Lahore: Roof collapse kills one

Posted: LAHORE (Dunya News) – Roof of a dilapidated house collapsed in Shahdara Town on Sunday, burying a man named Shazad and his five children under the debris.Rescue teams shifted the injured to a nearby hospital where Shahzad succumbed to his wounds.

Hajj rituals: Pilgrims to arrive in Arafat today Posted: MAKKAH MUKARRAMA (Agencies) - Hundreds of thousands of Hajj pilgrims began streamed into tent city at Mina by foot, on buses and in four-wheel drives amid extreme heat and humidity where they spent the night reciting the Holy Quran.Faithful will leave for Arafat today (Monday) after Fajar prayers to perform the main ritual of Hajj Waqoof-e-Arafat.The Imam will deliver Hajj Khutbah from Masjid-e-Nimra highlighting the importance of Hajj and challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah. The pilgrims here offer their Zuhar and Asar prayers combined. The faithful then leave for Muzdalfa, where delayed (Qasar) Maghrib and Esha combined prayers would be offered, while in the remaining part of the night, they would collect pebbles for Rami Jamarat.Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The pilgrims would return to Mina valley on Tuesday after offering Fajar prayer. Reaching Mina, they would perform Jamarat ul Aqaba, offer Qurbani and then would leave for Makka al Mukarrama, where they would perform around Baitullah Sharif Tawaf-e-Ziarat and, thereafter, shaving their heads would take off Ehram.

World powers set for nuclear talks with Iran Posted: TEHRAN (AFP) - World powers will meet for fresh talks with Iran on its controversial nuclear programme on Tuesday, as hopes rise for a more conciliatory approach from the new Tehran government.The two-day meeting in Geneva will be the first such negotiations since President Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, took office in August.Rouhani has pledged to engage constructively to resolve the decade-long dispute over Irans nuclear drive and ultimately secure the lifting of crippling Western sanctions.The West and Israel suspect Iran is seeking a nuclear weapons capability, which it has repeatedly denied.Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has taken over as Irans lead negotiator with the so-called P51 group of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.But so far he has been tight-lipped about what Iran is prepared to offer in exchange for relief from EU and US sanctions which have badly hit Irans oil exports and its access to global banking.We will present our views, as agreed, in Geneva, not before, Zarif tweeted.But his deputy in the talks, Abbas Araqchi, has insisted there can be no question of Iran relinquishing its stockpile of enriched uranium, which could potentially be used for civilian or military purposes.We will negotiate about the volume, levels and the methods of enrichment but shipping out the (enriched) material is a red line for Iran, said Araqchi.Uranium needs to be enriched to levels of above 90 percent for use in a nuclear warhead.Only low levels are required to fuel power plants, while Iran says it also needs uranium enriched to 20 percent for a medical research reactor.The 20 percent enriched uranium is the source of the greatest concern for the West and Israel, which fear Iran could covertly divert some of it for further enrichment towards weapons grade.Iran currently has 6,774 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, and nearly 186 kilograms of material enriched to 20 percent, as well as 187 kilograms of the 20 percent material converted to uranium oxide for use in fuel plates.Iran says it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and has defied repeated UN Security Council ultimatums to suspend all enrichment.A source close to Irans negotiators told the official IRNA news agency they would submit to the powers a clear path for the talks, and include a timetable and a framework with specified first and last steps.ISNA news agency cited Iranian diplomats as saying recognition of the right to enrichment on Iranian soil was the endgame for the talks, not a precondition as in the past.

Two car bombs explode in Central Damascus Posted: DAMASCUS (AFP) - Two cars laden with explosives and driven by suicide bombers blew up in the centre of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday night, state media reported.Two terrorist car bombs driven by suicide bombers detonated at the entrance of Ummayad Square, the official SANA news agency and state television reported, without specifying if there were casualties.The blasts went off near the building of the national broadcaster, with a state television reporter saying a concrete barrier outside the station had been damaged but the facility was largely intact.Footage of the scene broadcast by the government-run Al-Ikhbariya TV showed fires and smoke rising over the site as firefighters worked to put them out.The reporter made no mention of any injuries in the blast, saying only that there were some human remains at the scene, likely those of a suicide bomber.The explosions occurred only a few kilometres (miles) from the hotel where a team of international experts from the Organisation from the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations are staying.The state television and radio building has been targeted before, including in an August 6, 2012 blast that caused injuries and damage.But Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi, speaking to state television, said there were no reported casualties in the double blast.There are no casualties in these attacks, all the employees are fine, he said.Im not surprised... by this aggression because we are well aware that it reflects the inability of these armed terrorist groups to achieve their goals, he added.The Syrian regime uses the term terrorists to refer to all those seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

