Arab states call for Saudi rethink on UN protest

Posted: UNITED NATIONS, United States, Oct 19, 2013 (AFP) - Arab nations on Saturday called on Saudi Arabia to reverse a decision to reject a seat on the UN Security Council in protest at its handling of the Syria war.Saudi Arabia's leaders should maintain their membership in the Security Council and continue their brave role in defending our issues specifically at the rostrum of the Security Council, said a statement released by Arab envoys to the UN body.The Arab ambassadors held emergency discussions after Saudi Arabia's surprise announcement Friday that it would not take up a Security Council seat because of the body's double standards on Syria and other Middle East hotspots.The ambassadors expressed respect and understanding for the brotherly Saudi position.They added, however, that it was crucial for Saudi Arabia to represent the Arab and Muslim world on the council at this important and historical stage, specifically for the Middle East region.Saudi Arabia won a prized two-year seat on the 15-nation Security Council in a UN General Assembly election on Thursday.The conservative kingdom stunned the diplomatic world the following day, however, by blasting the council's action on major issues such as Syria. The government said it would not take up its seat.Work mechanisms and double-standards on the Security Council prevent it from carrying out its duties and assuming its responsibilities in keeping world peace, the Saudi foreign ministry said, calling for reforms of the council.Many diplomats and analysts have said the Saudi protest was a message to the United States that it wanted a tougher stance on Syria and was angry that Washington had opened contacts with Iran.Saudi Arabia, the world's number one oil producer and a predominant Islamic power, is a major backer of Syrian opposition rebels and an arch-rival of the Iranian government.If Saudi Arabia goes ahead with its threat, the Asia-Pacific group will have to find a new candidate to put to a UN General Assembly vote before January 1.It has not yet sent an official letter to the United Nations, however. And Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador, Abdullah Al-Mouallimi, took part in discussions before the statement was released, diplomats said.But senior UN envoys say the decision was almost certainly taken personally by King Abdullah or Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.They said it would be very difficult to persuade the 89-year-old monarch to go back on the rejection.Last month, Prince Saud refused to speak or even hand out a copy of his speech at the UN General Assembly in front of world leaders. It was said to be a show of anger over Syria and the West's move to start talks with Iran's new president.Saudi Arabia was elected to the council with Nigeria, Lithuania, Chad and Chile. All had stood unopposed in the election.

At least 99 hurt in Buenos Aires train accident Posted: BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - At least 99 people were hurt Saturday, some seriously, in a train crash at the same Buenos Aires commuter rail stop where a deadly accident killed dozens just last year, officials said.Ninety-nine patients have been treated at Buenos Aires hospitals due to the accident, said local health chief Graciela Reybaud. Security chief Sergio Berni told local television that there are no fatalities for now at the Once train station in Buenos Aires, the same station where 51 people died and 700 were injured in February 2012, when a train slammed into a retaining wall.Railway officials said Saturday's accident occurred at 7:25 am (1025 GMT).Officials said they could not immediately determine the cause of the accident, but at least one witness reported that the train appeared to have trouble braking at two previous stops. Injured riders were rushed to about a dozen nearby hospitals via some 30 ambulances and two helicopters.Television footage showed various railway cars that had left the track and were on the platform after the train apparently failed to stop at the end of the line.Passengers who emerged from the wrecked train cars described a chaotic scene of people being thrown to the floor when the train made impact. Many passengers were trapped onboard until they could be rescued by firefighters.The driver on Saturday's train is 45 and highly experienced, according to his union, which said he was detained. He was injured but not seriously, it said.One witness said shaken passengers became enraged and accosted the motorman.People were shouting 'murderer' at him, said a man by the name of Julio who said he was a passenger in the third car.The train seemed as if it was having trouble braking for two stations prior to its arrival at the Once station, Julio said, adding that his fellow passengers were getting nervous, as they remembered last year's disaster at the same train station.Buenos Aires has been plagued by rail accidents in recent years. In addition to last February's deadly collision, there have been numerous other incidents, including a serious collision in June of this year, when a speeding commuter train slammed into another train that had stopped between stations, killing three people and injuring more than 300.Authorities said it was fortunate that, unlike the earlier major mishaps, Saturday's crash did not happen on a busy weekday, and that the train was only partially full.Argentina has tried to ramp up oversight of its problem-plagued train system since last year's deadly train collision.And, after June's deadly collision, officials put surveillance cameras in conductors' cabs. Worn out, decades-old cars were supposed to be replaced with shiny new Chinese-made ones.The increased surveillance has already revealed some acts of negligence by railway personnel, officials said in July.Transport Minister Florencio Randazzo said video images taken from the surveillance cameras showed drivers nodding off, on the phone or reading, sometimes with their hands off the controls altogether.A driver seen struggling to keep his eyes open has already been relieved of his duties, Randazzo said. He was driving a train with a thousand passengers, the transport minister said.

