WASHINGTON: Democratic lion Edward Kennedy was Saturday reunited with his slain brothers laid to rest in a Virginia
cemetery as a lone bugle player brought the curtain down on a political dynasty.
Surrounded by his tight-knit family which has dominated US politics for half a century, Kennedy's body was brought to Arlington National Cemetery, to rest on a hillside overlooking the nation's capital.
The late senator was being buried 100 feet (30 meters) from the grave of his brother, Robert Kennedy, assassinated in 1968, and close to the eternal flame marking the last resting place of president John F. Kennedy, shot dead in 1963.
Three days of high emotion drew to a close as the nation bid a final farewell to the man who had the Kennedy mantle thrust on him and who spent 47 years tirelessly working in the US senate to improve the lives of others.
At a Catholic mass earlier in the Kennedy fiefdom of Boston, President Barack Obama, who won key support from the Kennedy's in his race for the White House, eulogized him as "the lion of the Senate."
Obama, three former presidents and the nation's elite gathered at Boston's Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to say farewell to the Kennedy family patriarch, who on Tuesday lost his fight with brain cancer. He was 77.
Obama hailed Kennedy as a "champion for those who had none, the soul of the Democratic Party, and the lion of the US Senate."
Kennedy had triumphed over "more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know," the president said.
After the mass, Kennedy's flag-draped coffin was flown to Washington on the last leg of his final journey which had begun Thursday when it was placed in a hearse outside his Cape Cod home.
Thousands of people again lined the routes Saturday, mirroring scenes seen over the past three days in his home of Hyannis Port and then in Boston in an enormous outpouring of grief at Kennedy's death.
Outside the US Capitol the crowds broke into loud applause as the funeral procession halted briefly for the senator's final visit to the imposing white national assembly.
In unprecedented scenes, thousands of other ordinary by-passers had gathered solemnly on the lawns and roadsides nearby to pay their respects.
Outside the Senate which shook for almost five decades with the sound of Kennedy's voice, his widow, Vicki, and other family members stepped out of their cars to greet hundreds of Congress staffers and lawmakers.
The members of the Irish-American clan were earlier moved to tears at the mass when Kennedy's son, Ted Kennedy Jr, gave a moving address about his father's tenderness to him during childhood when he had a leg amputated because of cancer.
"He taught us that even our most profound losses are survivable," Kennedy Jr said.
Recounting how his father helped him climb an icy hill with his new prosthetic leg, Kennedy Jr said: "He taught me that nothing is impossible."LINK
WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying U.S.-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets, which would constitute a threat to India, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.
Citing senior administration and Congressional officials, the Times said the charge came in late June through an unpublicized diplomatic protest to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials.
The accusation, made amid growing concerns about Pakistan's increasingly rapid conventional and nuclear weapons development, triggered a new round of U.S.-Pakistani tensions, the report added.
"There's a concerted effort to get these guys to slow down," the newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying. "Their energies are misdirected," the official added.
A senior Pakistani official called the accusation "incorrect," saying that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles.
U.S. officials said the disputed weapon is a conventional one based on the Harpoon anti-ship missiles that were sold to Pakistan during the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon, the newspaper reported, but Pakistan has upgraded and modified it into surface missile.LINK
NEW YORK: Oil prices spiked Wednesday after the government reported a huge draw of crude oil from U.S. stockpiles.
The report was surprising because the demand for energy has been knocked down so badly by the recession. Crude withdrawn from storage facilities last week wiped out a buildup in supplies over the past two weeks.
Benchmark crude for September delivery jumped $3.23 to settle at$72.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That contract expires Thursday, and most of the trading has already shifted to the October contract, which climbed $2.74 to settle at $73.83.
If the October contract ends the week at that price, it would seta new high for 2009. The Energy Information Administration said crude in storage fell by 8.4 million barrels last week. Gasoline held in storage fell as well.
Investors have been looking for signs that the country would recover its energy appetite as the economy healed. The EIA report, on the surface, would suggest that may have begun.
Last week's drop in crude supplies was the most since Aug. 15, 2008, a month after crude prices peaked above $147 a barrel.
Yet it may be too soon to say that consumers and businesses are using more energy. For one, crude imports over the past four weeks are down 9.5 percent compared with the same period last year.
“They didn't import more because, at the end of the day, we just don’t need it,'' analyst Stephen Schork said. LINK
AMMAN: Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal took part in his father's funeral in Amman on Saturday.
Meshaal joined hundreds of citizens and key figures of Islamic Hamas movement at the University of Jordan's Mosque in performing prayer for his father, who died Friday at the age of 91.
The Hamas leader arrived in Jordan earlier Saturday from Syria along with several Hamas members after King Abdullah II of Jordan instructed the government Friday to allow his entry.
Official sources in Jordan said allowing Hamas leader to enter the kingdom was purely for humanitarian reasons and there are no political reasons behind.
This is the first time for Meshaal to be allowed back into Jordan since Jordan expelled the Hamas leader and later shut down offices of the Islamic movement in Jordan in 1999.
Relations between Hamas and Jordan soured further in 2006 after Amman alleged that members of the group smuggled missiles and other weapons into the kingdom.LINK
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday inched closer to the prospect of outright victory in elections marred by allegations of massive fraud and international concerns about their credibility.
Officials have now announced results from 35 percent of polling stations in the second ever direct presidential vote in a country dogged by a Taliban insurgency, eight years after the US-led invasion.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on a lightning visit to the troubled south, pledged to speed up training Afghan security forces in order to battle the insurgency and eventually draw down international troops.
As Brown visited Helmand province, an explosion killed a British soldier who was on foot patrol in the province, raising to 208 the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, British officials said.
Out of 2.03 million valid votes counted, Karzai won 940,558 and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah 638,924, Daud Ali Najafi, chief electoral officer at the Independent Election Commission (IEC), told a news conference.
