Appointment of CEC: Khurshid striving to evolve consensus

GNN - Although he is under no constitutional obligation, opposition leader in National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah has held talks with small and large opposition political parties on the issue of appointment of a permanent chief election commissioner (CEC) – a post lying vacant for over 17 months.

Under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, it is the prerogative of leader of the House (prime minister) and leader of opposition in National Assembly to appoint a new CEC after meaningful consultations. The leader of opposition is not constitutionally bound to consult other parties in opposition on the issue of CEC appointment; but sources close to Khurshid Shah said that he consulted all political parties with a view to evolving a consensus.

Shah has consulted Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamat-e-Islami, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), as well as allied political parties of the government such as Mehmood Khan Achakzai of PkMAP and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai said that Khurshid Shah had taken Maulana Fazalur Rehman into confidence over the new CEC’s appointment and discussed with him some potential names for the vacant slots. Abdul Rashid Godial, MQM parliamentary leader in National Assembly, also confirmed that the opposition leader had contacted Dr Farooq Sattar on the appointment of CEC. According to him, his party will discuss the issue at a meeting to be held at Nine-Zero, party’s headquarter, today (Saturday) and the party will propose the names for the post of CEC.

The opposition leader in NA on Friday called on PTI senior vice president Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Later, Qureshi told media persons that his party had serious reservations on some of the names proposed by the government and added that PTI would protest “if any one of them is selected”.

The Supreme Court has fixed November 16 as the deadline to fill the vacant post. Shah said he does not want the appointment of CEC to be controversial, which is why he has been meeting leaders of political parties in opposition to reach a consensus. “Both of us [the PPP and PTI] believe last year’s elections were not fair and we want to make the ECP an independent and impartial institution,” he added.

Reiterating PTI’s stance on 2013 general elections, Qureshi said the current election commission is controversial and therefore not acceptable to the PTI. “The ECP should have officials with spotless characters; with this appointment, we are laying the foundation for a better poll body,” he said.

Defending PTI’s nomination of former Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid for the post, Qureshi said Zahid has an untarnished career and no one can point a finger at him. “He [Zahid] can never be pressurised by anyone; we think by appointing him as CEC, we will be doing a great service to Pakistan,” Qureshi added. The sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz has suggested the names of retired Supreme Court judges Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, Rana Bhagwandas and Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui for this post. The opposition leader, on the other hand, has proposed names of only former Justice Mian Ajmal and former Justice Tariq Pervez.

SOURCE: RECORDER REPORT

Canada's Harper, in China, under pressure from all sides

GNN - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in China on Thursday, facing the delicate task of improving economic ties with a major trading partner without sparking voter backlash or a revolt within his own party a year ahead of an election.

Dogged by low approval ratings, a cabinet divided on China policy and popular opposition to closer ties with the Asian giant, Harper needs notable victories, such as the release of a detained Canadian couple, to be able to count the trip a success.

Whether he can achieve those ends depends on Beijing, which is unhappy about Canadian accusations of cyber hacking and what it considers a less-than-welcoming investment approach.

The stakes are high for Harper, who last went to China in February 2012 and ended a successful visit by promising Ottawa would do all it could to meet the Chinese appetite for oil.

Little has gone right since then, and he is now under pressure from the business community to boost ties with the superpower to help a struggling Canadian economy.

"China represents tremendous opportunities for Canada," Harper said last week, adding he wanted to help business "truly take advantage of China's large, diverse and dynamic economy".

Canadian officials see China as an obvious source of much of the C$650 billion ($570 billion) of investment they say is needed to develop Canada's resource sector over the next decade.

But pleasing corporate leaders and business groups risks alienating those voters who view China with suspicion and Chinese foreign investment with hostility.

The concerns derive from restrictions on religious freedom and human rights in China, as well as practical worries about Chinese state influence in Canada's resource sector.

Chinese oil giant CNOOC made a bid for Canadian energy company Nexen in 2012, prompting unprecedented unrest among legislators in Harper's Conservative Party, who said they feared Beijing wanted to gain control over what are the world's third-largest crude oil reserves.

Harper approved the CNOOC purchase but banned future takeover bids for Canadian energy companies by foreign state-owned enterprises. Before the new guidelines, Chinese companies had invested about C$25 billion in Canadian oil sands producers and other oil and gas companies.

Since the restrictions were put in place, no Chinese companies have made acquisitions in the Canadian oil patch.

The friendly tone of Harper's recent remarks contrast with Canada's public denunciation in July of what it said was an attempt by Chinese hackers to break into a key computer network.

Days later, Chinese security authorities detained a Canadian Christian couple, Kevin and Julia Garratt, near the North Korean border.

One well-placed Conservative source said influential Employment Minister Jason Kenney, a major opponent of rapprochement with China, had made it clear he did not want the visit to go ahead as long as the Garratts were still in jail.

Rob Anders, another Conservative legislator who has been highly critical of China, added to the pressure by making clear he wanted Harper to raise the case of the Garratts.

"I always have concerns with regard to Chinese human rights issues and I hope they get raised. We always have hope that that regime will change its policies," Anders told reporters on Thursday when asked about the imprisoned couple.

The sensitivities surrounding the trip are reflected in the careful way it has been constructed.

The business itinerary of the five-day visit comes first, with Harper spending two days in the industrial center of Hangzhou before traveling to Beijing, a departure from the pomp and circumstance that would normally greet the start of a state visit.

Harper is "keen to avoid the photos of flags and handshake, the bad visuals of an overly cozy relationship", said Brock University professor Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat who served two tours in China.

The trip may present "more downside than upside" for Harper, Burton said.

($1=$1.14 Canadian)

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren and Randall Palmer in Ottawa; Editing by Ken Wills, Peter Galloway and James Dalgleish)

China's top military body to take over army auditing office

GNN Beijing - The auditing office of China's powerful People's Liberation Army (PLA) has come under the direct management of the Central Military Commission, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday, in a series of military reforms to shore up supervision over the army.

The office was previously a part of the PLA General Logistics Department. Gu Junshan, the department's former deputy director, has been under investigation for corruption since he was sacked from the department in 2012, sources previously told Reuters.

Gu stands accused of selling hundreds of military positions and raking in millions of dollars from a position that gave him sway over appointments and development contracts for military-owned land, sources have told Reuters.

Reuters has not been able to reach Gu for comment and it is not clear whether he is being represented by a lawyer.