Eleven dead in Belgian plane crash Posted: BRUSSELS (AFP) - A plane carrying 10 skydivers, including one making her maiden jump for her birthday, crashed shortly after takeoff in Belgium Saturday, killing everyone on board and the pilot, authorities said.There were 11 killed: the pilot and 10 skydivers, including one woman, Jean-Claude Nihoul, the mayor of Fernelmont where the accident happened, told AFP.The woman, Maxime Prevot, was taking part in her first parachute jump for her birthday, said the mayor of Namur, the nearest major city.The accident took place just before 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) some 75 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of the capital Brussels.The plane took off from Temploux aerodrome and crashed in a field around 10 minutes later, said Nihoul.The plane, partially burned up, could no longer be recognised, he added.When firefighters arrived on the scene, the twin-engined plane was already ablaze and all the occupants dead, said Michel Doumont, head of the Namur fire service.Several witnesses said they saw the plane's right wing fell off in mid-flight.I just saw a plane lose its right wing in mid-flight and crash. I heard a massive 'bang' ... I didn't see anyone escape with a parachute, one witness told local television channel RTL.Another local witness described seeing the plane fly over him with pieces falling off it.Then the plane's nose dropped and it crashed 200 metres further on, the witness added.Benoit Pierson rushed to the plane when he saw it go down. One of the passengers was still alive, smashed up, but alive, he told local television.Other passengers jumped at the last minute. They died in the field, he added.King Philippe inspected the site of the wreckage in the early evening. He was due later to meet families of the victims.Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo said he learned with sadness of the tragic plane accident near Namur.He offered his most sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims.The small plane came down around 250 metres (yards) from houses near the village of Marchovelette, 10 kilometres (six miles) from the southern city of Namur.Nicolas Hormans, an instructor at the Temploux parachuting club, where the majority of the victims were from, said the people on board stood little chance of escape.If the plane was in a tailspin, it wouldn't have been possible to jump earlier. The passengers would have been in a centrifuge, he told RTL.