The figures gave Karzai 46.3 percent of votes announced and Abdullah 31.4 percent, widening the incumbent's previous lead of around nine percent and apparently increasing his prospects of avoiding a second round.
The results are being released in stages in a process that the IEC has said will lead up to the announcement of preliminary results on September 3, and the final tally on September 17.
The next tranche is due to be released on Monday, the commission said. The time it is taking to release results has seen claims of fraud escalate. LINK
BAGHDAD: The Iranian foreign minister on Saturday called for Iraq's neighbours to hold a meeting to discuss Iraqi security after Baghdad accused Syria of harbouring the planners of two massive bomb attacks.
Separately, Turkey's foreign minister is to visit Iraq and Syria on Monday to try to soothe relations between the two.
Since 2003, tensions -- prone to flare-ups since around the time Saddam came to power in 1979 -- have centred on charges from Iraq's U.S.-backed government that Syria, estranged from Washington, has allowed insurgents to stream into Iraq.
Iraqi politicians have also lashed out at Saudi Arabia for inciting Sunni Islamist insurgents, a charge the kingdom denies. And while Baghdad's relations with Tehran are cordial, the U.S. military complains that Iran arms and trains Shi'ite militia.
Meanwhile, Iraq's relations with Kuwait to the south are strained as Baghdad chafes at Kuwait's insistence it continue to pay billions of dollars in reparations for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion.
Relations with western neighbour Jordan have been on the mend, and ties with Turkey have taken a noticeable turn for the better in the past year.
"We hope to get the cooperation and approval of all neighbouring countries for this meeting," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters through a translator during a visit to Iraq.
There have been several regional meetings on the conflict in Iraq since the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam in 2003, but Iraq's ties with its neighbours are fragile.
Iraqi officials frequently blame neighbouring countries for the violence that continues to rock the country more than six years after the U.S.-led invasion.
"Maintaining security and stability in Iraq, or losing it, has a direct impact on all of Iraq's neighbouring countries," Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a statement.
While sectarian slaughter between majority Shi'ites and once dominant Sunnis in Iraq has subsided, bombings attributed to Sunni Islamist groups such as al Qaeda continue as U.S. forces begin to gradually withdraw ahead of an end-2011 deadline.
Many in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam which follows a strict brand of the Sunni faith called Wahhabism, see Persian Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim country, as their arch enemy.
Clerics of Saudi Arabia's official hardline school of Islam view Shi'ites as heretics and the government fears Iraq is becoming a satellite of Shi'ite power Iran.
Iraq and Syria recently recalled their ambassadors after Maliki's government denounced Damascus for allegedly harbouring supporters of Saddam's outlawed Baath party, blamed for two truck bombs on Aug. 19 that killed 95 people at two ministries.
Baghdad demanded Syria hand over two suspected masterminds of the bombings, and banish all those that Iraq considers to be members of terrorist groups.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said after meeting his Iranian counterpart that he would continue to push for the United Nations to set up an international court to review Iraq's complaints against Syria.
"This will not be done overnight. But we believe there is a possibility of achieving it," Zebari said. LINK
KARACHI: Karachi is expected to receive the torrential spell of rain in next 24 hours, forecasted metrological office on Saturday.
Met office officials told Geo news low pressure of monsoon winds is hovering over India’s Madhiya Pardesh close to Sindh province and is nearing towards West in Pakistan.
They said the heavy showers have been predicted in Southwestern parts of Sindh including provincial capital metropolis city in next 24 hours.LINK
ISLAMABAD: Former federal minister and ex chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Humayun Akhtar Khan Saturday said Brig. (Retd.) Imtiaz Ahmed is issuing controversial statements only to attract world attention.
“Brig. Imtiaz is the man who encouraged my father to board the C-130 which later met an accident,” Humayun Akhtar maintained.
Humayun said Brigadier retired Imtiaz has opened new Pandora Box which has met strong opposition from political leaders.
He said to him the credibility of Brig. (Retd.) Imtiaz Ahmed is no better than nil. “I ask Brig. (Retd.) Imtiaz to explain what led him to play a role in my father’s killing.”
Dismissing the allegations leveled from Brigadier rtd. Imtiaz as baseless Akhtar said he would not bribe politicians outside country.
I want answer to my father’s murder, he said.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Rasheed, the chief Awami Muslim League (AML) termed Brigadier Imtiaz statement that he would bribe him as fake and concocted and added that Imtiaz would create misunderstandings in between me and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.
To a question, PML-Q leader Mushahid Hussain Syed said Jiay Sindh Movement (JSM) was to do nothing with MRD so Imtiaz’s allegations that Indian intelligence agency RAW tried to make contacts with MRD through JSM are nothing but full of fabrication.
Meanwhile, the acting president of MRD has also dismissed Brigadier Imtiaz’s blames, saying that he has no links with JSM. LINK
"Around 90 percent Swat displaced have returned back to their homes. The figure so far stand at 1.6 million out of total 2.3 million IDPs from different areas," said Martin Mogwanja, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Pakistan.
"During past week, average 500 families returned to their homes daily. Earlier, the return rate was faster as 1,400 families use to return their homes every day," Mogwanja said at a news conference.
He said as large number of IDPs have returned to their homes, now only 454 school buildings are under their use out of total 4, 700 school buildings.
"All the rest buildings have been vacated by the IDPs and hopefully will be used for educational purposes with the start of the educational session," he said.
Revealing the findings of the recent mission to Swat area, Mogwanja said, due to scattered attacks by independent groups, still there are some security concerns. Secondly, he said, checkpoints and barricades are causing significant delay in movement of IDPs and relief goods. Thirdly, he said, early recovery activity for provision of basic facilities was urgently required as 600,000 IDPs were on their way to back home.
"They will also be needing basic facilities, infrastructure and livelihood. Four distribution hubs have been set up for providing them food and non-food items," he said.
Adding to Mogwanja, the WHO Country Representative Khalif Bille Mohamud said, 25 health facilities were partially and five were totally damaged during the operation.
