US federal court dismisses Dr Aafia Siddiqui appeal plea

US court has dismissed the appeal plea  by Dr Aafia Siddiqui against her conviction and sentence and upheld 86-year prison term awarded on her by a New York court.

A New York court had sentenced Dr Aafia Siddiqui to 86-year jail term in September 2010 for shooting FBI agents and US army personnel during her arrest in Afghanistan. Counsels of Dr Aafia had filed appeal plea against her sentence in federal court at New York seeking fresh trial of the case.

They had taken the ground in the appeal plea norms of justice were not met in the case against their client and she was awarded punishment on the basis of charges lacking evidence.

Pronouncing a 42-page verdict, US court declined to accept the plea that what  Dr Aafia Siddiqui had done was due to her being in state of mental disorder.

The court ruled in the decision that element of terrorism could not be ruled out from the case. District judge gave full opportunity to Dr Aafia before rendering judgment that she should fully keep in picture the consequences of the statements given by her in the court. But she gave no indication at any stage for her withdrawal from her statements, court added. 

Obama wins four more years

US President Barack Obama swept to a emphatic re-election win over Mitt Romney Tuesday, forging new history by transcending a dragging economy and the stifling unemployment which haunted his first term.

The 44th US president and the first African American to claim the Oval Office, was returned to power after a joyless election which appears to have deepened, rather than healed, his nation's political divides.

"In this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back," Obama said at a triumphant victory party in Chicago.

"We know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come," Obama said, striving for inspirational heights rarely touched in a campaign where the prophet of hope of 2008 became a conventional, brawling politician.

As Obama's victory was confirmed with wins in rustbelt Ohio and his spiritual political home in Iowa, large crowds suddenly materialized at the White House, chanting "four more years" and "O-bama, O-bama."

Republican nominee Romney, deflated and exhausted, offered Obama a classy tribute, as he appeared before dejected supporters in Boston, moments after phoning the US leader to formally concede and to congratulate his team.

"I wish all of them well but particularly the president, the First Lady and their daughters," Romney said.

"This is a time of great challenges for America and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation."

Obama repaid the compliment in his speech, saying the Romney family "had chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the legacy that we honor and applaud tonight."

And in an intriguing aside, the president said he looked forward to sitting down with his former foe to find if they could find common ground to work together.

Once the euphoria fades, the president will face a tough task enacting his second term agenda, after Republicans, who thwarted him repeatedly in his first term, retained control of the House of Representatives.

Democrats kept the Senate but fell short of the 60-vote super majority needed to pass major legislation over Republican blocking tactics.

With a clutch of swing states including Florida still to be declared, Obama already had 303 electoral votes, well over the 270 needed to win the White House.

Obama paved the way to victory with a staunch defense of Democratic bastions in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, at which Romney had taken a last minute run when he saw more conventional paths to victory blocked.

He also locked in swing states, Virginia, which he became the first Democrat to win since 1964 four years ago, Nevada, Ohio, New Hampshire, Colorado and Iowa, crushing Romney's slim hopes of a viable path to victory.

Romney could only wrestle Indiana and North Carolina from Obama's 2008 account.

Obama and Romney were neck-and-neck in Florida, but the final results from the Sunshine State were not expected until Wednesday.

The win in Iowa will be especially sweet for Obama, as the heartland state nurtured his unlikely White House dreams way back in 2007 and a tear rolled down his cheek as he held his last ever campaign rally there late Monday.

His victory in Ohio represents a delayed repayment for his gutsy call in 2009 to mandate a federal bailout of the auto industry, on which one in eight jobs in the state depend and which Romney opposed.

Obama, no longer a prophet of hope and change, won re-election with a fiercely negative campaign, as he branded Romney, a former multi-millionaire corporate turnaround wizard as indifferent to the woes of the middle class.

Prior to Obama's victory, no president in 70 years had won re-election with the unemployment rate above 7.4 percent. Although the economy has created more than five million jobs since the Great Recession, the rate is now 7.9 percent.