Suicide blast in central Somalia kills 15 Posted: MOGADISHU (AFP) - At least 15 people died Saturday in a suicide attack in a restaurant in the central Somali town of Beledweyne claimed by the Shebab, a local police chief said.The death toll we have so far is 15 and the injured are more than that number, Isaq Ali Abdi, police chief of the Hiraan region, told AFP.Witnesses said earlier they had counted 12 bodies after the blast.It was horrible, I counted 12 people killed -- among them soldiers -- and many others were injured, Mohamed Islow Ali, a witness, told AFP by telephone.There were a lot of people in the restaurant when the bomber blew himself up, many people have died including civilians, said Hussein Ali, another witness.The attack was carried out by one of the mujahedeen. Thanks to Allah, he has killed many of the enemy including Ethiopian soldiers and Djiboutians, Sheikh Mohamed, a Shebab commander in the nearby town of Bulaburde, told AFP.The attack targeted a restaurant said to be popular with the military. Ethiopian soldiers, as well as Djiboutians from an African Union force and Somali soldiers are all stationed in Beledweyne.Men from all three forces had gathered there to drink tea when the attacker struck, local people said.Some people were killed while drinking tea and others as they were walking past. It was an incident that terrorised the town's inhabitants, said Ahmed Mohamud, another resident.Somalia's president and prime minister both condemned the attack.This cowardly act was perpetrated by the violent elements who have no basis in Islamic ideology, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said.This proves that the Shebab opted solely for extremism after losing in battle, he said in a statement.I am deeply saddened by the death of innocent people in Beledweyne, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said for his part.Terrorists defeat only themselves when they commit these atrocities. They long ago lost all popular support as Somalis have discovered for themselves how poisonous the ideology of extremism is, he said.In June 2009, 20 people including Somalia's security minister were killed in Beledweyne when a suicide bomb blast claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab ripped through a hotel.The town lies some 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu. Its position close to the border with Ethiopia and on the road to Mogadishu gives it great strategic importance.It was through Beledweyne that Ethiopia entered Somalia in 2006 when it attempted to overthrow the Union of Islamic Courts, the Islamist militant group that was a precursor of the Shebab.Two years later, Ethiopian troops were driven back into Ethiopia, still via Beledweyne.They came back to affront the Shebab in late 2011. The Shebab have been driven out of Somalia's major towns, including the capital Mogadishu and the key southern port of Kismayo, by a UN-mandated African Union force that now numbers 17,700 men.However the group still controls large swathes of southern Somalia and has over the past few months stepped up the scale of its suicide attacks.

Tennis: Haas meets Haase for title after Tsonga crashes Posted: VIENNA (AFP) - Robin Haase upset top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) to earn a Sunday final at the Austrian Open against German veteran Tommy Haas.Haas reached his third Vienna final as furious opponent Lukas Rosol cracked a racquet in half when facing six match points, drawing a point penalty which handed his German opponent a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) win.Tsonga, competing in a fourth event in the last five weeks, was playing with a heavy strapping on the left knee which kept him out of tennis for nearly three months over the summer. Haase is a good player who gave me trouble on clay in Madrid, said Frenchman Tsonga, who is trying to claim one of the four remaining places at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.I'm not in the best of shape and it showed out there. But I have to keep playing if I want to make London. I had my chances but he was too good. I just have to keep fighting and trying to win matches.Haase, the world number 63, owns two trophies at the famed Austrian alpine resort of Kitzbuhel but both were on clay.Haas is the second seed and was champion at the Stadthalle 12 years ago and losing finalist in 2000 to Tim Henman.I first played here in 1997, so to be back in the final in 2013 is great, it's very special, said Haas. I feel good about it, I'm very happy.Overall I knew it would be a tough match, he's the kind of opponent who once he gets some confidence can be very tough. That's how it was.The tiebreak in the third set was key. I played it well and he gave me some unforced errors which helped. It came down to a few points.Rosol found himself trailing badly in the tiebreak against the 35-year-old Haas when his temper finally snapped.The eighth-seeded Czech netted a forehand to hand Haas his handful of winning chances.With that error, Rosol slammed his racquet to the ground and then snapped it over one knee.It was enough of an outburst to draw a point penalty, giving victory to Haas in just over one and three-quarter hours.Despite 18 aces from Rosol, Haas hung tough after dropping the first set in 24 minutes, recovering throughout the second and third sets to earn his 46th victory of the season against 19 losses.The German also remains in the chase for eight-man season wrap-up starting in little more than a fortnight in London. Tsonga is also chasing a spot, standing provisional ninth to the 12th of Haas.Haas, winner of his 14th title last May in Munich, has never gone to the year-end event.