The tourists, replying to Sri Lanka's first innings score of 416, lost two quick wickets as they struggled to 51-2 by tea on the second day at the Sinhalese sports club.
Tim McIntosh was given out leg-before to fast bowler Dammika Prasad for five and Daniel Flynn was caught behind off left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara for 13.
Martin Guptill was unbeaten at the break on 29 and Ross Taylor was on two with the tourists needing 166 more to avoid a follow-on.
Samaraweera, who made 159 in the first Test at Galle which Sri Lanka won by 202 runs, hit 143 on way to becoming the second batsman after England captain Andrew Strauss to complete 1,000 runs this year.
The right-hander has so far scored 1,058 runs in eight Tests in 2009 with two double centuries among his four three-figure knocks. Strauss, in comparison, has 1,071 runs from 12 matches.
Samaraweera hit 17 boundaries and celebrated his 11th Test century in 54 matches by smashing the next ball from seamer Iain O'Brien over the square-leg boundary for six.
His batted for six hours and 22 minutes to anchor Sri Lanka's innings before he was ninth out, caught behind by wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum while trying to reverse sweep off-spinner Jeetan Patel.
Sri Lanka, who were comfortably placed at 367-4 before lunch, lost their last six wickets for 49 runs in a dramatic collapse in the afternoon session.
Patel finished with 4-78, including the wickets of Prasad and Rangana Herath off successive deliveries, while skipper Daniel Vettori took 3-104 in 40.3 overs of left-arm spin.
Samaraweera, who turns 33 next month, has endured an extraordinary year in which he hit two successive double-centuries against Pakistan before being laid low by gun shots during a militant attack.
He was hospitalised for two weeks after he suffered a bullet injury in the left thigh when gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan team bus in the Pakistani city of Lahore on March 3.
Seven Sri Lankan cricketers and an assistant coach were injured in the attack, while eight Pakistani security men and bystanders were killed.
Samaraweera proved the main stumbling block for New Zealand after Sri Lanka resumed at their overnight score of 262-3.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene missed a second successive ton against the Kiwis when he edged a ball from O'Brien to McCullum after making 92.
Jayawardene, who hit 114 in the first Test, put on 180 runs for the fourth wicket with Samaraweera after Sri Lanka were struggling at 115-3 before tea on the first day.
Addressing the 12th annual award ceremony of National Highways and Motorway Police here, the Prime Minister said awareness among the masses regarding rules and regulations on the motorway was an important aspect of road safety.
He appreciated the launching of vigorous public awareness campaigns on road safety and traffic laws by the National Highways and Motorway Police.
“These are bearing fruit and we can see their positive effects in the form of mature and civilized behaviour on the roads,” he added.
The Prime Minister said bringing about a change in the behaviour of commuters on motorways is a major achievement of NH&MP.
Referring to the challenge of terrorism, the Prime Minister said it requires proactive approach and support from all segments of the society.
Those associated with law enforcement services have the greatest responsibility in this regard, he said.
The Prime Minister appreciated the initiatives being taken by the National Highways and Motorway Police in countering terrorism.
He said the government treated this menace as the most serious challenge, and would provide all necessary resources to better equip and modernize the National Highways and Motorway Police enabling them to confront the challenge effectively.
The Prime Minister said the government was firmly committed to the principle of merit and for providing a level playing field to everyone.
He said the delivery of services can improve only through a merit-based transparent system.
The Prime Minister appreciated the enforcement of law by NH&MP evenhanded which had earned it better acceptability and greater respect.
Gilani also announced setting up of Commission on cultural transformation of police and approved airfare for the free training courses for NH&MP officials in Germany, as demanded by Minister of State for Communications and Inspector General NH&MP.
He said he would ask the Finance Division to immediately look into disparity of salary between deputational and regular duty officials. On demand for Risk Allowance, the Prime Minister said he would refer the case to Pay and Pension Department to consider it.
Congratulating the officials who were given awards on outstanding performance, the Prime Minister said the tradition of recognizing professional excellence and sense of dedication was commendable.
He appreciated the efforts of Inspector General NH&MP and his team members who have been diligently performing their duties with a spirit to serve and achieve excellence.
Minister of State for Communications Chaudhry Imtiaz Safdar Warraich said NH&MP had brought a positive change in clearing the negative perception about police through their public-friendly attitude and commitment.
He said the force was performing duties diligently and was an example of institution with good governance.
Sharif Ahmed, Secretary Ministry of Communications said while serving with responsibility, the NH&MP had become a symbol of national solidarity.
Waseem Kauser, Inspector General NH&MP said National Highways and Motorway Police takes care of 2,600 kilometre roads and highways and also of the 95 percent of vehicular traffic.
He said certain SAARC countries including Maldives, Bangladesh and Afghanistan had requested NH&MP to train them in traffic management centre.
He said NH&MP was working on the principle of introducing a culture of soft policing.
Earlier, the Prime Minister gave away awards to the patrol officers on their outstanding performance. LINK
HUNGU: The local people took to street in protest against prolonged power crisis and went on rampage in central market here, Geo News reported Thursday.
Police arrested at least 11 demonstrators.
BERLIN: The swine flu (A/H1N1) virus has spread throughout the ranks of the German army units operating within the International Security Assistance Force, Media Circle of the German government announced on Wednesday.
The German Federal army (Bondsver) reduced flights to Afghanistan in fear of the spread of the A/H1N1 virus in the German army in the northern Afghan areas.
UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights James Anaya said the so-called "intervention", in which thousands of troops and police were sent to help curb alcohol-fuelled sexual abuse and domestic violence, was clearly discriminatory.
He urged the government to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory and called for compensation for the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children, taken from their parents to promote racial integration.
"It undermines the right of indigenous peoples to control their own destinies, their right to self-determination," Anaya, referring to the intervention, told reporters in Canberra.
"There is entrenched racism in Australia," he added. "These measures overtly discriminate against Aboriginal peoples, infringe their right of self-determination and stigmatise already stigmatised communities."