Exit polls showed that though only 39 percent of people believed that the economy was improving, around half of Americans blamed former Republican president George W. Bush for the tenuous situation, and not Obama.

Obama's victory was a complete vindication for a campaign team that had predicted a close, but winnable election, despite the painful after effects of the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.

The president ran for re-election on a platform of offering a "fair shot" to the middle class, of fulfilling his pledge to end the war in Iraq, killing Osama bin Laden, and of building a clean energy economy.

Remarkably, his coalition of Hispanic, African American and young voters, defied expectations and turned out in similar numbers to those of his euphoric change-fueled campaign in 2008, shocking Romney's team.

Latino voters in particular helped Obama to victory in the desert state of Nevada, and in the Rocky Mountains state of Colorado, US television networks projected.

Republicans had insisted right up to election day that Obama's army, disaffected by busted expectations for his first term, would stay home, and had predicted instead a late Republican wave that would elevate Romney.

Now, Obama will get the chance to protect his historic reforms of health care and Wall Street and may have the chance to shape the Supreme Court for a generation, with several vacancies on the bench expected to arise.

Obama will also likely look abroad as he builds his legacy, but will face an immediate challenge early in 2013 and a possible decision whether to use military force to thwart Iran's nuclear program.

More immediately, at home, Obama will face a swift showdown with Republicans on Capitol Hill, on the so-called "fiscal cliff" involving the expiry of Bush-era tax cuts and a need to raise the US debt ceiling.

Ruinous budget cuts designed to trim the ballooning deficit, which could tip the economy into recession, are also about to come due, unless Obama can reach a deal with Republicans, who have opposed him tooth and nail for four years.

The president may have been helped at the 11th hour when superstorm Sandy roared ashore, killing more than 100 Americans, but giving Obama the chance to publicly pull the levers of government.

  Week 9: Redskins vs. Panthers

Welcome to the Week 9 Redskins live blog as we break down this afternoon’s game against the Carolina Panthers (1-6). Following a 27-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday, the Redskins (3-5) are seeking to end a two-game slide before their bye week as they try to climb out of last place in the NFC East. Safety Brandon Meriweather and wide receiver Pierre Garcon have been ruled out, and cornerback DeAngelo Hall remains eligible to play following an incident last weekend involving an official. Some more reading before today’s 1 p.m. kickoff:

WB channel now in Pakistan

Lahore (PR) - Turner Broadcasting Systems Asia Pacific, Inc. is to launch a new entertainment channel in Pakistan - WB. Available in homes across Pakistan from today, WB is Turner’s brand new 24-hour, English entertainment channel. This launch bolsters Turner’s commitment to consistently fulfil the entertainment needs of Pakistan viewers. It will serve as the premiere destination for all Hollywood enthusiasts offering the biggest hit movies, hottest action, best drama, funniest series and brightest stars from the world’s most prolific studio, Warner Bros., in a sleek and exciting environment.

WB will be distributed in Pakistan through Homecast Entertainment Private Limited and will be made available to advertisers by TBS Pakistan with the help of their ad sales representatives Strategic Alliances.

The channel is targeted at an upscale urban audience with an appetite for quality programming and 24-hour Hollywood content. WB will bring the best of award winning Hollywood entertainment to TV sets in Pakistan.

WB is Pakistan’s gateway to Hollywood! This premiere destination is meant for all Hollywood aficionados, offering the biggest movies, hottest action, best dramas, funniest series and the brightest stars from the world’s most prolific studio. Showcasing programming licensed from Warner Bros., WB is aimed at a Pakistan audience with a colossal appetite for Hollywood’s best content, around the clock. WB is a 24-hour, English-language entertainment channel from Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. Now that’s Hollywood!