Ferrer, Dimitrov reach final of Stockholm Open Posted: STOCKHOLM (AP) - Top-seeded David Ferrer became the first Spaniard in 37 years to reach the Stockholm Open final when he beat fifth-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours on Saturday.In the way of Ferrer being the first Spanish champion in the open era will be seventh-seeded Grigor Dimotrov of Bulgaria, who overcame wild card Benoit Paire of France 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.Ferrer will be going for his third title of the year, and first since February.Dimitrov opened the year with his first career final in Brisbane, but entered Stockholm on a four-match losing streak.

Wozniacki, Beck to play Luxembourg Open final Posted: LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will play Annika Beck of Germany in Sunday's final of the Luxembourg Open.Wozniacki, ranked ninth in the world, swept past third-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-4. She has lost only one set all week.Beck advanced to her first WTA final when Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland had to retire hurt at 7-5, 1-0 in their semifinal.Wozniacki has 20 career titles, but yet to win one this year. She and Beck will meet for the first time.

Football: Liverpool go top after draw at Newcastle Posted: LONDON (AFP) - Liverpool inched to the top of the Premier League table after twice coming from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at 10-man Newcastle United on Saturday.French midfielder Yohan Cabaye gave Newcastle the lead mid-way through the first half with a 30-yard drive that plunged into the bottom-left corner.Visiting captain Steven Gerrard equalised from the penalty spot just before half-time, taking his tally of Premier League goals to 100, after Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was sent off for impeding Luis Suarez.Against the odds, Newcastle restored their lead through 22-year-old substitute Paul Dummett, who was making just his second league appearance, only for Daniel Sturridge to head home a 72nd-minute equaliser from Suarez's cross.It's never easy when you're playing against 10 men, but I thought some of our play was outstanding today. We had to show character twice, coming from behind, said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.But give Newcastle credit as well. A point at St James Park won't be the worst result you can get.The point took Liverpool a point clear of previous leaders Arsenal, who can return to the top of the table if they avoid defeat at home to Norwich City later on Saturday.Newcastle United climbed one place to ninth, leapfrogging champions Manchester United, who will bid to revive their title defence at home to fourth-place Southampton.Chelsea, third, host promoted Cardiff City and fifth-place Manchester City visit West Ham United, who stunned Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at White Hart Lane in their last outing.

Madrid beats Malaga 2-0 ahead of Juventus CL match Posted: BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Real Madrid beat Malaga 2-0 in the Spanish league on Saturday as Carlo Ancelotti's team continues to grind out wins before a tough four-day span with matches against Juventus and Barcelona.Real Sociedad broke an eight-game winless streak in all competitions with a morale-boosting 2-1 victory at Valencia before it travels to Manchester United on Tuesday in the Champions League.Angel Di Maria scored for Madrid seconds after halftime with a cross intended for Cristiano Ronaldo that caught Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero out of position.Madrid's 100-million-euro winger Gareth Bale went on for the final 15 minutes after recovering from a leg injury and earned a questionable penalty that Ronaldo converted in injury time.Ronaldo's eighth goal of the season took him level with Barcelona's Lionel Messi. Both trail Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa with 10.Madrid hosts Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League and travels to Barcelona next Saturday for the season's first clasico.My players' attitudes were much better, said Ancelotti, who this week said his team played so poorly recently it could only improve.We defended well, were more aggressive and played with our lines closer together, he said. I hope to see this same intensity in the games to come. We recovered the ball well, applied pressure well and maintained our positions. That was the difference from other games.Madrid's victory provisionally closed the gap with Barcelona and Atletico to two points before they played their respective matches at Osasuna and Espanyol later Saturday.Ancelotti said striker Karim Benzema would be back in his squad for the Juventus match after he missed Saturday's game due to a leg knock he picked up in training on Friday. Youngster Alvaro Morata started in his place and was Madrid's most active player in an otherwise dull first half that only saw Ronaldo hit the crossbar in the eighth minute.While Madrid again failed to impress, it improved as the match went on and was denied a bigger win only by Caballero.Malaga mustered even less in attack in manager Bernd Schuster's return to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where he both played and coached for Madrid.Caballero made an excellent reflex save with his left foot to deny Ronaldo from close range in the 82nd and two minutes later used his right hand to parry substitute Jese Rodriguez's low shot past his upright.Di Maria said he wanted to see Caballero join him on Argentina's national team as it prepares for the 2014 World Cup.I believe Caballero deserves to go, Di Maria said.But Caballero couldn't reach Ronaldo's well-placed spot kick into the corner of the net after Bale went flying to the turf following what appeared to be light contact with Malaga defender Weligton.Bale had done little before the penalty in his first action since injuring his left hamstring last month.At Mestalla Stadium, Antoine Griezmann opened for Sociedad in the 41st and Ruben Pardo sent a swerving long strike just inside the post to effectively seal the result in the 59th. Dorlan Pabon snatched Valencia's consolation goal before the final whistle.