Under the intervention, the conservative government of ex-prime minister John Howard slapped restrictions on welfare payments, alcohol and pornography in 73 desert townships and introduced measures to boost school attendance.
Engineers say a forest of 100,000 "artificial trees" could be deployed within 10 to 20 years to help soak up the world's carbon emissions.
The trees are among three geo-engineering ideas highlighted as practical in a new report.
The authors from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers say that without geo-engineering it will be impossible to avoid dangerous climate change.
The report includes a 100-year roadmap to "decarbonise" the global economy.
An American soldier was killed in the violence, which broke out Wednesday as Afghan forces were trying to capture a suspected Taliban commander, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under NATO said.
Twelve Taliban were killed in the fighting that raged for about six hours, and six others were captured, said Hamidullah Zhwak, the provincial spokesman, adding a clinic guard was also wounded.
Acting on a tip-off, Afghan security forces surrounded the clinic at around midday in the small Sar Hawza district of Paktika province, which borders Pakistan and is a hotbed of Taliban violence.
The ISAF statement said the "suspected insurgent leader" was being treated for injuries suffered during fighting on election day, August 20.
The Afghan soldiers "were clearing the clinic when they received direct fire attack," the statement said.
More troops, international and Afghan, arrived to provide backup, it said, and once all civilians had been brought safely out of the clinic, an Apache helicopter was called in to fire on the building.
The helicopter strafing ended the "the direct threat," ISAF said, "injuring the targeted insurgent in the building."
No civilians were killed, ISAF said.
"This clearly shows the disparity between coalition forces and anti-Afghan forces when it comes to concerns for civilians caught in the crossfire," said Major Matthew Gregory, a spokesman for ISAF.
In the neighbouring province of Khost, a roadside bomb killed four border police and wounded three others on Thursday in Gurbuz district, said police official Sher Ahmad Kochai, blaming the Taliban for the attack.
The Taliban have widening influence in eastern and southern Afghanistan and have been particularly active around the election, only the second in Afghanistan's history to choose a president.
In early counting, President Hamid Karzai is leading his main rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah 42.3 percent to 33.1 percent.
The campaign to instill enough fear in people to deter them from voting appears to have had a serious impact, as figures extrapolated from early results suggest 30-35 percent of registered voters turned out.
Violence peaked on election day, with reports from a variety of sources of rocket, grenade and suicide attacks, gunfights and afterwards beatings and even finger amputations of people who voted.
The Taliban have also stepped up their attacks on foreign soldiers -- who under NATO and US command number more than 100,000 -- in Afghanistan to wipe out the insurgency.
The Taliban's weapon of choice is the improvised explosive device, or IED, usually a concealed roadside bomb detonated remotely and, increasingly, linked to others to cause maximum damage, often killing civilians.
ISAF said Thursday an American soldier was killed in southern Afghanistan when his patrol was struck by an IED and then ambushed by insurgents.
"The patrol responded to the attack but a service member was killed in the engagement," an ISAF statement said.
Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah instructed the government to bring the casualties to Kuwait for treatment as "a contribution by Kuwait to alleviating the suffering of our Iraqi brothers," he said while talkingto a local news agency.
At least 95 people were killed and almost 600 wounded by two massive truck bombings outside the finance and foreign ministries in Baghdad on August 19 in the country's deadliest day of violence in 18 months. LINK
Flight 584, carrying 265 passengers and crew on a Boeing 767-300, was en route from the southwestern Japanese city of Matsuyama to Tokyo when the pressure dropped temporarily and oxygen masks dropped from overhead compartments.
"The pilot descended the plane to 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) from an altitude of 20,000 feet to cope with the situation," said the official at the transport ministry's Haneda office.
"China is expected to complete the research on its first jumbo jet engine in 2016 and begin to apply for aviation certificate from the state aviation authority," the official local news agency cited the engine maker as saying.
The controversy over the yield of the tests, previously questioned by foreign agencies, has been given a fresh lease of life with K Santhanam, senior scientist and DRDO representative at Pokhran II, admitting for the first time that the only thermonuclear device tested was a "fizzle". In nuclear parlance, a test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield.
Santhanam, who was director for 1998 test site preparations, said that the yield for the thermonuclear test, or hydrogen bomb in popular usage, was much lower than what was claimed. Santhanam, who was DRDO's chief advisor, could well have opened up the debate on whether or not India should sign CTBT as claims that India has all the data required and can manage with simulations is bound to be called into question.
``Based upon the seismic measurements and expert opinion from world over, it is clear that the yield in the thermonuclear device test was much lower than what was claimed. I think it is well documented and that is why I assert that India should not rush into signing the CTBT,'' said Santhanam.
He emphasized the need for India to conduct more tests to improve its nuclear weapon programme.
The test was said to have yielded 45 kilotons (KT) but was challenged by western experts who said it was not more than 20 KT.
In an interview with Financial Times, Tarin said half of the planned assistance pledged by the US to Pakistan is likely to be wastefully spent on administrative costs
“Whatever aid the US is giving must have full impact on the ground which is why they should route as much of this aid through our agencies than their own agencies,” Tarin told the Financial Times.
“Frankly, we only receive almost 50-55 per cent of the aid, 40-45 per cent becomes expenses because of intermediation costs by the US.”
Tarin added that Pakistan would resist any linkage of financial assistance to the country’s nuclear programme or confidence-building measures with arch-rival India. He said aid would be “unacceptable” if it was tied to greater monitoring of the country’s nuclear arsenal.
The newspaper adds that Pakistan has become one of the largest recipients of US aid as Washington seeks to help stabilise the country threatened by a Taliban insurgency. US President Barack Obama plans to raise economic assistance to about $1.5bn a year, or $7.5bn over the next five years. LINK
Security forces and law enforcement agencies imposed curfew till 9:00 pm after starting search operation to purge the area of illegal arms.
