed to hold a shot from Daniel Sturridge, but it was too little too late for the Londoners.

Egypt forces fight Sinai militants, up to six dead

AL-ARISH: Egyptian troops killed as many as six militants after storming their hideout near the isolated border with Israel on Sunday, security sources and eyewitnesses said.
The troops found the militants in the settlement of al-Goura, about 15 km (10 miles) from the frontier, as they searched for jihadists who killed 16 Egyptian border guards a week ago.
The latest clash is part of a security sweep that began on Wednesday and is the biggest military operation in the region since Egypt’s 1973 war with Israel. No one has claimed responsibility for killing the border guards.
It is an early test for right wing President Mohamed Mursi, elected in June, to prove he can rein in militants whose campaign on the border worries Israel.
“People in the area supplied information that there was a group of unidentified people staying in a makeshift hut.
The area was immediately raided. The group opened fire and the police returned fire,” one police source said.
A senior police officer said six people had died in the fighting at al-Goura – three from bullet wounds and three more whose scorched bodies were found in the hut which was burned.
Another security source said the death toll was five.
In addition to those killed, a seventh militant was seriously injured and taken to hospital in al-Arish in north Sinai, said the senior policeman, who like other security sources did not give his name because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
A Reuters reporter obtained video footage of the scene showing three bodies smouldering in the burned remains of a building in the desert and armoured vehicles in a line nearby.
One of the police officers said the soldiers found guns, rocket launchers, a truck and a motorcycle at the scene.
A resident of al-Goura told Reuters he had seen the lifeless bodies of two men who were not from the area, and said two other militants were arrested. “They resisted very strongly,” he said by telephone.
“They fired rocket-propelled grenades at the troops.”

Rescuers stop searches after Iran quakes kill 250

TEHRAN: Rescuers ended the search on Sunday for survivors of twin earthquakes in northwestern Iran that killed at least 250 people and injured more than 2,600 a day earlier, state television reported.    
At least 20 villages were totally leveled, state television reported. Ahmad Reza Shajiei, a senior government official in charge of rescue operations, said more than 5,000 tents have been set up to shelter more than 16,000 homeless.
Thousands spent the night outdoors after their villages were leveled and homes damaged in the powerful quakes, which were followed by some 36 aftershocks.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted a local official as saying the death toll was 277. State TV said 44,000 food packages and thousands of blankets have been distribute in the stricken area.
Television video showed people being evacuated on stretchers, while others were treated for broken limbs and concussions. Dozens of families were sleeping on blankets laid out on the ground in parks. Some were crying, and others shivered from the cold in the mountainous region hit by the quake, near the border with Azerbaijan.
More than 1,100 rescuers worked through the night to pull out those trapped under rubble and to reach some of the more remote villages affected. Some 15 dogs were brought in to search for survivors.
By afternoon, state television reported that search operations had ceased. The government’s attention shifted to providing shelter to the homeless and removing debris from the buildings destroyed.
Officials said the search was ended relatively quickly because the remote area is sparsely populated.

Indian protests yields sacrifice

At least two people were killed and 46 injured during a protest in the Indian city of Mumbai. The protesters belong to several different Muslim groups to protest against the violent conflict that erupted between indigenous bodo and Muslims in the ethnically mixed state of Assam last month. It is unclear why the initially peaceful protest suddenly became violent.At least 77 people died and 400 000 have been displaced in the fighting in Assam.

Cameron calls for fight against hunger

British Prime Minister David Cameron is on Sunday, urging world leaders to intensify the battle against hunger and malnutrition in the world. In connection with the closing OS Cameron, together with the Brazil vice Michel Temer invited to the conference food shortages in the world. While many athletes are participating.Cameron is expected to pledge 120 million pounds to support research on hardier and more vitamin-rich crops.

Protests in Morocco

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Morocco's largest cities on Saturday against including corruption and high living costs. The demonstrations were called by rights groups, trade unions and democracy activists after dissatisfaction with the Islamist-led government failed to fulfill his campaign promises to fight corruption and poverty.  Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane was appointed prime minister in January after his party PJD won elections in November.

Jamaica set a record in the short relay

Bolt leaves London legends He came to the Olympics as the games biggest star.After the world record in the 4x100 meter relay leaves Usain London as the legend he always strived to be:
- A wonderful feeling to finish like this.
With Saturday night's relay victory, Usain Bolt took six gold medals on six attempts in the Olympic races. When he found the stick of Yohan Blake for the final distance, the Jamaica equal to the U.S., but Bolt outperformed Ryan Bailey in the final phase. U.S. equaled the old world record of 37.04 - but Bolt's finish was magnificent. Jamaica stopped the clock at 36.84.

Mexico Olympic soccer champion

Today called the Mexican hero Oribe Peralta. Small sided Sagittarius when Mexico won the Olympic final in football with 2-1 over Brazil.
Oribe Peralta from Santos Laguna in the Mexican league could barely talk after the Olympic final against Brazil. He just laughed.
Peralta, 27, scored both goals in Mexico very sensationally defeated big favorite Brazil 2-1 (1-0).
Mexico's only Olympic gold 2012th.

Russia strengthens the Air Force

Order 600 new combat aircraft and 1,000 helicopters to the anniversary.
For the Russian Air Force's centennial ordering President Vladimir Putin's new plan. During a ceremony to mark the anniversary, Putin announced that more than 600 new aircraft and 1000 helicopters will be added to the already large fleet.

The increase will be phased in over the next ten years, while the old plan updated.

At least 180 killed in earthquake in Iran

n quick succession two powerful earthquakes struck northwestern Iran. Several villages were totally destroyed and at least 180 people died and over 1000 injured.
Quakes occurred northeast of the city of millions of Tabriz on Saturday. Thousands fled into the streets and was asked to stay outside until the aftershocks had subsided.
- Sixty villages were destroyed between 60 and 80 per cent and four villages is 100 percent destroyed, said Khalil Saie, head of the country's disaster center to state television.
Worst affected cities and Ahar Varzaqan which was near epicenter. Rescue efforts were hampered by the communication links were broken after the quakes. Injured taken to the nearby cities of Tabriz and Ardebil, both of which fared relatively lightly. Hundreds were trapped under collapsed buildings.