91 killed in India stampede at Hindu festival finale Posted: BHOPAL (AFP) - The deaths of 91 pilgrims in a stampede outside a temple cast a long shadow over celebrations Monday marking the end of one of the holiest festivals in the Hindu calendar.Ten more people were fighting for their lives after the tragedy on a bridge outside the temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh which was also the scene of a deadly stampede in 2006.The death toll has risen to 91 and 10 others are in a critical condition, Deputy Police Inspector D.K. Arya told AFP late Sunday.Police said many of those killed in the stampede on Sunday had died after leaping off the bridge in a bid to escape the panic sparked by fears that the structure was about to collapse.Witnesses said the situation was then exacerbated by police wading into the crowds with baton sticks, a charge denied by police.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the condolences for the victims, which reports said included 31 women and 17 children.On this day of festivities, our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families, Singh said in a statement.Up to 400,000 devotees were already inside or around the temple in Datia district, which is about 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of the state capital Bhopal, when the stampede took place.Large crowds began converging on the site from early morning, according to witnesses, on the penultimate day of the Navaratri festival.The nine-day festival is dedicated to the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga, which draws millions of worshippers to temples, especially in northern and central India.Monday marks the official end of the festival when devotees are expected to immerse idols in rivers as a final offering to the goddess.The disaster in Datia comes only seven years after another stampede outside the same temple when more than 50 people were crushed to death while crossing the river, after which authorities built the bridge.Datia cops learnt no lessons from 2006 stampede, read a headline in The Hindustan Times, saying the tragedy underlines the sheer ineptitude of the authorities responsible for the safety and security of devotees.India has a long history of deadly stampedes at religious festivals, with at least 36 people trampled to death in February as pilgrims headed home from the Kumbh Mela religious festival on the banks of the river Ganges.Some 102 Hindu devotees were killed in a stampede in January 2011 in the state of Kerala, while 224 pilgrims died in September 2008 as thousands of worshippers rushed to reach a 15th-century hill-top temple in Jodhpur.Police and state government officials said the stampede at the Ratangarh temple on Sunday was triggered by rumours the bridge might collapse after being struck by a heavy vehicle around lunchtime.There were rumours that the bridge could collapse after the tractor hit it, said Arya. Many people are feared to have fallen into the river.Other police sources said that some 20,000 people were on the bridge over the River Sindh when the stampede broke out.Witnesses said the situation was exacerbated by police charging at the crowds with heavy wooden sticks known as lathis.Police lathi-charge during the panic run worsened the situation, forcing many to jump off the bridge, 28-year-old Manoj Sharma, who lives in the nearby village of Bhander, told The Times of Indias website.However Arya insisted there was no baton-charge by the police.Uma Shankar Gupta, the states home minister, said authorities had not yet determined why the stampede had broken out, but downplayed suggestions that security to deal with the crowds was inadequate.There were safety measures in place, this is an annual event, he told reporters.We dont yet have information on how this happened, as our focus is on the rescue effort.Ashok Argal, a federal lawmaker from the region, placed the blame on crowds trying to rush across the bridge.It is wrong to say there were any administrative lapses. The administration had taken steps and made foolproof arrangements to avoid any untoward incident, he told AFP.Sometimes there is little cooperation from people and people are always in a hurry, because of which this unfortunate incident occurred.The states chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced payouts of 150,000 rupees ($2,500) to the families of those killed, and 50,000 rupees to the injured.