Curfew remained imposed for tomorrow in Dera Ismail Khan, tehsil Kalachi, Pahari Pur and tehsil Daraban Kalan.
Meanwhile, Dera police have appealed the masses to cooperate with security forces during operation launched to eliminate law violators. They directed the locals to submit their illegal weapons in Besakhi ground, Datta Kalachi and Gomal University campus. LINK
The "black sites" were run with the singular goal of extracting potentially valuable information from some of the most high-profile terror suspects in US custody, and there was a clear theory about how that should be done.
"The effectiveness of the program depends on persuading the detainee, early in the application of these techniques, that he's dependent on the interrogators and that he lacks control over his situation," wrote Steven Bradbury, then a senior attorney at the Office of Legal Counsel, an office that gives the president legal advice.
Interrogators, some from private security firms, others agents from the CIA itself, had authorization to slap detainees across the face, force them into uncomfortable stress positions, and keep them awake for 11 consecutive days. If that did not work, they could strap a collar and leash around a detainee's neck, using the leash to repeatedly slam the suspect into a wall.
They could force a suspect into a dark box and leave him there for 18 hours, and if the pressure needed to be increased, insects could be placed inside. If all else had failed, there was waterboarding: interrogators could strap a detainee to a bench with his feet higher than his head, place a cloth firmly over his mouth and nose, and pour water onto his face.
"We have decided to agree to the Dalai Lama's visit to pray for the souls of the deceased and seek blessings for the survivors of the typhoon," Ma told reporters in central Nantou County.
The Dalai Lama said last year he wanted to visit Taiwan in an interview with a local newspaper in Dharamshala, but the China-friendly Ma at the time said the timing was not right for such a visit.
Ma's office attempted to play down the political significance of the visit when asked if it would impact ties with Beijing.
"The trials are underway according to schedule, after which the submarine will be handed over to the Indian Navy," Chief of Russia&aposs General Staff, General Nikolai Makarov was quoted as saying by media
Addressing a news conference in Ulan Bator, Gen. Makarov, accompanying President Medvedev on Mongolia tour, however, did not specify the time-frame for the delivery of the much- awaited submarine.
" There is no fixed schedule (of delivery), but there are no reasons for delay,"he said.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had earlier ordered to hand over the&aposNerpa&aposto Indian Navy on 10-year lease by the end of this year.
Built by the Amur Shipyard in the far-eastern Khabarovsk region bordering China, &aposNerpa&aposwas hit by a deadly accident on November 8 last year in the Sea of Japan, when 21 sailors and civilian technical staff were killed due to abrupt release of lethal Freon gas from its fire-suppression system as a result of &aposhuman error&apos.LINK
The G-8 already includes the biggest emerging economies in some of its deliberations, but retains its own identity as the most influential world economic policy forum, despite mounting calls to broaden its base.
'I note with pleasure that the transformation of the G-8 into the G-14 has taken a decisive step forward,' Sarkozy told a meeting of French ambassadors in Paris, noting that France has supported Brazil's call for an end to the G-8.
'The Canadian presidency in 2010 will conduct the bulk of its summit as the G-14 and we intend to totally finish the transformation into the G-14 under the French presidency in 2011,' he promised.
Already at this year's G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, the G-8 - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States - was joined by Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Mexico and Egypt.
But some G-8 members, notably Japan, have resisted formally abandoning the G8 structure, arguing that more members would find it harder to reach a consensus on major economic policy issues. LINK
With 17 per cent of votes tallied, Karzai held a lead of 43pc to 34pc over former foreign minister Abdullah. To avoid a run-off, a candidate must secure more than 50pc votes.
Meanwhile, in Kandahar, authorities raised the toll from a truck bomb late on Tuesday to 43 dead and 65 wounded, all civilians. LINK
Hakim, who headed the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, died in a Tehran hospital after a long battle with lung cancer. He was 59.
The Shiite leader was a towering figure in the Iraqi political landscape after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. He led a coalition of Shiite parties to victory in the 2005 elections while juggling his close relationships with both Washington and Tehran.
Though his influence had waned in the two years since his cancer was diagnosed, he continued to play an active role in politics almost to the end. But his death probably will further diminish the standing of his political movement, opening the door to potential Shiite challengers, analysts said.
"The decline of the Supreme Council is something that had been going on for a while, and this confirms the decline," said Reidar Visser, research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs and editor of the Iraq website.
The most probable candidate to succeed Hakim is his son Ammar, who at 38 is considered young for political leadership in Iraq and is unlikely to immediately enjoy the success his father did. The council's members will meet to choose a successor, spokesman Ridha Jawad Taqi said.
Abdelaziz Hakim's death coincides with a period of frenetic political negotiations before the January elections, and came just two days after Shiite leaders launched a revamped version of the coalition he headed in the last polling.
The Supreme Council was at the launch, but its leaders did not play as prominent a role as Hakim had at the founding of the coalition in 2004.
The absence of Hakim will probably lead to a power struggle between the dominant council and the Shiite alliance's other major faction, which is loyal to cleric Muqtada Sadr, just as the coalition is gearing up to compete for votes, Visser said.LINK
The country's anti-graft agency had given the debtors, who included some of the country's most prominent tycoons, until Tuesday to repay their debts.
"Up to 24 bank debtors or defaulters have been brought into our premises. They are under arrest and they will undergo interrogation," said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
"They are likely to be charged to court this week," Babafemi told media, refusing to disclose the identities of those arrested.
"The figure may be more than that at the end of today as all the five teams that went out to pick up these defaulters were yet to return", added Babafemi.
He confirmed that one of the two bank chiefs wanted by the EFCC gave herself up Wednesday after the one-week ultimatum expired. LINK
Kennedy was first elected in 1962. Throughout his career, he witnessed everything from the Vietnam War and Woodstock to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the election of the nation's first African-American president.
“Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised by how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family. But Ronnie and Ted could always find common ground, and they had great respect for one another.