The reassignment of the auditing office, announced in a decree signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, would give it "a more independent and authoritarian status as it is directly managed by the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country's top military decision-making and command organ", Xinhua said.

"This is a major decision made by Chairman Xi and the CMC in an effort to strengthen the army in the new situation and tighten auditing and supervision over military economic activities," Xinhua said, citing a statement released by the military.

"It's also a key measure to deepen national defense and military reform as well as to push forward the innovation of the army's auditing system."

Xi is chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls the 2.3 million-strong armed forces. He has made weeding out corruption in the military a top goal. Serving and retired Chinese military officers have said graft in the military is so pervasive that it could undermine China's ability to wage war.

Xi's campaign comes as he steps up efforts to modernize forces that are projecting power across the disputed waters of the East and South China Seas.

In late October, state media said one of China's most senior former military officers, Xu Caihou, had confessed to taking "massive" bribes in exchange for help in promotions, becoming the highest-ranking military official felled in Xi's anti-corruption campaign in the armed forces.

China stepped up a crackdown in the military in the late 1990s, banning the PLA from engaging in business. But the military has been involved in commercial dealings in recent years due to a lack of checks and balances, military analysts have said.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

China says APEC pollution curbs not being implemented

GNN - Several regions in China have failed to take steps to cut smog during a major meeting of global leaders set to start this week in Beijing, the environment ministry said.
To ensure clean air during a prestigious Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, China said it would thin traffic and close hundreds of factories within a 200-km (124-mile) radius of the capital over the period from Nov. 1 to 12.

Sixteen inspection teams from the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) fanned out to Beijing and surrounding provinces and regions this week to check if emergency curbs were being properly implemented.

But many firms had not followed orders to close and many more were still exceeding permitted emission levels, the ministry said in a notice on its website (www.mep.gov.cn) late on Wednesday.

It said one coking firm in the central province of Henan failed to install mandatory real-time monitoring facilities and refused to let inspectors access polluting equipment.

Another coking firm, in northern Shanxi province, was found to have turned off its dust abatement facilities at night, creating a "pungent, choking odor".

The report also drew attention to the widespread failure of firms to meet a requirement to cut emissions by 30 percent over the APEC period.

With weather conditions expected to become less favorable by the end of the week, local authorities face pressure to try to limit smog build-ups during the APEC summit.

Some cities near Beijing are now delaying the provision of mostly coal-fired winter heating until after the end of the meeting, media have reported.

On Tuesday, the ministry summoned the mayor of the city of Anyang in Henan to discuss its implementation problems, saying the city had not supervised or punished polluters vigorously enough, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

China's central government this year declared a "war on pollution", but normally struggles to impose its will on growth-obsessed local authorities. Beijing has since promised to beef up its powers and monitoring capability.

Local officials are still making economic growth their main priority, rather than environmental protection, a Chinese parliamentary report revealed recently.

In mid-October, the MEP criticized cities in the industrial province of Hebei for not taking emergency measures during a heavy build-up of smog that engulfed Beijing.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by David Stanway, Kathy Chen and Stian Reklev; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Japanese woman abducted by North Korea died of drug overdose: report

GNN - Megumi Yokota, a Japanese national abducted by North Korean agents decades ago as a schoolgirl, died from an overdose of medication in 1994 and was buried in a pit with other corpses, a South Korean newspaper said on Friday.

Yokota, who has been an iconic symbol of Japanese nationals abducted by the North and Tokyo's efforts to ascertain their fate, died of an overdose of sedatives and sleeping pills in a psychiatric ward, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration eased some sanctions on North Korea in July in return for Pyongyang's reopening of a probe into the fate of Japanese citizens abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dong-a Ilbo said the finding was included in a report by Japanese officials who had interviewed North Korean witnesses who were on the staff of the hospital where Yokota died, and Abe's administration had been briefed about the fresh details.

Abe, whose government is under fire for fund-related scandals in his cabinet, has made resolving the abductee issue a priority. Last week, he said the North had told Japan it intended to deepen its probe into their fate.

Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens to help train spies, and five abductees and their families later returned to Japan.

Japan wants to know about the fate of the remaining eight, who Pyongyang has said have died, and others that Tokyo believes were also kidnapped.

Yokota was snatched off a beach in northern Japan on her way home from school in 1977 at the age of 13. Pyongyang has said she had committed suicide after suffering from mental diseases.

Japan has never accepted North Korea's explanation of Yokota's death, after bones North Korea said were hers were shown by DNA testing to be those of a man.

The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper said two North Koreans who were on the staff of the hospital gave testimony that Yokota was given sedatives and sleeping pills that exceeded safe doses.

"At the time of the patient's death, there were blue marks all over her body," one of them was quoted as saying. That was an indication that poison or excessive medication was taken or injected, the person was quoted as saying.

Her body was dumped in a pit to be buried without a coffin, the report said.

While in the North, she married a South Korean abductee named Kim Young-nam in 1986, and they had a daughter. Yokota died in 1994, said Kim, who was one of more than 500 South Korean civilians thought to have been abducted by the North and who was briefly reunited with his South Korean family in 2006.

At the rare family reunion event held by the two Koreas, he said Yokota had suffered from depression and schizophrenia and repeatedly attempted suicide.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Jack Kim and Clarence Fernandez)

PCG seizes heroin of worth Rs 100 mln

GNN - KARACHI: Pakistan Coast Guards has seized a fine quality of heroin worth Rs 100 million, from Bakhar Naka checkpost near Windar Balochistan, said a PCG press release issued on Thursday.

The PCG officials, as per information received from intelligence sources about the smuggling of narcotics through RCD Highway had been checking all passing by vehicles including passenger buses on the road.

It was during checking of a passenger bus at checkpost near Windar that they recovered approximately 8 kilograms of heroin from an unclaimed bag in the vehicle.

The passenger bus itself was on its way from Quetta to Karachi.

After thorough search of the bus, it was allowed to resume its journey towards the designated destination.

SOURCE: AIP,APP,GA

ANF seizes 3116 kg charas from Qilla Abdullah

GNN - ISLAMABAD: Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has seized 3116 kg charas from the general area of Killi Habib Zai, Dashti Lorah, Tehsil Gulistan, District Qilla Abdullah.

The worth of the seized charas is Rs. 3116 million approximately in international market.