7 Red Cross workers kidnapped in northern Syria Posted: BEIRUT (AP) - Gunmen kidnapped a team of seven workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross after stopping their convoy early Sunday along a roadside in northern Syria, a spokesman said.Simon Schorno, a spokesman for the ICRC in Damascus, said the abduction took place near the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province around 11:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) as they team was returning to Damascus. Six of the people kidnapped are ICRC staff workers and one is a volunteer from the Syrian Red Crescent, he said.Schorno declined to provide the nationalities of the six ICRC employees.Syrias state news agency, quoting an anonymous official, said the gunmen opened fire on the ICRC teams four vehicles before seizing the Red Cross workers. The news agency blamed terrorists, a term the government uses to refer to those opposed to President Bashar Assad.Schorno said the team of seven had been in the field since Oct. 10 to assess the medical situation in the area and to look at how to provide medical aid. He said the part of northern Syria where they were seized by definition is a difficult area to go in.Much of the countryside in Idlib province, as well as the rest of northern Syria, has fallen into the hands of rebels over the past year, and kidnappings have become rife, particularly of aid workers and foreign journalists.

Thousands riot in Russia over migrant-blamed murder Posted: MOSCOW (AFP) - Thousands rioted Sunday in Moscow, bashing in the doors and windows of a shopping centre and beating up security guards in a nationalist protest sparked by a murder blamed on a migrant.The crowd, chanting Russia for Russians, also beat down the doors of a nearby vegetable warehouse where many immigrants were working, an AFP photographer reported.The rioters were mostly young and included extreme nationalists, witnesses quoted by the radio station Echo of Moscow said.They threw bottles at special forces, who had arrived in 10 buses to quell the riot, detaining around 200, according to police.The riot in Moscows southern Biryulyovo district broke out over the killing Thursday of a 25-year-old local man who was stabbed to death as his fiancee watched.The murderer fled the scene but was caught on surveillance cameras that suggested he could have been from Central Asia or the Caucasus.Every measure will be taken to stop the criminal... the best investigators have been assigned to the case, district police chief Alexandre Polovinko said at the scene of the protest.Moscow police said they had opened a hooliganism enquiry into the rioting.In recent years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have come to Russia from impoverished, Muslim-majority states of the former Soviet Union such as Tajikistan, often working as street cleaners or on construction sites.They frequently endure poor labour and living conditions and are increasingly regarded with disdain by many Muscovites.

Top-seed Kerber beats Ivanovic in Linz final Posted: LINZ (AP) - Top-seeded Angelique Kerber won her first WTA title of the season and third overall by defeating two-time former champion Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 7-6 (6) at the Generali Ladies on Sunday.It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5.This is an incredible feeling, said Kerber, who qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships by reaching the semifinals this week. This victory means a lot to me. I will go to the masters with lots of confidence now.Kerber didnt initially intend to play in Linz but was given a late wildcard entry to replace Kvitova after the former Wimbledon champion pulled out with a back injury.The former top-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, appeared in her first final since winning her 11th career title in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2011.It was a real close final, said Kerber, who missed three match points at 5-3 in the second set. I became a bit twitchy toward the end. My thoughts were elsewhere during these match points. Later I managed to focus on each point again.Ivanovic battled back from two breaks down to level at 4-4 in the opening set before dropping her serve for a third time.The third-seeded Serb made another comeback in the second set. After denying Kerber victory at 5-3, she missed two set points while leading 6-5 and two more in the tiebreaker as the German reeled off four straight points to close out the victory.I was too passive and didnt find my rhythm, Ivanovic said. I got my chances but I couldnt take them.

Tennis: Stosur wins Japan Women's Open Posted: TOKYO (AFP) - Former US Open champion Samantha Stosur fought back from a first set loss to claim victory Sunday against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the Japan Womens Open final.The 29-year-old Australian fired two aces in the first set and another in the second at the Utsubo Tennis Center in western Osaka.But she managed to defend only two of eight break points, while 19-year-old Bouchard aced once and saved eight of 15 break points.The victory in the 2-hour-and-13-minute match was the second title this year for third-seeded Stosur, who previously won the Osaka tournament in 2009.Stosur won in her only other trip to a final this year. She beat then world number three Victoria Azarenka in Carlsbad in early August.The 35th-ranked Bouchard and Stosur, ranked 20th, faced each other for the first and only time last April in Charleston, where the Canadian came out with a win when Stosur retired due to injury while trailing 6-1, 2-0.