I will miss him,” said Nancy Reagan of the Massachusetts senator’s passing. During his tenure, Kennedy authored more than 2,500 bills in the United States Senate. Kennedy’s liberal voice in his four decades in the Senate championed legislation on education, health care, voting rights and the minimum wage.
In a written statement, President Obama said: “For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts… our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time.” LINK
According to sources, two leaders, during the telephonic discussion, exchanged views on the situation of Balochistan province.
On the occasion, Altaf said inflicting matters of Balochistan province have been turning complicated day by day and the release of the missing Baloch people, believed to be abducted, should be immediately ascertained at all costs.
Prime Minister Gilani, on the occasion, assured Altaf Hussain of government’s readiness and seriousness in reaching the peaceful resolution to the problems of Balochistan. LINK
According to Geo News correspondent, at least three missiles were fired at a house in SWA’s Kani Goram, killing eight people and injuring various others.
"The missile strike was carried out at 3.00 pm (0900 GMT)," an official said, adding that the village is known to have hideouts belonging to fighters loyal to slain Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
It merits mentioning here Kani Goram is a beautiful area where people used to go for picnic. Ladha is situated nearby, where TTP Chief Baitullah Mehsud were killed in a similar drone attack in Zangra village.
The residents of Kani Goram shifted to Tank and Dera Ismail Khan after Pak Army started operation against Taliban here; therefore, the whole area presents a deserted look and Taliban occupied most houses later on.
There is no immediate report regarding killing of any important Taliban leader. LINK
The second meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan opens today in Istanbul. The meeting will be attended by US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
The Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP), which held its first meeting on 17 April in Tokyo, is an important forum to address challenges facing Pakistan.
The group meeting will be inaugurated by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureishi.
Minister Davutoglu will also give an iftar dinner to the participants.
The first day of the meeting is scheduled to bring top-level bureaucrats together, while the second day talks are expected to be held at ministerial level.
Representatives of 20 countries and six international bodies will be participating in the high-level meeting of the group to address challenges facing Pakistan.LINK
KARACHI: Police claimed on Sunday to have arrested seven members of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, a proscribed organisation involved in attacks on former president Gen Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Shaukat Aziz.
The suspects were arrested in the Defence View area on Saturday night, CID DIG Saud Mirza said at a press conference.
According to him, the accused surrendered themselves to law-enforcement agencies without putting up resistance.
The DIG said that one of the accused, Shahzad, was a close associate of Amjad Farooqi and was involved in attacks on Gen (retd) Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz.
Police also seized three suicide jackets, 15 kilograms of explosive material, four AK-47 rifles, four pistols, two gas masks, five kilograms of ball bearings, 200 rounds of bullets, electric wires, remote controls and batteries.
Police also found about one and half kg of heroin. The accused smuggled drugs to foreign countries to generate funds for purchasing arms and ammunition and supporting families of their accomplices who were killed or were under detention.
They also used to provide money to the Quetta-based Taliban commander Abdul Samad.
Those arrested were Muhammad Aziz alias Salman, Muhammad Shahzad alias Pehlwan, Ghulam Muhammad alias Umar, Shahbaz alias Mian, Alam Zeb alias Huzaifa, Shakil Ahmed and Khalil Ahmed Toori.
The DIG said that Khalil Toori is a brother of Qasim Toori, a Jundullah activist arrested after an encounter in Shah Latif town of Bin Qasim area in January last year.
Police said that several government officials and police officers were on the hit-list of the accused who had received training in camps in South Waziristan.LINK
KARACHI: The first day of Ramazan proved to be a terrible experience for consumers, who paid higher prices for fruits and vegetables in the absence of official price lists at most retail outlets. In another development, flour millers are considering suspending the sale of 10kg wheat flour bags at Rs100 each for the morning session on Monday, as they intend to meet city government officials to seek security provisions for sales points.
Most consumers complained that only a few trucks were seen unloading wheat flour bags in some areas, while millers claimed that deliveries were made as per the agreement with the authorities.
The government and flour millers also offered different figures regarding the sale of bags on Sunday. Consumers, meanwhile, complained of a lack of magistrates in markets to check overcharging by retailers.
For grocery items, some retailers had displayed the price list but were not selling items at the prescribed rate on the pretext that the quality of items printed on the list was inferior. For example, they were selling gram flour at Rs60-70 per kg, against the official rate of Rs52 per kg.
Fruit vendors claimed that they were unable to obtain the price list. Consumers paid Rs80 per kg for low quality guavas, Rs40-50 per dozen for bananas, Rs100-120 for peaches, Rs60-80 per kg for apples, Rs40 for melons, Rs120-150 for grapes and Rs150-160 per kg for dates. The overcharging by dealers and retailers has become an annual ritual, as they are aware that the 50 or so officials assigned with checking prices are not able to pay regular visits to all 18 towns in the city. As a result, the price checking campaign has historically fizzled out every year.
Fruit dealers defended their practice of charging higher rates, saying they could not charge the official rates because they themselves were buying commodities at inflated rates from the Sabzi Mandi. Vegetable dealers, some of whom were charging Rs25 per kg for onions, told a similar story.
Grocers have already expressed their displeasure at the official rates, saying they are far below the items’ actual prices.
The meat merchants’ body decided to keep shops closed on Sunday due to a dispute with the city government on lower price fixing, but only a few shopkeepers followed the decision. While the majority of shops remained open, however, most charged the same prices as they were charging before the start of Ramazan.
The CDGK did set up a few complaint centres in the city, but only one staff member was observed at each of these sites.
The vice-chairman of the All Pakistan Flour Mills Association (APFMA), Chaudhry Nasir Abdullah, said that city government officials had assured them ahead of Ramazan that subsidised wheat flour would be sold at special stalls to be set up in various areas. But no stalls were set up and the millers had to sell the flour off trucks.
Due to the lack of security personnel, people turned up in large numbers and started looting the flour bags, he claimed.