Pak-India visa pact gets nod

ISLAMABAD – Federal cabinet of the PPP-led ruling coalition Wednesday approved a new election laws bill, reaffirming their commitment to holding free, fair and transparent general elections.Chaired by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the cabinet considered the agenda, took decisions on various issues of national importance and ratified the Pakistan-India visa regime agreement.The agreement, signed between the then Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, aims at giving more concessions and simplifying the procedure to grant visa with a view to promoting people-to-people contact. It also envisages enhanced trade and business activities between two neighbours by giving the businessmen from both sides concessions such as multiple entry one-year visas, with exemption from police report and an increase in the number of cities the visa-holders may visit. The cabinet also approved the Election Laws Bill 2012, which aims at enhancing institutional capacity of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure fair and transparent elections. Addressing the meeting, PM Raja said that the international community was appreciative of the measures taken by the present government for holding of transparent elections.He said the government was about to complete its five-year term that would be a major milestone. He added that a strong democratic setup would help bring stability to the country. The PM said he would start a series of public meetings across the country and mentioned his last public address at Gujar Khan and the “unprecedented public response” which he said spoke of the successful policies of the government.The meeting also discussed the overall political situation in the country with special reference to Asghar Khan case. Sources reported the PM as saying that the government would implement the SC judgment in letter and spirit. PM Raja took the cabinet into confidence over his plans to attend the meeting of Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Laos next week that would be attended by leaders from Europe and Asia. The prime minister said he was saddened to hear about the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy in the United States of America and expressed solidarity of the people and government of Pakistan with the people and government of the US. He said he had also directed the Pakistan embassy in Washington to reach out to the Pakistanis in US and set up a hotline to facilitate them.He also apprised the cabinet members about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, on the invitation of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. He mentioned his fruitful meetings with the Saudi leaders including the Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud. He said he invited the Crown Prince to visit Pakistan, which he accepted.Later addressing a news conference, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the general elections would be held latest by May after the assemblies complete their term in March. He rejected what he described as baseless propaganda about delay in the coming elections, saying in the presence of a free media and independent judiciary such a proposition was out of question.Answering questions, he said that the SC verdict in Asghar Khan case has proved that the government installed after the 1990 elections was illegitimate and its decisions need validation. “There is a serious debate over the legitimacy of the then government and the issue should be resolved. There is a need to hold trial of people like Lt-Gen (r) Hameed Gul,” he told a questioner.

Major disaster’ as nature devastates US East Coast

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in the New York City area Tuesday as Superstorm Sandy pounded the East Coast, killing at least 38 people, sweeping homes into the ocean, flooding large swaths of coastal areas, crippling public transit, and leaving millions without power.

As the East Coast woke up, residents faced the prospect of up to a week without heat, light or refrigeration, while authorities tried to measure the full wrath of the once-in-a-generation hurricane.

The storm weakened as it moved further inland but forecasters still warned of gale-force winds and flooding along the densely-populated coast, where a massive fire broke out in New York City and a levee broke in New Jersey. At least 38 people were killed in the United States and Canada as the storm roared ashore late Monday, pounding several major cities with heavy rain and hurricane-force winds that toppled trees and ripped down power lines.

President Obama declared a ‘major disaster’ had hit the states of New York and New Jersey, an order that cleared the way for federal grants and loans to help storm victims acquire temporary housing and repair damage. Seawater coursed between the iconic skyscrapers of New York’s financial district in lower Manhattan, flooding subways and road tunnels and shorting out the power grid, leaving a half-million households and businesses in the dark.

Further south, the sea surged over vast swathes of the eastern seaboard, turning coastal cities into ghost towns as the high winds grounded flights and shut down rail links, public transport and government offices.

The catastrophe completely overshadowed the US election race, forcing a halt to campaigning a week before Americans were due to go to the polls to choose between President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney.

Hurricane Sandy had killed 67 people as it tore through the Caribbean, and reports of more deaths began to arrive after it made landfall at 8:00 pm (0000 GMT) in New Jersey and began to wreak havoc in the United States. A massive fire destroyed at least 50 homes in Breezy Point, a seaside community in Queens, New York. Firefighters had difficulty reaching the blaze due to the severe weather. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Authorities had ordered hundreds of thousands of residents in areas from New England to North Carolina to evacuate their homes and seek shelter, but many chose to stay on, to the frustration of police and local officials.