Sarkozy satire of the French best-seller

Novels inspired by real - lightly camouflaged - politicians seem to attract readers. France is one of summer's best seller about the maktfullkomlige political leader "Rocky," the Guardian newspaper. The novel "Le Monarque, son fils, son fief" ("The monarch, his son, his kingdom") is a controversial satire set in Nicolas Sarkozy's circles, and there is no sympathetic picture given by the ex-president. In one scene he demands sex from one of the mayor, in exchange for funding Sarkozy, a new museum in the city.
Behind the book says Marie-Celie Guillaume, former chief of staff for one of Sarkozy's ministers, who have managed to annoy both the French right as Sarkozy's son.
Here in Sweden this fall journalist Chris Forsnes political thriller "Our man in the world", a leading politician who cares more about oil money than about Sweden. The similarities with Carl Bildt is no coincidence. Although Norwegian Erlend Loe has been inspired by a politician in his new novel, namely, Jens Stoltenberg.

Two strong earthquakes in Iran

Northwestern Iran was hit on Saturday by two powerful earthquakes in quick succession as the American Institute of USGS. According to initial reports, an unknown number of people injured and communication links were destroyed.
The earthquakes had a magnitude of 6.2 and 6.0 of the Seismological Institute of Tehran University.
The earthquake occurred near the city of Tabriz, which has about 1.5 million inhabitants.

Sweden ready for Olympic finals

"Bengan Boys" failed in three attempts. Tomorrow, the heirs are the chance for Olympic gold. Joy The scenes after the Shocker against Hungary showed how long they have longed for a medal.
, we cleared the air after the debacle in World Cup qualifiers and said to ourselves to fight for each other, says Jonas Källman.
Sweden's handball men are in the Olympic final. Mattias Andersson saved a Hungarian neutral and Kim Ekdahl you Rietz drew for King and Country - then broke a crazy celebration out in the Swedish camp.
-I see that the defender becomes passive and I have the whole case to choose from. It was just to throw the ball, said Ekdahl you Rietz after the goal that meant 27-25 and definitely decided the match. It ended 27-26 (14-12) for a new feat match of the reborn national team, who came underdog to London after the fiasco of the European Championship and World Cup qualifiers earlier this year. Now they have already secured silver. But playing for gold.
-I have been ten years in the national team, played over 170 international matches and never had a medal chance. Now suddenly we are in an Olympic final. It's amazing. I'm tired, moved and everything. Right now all the hard work we put in worth anything, 'said Jonas Källman afterwards.

Japan can benefit South Korea on trial

Japan is considering pulling South Korea before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the dispute over a group of islands in the Sea of ​​Japan.We need to consider ways to resolve this dispute by peaceful means, go to international law - including a lawsuit to the ICC, said Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro GEMBA on Saturday.
The rocky volcanic islands - known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan, has for decades been a sore point for the two countries, which both claim the region. But the diplomatic battle has quickly escalated. The move came days after the South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak unexpectedly completed a visit to one of the disputed islands.
According GEMBA, the Japanese Government waited with a lawsuit, given the impact it would have on countries' strained relationship.
- But the president's visit to the Takeshima did such considerations unnecessary. We must advance Japan's position on the international community, said GEMBA after a meeting with Ambassador Masatoshi Muto who on Friday was called back from Seoul in protest.
The infected dispute is partly about financial interests and potential natural resources in the area, but also goes back to Japan's brutal occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

He is My Romney sidekick

That's it: the names Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan tops the Republican ballot in the U.S. in November. 
A bold move by the cautious Romney, whose campaign is not really lifting. But - also risky in that Congressman Ryan is behind budget on dieting very popular social programs.
After weeks of speculation, Mitt Romney came out with Paul Ryan on Saturday morning aboard a warship at naval base in Norfolk, Virginia.
With Romney's decision to choose Ryan, the election debate at least temporarily to deal with the deep ideological divisions, budget deficits and the future of pensions and elderly care.

Clinton calls on Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. and Turkey will cooperate regarding operational planning around the crisis in Syria.
She also suggested that the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria is one of the options discussed at the meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
- We have worked closely together during this conflict. But now we need to get into the real details of operational planning - and it needs to be done in both of our governments, said Clinton told reporters in Istanbul after the meeting.
- Our intelligence agencies and our military has great responsibility and important tasks to perform, so we will set up a task force working on these issues, Clinton said, according to Reuters.

"Beat Brazil would be the best in the world"

Two finals debutants in the Olympic football. With affectionate favorite Brazil, and a given underdog: Mexico. 
- Beating Brazil would be the best in the world, says Mexican goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona.
Mexico plays Olympic finals in football. And the whole nation set their hopes on one of the most controversial players: goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona.
Corona, 31, must first win a duel against his Brazilian colleague across the plan, but 19-year-old Gabriel.
But also about their own mood. Jose de Jesus Corona, who conceded just three goals in five games, has been forced to take the long road to the Mexican Olympic team.
A year ago, kicked the hot-headed goalkeeper of Cruz Azul from the national team since he was in a match against Monarcas Morelia attacking the opposing team's assistant coach Sergio Martin, and with a fierce Danish skull Martin damaged so severely that he was taken to hospital.
- I could lose control and complicate everything. But here I was provoked, defended the Corona his prank that has become a huge YouTube hit (see below).
Corona was shut down in six games, and lost his place in the squad. And it was not the first time: the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, Corona was involved in a barslagsmål and it cost him his place in the Mexican World Cup team.
After the Danish head of the club game Corona was replaced in the squad of Monterrey goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco. And there were few who believed that Corona would ever pull on a Mexican landslagströja again.
But he got it. And now he can take Olympic gold.
Mexico beat underdog when the team defeated Japan 3-1 in the semifinal, and thus qualified for the country's first Olympic final ever.
A performance that has attracted considerable attention in Mexico. Previously, the Mexicans at best reached the semifinals, and it was the home Olympics in 1968 where the team eventually fell in the bronze match against Japan.
In London, Mexico on their way to the finals taking on significantly more difficult opposition than Brazil did: South Korea (0-0), Gabon (2-0) and Switzerland (1-0) in the group stage and then Senegal (4-2) and Japan (3-1). Brazilians have played against Egypt (3-2), Belarus (3-1) and New Zealand (3-0) in the group stage and then Honduras (3-2) and Korea (3-0).