According to details, the narcotics were concealed in 67 sacks. Each sack contained 46-47 kg charas. The drug was placed at a cache site, outside populated area and concealed in the cuttings of mountainous terrain.

As per initial investigations, the consignment was placed for handing over from one narco gang to another.

After receiving a safe signal, the drugs were to be finally shifted to some safe location at coastal belt of Baluchistan for smuggling abroad.

ANF raiding team tried to keep a discreet trap for apprehending the drug smugglers, however, presence of raiding team was difficult to conceal for a longer duration due to open nature of terrain at unpopulated location.

Case has been registered under CNS Act 1997 and further investigations are under progress.

SOURCE: AIP,APP,GA

KP Govt to start special anti polio campaign from Nov 10: Dr Imtaiz

GNN - PESHJAWAR: The Khyber Pakthunkhwa Government is stand committed to take all necessary measures for eradication of polio virus and will run a special immunization campaign in 16 districts of the province from November 10, 2014, a senior official of KP Government said on Thursday.

Dr. Imtiaz Ali Shah, Technical Focal Person for Polio Eradication Govt Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told APP that KP Government stand committed to support national efforts for eradication of polio virus and will run special vaccination campaigns in areas from where polio cases were reported this year.

From November 10, he said a special four days campaign would be started in sixteen different districts of KP including Malakand, Manshera, Nowshera, Shangla, Swabi, Torghar, Swat, Bannu, Charsadda, Hangu, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, Batagram, Buner and Tank for which all arrangements completed.

The participation of Chief Minister Khyber Pakthunkhwa Pervez Khattak and Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan in a high-level meeting of the National Task Force on Polio Eradication chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday at Islamabad, showed KP Government’s seriousness and strong resolve to make KP polio free.

He said the KP Government would extend full cooperation to Federal Government to make Pakistan a polio free country.

He said the provincial government was fully aware of its national obligations, concerns of international community and actively took part in national campaigns relating to eradication of chronic diseases including polio.

The KP Government, he said after coming into power launched ambition “Sehat Ka Insaf” program till date to uproot this menace wherein polio teams were also sent to the bordering areas of FATA with full security cover to anti polio workers for noble cause.

He said an emergency Polio Eradication Cell has been established in the Office of Director General Health Services KP to monitor and look after the immunization campaigns. He said the Chief Secretary KP had chaired a high level meeting of Provincial Task Force last month with direction to all Deputy Commissioners to ensure 100 percent vaccination coverage in their respective districts.

He said strict action would be taken against the parents/guardians who refused to administer Oral Polio Vaccine to their children and will be sent to jail. He said Govt would closely monitoring performance of the field staff and negligence in duties on part of employees would not be accepted.

The KP Government would also extend support to the national building departments in vaccination of the internally displaced children accommodated in camps, he said.

The health department staff in hospitals, BHUs and other public places would be reactivated besides encouraging the staff showing extra ordinary results.

He said polio campaign was not a political activity; it is solely a public health vaccination programme, which, in coalition with media, academicians, religious scholars and civil society, helps to eradicate the problem by highlighting the issue and bringing awareness among the people.

He said strong commitment was needed from people of all walk life for eradication to eliminate this disease once and for all.

It may be recalled that 48 polio cases were reported from KP this year including 18 in Peshawar, 12 in Bannu, 4 Mardan, three Lakki Marwat, five Tank, three Buner, one each in Charsadda, Nowshera and Torghar.

SOURCE: AIP,APP

Pakistan does not accept conditions on dialogue with India: FO

GNN - ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday said it does no accept any condition to resume composite dialogue process with India.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam in her weekly briefing here at Foreign Office said, “We do not accept any conditionality on Pak-India dialogue process”.

While commenting on the statement of Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley regarding Pak-India dialogue the Spokesperson said, “Dialogue between Pakistan and India is not a favour from one country to other country.”

She said the dialogue process is necessity for peace and development in South Asia.

The spokesperson said Kashmir is a dispute between Pakistan and India adding that Kashmiris are freedom fighters and their right of freedom had been ensured in UN resolutions so the contention of Indian Minister about Kashmiris is not acceptable.

The spokesperson said All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders are not separatists, but freedom fighters who are carrying out their movement from an occupied territory.

Answering a question, she said Pakistan does not want to stop trade between India and Afghanistan through its territory.

She explained that Afghanistan is a landlocked country and Pakistan had given it access to the international waters. She said India can use Karachi Port for the trade purposes with Afghanistan.

She said it is for the Afghan people and the government to take decision from where they want to get aid. She said Pakistan wants that Afghan soil should not be used to destablise Pakistan. She said Pakistan has adopted the policy of non-interference in Afghanistan.

The spokesperson said Pakistan had evacuated 3400 stranded Pakistanis from Libya through 13 special chartered flights and provided transport facility to those who could not travel own their own.

On the issue of death penalties being given to leaders of Jamat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, the spokesperson said it is an internal issue of Bangladesh. She said Pakistan did not want to interfere in the internal issues of any country.

Replying to a question about the report of US Defence Department report, the spokesperson said US ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson was conveyed Pakistan’s sentiments on this report.

She said Pakistan took serious exception to comments contained in the US Department of Defence report sent to the Congress under the title “Progress Towards Security and Stability in Afghanistan”.

The spokesperson said while noting Pakistan’s cooperation with the US in areas of mutual interests, the recently released report also carries unsubstantiated allegations of the existence of terrorist ‘sanctuaries’ or that proxy forces are operating from here against Afghanistan and India.

She said Pakistan’s protest over these unwarranted comments was conveyed by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sartaj Aziz to the US Ambassador Richard Olson at the Foreign Ministry yesterday.

The spokesperson said such allegations are of particular concern at this point when Pakistan government has launched comprehensive operations against militants in North Waziristan. The military operation “Zarb-e-Azb” has been broadly welcomed internationally, including in the US, she added.

She said the operation has successfully eliminated terrorist hideouts and is directed against all militants, without any distinction.

“We therefore hope that the issues will be seen in their correct perspective,” she added.

On the recent situation in Palestine, the spokesperson said Pakistan strongly condemned the closure of Aqsa Mosque and urged the international community to play its due role for the opening of the Mosque and ensure that Palestinians should be given their due rights.