ICC extends Bangladesh World T20 deadline Posted: LONDON (AFP) - Bangladesh's deadline for getting its stadiums ready for next year's World Twenty20 has been extended until November 30, the International Cricket Council said Saturday after a two-day board meeting in London.Concern has centred around the state of grounds at Sylhet and Cox's Bazar, which are still being developed.However, Bangladesh officials have insisted the pavilion at Sylhet, a major source of construction work, is close to completion.The Bangladesh Cricket Board had been set a deadline of September 30 to have the stadia ready for next year's tournament, with BCB president Nazmul Hasan saying in August he had no doubt that the construction work will end by mid-October.Next year's World Twenty20 is due to take place in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6.An ICC statement issued after the London board meeting finished on Saturday said a tournament schedule would be announced in Dhaka on October 27.The ICC board also endorsed the proposals of its chief executives' committee meeting in Dubai last month.That saw officials agree that the number of reviews under the Decision Review System (DRS) will be topped-up to two after 80 overs of a Test innings.Currently, teams are only permitted a maximum of two unsuccessful reviews per innings.The new playing conditions, which will be trialled from October 1, came about following complaints about DRS procedures from both sides during England's recent 3-0 home Ashes series win over arch-rivals Australia. The board also upheld the CEC's view that current playing conditions for one-day internationals remain in force.In other announcements, the board said the post of ICC chairman would only come into being following next year's annual conference.The thinking behind the new post had been to turn the ICC president into a figurehead, with executive power now in the hands of the chairman.However, the Cricinfo website reported that both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were seeking to dilute the proposed powers of the chairman, preferring his role to be reduced to that of a convenor.Afghanistan's qualification for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand led the ICC board to give the emerging nation an additional $1.1 million in funding through its Targeted Assistance Performance Programme.Meanwhile the board confirmed the 2014 Under-19 World Cup will take place in the United Arab Emirates from February 14 to March 1.

Malala reunited with Pakistan attack schoolfriends Posted: LONDON (AFP) - Campaigning Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai was reunited on Saturday with two friends who were injured in the Taliban attempt to kill her.Kainat Riaz and Shazia Ramzan met Malala during an event at Edinburgh University in Scotland, the first time they have seen her since the attack.A Taliban gunman boarded the girls' school bus in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley in October 2012 and opened fire at Malala to punish her for championing girls' rights to education. Malala, now 16, was shot in the head while Kainat and Shazia were both wounded in the crossfire.All three girls are now living and studying in Britain. Malala received medical treatment for her injuries at a British hospital.They were the guests of honour at the launch on Saturday of the Global Citizenship Commission, a body of leaders representing politics, religious institutions, law and philanthropyAfter I was shot the terrorists thought that I would not continue the struggle for education, but not only did I not stop my campaign but now Kainat and Shazia are with me and they are also supporting me, Malala told the event.They are not afraid, we are not afraid and now people are supporting us and that is the greatest courage, and that is the weapon that we have got, the unity and togetherness.Malala was also presented with an honorary masters degree from the university by former British prime minister Gordon Brown, who has backed her campaign.The event is the latest in a series to fete Malala's work.She went to Buckingham Palace on Friday to meet Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, while last week she met US President Barack Obama.Malala was among the favourites to win the Nobel Peace Prize this month, but she lost out to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