Indian escapes from sleeping Philippine captors

MANILA - An Indian man kidnapped more than a year ago on a troubled southern Philippine island escaped Friday when his Muslim captors fell asleep after fasting for Ramadan, police said. Biju Kolara Veetil, 37, was abducted by suspected Muslim extremists in June last year in Jolo while visiting his Filipina wife’s family on the strife-torn island. But he snuck away from his sleeping captors before dawn Friday, hitching a ride then taking refuge with a local official before contacting police, said local police chief Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra. “The kidnappers were resting. They had been fasting (for Ramadan) and they got tired and fell asleep, so he slipped away,” Freyra said. The Indian, who said he lost 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) in captivity, appeared to be in good health, the police chief said.

Afghan-Pakistan talks on Taliban releases

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan are in talks on the release of a key member of the Taliban, whose 2010 arrest in Pakistan was blamed for sabotaging peace initiatives, a Pakistani foreign ministry official confirmed Friday.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a powerful Taliban military chief who has been described as the militia’s second in command, was arrested in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi.
The Afghan government and the former UN envoy to Afghanistan said his detention had adversely affected efforts to talk to the insurgents.
“The issue of prisoners is under discussion between the two countries,” foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan told reporters when asked to comment on Afghan demands for access to Baradar and for his release.
The spokesman did not name any prisoner or give further details, but when asked, confirmed that Baradar was still in Pakistani custody.
A senior security official told AFP that no agreement had been reached to release Mullah Baradar.
“Pakistan may give Afghan officials an access to Mullah Baradar but no deal is being made as such” to release him, he said on condition of anonymity.
Baradar is the most important Taliban leader to be captured since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Afghan militia from power in Kabul.
He was known as a trusted aide to the Taliban’s elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Shortly after Baradar’s arrest, the Pentagon said two other Taliban officials were arrested, also understood to have been captured in Pakistan.
In March 2010, Kai Eide, the then just retired UN envoy to Afghanistan, said the arrest of key Taliban in Pakistan had stopped a secret channel of communication between the insurgents and the United Nations.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly invited the Taliban to open direct talks with his government and on Pakistan to facilitate an end to the 10-year war.
Pakistan has said it will do anything required by Kabul to support an Afghan-led peace process, but there is a wide degree of scepticism in Afghanistan and the United States about the sincerity of the former Taliban ally.

US to announce new Syria sanctions soon: official

ACCRA: The United States plans new sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its supporters to put further pressure on Damascus, a US State Department official said Friday.
News of imminent fresh sanctions came with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set to fly to Istanbul for further talks on the Syrian crisis and Washington focusing on supporting the opposition seeking to topple Assad.
The United States has been forced to seek strategies outside of the UN Security Council after China and Russia have repeatedly vetoed resolutions backed by Western powers targeting Syria’s regime.
“One of the key forms of pressure is economic sanctions, which in the coming days, or very shortly, we will be tightening further with additional sanctions (on) both Syrian entities and those who are supporting the efforts of the Syrian government to oppress its own people,” the US official said.
The official spoke during Clinton’s visit to the West African nation of Ghana, where she was attending the funeral of president John Atta Mills.
She was due to also briefly visit Benin Friday before flying to Istanbul.
Discussions in Turkey are expected to centre on support for the Syrian opposition, humanitarian assistance and a transitional plan in the event of Assad’s departure, the official said.
On July 18, the US Treasury Department announced measures against 29 members of the Syrian regime, including the ministers of finance, economy, justice and information, as well as the governor of the central bank.
While Washington had already frozen assets of around 100 regime members and barred US firms from doing business with them, the July move represented a significant ramping up of pressure on the regime’s inner circle.
In addition to new sanctions, Clinton is expected to announce on Saturday in Istanbul an additional $5.5 million in humanitarian assistance for those fleeing the conflict in Syria, another US official said.
Meanwhile, Syrian rebels vowed to fight on in Aleppo a day after being driven out of a key district under heavy shellfire by the army, which targeted other parts of the strategic city on Friday.
That came as world powers were preparing to name veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as their new envoy to seek a peaceful and politically workable end to a 17-month uprising that has cost more than 21,000 lives.
Russia and China have vetoed three UN resolutions proposed by Western powers hinting at or threatening sanctions against Assad, fearing that they could lead to a Libyan-style foreign military intervention in Syria.
Clinton has said that Washington would work closely with the Syrian opposition in its battle to force Assad to hand over power.
“The secretary was very clear that we don’t want to put a date on Assad’s departure because we can’t,” said the US official who spoke about sanctions.
“We don’t know when that day would come, but it is our strong conviction that it will come and that the international community needs to be prepared to support Syrians themselves,” the official said.
In addition to taking in more than 45,000 Syrian refugees in several camps along its southern borders, Turkey is also providing sanctuary to members of the rebel forces fighting Assad’s regime.

US sanctions Syrian firm for providing Iran gasoline

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Friday it sanctioned Syria’s state-run oil company Sytrol for providing gasoline to Iran and repeated its criticism of Iran for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad is trying to crush a rebellion against his family’s 42-year rule of Syria. A member of Syria’s Alawite minority, he is fighting mostly Sunni Muslim foes who Damascus says are backed by Sunni-led states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
The State Department said it had sanctioned Sytrol under the Iran Sanctions Act, which has been strengthened in recent years to make it more difficult for companies to trade with the energy sector in Iran, which the West suspects of seeking nuclear arms.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its program is solely for civilian purposes such as generating electricity.
The State Department said that in April Syria and Iran engaged in two-way trade in the energy sector in which Syria sent 33,000 metric tons of gasoline to Iran. It said the United States put the value of the gasoline delivered by Sytrol to Iran in April at more than $36 million, well above the thresholds for triggering sanctions under the Iran sanctions act.
“This kind of trade allows Iran to continue developing its nuclear program while providing the Syrian government with resources to oppress its own people,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in the statement.
“Though these sanctions are a direct result of Syria’s provision of gasoline to Iran, the United States views Iran’s broader support for the Assad regime as completely unjustifiable,” the spokesman added.
“Iran is actively advising, supplying, and assisting the Syrian security forces and regime-backed militias that are carrying out gross human rights abuses against the Syrian people,” he added.
“Iran is also providing the Assad regime with equipment to monitor opposition activity on the Internet.”