SOURCE: AIP,APP

Three PPP activists gunned down in Lyari

GNN - At least three people were killed and another injured as unknown gunmen opened fire in Lyari late on Wednesday night, a private TV channel reported.

Pakistan People’s Party Karachi Division President Abdul Qadir Patel said that all the three deceased were affiliated with his party.

He claimed that the same group who had killed PPP’s two former councillors some months ago was allegedly behind the killings. Bilawal House spokesman Ijaz Durrani said that the killings were a reaction to PPP historic Karachi rally.

SOURCE: RECORDER

Appointment of CEC: Prime Minister likely to send three names to Leader of Opposition

GNN - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to forward three names of his choice to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah today (Thursday) for appointment of a permanent Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan (ECP), it is learnt.

The Prime Minister is expected to forward three names after the rejection of Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah’s application by the apex court.

Shah had sought another three months for the appointment of a permanent Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). The Supreme Court last Thursday directed the government to complete its consultations with the Leader of the Opposition as required under the Constitution and to ensure the appointment of a permanent Chief Election Commissioner by November 13.

Shah while talking to media on Wednesday stated the government would be responsible in case of any delay in the appointment of CEC. He said the Prime Minister has not yet contacted him to discuss the appointment of a CEC.

Opposition Leader said that Secretary ECP Ishtiq Ahmed should be granted an extension till the appointment of a permanent CEC. Answering a question, he said he would also consult with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the appointment of CEC.

Shah stated that he is leaving the country on November 9 and would return on November 24, and that he had informed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar about his departure and arrival dates.

Secretary ECP Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan retired on Tuesday; he has already been granted an extension twice. The Prime Minister had sought three names from Establishment Division for the appointment of Secretary ECP; however, the Establishment Division has not yet given any name to the Prime Minister for consideration.

The Provincial Election Commissioners of KPK, Sono Khan Baloch, and PEC Punjab, Mehboob Anwar, retired on Wednesday. The post of CEC is vacant for over one year. Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim was appointed as the 24th CEC of Pakistan on 14th July 2012; he served until he resigned on 31 July 2013.

Sources revealed that the government and the opposition are considering introducing a legislation that would broad-base the scope of selection of members of the Commission to include retired bureaucrats, lawyers and politicians of good repute in the list of those eligible.

However, no final decision has been made because the process would take more time for the passage of legislation by the National Assembly and Senate.

The deadline of November 13 set by Supreme Court has been termed by many unrealistic since the process involves several tiers of consultations between the prime minister and the leader of opposition in the National Assembly. In addition, the opposition leader has the moral obligation to evolve a consensus on the candidate by taking other opposition parties on board.

According to sources, the government and the opposition are likely to move the apex court, through the attorney general, urging it to extend the deadline for the withdrawal of the senior SC judge as acting CEC or give more time to allow the process to complete its course.

According to constitutional provisions, “The PM and opposition leader in National Assembly, through consultations, send three names for appointment of CEC to a parliamentary committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person against each post. The parliamentary committee consists of 12 members equally taken from treasury and the opposition.”

SOURCE: RECORDER

Criticality of IMF support grows: Dar in Dubai

GNN - Finance Minister Ishaq Dar left for Dubai on Wednesday to take part in policy-level discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a view to successfully persuading the IMF staff to release the fourth and fifth tranches amounting to $1.1 billion by December in support of country’s balance of payment (BoP) position.

An official who requested anonymity said that the two-day policy level talks would begin today (Thursday) between Pakistani authorities and IMF staff level mission for combined fourth and fifth review of the economy under $6.67 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

The official said that apart from reforms and a tariff hike in the power sector, the appointment of DG Debt and head of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) as well as circular debt and the slow pace of privatisation would dominate the policy level discussions.

The IMF has reportedly expressed its concerns over the quantum of subsidies provided to the power sector and the tediously slow moving efforts towards granting real autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The country is facing serious problems in terms of gross financing requirements in the current fiscal year on account of maturing debt obligations as well as to finance the budgeted fiscal deficit of 4.7 percent.

Pakistan needs 29.2 percent of GDP gross financing requirements, says IMF Fiscal Monitor October 2014. This includes 24.5 per cent of the GDP on account of maturing debt and 4.7 of the GDP to finance the fiscal deficit in 2014.

The IMF forecast that Clinically Adjusted Primary Balance (CAPB), which is required to reduce the debt, is in deficit (negative) 0.2 per cent. As a result, the country would rely on borrowing to meet the financing requirements.

Sources in the Finance Ministry acknowledged that disbursement of $1.1 billion by the IMF is very critical for BoP support and stability of exchange rate.

They said the government is relying on foreign inflows including $1.1 billion from the IMF as well as inflows from other multilaterals/bilaterals including China under Pak-China economic corridor to bring down the country’s exchange rate below Rs 100 by the end of the calendar year.

They conceded that a deficit of 0.2 per cent in primary balance- revenue minus non-interest expenditure implies government’s continued reliance on borrowing to meet the debt obligations. However, they said the country would soon overcome the primary deficit and begin meeting its debt obligations without recourse to any foreign reliance.

SOURCE: RECORDER

US treachery: Pakistan wounded again – this time critically

GNN - Pakistan on Wednesday summoned US Ambassador Richard Olson and lodged a protest with him over the unwarranted comments contained by Pentagon’s six-monthly report to the Congress through which Pakistan has been accused of using militants as proxies to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter “India’s superior military”.

“Pakistan’s protest over these unwarranted comments was conveyed by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to the US Ambassador Richard Olson at the Foreign Ministry Wednesday,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam.

She said the government of Pakistan took a serious exception to the comments contained in the US Department of Defense’s report sent to the Congress under the title “Progress Towards Security and Stability in Afghanistan”.

– Olson summoned over Pentagon’s report

While noting Pakistan’s co-operation with the US in areas of mutual interests, the spokesperson said the recently-released report also carries unsubstantiated allegations of the existence of terrorist “sanctuaries” or that proxy forces are operating from here against Afghanistan and India.

“Such allegations are of particular concern at this point when Pakistan government has launched a comprehensive operation against militants in North Waziristan,” she said, adding that the military operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ has been broadly welcomed internationally, including the US.

She said the operation has successfully eliminated terrorist hideouts and is directed against all militants, without any discrimination. “We therefore hope that the issue will be seen in its correct perspective,” she asserted. In its report, Pentagon has alleged that Afghan-and-India-focused militants continue to operate from Pakistan territory detrimental to Afghan and regional stability.

