W O R L D

Asma to be new Pak PM?
Islamabad, July 15
Pakistan's ruling PPP and main opposition PML-N are close to striking a deal on naming a consensus caretaker Premier, with top lawyer Asma Jahangir's candidature "under serious consideration", and finalising a date for polls to be held before year-end, a media report said today.
Asma Jahangir is a top lawyer & ex-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association

Japan troops fly supplies to thousands cut off by floods
Tokyo, July 15
Troops today airlifted supplies to thousands of people cut off by landslides and torrential downpours that have killed at least 24 in southwest Japan.
An aerial view of a flooded residential area near Kyoto on Sunday. — Reuters

Violence erupts in Karachi, 18 killed
A fresh bout of violence shook Pakistan's biggest city and financial hub, with at least 18 persons, including political activists, shot dead in different incidents of target killings over the past two days.

Mud therapy People play in a pool of mud during the 15th Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, southwest of Seoul, on Sunday. The annual festival, which runs from July 14-24, aims to encourage the use of mud for cosmetic skin-care and to promote tourism in the region. — Reuters

Japan recalls Beijing envoy amid territorial controversy
Tokyo, July 15
Japan today recalled its ambassador to China for consultations amid a simmering row between the Asian powers over disputed territory in the East China Sea, reports said.

Hillary urges Egypt’s military to support transition
Cairo, July 15
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks today with Egypt's top military leaders, just hours after calling for them to help smooth the country's full transition to democracy.

Imran plans peace caravan to Waziristan
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will take a peace caravan by late September to the Waziristan tribal region, a place engulfed by militancy and security operations, , Imran Khan chairman Pakistan Tehrike Insaf (PTI) has announced.

An unusual plea published in British newspaper: Stop raining
London, July 15
Just. Stop. Raining. That was the unusual plea published in an editorial in The Times of London today, a measure of Britons' growing frustration with months of miserable weather.

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Hundreds of people participate in a sing-along of a nursery rhyme in Windsor on Sunday. — AFP

Indian workers stranded in Saudi Arabia
Dubai: Eleven Indian workers, who were duped by a construction firm in Saudi Arabia, have been stranded in Riyadh, with their cases pending in labour courts for over a year.

Asma to be new Pak PM?
PPP-PML-N close to deal on naming consensus caretaker PM: Report

Islamabad, July 15
Pakistan's ruling PPP and main opposition PML-N are close to striking a deal on naming a consensus caretaker Premier, with top lawyer Asma Jahangir's candidature "under serious consideration", and finalising a date for polls to be held before year-end, a media report said today.

Amidst intense speculation regarding the outcome of the confrontation between the government and the judiciary, which may see a second premier losing his post, Pakistan's two largest political parties "are quietly but rapidly finalising an agreement," The Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying.

Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations, and leading lawyer Asma Jahangir, ex-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, are being seen as candidates for the post of caretaker Prime Minister in a set-up that will oversee the election, the report said.

Jahangir's candidature is "under serious consideration" while Haroon is being seen as a "soft, back-up option," according to the report.

The two parties have been holding discussions in private though they continue to criticise each other in public and in the media.

The discussions between the PPP and PML-N will be crucial for the first transition from one popularly elected government to another in Pakistan's history.

The daily said key sources in the top leadership of both parties had confirmed that talks on caretaker Prime Ministerial candidates and a date for the election were in "advanced stages."

The Supreme Court has set July 25 as the deadline for Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to approach Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The court had earlier convicted Ashraf's predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, of contempt and disqualified him for refusing to revive the cases.

Legal experts believe Ashraf too could be disqualified due to the government's insistence that the cases cannot be reopened because of the constitutional immunity enjoyed by Zardari.

A member of the inner circle of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif refused to deny or confirm the names of Jahangir and Haroon as candidates for the post of caretaker Premier and "advised patience for the short term."

He said: "Wait for two weeks and a lot will be clear, as well as some good news for all." The daily quoted a source close to the presidency as saying: "We have been talking (to the PML-N) not for some days but for close to two months now and have whittled down some names that are generally agreeable to both (our parties)."

The source further said the caretaker premier will "neither be from the PPP or PML-N nor one who has been a member or leader of any other political party." Sources said Jahangir is the current frontrunner because she is known for her vociferous stand for parliamentary supremacy and rule of law and her unambiguous stand against interference of the "establishment" in the democratic process.