Australia rescues 211 from asylum boat; Pakistanis also on board

SYDNEY: Australia rescued more than 200 asylum-seekers from a boat off Indonesia, officials said Friday as they confirmed that some navy ships are literally cracking under the strain of their work.
Authorities raced to help a vessel in Indonesian waters north of the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island late Wednesday, transferring the 211 people on board to naval ships.
“This boat was rescued by the Australian navy,” said Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, adding that those on board included Sri Lankans, Iranians, Afghans and Pakistanis.
“It had reported difficulty,” he told ABC Radio.
It is believed to be the largest number of people on a single vessel seeking asylum in Australia since Labor was elected in late 2007, with more than 7,000 boatpeople arriving in the country this year.
Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said he had no details about the state of the boat but said the sea was sufficiently rough that the navy initially towed the craft until those onboard could be safely transferred.
The rescue came as the defence department ordered a detailed structural analysis of the patrol ships it uses to intercept boatpeople, after major cracking was found on three vessels.
“We’ve found cracking in the engine room of HMAS Armidale,” Clare said.
“This is the part of the ship, the part of the boat that comes under the most strain, the most pressure, particularly in rough weather. “And we’ve identified minor cracks in two others of our navy patrol boats.”
Clare, who said the navy had made temporary fixes to all the boats and was developing a permanent repair plan, would not explicitly link the damage of the vessels to the rescue of asylum boats.
But he conceded there had been an increase in asylum-seeker boats in recent months after the government failed to pass the so-called “Malaysia Solution”they had hoped would deter people from making the dangerous sea voyage.
Under that plan boatpeople arriving in Australia would have been sent to Malaysia and in return Canberra would have resettled some of the Southeast Asian nation’s registered refugees.
But the legislation failed to pass through parliament and boats have continued to arrive, with some 108 asylum-seeker vessels carrying 7,364 people recorded so far this year.
The figure is already more than the previous record of 6,555 set in 2010.
Last year 4,565 boatpeople arrived.
Clare said asylum-seekers were “hurrying to get on boats as quickly as possible before this parliament implements legislation that would introduce a real disincentive for people to make that dangerous journey at all”.

Afghan policeman kills three US troops at meal: officials

KANDAHAR: Three American Special Forces soldiers were killed Friday by an Afghan police officer who had invited them for a meal, Afghan officials said.
The US military in Afghanistan confirmed that three US soldiers had been killed by “an individual in an Afghan uniform” in Sangin district of southern Helmand province, but gave no further details.
The attack was the third so-called green-on-blue assault, in which Afghan forces turn their weapons against their Nato allies, in just four days.
Two Afghan officials told AFP the soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan police officer who had invited them for a meal at his checkpost in the restive southern province.
“Asadullah, the police checkpost commander, invited four foreign special forces soldiers to a (Ramadan) breakfast at 2:30 am in Sangin district,” a senior security officer in the province said, requesting anonymity.
“He later opened fire on the special forces soldiers, killing three and wounding another, and he managed to run away.” The Sangin district chief, Mohammad Sharif, earlier told AFP that four foreign soldiers had been killed by the checkpost commander after he invited them to a meal.
Breakfast is eaten before sunrise during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from then until the evening meal at dusk.
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack, saying seven US Special Forces soldiers had been killed.
“Asadullah (the police checkpost commander) joined the mujahideen ranks after the killing,” Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone.
The Taliban regularly exaggerate attacks or claim credit for killing foreign soldiers even if they are not involved.
An increasing number of Afghan soldiers and police have turned their weapons against Nato colleagues helping them to fight a decade-long insurgency by the Taliban Islamists, who were ousted from power in a US-led invasion in 2001.
The attacks are raising questions about the ability of Afghan security forces to take over from Nato combat troops, the bulk of whom are scheduled to withdraw at the end of 2014.
On Tuesday, an American soldier was killed in the east when two men in Afghan army uniform opened fire, and on Thursday an Afghan soldier was killed after turning his weapon on Nato troops, also in the east.
The latest deaths take the green-on-blue toll this year to around 33, in some 23 such incidents, according to an AFP tally.
Some of the attacks are claimed by the Taliban, who say they have infiltrated the ranks of Afghan security forces, but many are attributed to cultural differences and antagonism between local and US-led allied forces.
Some 130,000 Nato troops in Afghanistan are training and working alongside Afghan soldiers and police as they take increasing responsibility for the anti-insurgency campaign.
While Western politicians keen to get their troops out of an unpopular war regularly talk up the ability of the Afghan army and police, the green-on-blue attacks resonate deeply with international forces.
Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has said the deaths sapped spirits among its troops.
“Although the incidents are small in number we are aware of the gravity they have as an effect on morale,” former Isaf spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson said earlier this year.
“Every single incident has an out-of-proportion effect on morale and that goes for coalition forces as it goes for Afghan national security forces.”
Among measures being taken to prevent such attacks, Afghanistan’s intelligence services are hiding agents among new recruits at the country’s army and police training schools to try to spot potential gunmen, Nato said.
Isaf has also taken several security measures in response to the shootings, including assigning “guardian angels” — soldiers who watch over their comrades as they sleep.