US releases $1.6bn in aid to Pakistan Posted: WASINGTON (Web Desk) - NATO supply routes have reopened, drone strikes are down and the uncomfortable allies have resumed their strategic dialogue.The US has quietly decided to release more than $1.6bn (£1bn) in military and economic aid to Pakistan that was suspended when relations between the two countries disintegrated over the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden and deadly US air strikes against Pakistani soldiers.Officials and congressional aides said ties have improved enough to allow the money to flow again.US and Nato supply routes to Afghanistan are open. Controversial US drone strikes are down. The US and Pakistan recently announced the restart of their strategic dialogue after a long pause.Pakistans new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is travelling to Washington for talks this coming week with President Barack Obama.But in a summer dominated by foreign policy debates over the coup in Egypt and chemical weapons attacks in Syria, the US has not promoted its revamped aid relationship with Pakistan. Neither has Pakistan.The silence reflects the lingering mutual suspicions between the two.The Pakistanis do not like being seen as dependent on their heavy-handed partners.The Americans are uncomfortable highlighting the billions provided to a government that is plagued by corruption and perceived as often duplicitous in fighting terrorism.Congress has cleared most of the money, which should start moving early next year, officials and congressional aides said.Over three weeks in July and August, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development informed Congress that it planned to restart a wide range of assistance, mostly dedicated to helping Pakistan fight terrorism.The US sees that effort sees as essential as it withdraws troops from neighbouring Afghanistan next year and tries to leave a stable government behind.Other funds focus on a range of items, including help for Pakistani law enforcement and a multibillion-dollar dam in disputed territory.US-Pakistani relations have weathered numerous crises in recent years.There was a months-long legal battle over a CIA contractor who killed two Pakistanis, in addition to the fallout from Bin Ladens killing in the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad in May 2011.The Pakistani government was outraged that it received no advance warning of the Navy Seal raid on Bin Ladens compound.Adding to the mistrust, the US mistakenly killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers in November 2011. Islamabad responded by shutting land supply routes for troops in Afghanistan until it received a US apology seven months later.The State Department told Congress that the US had not conducted any significant military financing for Pakistan since the challenging and rapidly changing period of US-Pakistan relations in 2011 and 2012.The department stressed the importance now of enhancing Pakistans anti-terrorism capabilities through better communications, night vision capabilities, maritime security and precision striking with F16 fighter jets.The department told Congress on 25 July that it would spend $295m to help Pakistans military. Twelve days later it announced $386m more.A pair of notifications arriving on 13 August and worth $705m centred on helping Pakistani troops and air forces operating in the militant hotbeds of western Pakistan, and other counterinsurgency efforts.The administration had until the end of September to provide Congress with reprogramming plans at the risk of forfeiting some of the money, which spans federal budgets from 2009-2013.State Department officials said the renewal of aid was not determined by any single event.But they noted a confluence of signs of greater cooperation, from Pakistans improved commitment to stamping out explosives manufacturing to its recent counterterror offensive in areas bordering Afghanistan that have served as a primary sanctuary for the Taliban.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk publicly about the aid relationship ahead of Sharifs visit.They said the money would start reaching Pakistan in 2014 but take several years to disburse fully.In its notifications to Congress, the department described fighting terrorism as a mutual concern but said little about the will of Pakistans government, army and intelligence services to crack down on militant groups that often have operated with impunity in Pakistan while wreaking havoc on US and international forces across the border in Afghanistan.