The report, which was quickly welcomed by India, further accused Pakistan of using these proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India’s superior military.

The Pentagon in its report maintained that such groups continue to act as the primary irritant in Afghan-Pakistan bilateral relations.

In the report, the Pentagon also referred to the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, just three days before the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a group of four heavily armed militants and termed the incident an act deliberately timed to coincide the ceremony.

SOURCE: RECORDER

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Sindh govt notifies reduction in transport fares

GNN - KARACHI: Government of Sindh has re-fixed the fares of the public transport of inter-city routes of all destinations following the substantial cut in petroleum prices by the Federal Government.

A notification issued by the Transport Department here on Wednesday said that the existing fare of air-conditioned coach which is Rs 1.60 per km, has been downwardly revised to Rs 1.50 per km; passenger vans’ existing fare of Rs 1.60 per km has been revised and re-fixed as Rs 1.50 per km; non air-conditioned coaches / buses existing fare 95 paisas per km has been revised to 88 paisas per km and non air- conditioned vans existing fare 95 paisas per km has been revised and re-fixed as 88 paisas per km.

Source: GNN,AIP,AJ,APP

Mexico could seek hefty damages against U.S. over meat laws: official

GNN Mexico - Mexico would seek "hundreds of millions" of dollars in trade retaliation against the United States if Washington does not change meat labeling laws, a Mexican official said, as Mexico and Canada kept up pressure on the United States to act.

The World Trade Organization ruled last month that the United States had failed to bring its meat labeling regulations fully in line with international fair trading rules after a complaint by its two neighbors. The ruling would be a step toward potential retaliation if packaging laws are not changed.

Canada estimates U.S. rules requiring retailers to list the country of origin on meat cost its farmers and processors $1 billion a year in lost sales and lower prices, and warned on Friday it would pursue all available remedies.


Studies on the damage to Mexico had not yet been finalized but would run into the "hundreds of millions," the Mexican official said on Tuesday. This could take total retaliation from Canada and Mexico to as much as $2 billion.

"Neither Mexico nor Canada will accept anything less than a full solution," said the official, who is familiar with the WTO case and who spoke on condition of anonymity. Acceptable options include scrapping the labeling law or replacing labels such as "Born in Mexico, Raised and Slaughtered in the United States" with a generic "North American" source, the official said.

The United States has said it may appeal the decision on country-of-origin labeling, or COOL, and in that case a final WTO ruling is likely between April and June 2015.

Under WTO rules, retaliation is linked to the level of damage done by the offending actions, with the exact amount worked out in negotiation with the parties.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said on Wednesday the COOL law forced Canadian and Mexican cattle to be segregated, adding costs along the supply chain.

"For the U.S. to come into compliance it has to make a legislative change and that legislative change has to be significant enough to eliminate the need to segregate," CCA counsel Edward Farrell said at a Heritage Foundation event on Wednesday.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for International Policy John Murphy said at the event that Congress should act soon to make sure the relevant sections of the law could be quickly rescinded once the WTO made its final ruling.

Advocates would be looking for opportunities to get such provisions before Congress this year or early next year, he said, noting there would be funding bills that must come up for a vote before the end of the year.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Krista Hughes; Editing by David Gregorio)

Germany, Brazil push the U.N. to be tougher on digital spying

GNN Brazil - Germany and Brazil are pushing the United Nations to be tougher on spying by beefing up an earlier U.N. resolution raising concerns that mass surveillance, interception of digital communications and personal data collection could harm human rights.

In a follow up to a U.N. resolution adopted last year, the two countries have drafted a new text that now includes metadata. The draft says unlawful or arbitrary surveillance, interception of communications and collection of personal data, including metadata, are "highly intrusive acts."

Metadata is detail about communications such as which telephone numbers were involved in a call, when calls were made and how long they lasted, when and where someone logged on to an email account or the internet, who was emailed and what Web pages were visited.

The draft text circulated to the 193 U.N. members says these acts "violate the right to privacy and can interfere with the freedom of expression and may contradict the tenets of a democratic society, especially when undertaken on a mass scale."

It calls on states to provide an effective remedy when a person's right to privacy has been violated by individual or mass surveillance.

The draft also asks the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council to consider appointing a special rapporteur to identify and clarify standards protecting privacy rights.

The U.N. General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with human rights, will vote on the draft later this month, and the resolution is then expected to be put to a vote by the General Assembly in December.

Resolutions passed by the General Assembly are non-binding, but can carry political weight.

"As the universal guardian of human rights, the United Nations must play a key role in defending the right to privacy, as well as freedom of opinion and expression in our digital world," Germany's U.N. Ambassador, Harald Braun, said in a statement.

He added that the draft resolution would "help pave the way towards better protection standards."

Last year, the General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus that called for an end to excessive electronic surveillance and expressed concern at the harm such scrutiny might have on human rights.

That resolution, also drafted by Germany and Brazil, came after former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden exposed a global spying program by the NSA, sparking international outrage.

The United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - known as the Five Eyes surveillance alliance - supported last year's resolution after language suggesting foreign spying could violate rights was weakened.

A senior U.N. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the draft this year as "highly contentious" and said it could be put to a vote instead of being passed by consensus.

"There's issues that a number of countries are concerned about," he said. "It's trying to create a stronger environment against possible intelligence agencies activities than exists in existing treaties and we don't think that's justified."

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Michelle Nichols. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Ancient Russian's DNA sheds light on Neanderthal interbreeding

GNN Washington - DNA extracted from the skeleton of a man who lived in Russia about 37,000 years ago is giving scientists new insights into the genetic history of Europeans including interbreeding that took place with Neanderthals more than 50,000 years ago.

Scientists said on Thursday they used DNA taken from the man's left tibia to sequence the genome of one of the earliest known Europeans.

Genetic analysis of the Kostenki man, named after the Russian village where his skeleton was first unearthed 60 years ago, enabled a more precise estimate of when Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals who had colonized the region thousands of years earlier, the scientists said.

It also provided evidence of contact earlier than previously known between European hunter-gatherers and people from the Middle East whose descendants developed agriculture.

And it showed that by the time the man lived in what is now Kostenki village in westernmost Russia 36,200 to 38,700 years ago, the people residing in western Eurasia had already split from the lineage that populated East Asia.