China tries surgeon in iPhone-for-kidney case: report

BEIJING - A surgeon and four other people are on trial in central China over the case of a teenager who is said to have sold a kidney to buy an iPhone and iPad 2, state media reported Friday.
The state-run China Daily newspaper said that 18-year-old Wang Shangkun is in serious condition after receiving an illegal transplant operation last year.
The five people on trial stand accused of intentional injury and illegal organ trading over the removal and sale of the organ and face three to 10 years in prison if convicted, the paper said.
A woman who answered the phone at the Beihu district people's court in the city of Chenzhou, Hunan province, said that the trial was in session Friday, though offered no details. She declined to give her name.
Citing court documents, the China Daily said that Wang agreed to sell his kidney after contacting an illegal agency online.
Wang's mother, Ou Linchun, told the court that her son did not sell his kidney to purchase the Apple devices.
"My son was tempted by the illegal organ traders and might have been afraid of getting caught with such a large amount of money, so he bought a cell phone and a tablet PC," she said, according to the paper.
The kidney was sold for 150,000 yuan ($23,600) and $10,000 in cash, though Wang received just 22,000 yuan, the paper said.
Separately, the Changsha Evening News reported that a representative of Wang was seeking 2.77 million yuan in compensation from the five defendants, medical staff who participated in the surgery, a hospital and a medical investment company.
Authorities said earlier this month that Chinese police arrested 137 people, among them doctors, suspected of trafficking human organs in a nationwide crime ring that profited from the huge demand for transplants.

Japan proud of ‘Nadeshiko’ silver medal

TOKYO - Japan roared in support through pre-dawn hours Friday, from nightless cities to disaster areas, as their world champion women's football team bowed 2-1 to the United States in the Olympic final.
But supporters and media alike said they were proud of the silver medal for "Nadeshiko" who again showed the resilience with which they beat the same world number-one side on penalties in the women's World Cup final a year ago.
"Dream of gold medal carried over to next generation," said a headline in the influential daily Asahi Shimbun after the Japanese women lifted their first ever Olympic football medal.
"There is indeed a difference between the gold and silver medals. But there were no 'losers' in either team," Japanese football writer Yoshiyuki Osumi said in the online edition of the business daily Nikkei.
"Japan's performance that mentally drove the United States into the corner was befitting a gold-medal contest," he wrote.
"Everyone who watched the early morning TV broadcast might have felt that Nadeshiko are great. It was a final that everybody could be proud of."
Carli Lloyd's double gave the United States a third successive gold medal.
Striker Yuki Ogimi pulled one back on 63 minutes for Japan, nicknamed Nadeshiko after a pink flower that symbolises femininity in the country. They kept on threatening the US goal at Wembley to no avail.
Major Japanese dailies handed out extra editions early Friday, touting Nadeshiko's silver medal along with Saori Yoshida's third straight victory in the Olympic women's 55kg freestyle wrestling.
Hundreds of supporters tumbled out of a sports bars onto the streets of Tokyo's Shibuya entertainment district after the match ended at around 5:30 am.
They raised their arms, chanting "Nippon! Nippon!" -- which means Japan -- as they marched toward the station.
The TV audience for the live broadcast at one point reached 23.6 percent of the television-owning population in eastern Japan, a research company said.
"It was spectacular to watch. Although they missed the gold, I hope they will come home holding their heads high," 26-year-old Kenta Hayashi told Jiji Press at the "FootNik" sports bar where about 50 supporters gathered.
About 130 people watched the match live at a community centre in the village of Takizawa in Iwate prefecture, part of Japan's northeast region ravaged by the earthquake-tsunami disaster 17 months ago.
Japan defender Azusa Iwashimizu, 25, was born in the village and her grandparents attended the viewing session where a banner read: "Go for gold in London, too!"
"She hung on well. I'm glad she got the medal although its colour was different," her grandfather Susumu, 78, told Jiji. Her grandmother Kinuko said: "I must live long because my grandchild has given me strength."
Ogimi, 25, told Japanese media in London: "The Olympics and the World Cup will go on. We will have to train at a much higher level in order to beat the United States."

Kasab identifies Jundal as Mumbai attack handler

MUMBAI - Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was brought face-to-face with Abu Jundal, the Indian Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) handler of the attacks, at the Arthur Road jail on Thursday.
The two were questioned about the attacks, the plot and the training imparted to the attackers. Kasab and Jundal identified each other. Kasab admitted that Jundal had taught him Hindi and that he along with top LeT commander Zak-iur-Rehman-Lakhvi, was present at Muridke in 2008.
The crime branch has been granted the permission to question Kasab on the revelations made by Jundal and verify them.
The crime branch has prepared a detailed questionnaire for Kasab. They plan to study the differences and discrepancies in the accounts of the two men about the planning and execution of the 26/11 attacks.
During his questioning, Jundal had allegedly told the police how the 26/11 terror attacks were planned and revealed that he got involved in the planning in August 2008 and also named Kasab and the other operatives.
The central agencies had intercepted Jundal’s voice when he was giving instructions to two terrorists at the Chhabad House and compare it with his recent voice sample.

US alerts its citizens in Pakistan

The United States Embassy has issued a security alert for the citizens living in Pakistan cautioning them to avoid visiting public places on Eid and August 14, a local television reported. The security message reminds US citizens of potential threat posed by the presence of Al-Qaeda, Taliban and many related indigenous groups. According to the report, these groups seek the opportunities to attack US citizens at locations where they might congregate during occasion like Eid and August 14. 