Motorcycling: Pedrosa wins Malaysian GP Posted: SEPANG (AFP) - Spains Dani Pedrosa won a hard-fought Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, followed by MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez for a Honda one-two.The Spanish teammates came in ahead of defending champion and compatriot Jorge Lorenzo on the Yamaha.The win marks Pedrosas third victory of the season. He also triumphed in Malaysia last year.Its a great feeling to be back... I came back strong, said Pedrosa, who crashed out in the last race in Spain after rookie Marquez made contact with him.Obviously for the championship with Marc finishing always on the podium, its hard to take back any points, Pedrosa, who still trails Marquez and Lorenzo in the standings, added.It was a hard-fought race for all three.Marquez was on pole, but Lorenzo took the lead after starting from fourth place. He in turn was overtaken by Pedrosa, who started from fifth, in lap 5.This sparked a thrilling battle between Lorenzo and Marquez for second place. The 20-year-old, who Lorenzo knocked once, eventually gained the upper hand with 11 laps in the 20-lap race to go.Lorenzos teammate, seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy, finished fourth after starting from second place.He was followed by Spanish Honda rider Alvaro Bautista, while British Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow, who started third, fell back to sixth.It was a nice battle with Jorge. I enjoyed it a lot, Marquez said.I tried to reduce that gap (to race leader Pedrosa) but I saw that it was too much risk, and the target of this weekend was to finish in front of Jorge, he said, adding that extending his championship lead was most important.I prefer to take that 20 points (for a second place finish). I think about the world championship too.With three races remaining, Marquez tops the standings with 298 points, followed by Lorenzo at 255 points and Pedrosa at 244 points.Lorenzo conceded he would aim to retain the seasons second place with the Hondas outperforming the Yamahas, especially in warm weather.It was a great battle (with Marquez)... He was strong. He didnt lose the concentration. He deserved the second place, the title defender said.We hope in Phillip Island (in Australia) with colder temperatures and a more flowing track without so much braking, we can fight for the win and also to keep the second place in the championship because the first one seems more difficult now, he said.Though rain clouds hung overhead and a strong wind blew, Sundays race remained dry with temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius.The 5.5 kilometre (3.4 mile) Sepang circuit in the tropical humid Southeast Asian country is one of the seasons longest and most demanding.Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli was killed in a crash during the race two years ago. A Malaysian racer and marshal died in an accident last month.Race officials say the track is safe, describing the accidents as tragic one-offs.Last year, a torrential downpour caused the race to be cut short.Malaysia is the 15th race of the season. Next the riders will go to Australia, followed by Japan and the final race in Valencia.

Nigeria beat Ethiopia, Cameroon draw in Tunisia Posted: ADDIS ABABA (AP) - Emmanuel Emenike converted a 90th-minute penalty for a second-half brace to lead Nigeria to a 2-1 win in Ethiopia in their World Cup playoff on Sunday, putting the African champion in a strong position to play at footballs main event in Brazil next year.In Sundays other playoff game, Samuel Etoo reversed his brief international retirement and captained Cameroon in a 0-0 draw in Tunisia in their first leg, leaving his country with a slight advantage ahead of its home game next month.Nigeria, this years African Cup winner, needed a late comeback in Addis Ababa after a determined Ethiopia dominated with its high-paced passing game for the first hour. Nigerias Godfrey Oboabona had to clear off the line in the 23rd to deny Saladin Said an early goal for the Ethiopians and Behailu Assefa then put the hosts ahead in the 57th when goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama fumbled his shot into the net.But Fenerbahce forward Emenike equalized 10 minutes later and struck from the spot at the end to give Nigeria a lead to take to its home leg in Calabar on Nov. 16. Ethiopia is trying to reach its first ever World Cup but was left to rue a string of missed early chances as Nigeria closed in on its fifth trip to the tournament out of the last six.Ethiopia was convinced Saladins first-half attempt had crossed the line before Oboabonas clearance, and the countrys football federation said it would register a complaint with the Confederation of African Football against referee Neant Alioum of Cameroon.Etoo started for Cameroon in Rades on the outskirts of Tunis after being convinced by state president Paul Biya to rejoin the squad for the crucial playoff. He had a subdued role as Tunisia started rapidly and Yassine Chikhaoui twice failed to capitalize when one-on-one with Cameroon goalkeeper Charles Itandje in the first five minutes.We are satisfied with the result, Cameroons German coach Volker Finke said. The final result is a good thing and now we have to win the next match.Cameroon worked its way back into the game and should have taken the lead when Pierre Webo missed an open goal in the 69th minute, but at least managed a clean sheet ahead of the second leg at home in Yaounde on Nov. 17.We had some problems in the first 25 minutes but we improved our game little by little, Finke said.New Tunisia coach Ruud Krol introduced nine new players for the playoff after the Tunisians lost their last game at home against Cape Verde. That defeat led former coach Nabil Maaloul to resign before Cape Verde was stripped of the victory for fielding an ineligible player and Tunisia was reinstated to the final round of Africas qualifying competition.We were unlucky, we missed several chances but we played well, Krol said. We didnt win but we didnt lose either. The important thing is we didnt concede a goal. The next match will be very difficult.On Saturday, Didier Drogba scored as Ivory Coast beat Senegal 3-1 and Burkina Faso edged Algeria 3-2. Egypt is away in Ghana on Tuesday to complete the first-leg games. The five aggregate winners will represent Africa at the World Cup in Brazil next June and July. Fifty-two countries started the qualifying process two years ago.

