The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	No end to political crisis in Pak as PM Sharif refuses to resign Imran calls off negotiations with govt \| Clear Constitution Avenue by Thursday: SC Islamabad, August 27 Pakistan's political crisis showed no signs of resolution today with talks between the government and protesters failing on the issue of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation. After the fifth round of talks, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan called off the dialogue with the government, saying that he will not be able to get justice as long as Sharif stays on as Prime Minister. The hardening of stance came even as the Supreme Court ordered the demonstrators to clear the Constitution Avenue by tomorrow. Facing his toughest test since coming to power last year, a defiant Sharif today brushed aside the demand of protesters asking him to quit saying the country has survived "difficult times" and the current political crisis too shall pass. Political stalemate has continued for the last two weeks with the PTI and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) refusing to budge from their demand of the Prime Minister's resignation over allegations of rigging in the last year's general election and killing of 14 PAT supporters in Lahore on June 17. The talks between the PTI and the government ended in a stalemate today with the sticking point being the protesters' demand of Prime Minister's resignation. "There will be no negotiations with your team now. No resignation, no negotiations," Khan told a crowd of supporters outside the Parliament. "Nawaz Sharif is buying time. If we let him stay, he will buy officials and media houses," Khan said. "We offered concessions, we agreed for the Prime Minister to resign only for 30 days, but they know what would happen if they allow investigations to proceed," the cricketer-turned politician said. "If you pull back, there will be no independent inquiry under Nawaz Sharif," Khan said. He claimed that the government offered to make him Deputy Prime Minister. Khan's move to call off talks came after Qadri's 48-hour ultimatum to Sharif to step down expired. Qadri announced the deadline for the government to quit on Monday after talks with the government failed to make any headway. Meanwhile, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court gave the order for PTI and PAT protesters to clear the Constitution Avenue, including a road in front of the apex court and Parliament. The order was given during the hearing of identical petitions filed by Bar associations across the country against the PAT and PTI sit-ins. — PTI Musharraf backs public demand for 'change' Islamabad: Former Pakistan President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has come out in support of public demand for change in the country's political system before another election is held. In an interview with a private TV channel on Tuesday night, Musharraf said the change must come before elections. He said the nation needed reforms and change before going for another election and quoted political leaders such as Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan as examples. — ANI Pakistan continues to be a safe haven for terrorists, says US Washington: The Pentagon has said Pakistan continues to be a safe haven for terrorists while lauding the efforts of the country's military to eliminate extremism, which it described as a “common threat” for both nations. "Extremists and the safe haven pose a challenge and the sanctuary that they continue to enjoy in Pakistan, but the Pakistani military has taken action against some of those extremist threats inside their own country," Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said. — PTI
	Russia makes new incursion, says Ukraine Kiev/Donetsk, August 27 Ukraine accused Russian forces of launching a new military incursion across its border on Wednesday, a day after the leaders of both countries agreed to work towards ending a separatist war in the east of the country. The accusation, which could not be immediately verified, quickly dented any sense of cautious optimism from Tuesday's late-night talks between presidents Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko on resolving the five-month conflict. Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said a group of Russian soldiers had crossed the border in armoured infantry carriers and a truck and entered the eastern town of Amvrosiyivka, not far from where Ukraine detained 10 Russian soldiers on Monday. Lysenko said fighting in the towns of Horlivka and Ilovaysk to the north and east, respectively had killed about 200 pro-Russian separatists and destroyed tanks and missile systems. — Reuters
	Thousands return home as Gaza ceasefire holds Gaza/Jerusalem, August 27 An open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war held on Wednesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong criticism in Israel over a costly conflict with Palestinian militants in which no clear victor emerged. On the streets of the battered, Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, people headed to shops and banks, trying to resume the normal pace of life after seven weeks of fighting. Thousands of others, who had fled the battles and sheltered with relatives or in schools, returned home, where some found only rubble. In Israel, sirens of incoming rocket fire from the Gaza Strip fell silent, but media commentators, echoing attacks by members of Netanyahu's governing coalition, voiced deep disappointment over his leadership during the most prolonged bout of Israeli-Palestinian violence in a decade. — Reuters Hamas ‘brought Israel to its knees’: Iran Tehran: Iran on Wednesday said Palestinian militants had emerged the victors and brought their Israeli foe "to its knees" during the bloody 50-day Gaza conflict. — AFP
	ISIS ‘executes’ soldiers at Syria base Beirut, August 27 Islamic State militants have executed Syrian army soldiers and are holding a group hostage after capturing an air base in northeast Syria at the weekend, pictures posted on social media by supporters showed on Wednesday. Islamic State, an offshoot of al-Qaida, stormed Tabqa air base near Raqqa city on Sunday after days of fighting with the army that cost more than 500 lives, according to monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Tabqa was the army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by the militants, who have seized large areas of Syria and Iraq. The United States has carried out air strikes on the group in Iraq and is considering its options in Syria. In one picture posted online, a group of militants in balaclavas are seen gunning down at least seven kneeling men identified as army personnel. It was not possible to immediately confirm the authenticity of the images. Other photos showed groups of eight to 10 soldiers taken hostage, some with face wounds and three identified as officers. The photos appeared to show at least two dozen hostages. One picture reportedly shows the body of a pilot who had appeared on Syrian television before the attack on the base explaining how the army could easily defend it. Others show militants holding up knives next to groups of captured men. Syrian state television aired a report last week interviewing army personnel at the base and showing its defences, just before Islamic State overran it. After the capture on Sunday, Syrian state television said the military was "regrouping" and that there was a "successful evacuation of the airport" as the army continued strikes on Islamic State in areas close to the base. The Observatory said 346 Islamic State fighters were killed and more than 170 members of the security forces had died in five days of fighting over the base, one of the deadliest clashes between the two groups since the start of the war. The photos also showed the attack on the base, which used at least one tank. Other photos showed bodies and abandoned military hardware, such as a jet, warplane munitions and missiles, although it was not clear if any were operational. — Reuters First American jihadi dies fighting for ISIL Washington: California-born Douglas McAuthur McCain (33) has become the first American jihadi to have died in Syria while fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a terrorist outfit that has gained control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. "We were aware of US Citizen Douglas McAuthur McCain's presence in Syria and can confirm his death. We continue to use every tool we possess to disrupt and dissuade individuals from travelling abroad for violent jihad and to track and engage those who return," Caitlin Hayden, spokesperson of the National Security Council, the White House, said. — PTI Seven nations join US in arming Kurds Washington: Seven nations, including Italy, France and the UK, have joined the American effort to arm the Kurdish forces in northern Iraq against ISIS. "In addition to support from the US and the central government of Iraq in Baghdad, Albania, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Italy, France, and the UK have committed to helping Kurdish forces with arms and equipment,” US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said. — PTI Forces mass to break jihadist siege of town Kirkuk: Iraq was massing forces on Wednesday for an operation to break a two-month jihadist siege of the town of Amerli amid growing fears for residents short of food and water. Thousands of Shiite militiamen from groups, including Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organisation, are gathering in the Tuz Khurmatu area in preparation for a battle to break the siege, a civilian volunteer commander said. — AFP