Syria gets new PM; Aleppo rebels retreat

DAMASCUS: President Bashar al-Assad named a new prime minister on Thursday to replace Syria’s most senior government defector as his forces pushed rebels back from a strategic district in Aleppo. 
Assad appointed Wael al-Halki, a Sunni Muslim from the southern province of Deraa where the Syrian uprising erupted 17 months ago, to head the government after Riyad Hijab fled on Monday after spending only two months in the job.
Hijab’s dramatic escape across the border to Jordan dealt another blow to Assad’s authority, already shaken by the assassination last month of four of his top security officials and by rebel gains in Damascus, Aleppo and swathes of rural Syria.
But Assad, grimly shrugging off such setbacks, seems locked in a desperate contest with his mostly Sunni opponents seeking to end half a century of Baathist rule and topple a system now dominated by members of the president’s minority Alawite sect.
Assad has focused his fierce army counter-offensive on Syria’s two main cities, reasserting control over much of Damascus before taking the fight to the northern commercial hub.
Rebels fighting in the Aleppo district of Salaheddine, a southern gateway to the city, said they had been forced to fall back from frontline positions on Thursday by a fierce bombardment which had reduced buildings to rubble.
“There have been some withdrawals of Free Syrian Army fighters from Salaheddine,” rebel commander Abu Ali said. Others said the main frontlines in the area, which had been held by rebels for more than a week, were now deserted.
The centre of the district, near Salaheddine mosque, was abandoned when Reuters journalists visited on Thursday. The only sound was the constant echo of artillery shelling. There were no rebels, no security forces, and only a few residents darting in and out to pick up belongings and leave.
The streets were covered in glass and rubble. Cars on the street had been smashed by falling debris, and the stench of uncollected rubbish permeated the area.
Another combatant said at least 30 people had been killed in Salaheddine, where fighting has ebbed and flowed for two days.
As the battle for Aleppo raged, Iran, Assad’s closest foreign backer, gathered ministers from like-minded states for talks about how to end the conflict.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called for “serious and inclusive” talks between the Syrian government and opposition groups. Assad has repeatedly said he is ready for dialogue, but has vowed to crush the armed rebels he says are terrorists.
Assad’s opponents say he must step aside before they enter into talks, saying negotiations would be meaningless while the bloodshed persists.
AIR ATTACK
Assad cannot afford to lose Aleppo if he is to remain a credible national leader. Already stretched by rebel activity in many parts of the country, the military, despite its advantage in tanks, warplanes and helicopters, has had to cede ground elsewhere as it struggles for control of Syria’s biggest city.
As part of a broader army offensive, Assad’s forces attacked rebels on several fronts including a neighbourhood near the airport in southeast Aleppo, several eastern districts, and a town on Aleppo’s northwestern outskirts, state media said.
Reuters journalists in Tel Rifaat, 35 km (20 miles) north of Aleppo, watched a Syrian air force jet diving and firing rockets, causing villagers to flee in panic.
Explosions rang out and black smoke billowed from an olive grove. A truck was engulfed in flames. Six children and a crying woman fled their tiny home. One woman held the Koran above her head, kissing it, and another banged her head in her hands. Men emerged to stare at the sky and throw their arms up in despair.
Though sympathetic to the rebels, Western powers, Turkey and Sunni Arab states have not intervened militarily. Russia and China have blocked United Nations action against Assad, while Iran has tried to bolster the Syrian leader in an Arab world where many view non-Arab, Shi’ite Iran as a menace.
TEHRAN MEETING
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has billed the Tehran meeting of a dozen countries as an opportunity “to replace military clashes with political, indigenous approaches to settle the disputes”. Those attending would have “a correct and realistic position” on the Syrian conflict, a senior Iranian diplomat said this week, indicating a one-sided discussion.
“The Islamic Republic’s support for Assad’s regime is hardly compatible with a genuine attempt at conciliation between the parties,” said one Western diplomat based in Tehran. It showed Iran was “running out of ideas”, he added.
Syrian rebels, who have accused Iran of sending fighters to help Assad’s forces, seized 48 Iranians in Syria on Aug. 4, saying they were members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday that all the prisoners were alive, contrary to statements by their captors that three had been killed in an air raid. (Reuters)

Haqqani calls for reorientation of Pak-US ties

NEW YORK - Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani has said that Pakistan and the United States need to focus on friendship and not an alliance. He was speaking about Pakistan-US relations, how that alliance was damaged and Pakistan’s national interest at a lecture at Chautauqua Institute. He was of the view that since Pakistan’s current national interests do not align with the United States, he proposed that the US and Pakistan stop thinking of themselves as an alliance. He said the more Pakistan and the US view each other as allies with deviating national interests, the more difficult it will be to maintain an alliance. 
Haqqani is now a Professor of International Relations at Boston University and Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute. He said the two countries should focus on friendship – one in which they trade, engage with each other, and have civil society groups and politicians work with one another. He said Pakistan and the United States have clashing narratives about their alliance. From the Pakistanis’ perspective, the US and Pakistan have been allies for 60 years, but the US has walked away several times and cannot dictate Pakistan’s foreign policy. From the Americans’ perspective, Pakistan is not a true ally. Pakistani public opinion remains anti-American despite the amount of aid the country receives, Husain Haqqani said. And Americans question Pakistan’s involvement with terrorists and its ability to fulfill promises. Haqqani said in terms of favorability, only 12 per cent of Pakistanis have a favorable view of the US and 80 per cent have an unfavorable view, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center poll conducted in Pakistan.

‘Pakistan swelling nuclear arsenal to counter India’

WASHINGTON - Primarily aimed at India, Pakistan is making qualitative and quantitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal and “could increase the number of circumstances under which it would be willing to use nuclear weapons”, a Congressional report has said. “Pakistan appears to be increasing its fissile production capability and improving its delivery vehicles in order to hedge against possible increases in India’s nuclear arsenal. Islamabad may also accelerate its current nuclear weapons efforts,” the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report.
In its latest report, prepared for the US lawmakers, the CRS said Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program was mainly aimed at addressing the threat perception it had from India and thus act as a deterrent from India. “India has stated that it needs only a ‘credible minimum deterrent’, but has never defined what it means by such a deterrent and has refused to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,” it said, adding that Pakistani officials have stated that the government may need to increase significantly its nuclear arsenal in response to possible Indian plans to do the same. Besides lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons, Pakistan may also consider fielding non-strategic nuclear weapons in order to increase the credibility of its nuclear deterrent versus Indian conventional military operations. Dated July 23, the CRS in its report said Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal probably consisted of approximately 90-110 nuclear warheads, although it could be larger.
“Islamabad is producing fissile material, adding to related production facilities, and deploying additional delivery vehicles,” it said, adding these steps could enable Pakistan to undertake both quantitative and qualitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal. “Whether and to what extent Pakistan’s current expansion of its nuclear weapons-related facilities is a response to the 2008 US-India nuclear cooperation agreement is unclear. Islamabad does not have a public, detailed nuclear doctrine, but its ‘minimum credible deterrent’ is widely regarded as designed to dissuade India from taking military action against Pakistan,” the CRS said.