Falling trees tore down power cables, plunging what weather experts said were millions of homes into darkness, while storm warnings cut rail links and marooned tens of thousands of travellers at airports across the region. The hurricane sent a record storm surge of 13.7 feet into lower Manhattan, flooding seven major subway tunnels used by hundreds of thousands of daily commuters and swamping cars in the financial district. “The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night,” city transport director Joseph Lhota said early Tuesday.

Firefighters meanwhile struggled to contain a massive blaze in the Queens borough that destroyed more than 50 homes, and in northern New Jersey police in boats pulled residents from second-storey windows after a levee broke.

Hours earlier, a power sub-station exploded in a burst of light captured by amateur photographers as a massive blackout left much of Manhattan, and some 500,000 homes across New York City, in darkness.

The floodwaters had begun to recede early Tuesday, but the Con Edison power company said it could take a week to completely restore power.

Disaster estimating firm Eqecat forecast that Sandy would affect more than 60 million Americans, a fifth of the population, and cause up to $20 billion in damage. Refineries closed and major arteries such as New York’s Holland Tunnel were shut to traffic. The operator of two major New Jersey nuclear plants said they might have to be closed, threatening half of the state’s power supply.

The New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the futures markets in Chicago were closed for Monday and Tuesday, along with federal government offices and the entire Amtrak rail network on the eastern seaboard. Obama urged Americans to heed local evacuation orders as he stepped off the campaign trail and spent the day in the White House helping to coordinate the response to the disaster. “The election will take care of itself next week,” Obama said. “Right now, our number one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives... and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track.”

Both the Democratic incumbent and his Republican rival Romney were keen to display resolute leadership in the face of the storm, given the memory of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Romney also cancelled some campaign appearances.

Former president George W Bush was widely seen as having bungled the handling of Katrina, which devastated New Orleans. The failure of authorities in the ensuing emergency response tainted the rest of his presidency.

The United Nations, which closed its headquarters in New York on Monday, has again cancelled all meetings and conferences scheduled for Tuesday because of the huge damage and disruptions.

In an attempt to lessen damage from saltwater to the subway system and the electrical network beneath the city’s financial district, New York City’s main utility cut power to about 6,500 customers in lower Manhattan. But a far wider swath of the city was hit with blackouts caused by flooding and transformer explosions.

The surge hit New York City hours after a construction crane atop a luxury high-rise collapsed in the wind and dangled precariously 74 floors above the street. Forecasters said the wind at the top of the building may have been close to 95 mph.

Airlines cancelled more than 12,000 flights, disrupting the plans of travellers all over the world.

Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

Ten deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.

“We are looking at the highest storm surges ever recorded” in the Northeast, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director for Weather Underground, a private forecasting service. “The energy of the storm surge is off the charts, basically.”

In Maryland, at least 100 feet of a fishing pier at the beach resort of Ocean City was destroyed, and Gov. Martin O’Malley said there would be devastating flooding from the swollen Chesapeake Bay.

“There will be people who die and are killed in this storm,” he said.

Meanwhile, two US nuclear power plants were shut down early Tuesday in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, but the plant operators stressed there were no risks to the public.

New Jersey’s main power company PSEG Nuclear shut down its Salem 1 unit on the Delaware River, saying most of its water circulation pumps had been rendered unusable ‘due to weather impacts’.

PSEG said it manually shut down the 1,175 MW unit, but said there were “no issues” in the shutdown and the facility was “currently stable.”

The Salem 2 unit was already offline for maintenance when the storm hit, and PSEG said another nearby nuclear unit, Hope Creek, remains operating at full power.

In New York, power generator Entergy shut down a unit of its Indian Point nuclear facility “due to external electrical grid issues.”