Athletics: Kimetto wins Chicago marathon in course record Posted: CHICAGO (AFP) - Dennis Kimetto out-dueled fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai in the final mile on Sunday to win the Chicago Marathon in a course record of 2 hours, 3 minutes 45 seconds.The two were neck-and-neck for much of the race before Kimetto pulled way in the closing stages to win the first major US marathon since the bombings at the Boston Marathon in April killed three people.Kimetto beat the course record of 2:04:38 set by Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede last year and added the Chicago title to the Tokyo Marathon crown he won in February.Kimetto flirted with but ultimately fell short of the world record of 2:03:23 set by Wilson Kipsang in Berlin last month, but he was pleased to claim the Chicago course mark and a $75,000 bonus that came with it.I am happy because I set a course record, he said. The conditions were very good.It marked the third straight year a course record was set in Chicago.Kenyan Moses Mosop had clocked a record of 2:05:37 in 2011, but settled for eighth place on Sunday.Mutai was second in 2:03:52 and two more Kenyans, Sammy Kitwara and Micah Kogo rounded out the top four, with American Dathan Ritzenhein fifth.Rita Jeptoo continued Kenyas dominance with a victory in the womens race in 2hr 19min 57sec.Jeptoo erased the bitter memory of her one-second loss to Ethiopian Atsede Baysa last year, and while she had the victory in hand pushed herself at the end to break the 2:20 mark.I feel good, Im happy, said Jeptoo, whose time was the fastest by a woman this year.This year I trained very, very good because I was training with a new coach. I was not 100 percent thinking I am going to win but because of training I believe I ran good.She was comfortably in front of compatriot Jemima Sumgong Jelegat, who finished second in 2:20:48. Russian Maria Konovalova was third, ahead of Aliaksandra Duliba of Belarus and Baysa.Jeptoo claimed her second major US title of 2013. She had already wrapped up victory in Boston and received her prize when two bombs went off near the finish line, killing three and injuring some 200 people.One suspect in the attack, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was later killed during a shootout with police, while his younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges, 17 of which are punishable by death.A moment of silence in memory of the Boston attacks was held at the start in Chicago, where organizers beefed up security procedures.For the first time, access to the finish area required a ticket, and a massive police presence reassured fans and family members that everything that could be had been done to protect some 40,000 runners and more than a million fans expected along the 26.2 mile course.

Golf: Lynn ends nine-year trophy wait in Portugal Posted: LISBON (AFP) - Englands David Lynn won his first title in nine years at the Portugal Masters Sunday while South African Justin Walters took second spot just two weeks after his mothers death.Lynn, who started the final round on the Algarve six shots off the pace, carded a final round 63 for an 18 under par total of 266, with Walters a shot further back.Overnight leader Paul Waring of England shared third place on 268 with compatriot Stephen Gallacher and Austrias Bernd Wiesberger.Lynn, a former USPGA Championship runner-up, won his only other European Tour title at the Dutch Open in 2004.He built his victory charge on Sunday on a run of five birdies in a front nine of 30 and, after a bogey at the 10th, picked up further shots at the 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th to set a clubhouse target that was never matched.I really caught fire on the front nine, I was making everything I looked at, although I hit it to one foot at the first which got me off to a really good start, said Lynn, who looked out of contention on Saturday following a third round 73.After that I made a couple of great putts for par to keep the momentum going and then I was making the birdie putts.An emotional Walters holed a 40 foot par putt on the 18th to claim second place on 17 under, the South African breaking down in tears following the death of his mother two weeks ago.I dont know if I can talk much right now, said the 32-year-old from Johannesburg.Coming into the week I really didnt have any goals or ambitions, I just wanted to play and honour my mum and make her proud.The putts kept dropping and I kept hitting some decent shots and the last one at the end, she made it for sure. It was probably the best moment of my career. It was so cool because I had a lot on the line.I dont think I have the words for it just yet. Maybe after a drink with my dad who is here with me we can fully take it all in, but at first glance I dont know how I did it.