UK relaxes rules to employ nurses

London, August 27
Britain has relaxed rules for employment of foreign nurses, including from India, to try and plug a severe shortage in the country’s health system.

Overseas applicants will now face shorter computer-based tests in simulated clinical scenarios from October to check if they are fit to work in the UK, and no longer require a supervised work placement which could last up to three months.

“This will ensure the hundreds of nurses and midwives who trained overseas and wish to practise in the UK are assessed in a proportionate and robust way, in order to protect the public,” said Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in a statement.

The NMC feels the current system needs to change as it is not fast enough for employers, who need to recruit quickly.

The country’s National Health Scheme relies heavily on foreign staff. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Common Core policy: Bobby Jindal sues Obama admn
Washington: Indian American governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal on Wednesday sued the Obama administration, accusing it of hijacking federal grants to coerce states to adopt common core educational standards and assessments, thus violating the federal law and the Constitution. "The federal government has hijacked and destroyed the Common Core initiative," Jindal said after filing the lawsuit against the Obama Administration. PTI

People throw tomatoes at each other during the annual “tomatina” fiesta in Bunol, Spain, on Wednesday. AP/pti

Abdullah pulls out of Afghanistan vote audit
Kabul: Afghanistan's fraud-hit election teetered on the brink of collapse on Wednesday as one of the two candidates boycotted the UN-supervised vote audit set up to end a prolonged dispute over the rightful winner. Abdullah Abdullah, who claims that a fraud was committed against him in the June 14 vote, pulled out of the audit after his senior campaign officials dismissed the process for invalidating fake votes as "a joke". AFP

Experts gather 283 DNA samples from MH17 site
The Hague: Experts working to identify the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 have gathered DNA samples from 283 people and have positively identified 173. Wim Heijnen of the Netherlands Forensic Institute said on Wednesday the DNA samples do not all correspond to a victim's identification. Some of the samples could be from workers who gathered the bodies where the jet was shot down in eastern Ukraine. AP

China may recall 700 'illegally' released convicts
Beijing: China may recall over 700 convicts, including 76 "corrupt officials", whose sentences were commuted "illegally" as the country's top prosecution body stumbled on large-scale unlawful reduction of sentences. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has suggested that more than 700 convicts, whose sentences were commuted illegally, should be returned to prison, state-run China Daily reported on Wednesday. PTI

44 Nepalese workers held for rioting in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian police have arrested 44 Nepalese workers after some 500 migrant workers rioted, set fire to an electronics factory and attacked officers, a senior security official said on Wednesday. Mohamad Idris Samsur, local police chief in Johor state, said the workers initially went on a strike on Tuesday to express their dissatification over working conditions but their action subsequently turned violent. AFP

Indian charged with murder in Singapore
Singapore: A 26-year-old Indian was on Wednesday charged by a court for the murder of a compatriot at an industrial estate in the west coast of Singapore. Thiruppathi Veerapperumal allegedly murdered 26-year-old Murugaiya Suresh Kumar last week near 72 Pandan Loop along the road leading to west coast highway. PTI

Hurricane Cristobal kills four, moves toward Bermuda
Miami: Strengthening Hurricane Cristobal killed at least four persons in the Caribbean and then trained its deadly sights on the holiday paradise of Bermuda, officials and meteorologists have said. The storm dumped torrential rain on the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands and Dominican Republic, triggering flooding and killing four persons on Tuesday, authorities said. AFP

9-year-old girl accidentally kills instructor in US
Washington: A 9-year-old girl learning to fire a Uzi submachine gun accidentally killed her instructor at a shooting range in Arizona when the weapon recoiled over her shoulder, US authorities said on Wednesday. The instructor, 39-year-old Charles Vacca, died at a hospital on Monday after he was shot in the head. PTI