Another unit remained at full power, and Entergy said on Twitter that there was “no risk” to the public or company employees.

Late Monday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was monitoring all plants in the US northeast as Sandy pushed up water levels in rivers and bays, which are crucial for cooling operations at the facilities.

The Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, which was in a regularly scheduled outage when the storm hit, set off an alert when floodwaters exceeded a threshold set for its water intake facilities.

Wet snow and high winds spinning off the edge of Superstorm Sandy spread blizzard conditions over parts of West Virginia and neighbouring Appalachian states Tuesday, shutting one interstate as trucks and cars bogged down and knocking out power to many.

The National Weather Service said a foot and more of snow was reported in lower elevations of West Virginia, where most towns and roads are. High elevations in the mountains were getting more than two feet and a blizzard warning for parts of the state was in effect until Wednesday afternoon.

More than 205,000 customers in West Virginia were without power early Tuesday. In Elkins, a city of about 7,000 people, power went out across town before dawn and the only lights were from passing snow plows as heavy, wet flakes piled up to about 8 inches.

Staff Reporter from Islamabad adds: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has directed Pakistan’s Ambassador to US Sherry Rehman and Counsel General in New York to reach out to Pakistani expatriates to tell them to stay vigilant and follow the safety precautions laid out by the US authorities after the devastation caused by the storm.

Accordingly, Pakistan Embassy and other missions a number of steps have been taken to stay in touch with expatriate Pakistanis in the affected States.

The Embassy and the Consulate General have approached key Pakistani community members through phone and email and urged them to remain vigilant and take all necessary safety precautions as laid out by their respective district governments and to approach the nearest emergency centre whenever needed. According to the decision of the US Government to declare a State of emergency in Washington and to close all offices, the Embassy has also been closed.

However, all the concerned staff is on standby to respond to any contingency if required.

Obama declares disaster as nature devastates US East Coast

PCB yet to receive BCCI confirmation

LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not yet received formal information from BCCI regarding the schedule of the much-awaited Pakistan-India series to be played there commencing from December 25, it has been learnt.

A source in the PCB confirmed that the board had not received any formal confirmation from the BCCI regarding the schedule of the series or any other information yet.

"We are still waiting for the confirmation from the BCCI as we have come to know through the media regarding the clearance for the series from the Indian Home Minister, but still not received any formal information from our counterpart as yet," the source said.

It may take a couple of days as soon as the Cricket Board will receive the confirmation from BCCI the PCB will start preparations for the tour, the source added. Indian tour has much importance for Pakistan and for revival of cricketing relations between the two neighbouring countries. Pakistan will announce its squad for the India tour after the conclusion of Grade-I President's Trophy after watching the players' performance in the domestic event underway at the various venues across the country.

The national players are busy in the President's Cup and there will be no need for camp for the team but they will gather at the National Cricket Academy for make light preparations for the series as the either sides cricket-crazy fans watch to see their heroes in action eagerly.

The Indian tour will prove make and break for some of the players either they will excel or their career will be end on a sad note while some stars will end their career on a high. It will be the duty of national selectors to choose best available players of the country on merit keeping in mind country's pride then inclusion of non-deserving players to keep Pakistan flag high.

The cricketing ties between India and Pakistan were freeze since 2008 after the terrorists attack in Mumbai. India last hosted Pakistan in 2007-08. The Indian government has given the go-ahead for a home cricket series against Pakistan in December and January, in what will be Pakistani cricketers' first tour of the country in five years.

The December tour will feature three One-Day International matches and two Twenty20s. The series was first agreed upon in July but still required the green light from India's Home Ministry, which came Monday, according to reports. Officials from the ministry weren't available to confirm the development.

India and Pakistan have played each other in the semi-final of ODI World Cup in 2011 in Mohali. The Pakistan team is due to arrive in India on Dec. 22, according to reports. The tour comes in the middle of India's series with England, but the English team will be taking a break over Christmas and New Year.