In Karachi, 71 mills sold 100,000-125,000 bags on Sunday, but millers said they did not get paid for all of these bags at the correct rate, as there had been 'plundering by angry people'. Mr Abdullah added that in some areas, millers suffered losses of up to 50 per cent.
The situation was the same in the interior of the province as well.
He said that millers may suspend sale of wheat flour bags on trucks in the first session unless the government ensures full security for them.
Former APFMA chairman Ansar Jawed claimed that some 140,000 bags were sold on Sunday. But he said that millers would decide their future course of action after the outcome of a meeting with city government officials on Monday.
The CDGK’s price control in-charge, Matanat Ali Khan, said 62 people had been sent to jail while 382 people had fines amounting to Rs389,900 imposed on them for overcharging. He said most were meat merchants and fruit vendors, as well as some grocery item dealers.
He also claimed that 38 stalls were set up by the CDGK.
On wheat flour, he claimed that 170,000 bags of 10kg were sold at around 284 spots in various areas of the city. On the looting of bags, he said such incidents occurred 'only at Gizri, Pak Colony, Baldia and Ranchore Line', when only 25 bags were left on the trucks and people tried to get to them.
He denied that there were any reports that flour millers had planned to suspend the sale of bags on Monday morning.LINK
PESHAWAR: An Afghan reporter working for foreign Television shot dead at Pak-Afghan Highway in tehsil Jamrud of Khyber Agency.
According to reports, Afghan reporter Janullah Hashim was traveling in a coach when unknown gunmen opened fire on him. He was died on the spot. Hashim’s body has been shifted to Jamrud hospital.LINK
QUETTA: The prolonged power outage started at Sehri still continues in Balochistan as supply of electricity remained suspended in 16 districts.
KESCO sources told Geo News that 220 KV circuit of transmission line, coming from Sibbi, met technical fault, leading to cut of 300 megawatt supply to province.
Sources said power supply has been restored in Quetta, Zhob, Pesheen, Qila Saiullah, Loralai, Kohlu, Barkhan, Naseerabad,Jaffarabad, Sunny Shoran, Sibbi, Bhag and Makran division from Habibullah coastal power plant. Teams have been sent to Sibbi to remove technical fault. KESCO sources said province is facing shortfall of 450 megawatt.LINK
COLOMBO: The arrested LTTE chief, Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP had told Sri Lankan interrogators that his organisation had tried to get nuclear weapons and nuclear know how from Western countries.
“LTTE had been the first terrorist outfit that had tried to obtain nuclear power. Had they been successful in obtaining nuclear power, it would have flowed into the hands of other terror organisations too,” a local newspaper quoted military analysts.
Interrogation had revealed that KP had been used by the intelligence services of various countries for assorted purposes. Some leading Sri Lankan politicians from the Opposition had also worked with him to get foreign governments to threaten to withhold aid to Sri Lanka if the government did not stop the war, KP had said.LINK
PESHAWAR: A case of Momin Town suicide blast has been registered against an outlawed outfit of Khyber Agency.
According to police sources, Peshawar police have registered the case of Momin Town suicide blast against outlawed organization Lashkar-e-Islam. The police sources said Mobeen Khan and his aide Haji Gul were killed in a car bomb blast outside Hyattabad Complex. Both were belonged to the Lahkar-e-Islam.
Haji Mubeen had backed the Bara operation during a press conference on Saturday. The Ameer of Lashkar-e-Islam Mangal Bagh has also booked in the case.
Four persons including a suicide bomber were killed and 15 wounded in Momin Town suicide attack.LINK
Three benches in Islamabad and two benches in Lahore will stare cases hearing.
According to cause list, the first bench comprises Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Jawwad S Khawaja.
The second bench comprises Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and the third bench comprises Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani and Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.
In Supreme Court Lahore, bench number one comprises Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Muhammad Sair Ali whereas bench number two consists of Justice Syed Zahid Hussain and Justice Mahmood Akhter Shahid Siddiqui. link
SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose in Asian trade Monday, bolstered by improved investor sentiment amid widespread hopes for a global economic recovery, analysts said.
A weaker US dollar was also a factor behind the surge in oil prices, they said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, gained 25 cents to 74.14 dollars a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for October delivery advanced 44 cents to 74.63 dollars.
The New York contract soared to 74.72 dollars during US trading Friday, a level last seen on October 20 2008, before easing to close at 73.89 dollars. A slew of economic data released last week suggested the US economy and euro-zone economies were likely recovering, boosting hopes that energy demand in turn would see an up tick, analysts said.link
ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND: Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez was crowned Miss Universe 2009 here Monday, beating 84 contenders in the 58th edition of the annual pageant.
Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela placed the glittering $120,000 crown on 18-year-old Fernandez who looked pretty in a red evening gown.
Miss Dominican Republic Ada de la Cruz was crowned the first runner up, while Miss Kosovo Marigona Dragusha was declared the second runner up.
The five contestants in the final round, selected from 84 candidates worldwide, competed for the crown at a grand show in which American singer and TV artist Heidi Montag performed live.LINK
Curfew has been relaxed in various areas of the district.
Sources said that the security forces arrested 40 suspects during the search operation in Beshbund, an area of Charbagh tehsil in Swat while houses of two extremist commanders in the area of Sertaligram were destroyed.
Meanwhile, two extremists surrendered themselves to the forces in Gul Jabba, an area of tehsil Kabal.
All markets and bazars in Mingora are open today despite weekly holiday and a rush of people is being seen here.
According to Swat Media Centre, curfew will be relaxed upto 9-00 pm in Mingora, Kabal and Kanju, upto 6-00 pm in Khwazakhela, Matta, Warshkhela, Peochar and Madyan. LINK
The shuttle is scheduled to take off Tuesday at 01:36 am (0536 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The shuttle is to deliver equipment for a new bedroom, a treadmill, a freezer, food and other supplies. It will also be dropping off the newest member of the ISS team -- US astronaut Nicole Stott.