The study of ancient human DNA like that extracted from the Kostenki man, facilitated by technological advances in recent years, is allowing scientists to unravel events that paved the way for modern human populations. His was the second oldest genome of our species ever sequenced.

"We show that this individual is related to modern Europeans. We also show that much of the genetic structure present in today's Europe dates back at least to the time when this individual died," said Rasmus Nielsen, a computational biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Copenhagen.

"We thought that these (genetic) components came in at different times through European history after the first modern humans came into Europe. And now we can see that they were already there from the beginning," added Eske Willerslev, director of the Center for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen.

When the ancestors of today's Europeans trekked out of Africa and into Eurasia some 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, they encountered Neanderthals. They scientists found that the Kostenki man had a small percentage of Neanderthal genes, confirming that interbreeding had already occurred.

The scientists used the genetic data to determine that the interbreeding occurred around 54,000 years ago. As a result of this mingling, everyone with Eurasian ancestry - from Chinese to Scandinavians to the native peoples of the Americas – have some Neanderthal DNA.

But the researchers found no evidence of further interbreeding even though the groups lived alongside the Neanderthals for thousands of years more.

The robust, large-browed Neanderthals prospered across Europe and Asia from about 350,000 to 40,000 years ago, but disappeared in the period after Homo sapiens arrived.

Despite an outdated reputation as our species' dimwitted cousins, scientists say Neanderthals were highly intelligent as shown by their complex hunting methods, likely use of spoken language and symbolic objects, and a sophisticated use of fire.

"Were Neanderthal populations dwindling very fast? Did modern humans still encounter them? We were originally surprised to discover there had been interbreeding. Now the question is, why so little? It's an extraordinary finding that we don't understand yet," added University of Cambridge human evolution professor Robert Foley.

The research was published in the journal Science.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Richard Chang)

Putin discusses 'deterioration' in east Ukraine, Kiev denies fresh offensive

GNN Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with top security chiefs on Thursday over a "deterioration of the situation" in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian rebels there accused Kiev of launching a new offensive in violation of a ceasefire.

Sporadic violence has flared since the Sept. 5 truce in a conflict that has cost over 4,000 lives; but the ceasefire has looked particularly fragile this week with separatists and the central government accusing each other of violations.

Andrei Purgin, deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said the Ukrainian army had launched "all-out war" on rebel positions, Russian news agency RIA said.

Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov denied this, saying the army remained in agreed positions.

"We refute these allegations...we're strictly fulfilling the Minsk memorandum (on a ceasefire)," he said by telephone.

A Kremlin statement said the presidential Security Council, which groups key security and defense officials under Putin's chairmanship, discussed among other things a "deterioration of the situation in the Donbass due to repeated violations of the ceasefire by the armed forces of Ukraine."

It did not say what decisions, if any, had been reached over the conflict that broke out in the industrialized east after the overthrow of Ukraine's Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich in February and Russia's subsequent annexation of Crimea.

A Reuters witness in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk said there was no sign the conflict was escalating.

Representatives of the separatist regions earlier put out a joint statement calling for a redrafting of the Minsk deal, which established a ceasefire in exchange for Kiev granting "special status" to eastern territories.

Rebels say Ukraine has violated the deal by seeking to revoke a law that would have granted eastern regions autonomy. Kiev says this was a consequence of Sunday's separatist leadership elections which it says go against the agreement.

The Ukrainian military said three soldiers had been killed on Thursday, reporting a total of 26 separate artillery clashes with separatists.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kiev; Writing by Alessandra Prentice in Kiev and Polina Devitt in Moscow; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Putin blames politics for falling energy prices

GNN Russia - President Vladimir Putin has suggested that the fall in global oil prices that is hurting Russia's economy was caused in part by political manipulation.

In an interview with Chinese media published on Thursday, Putin did not blame any particular country for the price drop, but some Russian political commentators have depicted it as a Saudi-U.S. plot against Moscow.

"Of course, the obvious reason for the decline in global oil prices is the slowdown in the rate of (global) economic growth which means energy consumption being reduced in a whole range of countries," Putin said, according to a text released by the Kremlin.

"In addition, a political component is always present in oil prices. Furthermore, at some moments of crisis it starts to feel like it is the politics that prevails in the pricing of energy resources."

The price of Russia's flagship Urals crude oil blend has fallen by about a quarter since the end of June, following the trend in global oil prices.

Trading at over $80 per barrel, it is well below the $114 required to balance the Russian budget. That will further weaken an economy already hurting from Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Putin made his comments before going to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing next week and a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies in Brisbane.

Underlining Russia's growing interest in building ties with Asia to ensure it is not isolated by the Western sanctions, Putin said the Asia-Pacific region was seen by Moscow as an increasingly important energy market.

"The steps taken by us ... envisage further diversification of the structure and growth sources of the Russian economy as well as the decrease of over-dependence on the European hydrocarbon market, among other things due to the growth in oil and gas exports to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region."

MAJOR REGIONAL PLAYERS
Russia supplies Europe with a third of its gas needs. It has already started pumping more oil to China, and aims to double the volumes this decade.

Russia's top gas producer, Gazprom, has also agreed to start shipping gas via a pipeline to China from 2019 and to eventually ship up to 38 billion cubic meters a year -- more than any single European country is buying from Russia.

Putin said Russia's relations with China had reached "the highest level of comprehensive equitable trust-based partnership and strategic interaction in their entire history."

By contrast, relations with the United States are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War, because of the crisis in Ukraine.

Both countries are members of APEC and the G20 but Washington says no formal face-to-face talks are scheduled between Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama though they could have an informal conversation on the sidelines.

In a new barb aimed at Obama, Putin criticized the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade trade pact that the U.S. administration is negotiating with a group of Pacific countries that includes Japan, but not China or Russia.

"Obviously, the Trans-Pacific Partnership is just another U.S. attempt to build an architecture of regional economic cooperation that the USA would benefit from," Putin said.

"At the same time, I believe that the absence of two major regional players such as Russia and China in its composition will not promote the establishment of effective trade and economic cooperation."

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Libya faces chaos as top court rejects elected assembly

GNN - Libya's Supreme Court declared the internationally recognized parliament on Thursday as unconstitutional, in a ruling likely to fuel further chaos in the north African oil producing nation.