FBI probing lasers targeting airplanes Posted: NEW YORK CITY (AFP) - The US Federal Bureau of Investigations says its antiterrorism unit is investigating lasers that have increasingly been targeting commercial airplanes arriving at New York Citys airports.The incidents -- which can temporarily or permanently blind a pilot and crew -- have increased 17 percent since last year, according to the statement from the federal law enforcement agency dated Friday.The two latest incidents happened Tuesday. The first, at 7:35 pm local time (2335 GMT), involved a flight with regional carrier Shuttle America.The aircraft cockpit was illuminated by a green laser as it approached La Guardia airport, while it was around six miles (10 kilometers) away, the FBI said.The laser beam came from the Bronx, according to the crew.In the second incident, three hours later, a private aircraft reported another green laser coming from Queens, around two miles (three kilometers) southwest of La Guardia airport.No one was injured in Tuesdays incidents, but several commercial pilots earlier this year suffered significant injury including a burnt retina, the FBI said.The agency is asking anyone with information about any of these dangerous laser incidents to pick up the phone and call us, George Venizelos, a top FBI official in New York said.Our paramount concern is the safety of aircraft passengers and crew.The statement said the agency is offering a reward of an unspecified amount for information leading to an arrest and conviction.According to the Federal Aviation Authority, laser incidents have been increasing for several years. Across the US, some 3,592 incidents were reported in 2011, up from 2,836 incidents the year before.It is a crime in the United States to point a laser at an airplane -- punishable with jail time and a fine up to $11,000.The FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is leading the investigation, comprises more than 50 local, state and federal agencies.

Amir ban will be reviewed only after law revision: ICC Posted: LONDON (AP) - Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amirs five-year ban will be reviewed only after the International Cricket Councils anti-corruption code is updated, the games governing body said on Saturday.The ICC board was informed that a more robust and strengthened anti-corruption code will be submitted for discussion and approval at the next meeting in January.The ICC board decided to review (Amirs) matter in due course after the revised anti-corruption code has been finalized and adopted, the ICC said in a statement after its two-day board meeting.Englands Giles Clarke heads a working group revising the laws under which Amir was banned for five years in 2010 for spot-fixing during a test at Lords.Amir was jailed in London for cheating and released early for good behavior, while former teammates Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were also jailed and banned for several years.Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi, who also raised Amirs case in the last ICC meeting a few months back, yet again made a passionate pitch before the board on Saturday to enable the fast bowlers return to first-class cricket much earlier than its scheduled end in September 2015.The PCB also hired a British Queens Counsel to plead Amirs case.The British QC has argued that keeping in view the acceptance of guilt by Amir the ban has become unjust and perverse, the PCB said in a statement.The PCB also said Clarke has assured Najam Sethi that he would work with him to find ways and means of positively reviewing the young fast bowlers case.In other developments, Bangladesh Cricket Boards request was accepted to give them more time for completion of stadia for the 2014 World Twenty20.The format and schedule will be announced in Dhaka on Oct. 27.Afghanistans dream qualification for the 2015 World Cup earned the war-torn country $1.1 million as part of the ICCs targeted assistance performance program.

Punjab govt facing financial crunch Posted: LAHORE (Dunya News) – According to State Bank documents Punjab government has acquired an overdraft of Rs 7.18 billion.There are Rs 32 billion in the account of district governments but its current account shows deficit of Rs 40.08 billion.According to the accounts statements, out of 290 billion rupees fund earmarked for annual development programme2013-14 , only 15.11 million rupees have been spent in the period from July to September.In light of the financial situation, it is feared that a huge cut will be imposed in the development schemes.Punjab govt has also refused to pay dues of 12-month salary encashment to the 7,000 retired Punjab govt employees during the last 15 months.It is pertinent note that the federal government had through a notification ordered payment 12-month leave encashment from July 2012 to all retiring employees. (Zulfiqar Ali Mehto)