A source in the PML-N said the recent consensus between the PML-N and PPP on appointing Fakhruddin G Ebrahim as the Chief Election Commissioner was closely linked to Jahangir's candidature being considered by both parties.

Sources said Jahangir recently met Nawaz Sharif and a close aide of President Zardari while Haroon is scheduled to meet the two leaders over the next few days.

They also said that the PPP's allies have agreed to leave it to Zardari to decide on a caretakr Prime Minister on behalf of the coalition. — PTI

Japan troops fly supplies to thousands cut off by floods

Tokyo, July 15
Troops today airlifted supplies to thousands of people cut off by landslides and torrential downpours that have killed at least 24 in southwest Japan as meteorologists warned of further heavy rain.

Television footage showed soldiers loading food, water and medical supplies onto military helicopters to send them to mountainous areas in Yame, Fukuoka prefecture on Kyushu island.

Local authorities were separately dispatching rescue helicopters to take patients and elderly villagers to hospital from the isolated area, where at least one person was killed, officials said.

More than 5,440 people have been cut off since late yesterday as landslides and fallen trees have blocked roads and water supplies in the region which has been hit by unprecedented rainfall since Wednesday.

"We will continue sending emergency rations to people there as it is still unknown when we can secure access to the area," said Kayo Shinohara, a spokeswoman for Yame City government.

"We are trying to do our best to remove rubble as soon as possible," the spokeswoman told AFP by phone.

Rescue operations resumed early today in other affected areas of Kyushu, where at least eight people were still missing after a total of 24 people were confirmed dead in landslides or floods, officials said.

Public broadcaster NHK showed rescuers using heavy machinery to remove uprooted trees, boulders and debris, while residents scooped mud out of their houses with shovels.

Some 3,600 people remained ordered or advised to leave their homes as at least 2,800 houses were flooded, NHK said, after local authorities lifted similar advice to some 400,000 others by today morning.

The weather eased somewhat today bringing temporary relief, but the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of more heavy rain, landslides and floods on the main southern island of Kyushu.

Rainfall of up to 81.7 cm has been recorded in hardest-hit Aso, situated at the foot of a volcano, where at least 18 people were killed and four others were still missing.

Heavy rainfall was also monitored in Kyoto, some 500 km east of the affected areas in Kyushu, today, flooding more than 20 houses, news reports said. — AFP

Violence erupts in Karachi, 18 killed
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

(With inputs from PTI)

Violence erupts in Karachi, 18 killed
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

(With inputs from PTI)

Japan recalls Beijing envoy amid territorial controversy

Tokyo, July 15
Japan today recalled its ambassador to China for consultations amid a simmering row between the Asian powers over disputed territory in the East China Sea, reports said.

Uichiro Niwa had returned to Tokyo for talks with Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on the latest developments in the dispute, they said. "I will report and have consultations" with Gemba, Niwa told reporters as he arrived at the foreign ministry in Tokyo, according to Jiji Press.

Niwa said it had yet to be decided when he would return to Beijing. "But I think I will have to return after finishing the talks," he was quoted by Kyodo News as saying.

Gemba has denied the government was recalling Niwa in protest against China, insisting that his return home was for consultations, Japanese media reported.

Japan last week lodged two separate complaints with Beijing after Chinese vessels entered resource-rich waters claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing near a group of islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.

It also summoned the Chinese ambassador after the first incident.

China, meanwhile, expressed its strong opposition to a Japanese plan to buy the islands from the family that Tokyo recognises as the legitimate owner.

Despite the importance of the two nations' trading ties, relations between Japan and China are frequently tense, particularly over the territorial dispute and Japan's war-time aggression in Asia. — AFP

Hillary urges Egypt’s military to support transition

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi at a meeting in Cairo. — AP/PTI

Cairo, July 15
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks today with Egypt's top military leaders, just hours after calling for them to help smooth the country's full transition to democracy.

The top US diplomat arrived in Egypt amid a complex power struggle being played out between the newly-elected Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

A day after her first meeting with Mursi, Clinton met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi -- the country's interim military ruler after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year ending three decades in power.

"They discussed the political transition and the SCAF's ongoing dialogue with President Mursi," a state department official told reporters after the talks that lasted just over an hour.

The two also discussed an economic package proposed by Clinton and "Tantawi stressed that this is what Egyptians need most now, help getting the economy back on track," the official said.