The decision, which was rejected by the assembly, came a day after gunmen stormed Libya's biggest oilfield and shut down production at the facility in the country's remote south.

Libya is in chaos as two rival governments and parliaments are struggling for control of the country's vast energy reserves three years after the overthrow of veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Dozens of armed groups have also joined the fray.

Western powers and Libya's neighbors fear the OPEC member nation is heading for a full-blown civil war, with former rebels who helped oust Gaddafi now using their guns to carve out their own fiefdom.

Libya is split into a western part controlled by fighters calling themselves Operation Dawn, who seized the capital in August, and a rump state in the east where the internationally recognized parliament and government are now based.

In a televised ruling likely to deepen these divisions and hamper the United Nations' mediation efforts, the Supreme Court invalidated the election of the House of Representatives, which has fled to the eastern city of Tobruk. The court said a committee that prepared the election law had violated Libya's provisional constitution.

The June election produced an assembly with a strong showing of liberals and federalists, annoying Islamists with links to Operation Dawn, which seized Tripoli two months later.

The Supreme Court is based in Tripoli, where Dawn has reinstated the previous parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), where Islamists had been stronger.

The fighters, who come mainly from the western city of Misrata, have taken control of state bodies, calling into question the court's ability to make independent rulings.

Hundreds of people were seen celebrating the court verdict in Tripoli and GNC head Nouri Abusahmain said it provided a chance for a national dialogue to end Libya's crisis.

"We the General National Congress call for dialogue," he said in a televised speech. "A dialogue serves national reconciliation, stability and development."

Responding to the ruling, the House of Representatives in Tobruk declared it did not recognize the court.

"The ruling was made under the threat of guns," the assembly's spokesman Farraj Hashem told a news conference.

There was no immediate response from Western and Arab powers which have recognized only the Tobruk-based assembly and have publicly boycotted a rival prime minister, Omar al-Hassi, installed by Tripoli's rulers.

The United Nations said in a statement it was studying the ruling, adding there was an "urgent need for all parties to forge consensus on political arrangements".

GUNMEN STORM OILFIELD
The decision came after gunmen stormed Libya's El Sharara oilfield on Tuesday and Wednesday, shutting down the country's biggest production facility in a blow to government efforts to keep the oil industry isolated from the spreading chaos.

It was not clear what happened exactly but rival tribes have fought over the area near the field twice in the past twelve months to press authorities to meet their financial and political demands.

Officials said on Thursday the gunmen had left the field. Oil company vehicles riddled with bullet holes could be seen on social media. A Libyan official said authorities hoped to restart production very soon but they needed to resolve local conflicts first.

The closure will lower Libyan oil production, last reported at around 800,000 bpd, by at least 200,000 bpd, worsening a budget crisis as oil revenues have been well below target due to repeated strikes across the country.

Some Libyan websites said the gunmen were linked to the Misrata-led alliance, but that could not be confirmed. Both sides -- the Tripoli rulers and the government in the east -- have an interest in keeping the oil flowing as their supporters are on the state payroll.

Authorities had managed to boost output in the past three months after it had slumped to 100,000 bpd due to protests.

Conditions in the poverty-stricken south of Libya have worsened since the seizure of Tripoli, which has hampered the work of government ministries and deprived the south of food, consumer goods and money from the central bank.

The fluid situation in the capital and the south has been exacerbated by a separate conflict in the main eastern city Benghazi between pro-government forces and Islamists.

More than 230 people have been killed since the army started an offensive there three weeks ago.

(GNN,AIP,REUTERS,GA)(Reporting by Ulf Laessing, Mustafa Hashem Omar Fahmy, Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Britain, France, U.S. ask U.N. to blacklist Libya's Ansar al-Sharia

GNN - Britain, the United States and France have proposed that Islamist extremist group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya be blacklisted under the United Nations al Qaeda sanctions regime, diplomats said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
If all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council's al Qaeda sanctions committee agree, the group will be added to the list on Nov. 19 and subjected to an arms embargo and a global travel ban and asset freeze, the diplomats said.

Australian U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan, president of the Security Council this month, told reporters that council members would be looking in general at the possibility of broadening U.N. sanctions to target those undermining stability in Libya.

"One of the issues ... is sanctions," Quinlan said after a council discussion on Libya and other issues. He added that the idea was to possibly extend the scope of already existing measures "to take into account people who might want to spoil the political transition."

Ansar al-Sharia is blamed by Washington for a 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in the city of Benghazi that killed the American ambassador.

Western powers worry that Libya is heading toward civil war as authorities are too weak to control former rebels who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority to grab power and a share of oil revenues.

Libya is divided between rival tribes and political factions with two governments vying for legitimacy since an armed group from the western city of Misrata seized Tripoli in August, forcing the internationally recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to move east.

The U.N. Security Council has had an arms embargo and other sanctions measures in place since 2011, when Gaddafi was using his security forces to crack down on pro-democracy demonstrators. Gaddafi was toppled and killed during a U.N.-backed NATO intervention in the same year.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Alan Crosby and Lisa Shumaker)

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Pro-government Kenyan Muslim cleric shot dead in Mombasa

GNN - A Kenyan Muslim cleric, who supported government efforts to stamp out radicalism among youths in the country's restive coastal region, was shot dead by unknown assailants on Tuesday, police said.

Sheikh Salim Bakari Mwarangi was shot while returning home from evening prayers at a mosque in the Likoni area of Mombasa, the local police chief said.

"He was rushed to a nearby local hospital, but succumbed to his injuries," the Mombasa County police commander, Robert Kitur, told Reuters.

Kenya's coastal region, a tourist hub where most of Kenya's Muslims live, has been hit by a spate of bomb attacks over the past months blamed on Islamists linked to Somalia's militant al Shabaab group.

Haki Africa, a local Muslim rights group, said the slain cleric was a peace activist and that his killing may have been tied to his stand against extremism in Mombasa.

"He was a member of the Mombasa peace committee and was helping the government a lot in dealing with radicalization and guiding Muslim youth towards the right path," said Francis Auma, the organization's programs coordinator.

"He may have created enemies, but the police will establish the truth in their investigations."

Mwarangi was just the latest Muslim cleric to fall victim to violence in the region.

In June, Sheikh Mohammed Idris, chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK), was killed by assailants at a mosque in the same area. Muslim activists said at the time he was among 21 other clerics who had either disappeared or been killed in a similar manner since 2000.