Libyan assembly votes Qadhafi opponent as president

TRIPOLI: Libya’s national assembly picked former opposition leader Mohammed Magarief as its president as the North African country’s newly elected congress began its rule.
Magarief, seen as a moderate Islamist, will head the 200-member congress, which will name a prime minister, pass laws and steer Libya to full parliamentary elections after a new constitution is drafted next year.
Magarief, leader of the National Front party, is effectively acting head of state, but the true extent of his powers is yet to be determined.
He beat a liberal candidate in the vote.
An economist and former Libyan ambassador to India who had lived in exile since the 1980s, Magarief was a leading figure in Libya’s oldest opposition movement, the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, which made several attempts to end Moammer Qadhafi’s rule.
The 72-year-old’s National Front Party is an offshoot of the old opposition movement and won three seats in the July 7 poll, Libya’s first free vote in a generation.
“I am very, very happy. This is a big responsibility,” he told Reuters after the late night vote on Thursday.
Magarief won 113 votes versus independent Ali Zidan, who secured 85 votes.
Voting went to a second round after no one managed to win an outright majority in the first.
“This is democracy. This is what we have dreamt of,” Zidan told Reuters, congratulating Magarief.
The assembly also voted for Giuma Attaiga, a lawyer from the port city of Misrata, as a deputy to Magarief, who had been seen as a leading contender for the top job.
Voting for a second deputy will take place on Friday.
“He is a political personality and everybody knows him,” Othman Sassi, a former official of the National Transitional Council, said of Magarief. “He has very good experience to lead congress and the Libyan democratic state.”
Magarief is from Libya’s second biggest city, Benghazi, the cradle of last year’s revolt. Those roots are likely to placate fears in the east that the region would be marginalised by a centralised authority in the capital Tripoli.
The national assembly began life on Wednesday after it took power from the National Transitional Council, the political arm of the opposition forces that toppled Qadhafi a year ago and which has now been dissolved.
The ceremony was the first peaceful transition of power in Libya’s modern history, but it has been overshadowed by several violent incidents in the past week that have  underscored the country’s precarious stability.
These include a car bomb near the offices of the military police in the capital, Tripoli, and an explosion at the empty former military intelligence offices in Benghazi.
In the new assembly, 80 seats are held by parties.
A liberal coalition led by wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril won 39 of those seats, while the Justice and Construction Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, won 17.
The remaining 120 seats are in the hands of independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down.
Key decisions will require a two-thirds majority to pass, making cooperation necessary in what is still a delicate transition for Libya.

Company formerly called Blackwater to pay sanctions fine

NEW BERN/WASHINGTON: The military contractor formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide agreed to pay a fine of $5 million to $7.5 million for trying to operate in Sudan in violation of trade sanctions and for other arms-trade breaches, according to documents unsealed on Tuesday.
The deal includes an acknowledgement of the conduct by the company, now under new ownership and known as Academi LLC.
Known for helping to protect US government employees abroad, the company drew harsh international scrutiny for shootings and other conduct in Iraq. It said in a statement on Tuesday that it wants to resolve past issues and move on.
The US Justice Department accused the company of 17 criminal counts in connection with selling arms and owning illegal weapons, according to the documents that were unsealed in US District Court in New Bern, North Carolina.
But the Justice Department agreed to defer the prosecution so long as the company pays the fine to the US government, meets audit requirements and complies with export controls.
Academi’s violations were wide-ranging, prosecutors said.
The company sold satellite phones in Sudan in 2005 and proposed to provide security services there in 2006 without approval from the US State and Treasury departments, court filings said.
The company employed through a contractor people from Denmark and Sweden on a project to construct armored personnel carriers, provided military training to Canada and exported ammunition to Iraq and Afghanistan, all without the required US government permission, the filings said.
It also illegally kept automatic weapons, like the AK-47 machine gun, in its armory in Moyock, NC, and its employees lied to federal agents about guns they said they owned but were really gifts to the king of Jordan, the filings said.
“This company clearly violated US laws by exporting sensitive technical data and unauthorized defense services to a host of countries around the world,” Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in North Carolina and two other states, said in a written statement.
Academi spokesman John Procter released a statement for the company saying the problems occurred under the previous owners.
The agreement with the government “is yet another step in our commitment to fairly resolve past issues and become the industry leader in governance, compliance, and regulatory matters,” the statement said.
Academi acknowledged “responsibility for the conduct” in its deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department.
Two years ago Blackwater, which also used the name Xe Services LLC, reached a $42 million settlement with the State Department for similar allegations.

Hamas urges Egypt to open border shut since Sinai attack

GAZA: The head of the Hamas government in Gaza urged Egypt on Thursday to open a vital border crossing closed since gunmen killed 16 Egyptian guards in neighbouring Sinai on Sunday.
Ismail Haniyeh pledged his support for Egypt’s investigations of the attack, which has led to the biggest Egyptian military assault in the Sinai Peninsula in nearly 40 years.
“At the same time I call upon my brother, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi to open the Rafah crossing, to regain a lifeline for Gaza,” Haniyeh said at a dinner ending the daylong Ramadan fast.
“Gaza could never be anything but a source of stability for Egypt,” Haniyeh added, saying those responsible for the Sinai slayings were conspiring to tighten an Israeli blockade on Gaza in force since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007.
Gaza’s Islamist rulers have ruled out suggestions that Palestinian gunmen took part in the Sinai massacre, and have criticised Cairo for imposing “collective punishment” on the impoverished coastal enclave.
The Rafah crossing normally sees some 800 people a day leave for Egypt and beyond, and is the only window on the world for the vast majority of Gazans.
No one has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s assault, in which the assailants seized two armoured vehicles to storm an Israeli border crossing. One made it through before the attackers were killed by Israeli fire. The incident was the deadliest along the Israeli-Sinai border in decades.
In addition to challenging the durability of a 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty already strained by Western ally Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power last year, the violence also raised questions about ties between Egypt’s nascent Muslim Brotherhood-led government and Hamas in Gaza.
Egyptian officials suggested initially that Palestinian gunmen were involved in the Sinai attack.
Haniyeh denied this, arguing that the attack’s “prime beneficiary was the occupation,” a common shorthand for Israel by Hamas officials whose ideology rejects Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
“Gaza is innocent of this crime. Neither our investigations nor our contacts have proven so far anyone from Gaza was involved,” Haniyeh said.