Hillary has repeatedly called on the military to respect the outcome of the elections and told a news conference her talks with Tantawi would focus on "working to support the military's return to a purely national security role."

Mursi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, is locked in a standoff with the military after he ordered Parliament to reconvene, defying an army decision to disband the house.

But a declaration issued by the SCAF before Mursi was sworn in, which acts as a temporary constitution, granted the military sweeping powers, including legislative control, even though they handed over to Mursi on June 30.

While Mursi's decree was applauded by supporters, it set off a firestorm of criticism from opponents who accused him of overstepping his authority. — PTI

Imran plans peace caravan to Waziristan
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will take a peace caravan by late September to the Waziristan tribal region, a place engulfed by militancy and security operations, , Imran Khan chairman Pakistan Tehrike Insaf (PTI) has announced.

"We will take representatives of human rights organisations and the media with us. We will march for peace," said Imran during a rally in Peshawar. He said the party wants to show the world that 'innocent people' are being killed in the area.

According to Imran, the party is holding protests to force the government to come out of the US war. "This is not our war, this is not Pakistan's war," Imran said as the participants started chanting the famous slogan of "Amreeka ka jo yaar hai, ghaddar hai, ghaddar hai (Those who are friends with the US are traitors)". Imran added that the government was fighting the war for dollars.

The party chief also called on President Asif Ali Zardari to "bring back his billions" from Switzerland.

"If you try to destroy the Supreme Court to save your looted money, then the tsunami march will reach there as well," Imran warned and went on to bash the newly elected Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. "Raja Rental, end this loadshedding. This is because of your corruption and incompetence that people are suffering."

Imran also targeted the major political party of the province, the Awami National Party (ANP). "We had high hopes from you, but you also became a pawn of Zardari and started joined in his loot of people's money," he added.

An unusual plea published in British newspaper: Stop raining

London, July 15
Just. Stop. Raining. That was the unusual plea published in an editorial in The Times of London today, a measure of Britons' growing frustration with months of miserable weather.

"Let us make our position crystal clear: We are against this weather," The venerable newspaper wrote in an unsigned opinion piece. "It must stop raining, and soon."

The UK is slogging through some of the wettest conditions in recent history. Nearly every day seems to bring showers, sprinkles, drizzles, or downpours. On Saturday alone, England's Environment Agency registered some 75 flood alerts and warnings across the country, including the west England county of Shropshire, where fire and rescue officials received an anguished phone call from a woman who found herself waist-deep in water overnight.

Area manager Martin Timmis said he was seeing flash floods almost every week as storms dumped more water on the already-saturated ground of a country not unused to wet weather.

"What's unprecedented is that this is becoming a regular occurrence," he said in a telephone interview. "The rain comes down and it's got nowhere to go." The soggy scenario has been repeated around the UK, with summer music festivals washed out, sporting events soaked, and spirits dampened by the non-stop precipitation.

Earlier this month the MFEST music festival in the English city of Leeds-where The Human League, Texas, Bob Geldof and Cher Lloyd were all booked to perform-was canceled due to the foul weather.

This week the Hit Factory Live, scheduled to feature pop princess Kylie Minogue, was canceled after London's Hyde Park was turned into a mucky quagmire.

Last week torrential downpours forced organisers to turn fans away from qualifying rounds of the British Grand Prix in Silverstone. Rain also delayed play and forced the roof to close at Sunday's Wimbledon tennis final, which saw Andy Murray lose out to Roger Federer as disappointed fans camped out in the mud outside Centre Court.

Britain's Meteorological Office says the jet stream, the narrow band of fast-moving wind which flows west to east across the Atlantic, may be in part to blame for the run of foul weather. In a blog post the weather service explained that the jet stream generally resides north of Britain during the summer months, guiding unsettled weather systems away from the country. This year, however, the jet stream has been stubbornly stuck to the country's south, "guiding those systems straight to us" and leading to the wettest June on record. — AP

Indian workers stranded in Saudi Arabia

Dubai: Eleven Indian workers, who were duped by a construction firm in Saudi Arabia, have been stranded in Riyadh, with their cases pending in labour courts for over a year.

Officials dealing with the case said today that a total of 23 Indian workers were affected in the matter, out of which the cases of 12 have been resolved. Saudi Arabia has repatriated 12 of the 23 workers and efforts are being made to expedite the case and send the remaining Indians home, an official said. — PTI