Kenya is trying to break up militant recruitment networks in its Muslim community in an effort to end attacks it blames on al Shabaab and its sympathizers, who have vowed to punish Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to fight Islamist rebels.

Activists have long complained that heavy-handed police tactics after militant attacks, including the mass round-up of suspects, have stoked anger among local Muslims and undermined moderate preachers trying to counter radical ideas.

They also complain police have not done enough to offer protection when threats have been made.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Joseph Akwiri; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Crispian Balmer)

Fugitive Mexican mayor suspected in abduction of 43 students captured

GNN - Mexican police on Tuesday captured a fugitive former mayor and his wife suspected of being the probable masterminds behind the abduction of 43 student teachers feared massacred in September, officials said.

Police working with a local drug gang in the southwestern city of Iguala abducted the students after clashes there on the night of Sept. 26, seriously undermining President Enrique Pena Nieto's claims that Mexico has become safer on his watch.
Jose Luis Abarca, who at the time was mayor of Iguala, and his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, were captured by federal police in a house in Mexico City early Tuesday and were being questioned by prosecutors, a government official said.

The run-down concrete house, its windows blacked out with cardboard, was in the eastern district of Iztapalapa, one of the most crime-ridden parts of the capital, and a far cry from the comfortable lifestyle they had led before.

Housewife Elia, 46, who lives opposite the building and declined to give her last name for fear of reprisals, said she was glad the couple had been captured.

"I have children who are students and I just think of the parents (of the missing students) and what they must be feeling," she said. "They have to say where they have them and if they're still alive."

Mexican media said the couple had been hiding out in Iztapalapa for several weeks.

"I hope this arrest makes a decisive contribution to clearing things up," said Pena Nieto in a speech.

A spokesman for Attorney General Jesus Murillo said more details would be released later on Tuesday.

The Mexican government is still searching for the students, whose disappearance shocked the country.

The government said last month that Abarca and his wife had ordered local police to stop a group of about 80 students from disrupting a political event on the night of Sept. 26.

Six people, including three students, died in the ensuing clashes in the violent state of Guerrero. Three days later, the mayor and his wife Pineda went underground. The government says Pineda comes from a family of high-profile drug traffickers.

Pineda was the boss of Guerreros Unidos, a local drug gang, within the Iguala government, according to evidence from a suspect arrested in the case that was made public by the attorney general's office.

Investigators in Iguala said the police handed over the students to Guerreros Unidos. According to testimony from captured gang members, the gang killed the youths, then buried them in mass graves.

But despite dozens of arrests and the discovery of the remains of at least 38 bodies buried in the hills around Iguala, none have yet been identified as those of the students, who belonged to a leftist all-male college in Guerrero.

The case has sparked mass street protests, civil unrest in Guerrero and anger over the government's failure to crack down on links between politicians and organized crime.

It has also derailed Pena Nieto's efforts to turn public attention to his efforts to revive Mexico's misfiring economy and attract investment after years of gang violence that has claimed about 100,000 lives since the start of 2007.

Parents of the missing students have attacked the government for failing to find them. One of them, Epifanio Alvarez, said their patience was running out.

"We've reached the limit," Alvarez told Mexican television following news of the capture of the mayor and his wife. "We want answers, otherwise we will take action ourselves."

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Editing by Simon Gardner, Jeffrey Benkoe and Andrew Hay)

Small Telecom Italia investors call for Brazil unit merger, not sale

GNN - Small shareholders at Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) on Tuesday called on the Italian phone group's board to consider a potential merger between its Brazilian unit TIM Participações SA (TIMP3.SA) and Brazil's Grupo Oi SA (OIBR4.SA).

Shareholder group Asati, which says it represents around 6,000 small Telecom Italia investors with a combined stake of around 1 percent, said in a letter to the board that such a deal could include a "modest" capital increase.

Asati also said that should a merger between TIM and Oi not come about, no offer for the unit should be considered if it values TIM at less than 8.5 times its core earnings.


Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday that Oi, Mexico's America Movil (AMXL.MX) and Spain's Telefonica (TEF.MC) agreed to place a joint bid worth around 32 billion reais ($12.8 billion) for TIM Participações.

Oi said on Monday it had not entered into any agreement to join a group of rivals to buy Telecom Italia's stake in TIM.

In August Oi announced that it had hired Grupo BTG Pactual to act as its representative and develop plans for a possible purchase of Telecom Italia's stake in TIM Participações.

Telecom Italia's board will meet on Thursday to approve quarterly results. The Rome-based company owns about 67 percent of TIM Participações, Brazil's No. 2 wireless carrier.

(GNN,AIP,Reuters,ga)(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak and Danilo Masoni; editing by Keiron Henderson)

Republicans close in on control of Senate in U.S. midterm elections

GNN - Republicans scored big victories on Tuesday and edged closer to taking control of the U.S. Senate in midterms elections that could tip the balance of power away from President Barack Obama for his remaining two years in office.

Voters unhappy with Obama, worried about the economy and weary of partisan gridlock in Washington set Republicans on what could be a course to control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since elections in 2006.

Republican Senate candidates picked up Democratic seats in Montana, Colorado, West Virginia, South Dakota and Arkansas - giving them five out of the six gains they need for a majority in the 100-member chamber.

The outcome of the elections suggested Obama would face a tougher final two years in office, complicated by greater Republican power and influence in Washington.

In a key Senate race, Republican challenger Tom Cotton defeated Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor in Arkansas, television networks projected, despite frantic get-out-the-vote efforts by former President Bill Clinton, who hails from Arkansas.

Along with Cotton, Republicans Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia, Mike Rounds in South Dakota, Cory Gardner in Colorado and Steve Daines in Montana also won.

But Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana forced her tough re-election fight into a runoff against Republican Bill Cassidy in Louisiana in December.

Tuesday's elections were deciding 36 senators, 36 state governors and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.

Election Day polling by Reuters/Ipsos found a dour mood among the electorate with less than one-third of voters believing the country is headed in the right direction.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey, Tim Ryan and Ian Simpson in Washington; Marti Maguire in Raleigh, North Carolina; David Beasley in Atlanta; Steve Bittenbender in Louisville, Kentucky; Barbara Liston in Orlando, Bill Cotterell in Tallahassee and Zachary Fagenson in Miami Beach; Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Editing by John Whitesides and Frances Kerry)

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