Iran urges Syrians to talk after Tehran meeting

TEHRAN: Iran urged Syrian rebels on Thursday to start talks with President Bashar al-Assad about political reform and said it won international support at a meeting in Tehran for such a strategy to end the conflict.
The Iranian foreign minister insisted Assad’s administration – a key ally of Tehran – would not collapse under pressure from abroad and the state broadcaster said a diplomatic gathering attended by Russia, China, India, Jordan and a couple of dozen other states had backed Tehran’s call for a three-month truce.
With most countries represented only by their ambassadors and the absence of Western and most Middle Eastern states which have demanded Assad end his family’s 40-year rule, analysts saw little impact from the meeting on the continuing violence.
Afterwards, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told a televised news conference: “The opposition needs to sit down and cooperate with the Syrian government to speed up the reform.”
Without naming Western and regional powers which have backed the rebels against Iran’s ally Assad, he said: “It will be a mistake to think that with the continuation of pressure and unwise moves, the Syrian leadership would finally collapse.
“With such interference, they are worsening the crisis.”
Iranian state television said nations who attended the meeting issued a joint statement backing Iran’s call for a three-month ceasefire to allow for talks to take place.
No text was available but the broadcaster cited one element of the statement, saying the meeting “welcomed Iran’s suggestion calling on the parties involved to halt the violence for three months in order to follow up talks”. It linked a ceasefire to the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in about 10 days.
The statement also included a clause expressing deep concern over the fighting and loss of life and said that national dialogue was the only solution, state television said.
UN STATEMENT
The Syrian government has said it is ready for dialogue but the opposition says Assad must step down as a precursor to any negotiations.
Continued hostilities in Aleppo, where the Syrian military is bombarding rebel fighters, make talks unlikely in the near future.
Also present at the Tehran meeting was the United Nations resident coordinator to Tehran, Consuelo Vidal-Bruce, who read out a statement from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that rebuked both government and opposition for relying on weapons to win through violence.
“There will be no winner in Syria. Now, we face the grim possibility of long-term civil war destroying Syria’s rich tapestry of interwoven communities,” it said.
“We cannot let this prediction come true.”
In an opinion piece published by the Washington Post on Wednesday, Salehi warned there would be catastrophic consequences if Assad fell from power.
“Syrian society is a beautiful mosaic of ethnicities, faiths and cultures, and it will be smashed to pieces should President Bashar al-Assad abruptly fall,” it read.
While Salehi said Iran sought a solution that was in “everyone’s interest”, Western diplomats have dismissed the conference as an attempt to divert attention away from bloody events on the ground and to preserve the rule of Assad.
“The Islamic Republic’s support for Assad’s regime is hardly compatible with a genuine attempt at conciliation between the parties,” said one Western diplomat based in Tehran.
“RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS”
It showed Iran was “running out of ideas”, he added.
Another Western diplomat said Tehran was trying to broaden the support base of the Syrian leader.
Along with Russia and China, Iran has strongly supported Assad, whose forces have launched crushing operations against anti-government protesters and armed opposition groups since the crisis erupted 17 months ago.
The Islamic Republic has resisted an agreement on Syria that requires Assad to quit as part of any political transition.
There is no sign that Tehran is ready to adopt a new approach, despite setbacks for Assad including the defection this week of his prime minister.
But analysts say the recent signs of cracks in the Syrian leadership have taken Iran by surprise.
“Iran is trying to show strength and regional presence,” said Scott Lucas of the EA Worldview news website that specialises in covering Iran. But he noted the timing of
Thursday’s meeting seemed rushed, given that Tehran will host a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement later this month.

Manchester United set to become the most valuable club in the world

LONDON - The de facto title of the world’s most valuable sports team is about to be bequeathed to Manchester United, with the pricing of their initial public offering set to be revealed on Thursday. The club announced last month that they would float their shares in New York, culminating in a successful two-week sales effort by Wall Street bankers, as shares are expected to start trading on the stock market tomorrow. 
A reasonable estimate would see United worth around $3bn (£1.92bn), about twice the value of Spain's Real Madrid once debts are factored in, according to data compiled by the financial media groups Bloomberg and Forbes. This offer would also make United worth 10 times as much as publicly traded European clubs such as Juventus.
Wall Street sources said that the United share offer has been oversubscribed by investors, although it is not yet clear what price they agreed to pay. "The book is looking pretty solid," one source confirmed. "It's covered."
All in all, the Glazer family is hoping to raise up to $332 million by selling 16.6 million shares at a range between $16–20 a share. Half the proceeds of the sale will go towards Manchester United's £437 million debt, while the other half will go directly to the Glazers, despite previous promises to use all cash raised to improve the club's balance sheet. The controlling family has also retained an option to sell a further 2.5 million shares, potentially giving them a further $50 million surplus.
Demand for the shares has been particularly high among US investors, as predicted, who have sided with a sales pitch that they are investing into a "luxury brand" and who appear unaffected by the dissenting voices who argue the offer overvalues the club. The investor RoadShow, which saw United's team of 13 investment banks meeting their clients to sell them the shares, has also touched down in Asia as well as Europe, a leg of the trip that involved the bankers visiting investors in London this week.
Apart from raising money for the Glazers and the eradication of the club's debt, a flotation will achieve the further aim of giving the club a financial valuation which the Glazers will need if they are to cash in their investment by selling the club. It is understood that previous discussions with potential buyers have been sandwiched by the gulf between the valuations of the prospective purchasers and the one put on the club by the Glazers. It is hence generally understood that a stock market flotation would end these debates.
On another note, Paris St Germain said they had agreed a deal with São Paulo for the transfer of the midfielder Lucas Moura. The 19-year-old, an extremely sought-after winger linked with United, will remain with the Brazilian club until January before linking up with Carlo Ancelotti's side on a four-and-a-half-year deal.