IMF chief warns against drastic US spending cuts Posted: WASHINGTON (AFP) - As debate rages over the US budget and borrowing limit, International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde Sunday warned US spending cuts must not be too drastic or they could threaten global economic recovery.In an interview on NBC Sunday talk show Meet the Press, Lagarde said the United States must address its spending on social programs like Medicare and Social Security.But she said, The point is not to contract the economy by slashing spending brutally now, as recovery is picking up.The pace of consolidation has to be sensible in order to protect that growth which is generating jobs, and which is helping in all sorts of ways, Lagarde added.The United States must deal with entitlement (spending) that will come up and haunt you in a few years' time, she said, but the government needs a balanced approach.The IMF director said the US economy is already showing real improvement, evident in indicators from the housing sector to the automobile industry to banking and household spending.But she said it is crucial the government work out a deal to re-open the government and continue borrowing so it does not default on its debt -- and not just for a few weeks.She warned of serious consequences from a combination of the government shutdown for a period of time and, more seriously, more damaging, if the debt ceiling was not lifted with a degree of certainty and enough time so that people could, you know, sort of have the assurance that the economy was in good standing.If there is that degree of disruption, that lack of certainty, that lack of trust in the US signature, it would mean massive disruption the world over. And we would be at risk of tipping, yet again, into recession, Lagarde said.The Senate is holding a rare Sunday session to grapple with the budget impasse, with just five days remaining before the United States is set to reach the limit of its borrowing authority, putting it at risk of defaulting on its debt for the first time.

Twitter pays engineer $10m as Silicon Valley tussles for talent Posted: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Among Twitter Inc's highest-paid executives, Christopher Fry's name stands out.The senior vice president of engineering raked in $10.3 million last year, just behind Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo's $11.5 million, according to Twitter's IPO documents. That is more than the paychecks of executives such as Chief Technology Officer Adam Messinger, Chief Financial Officer Mike Gupta and Chief Operating Officer Ali Rowghani.Welcome to Silicon Valley, where a shortage of top engineering talent amid an explosion of venture capital-backed start-ups is inflating paychecks.The number of A-players in Silicon Valley hasn't grown, said Iain Grant, a recruiter at Riviera Partners, which specializes in placing engineers at venture-capital backed start-ups. But the demand for them has gone through the roof.Stories abound about the lengths to which employers will go to attract engineering talent - in addition to the free cafeterias, laundry services and shuttle buses that the Googles and Facebooks of the world are already famous for.One start-up offered a coveted engineer a year's lease on a Tesla sedan, which costs in the neighborhood of $1,000 a month, said venture capitalist Venky Ganesan. He declined to identify the company, which his firm has invested in.At Hotel Tonight, which offers a mobile app for last-minute hotel bookings, CEO Sam Shank described staging the office to appear extra lively for a prospective hire. He roped in two employees for a game of ping-pong and positioned another group right by the bar.It worked: the recruit signed on and built a key piece of the company's software.In Fry's case, his compensation came mostly in the form of stock awards, valued last year at $10.1 million, according to Twitter's IPO documents registered with securities regulators. He drew a salary of $145,513 and a bonus of $100,000.Some might call that underpaid. Facebook Inc's VP of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, took in $24.4 million in stock awards the year before the social network's 2012 initial public offering. He also drew a salary of $270,833 and a bonus of $140,344. But Facebook that year posted revenue of $3.71 billion, 10 times more than Twitter's $317 million.Grant said more than three-quarters of candidates who took VP of engineering roles at his client companies over the last two years drew total cash compensation in excess of $250,000. Many also received equity grants totaling 1 to 2 percent of the company, the recruiter added.