Stott will be taking over from engineer and fellow American Tim Kopra, who has been aboard the ISS since July and is returning to Earth with the Discovery.
"Our systems are in good shape, the launch countdown preps are proceedings without much event and we have no new issues to report," said Test Director Steve Payne. "The flight crew, vehicle and the launch team are ready to go."
The mission will be the 128th for the space shuttle program, and the 30th mission to the ISS.
Once the Discovery mission is complete, just six more shuttle flights remain before NASA's three shuttles are retired in September 2010.
The International Space Station is a project jointly run by 16 countries at a cost of 100 million dollars -- largely financed by the United States. LINK
Fire fighters say the blaze that broke out in the early hours of Saturday near Marathon, 25 miles northeast of Athens is being fanned by gale-force winds. Nine small planes, five helicopters and 35 ground vehicles are trying to contain the fire, which is burning forest, brush and farmland.
Locals said it was heading towards the town of Marathon after flames reached houses in the villages of Grammatiko and Varnavas. Residents with hoses, shovels and buckets of water are said to be trying to save their properties. So far no casualties have been reported. It is a very difficult fire because it rages in a mixed zone of residential areas and forest land," Greek fire brigade spokesman Giannis Kapakis told reporters. He urged people to promptly evacuate the areas on fire to avoid risking their lives and to help the fire brigade's efforts.
Meanwhile, another major fire has developed on the island of Zakynthos, in western Greece, though it is not threatening homes, the fire fighters said. Wildfires are frequent in Greece during the summer, often caused by high temperatures, drought or arson.
Reports said at least a dozen homes were damaged in the fire as panicked people rushed around to save their property despite warnings from fire officials to evacuate the area.In an effort to avoid an explosion, emergency forces removed munitions from an army base located in Varnava.
Just two years ago Greece saw its deadliest wildfires in living memory. Blazes on the island of Evia and the southern Peloponnese peninsula raged for more than 10 days, killing 65 people. LINK
New Zealand had kept one spot open when they announced their squad last month and coach Andy Moles said Diamanti was the best choice to fill the vacancy.
"Brendon is a strong lower order striker and has good control as a medium pace bowler -- he will provide valuable back-up for the squad," Moles said.
Diamanti, currently playing in India with the New Zealand A side, was also selected in the New Zealand one-day and Twenty20 squads to play in Sri Lanka.
The only player selected for the Champions Trophy who was not also picked for Sri Lanka was paceman Daryl Tuffey, who was replaced by offspinner Nathan McCullum.
Tuffey was picked for the test series in Sri Lanka but Moles said he was being rested from the one-dayers to save himself for the Champions Trophy.
"With turning wickets here in Sri Lanka, we're keen to have three spinners on call," Moles said.
"But conditions will be different in South Africa – two spinners will be sufficient there, and Daryl's inclusion will give our seam attack additional depth." ICC Champions Trophy
squad:
Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan
Patel, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey.
Squad for tour of Sri Lanka:
Daniel Vettori (captain), Shane Bond, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (ODIs only), Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan (Twenty20s only), Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor.LINK
Sources said that the police on a tip-off raided a pickup, which led to the trading fire with the accused, who later somehow managed to run away from the scene, while the police recovered 2,000 kilogram of explosive materials.
Police officials said that the vehicle stuffed with such a huge quantity of explosive materials aimed at some major terror incident, which was forestalled. Police said that hunting for the accused has started and soon they would be nabbed. link
Bolt has this week also shattered his own world records in winning the 100m (9.58sec) and 200m (19.19sec) to replicate his Beijing Olympics medal haul.
The Jamaican, who turned 23 on Friday, played down any suggestion that he was the "saviour" of athletics.
Steve Mullings, a 200m specialist, was the anchor man, handing on to Michael Frater, with former world record holder and current 100m bronze medallist Asafa Powell the sprinter entrusted with the final leg.
Bolt, however, failed to completely demonstrate his explosive power around the bend despite the roars of a packed Olympic Stadium, and his handover to Powell almost went awry when he just avoided running into his teammate.
The Jamaican foursome nevertheless set a championship record time of 37.31sec ahead of Trinidad and Tobago (37.62) with Britain claiming bronze (38.02).
In more glory for the Caribbean sprinters, Jamaica also won the women's 4x100m relay title after the US team had crashed out in their heat. The result meant that the only sprint title the US have won here is the women's 200m by Allyson Felix.
The Jamaican quartet, including individual 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser, timed 42.06 seconds to take gold ahead of Bahamas (42.29sec) while Germany took bronze (42.87sec).
Away from the world of sprinting, Kenya enjoyed an excellent day's work with long distance arch-rivals Ethiopia emerging as the main losers.
Kenyan Abel Kirui won the men's marathon with compatriot Emmanuel Mutai claiming silver ahead of Ethiopia's Olympic bronze medallist Tsegay Kebede.
And in the absence of injured Ethiopian distance-running starlet Tirunesh Dibaba, Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot trumped defending champion Meseret Defar, also of Ethiopia, in a sprint to the line in the women's 5000m.
As Defar eased off in the knowledge that she had been defeated, Cheruiyot's compatriot Sylvia Kibet stole in for silver.
American Dwight Phillips, who was the 2004 Olympic champion and world champion in 2003 and 2005, regained his long jump title with a best of 8.54m after seeing defending champion and Olympic titleholder Irving Saladino fail to make it through to the final three jumps.
South African Godfrey Mokoena (8.47m) replicated his Beijing Games form with a silver and Australia's Mitchell Watt took bronze (8.37m).
Australian Steve Hooker, the Olympic champion, overcame a groin injury to win the men's pole vault, making just one clearance at 5.90m for victory over French duo Romain Mesnil (5.85m) and Renaud Lavillenie (5.80m).
Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk set a new world record of 77.96m in winning the women's hammer throw, Germany's Betty Heidler claiming silver with a national record of 77.12m and Czech thrower Martina Hrasnova taking bronze with 74.79m. link
