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Waqas Dar

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  1. Waqas Dar
    Ousted former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra greets supporters as she arrives at the Supreme Court for a trial on criminal negligence, which looks into her role in a debt-ridden rice subsidy scheme during her administration, in Bangkok, Thailand July 7, 2017. Photo: REUTERS  BANGKOK: Thailand's former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrived at a Bangkok court to shouts of encouragement from her supporters on Friday, two weeks before the final stages of a case about her involvement in a ruinously expensive state rice subsidy scheme.
    Yingluck, whose government was ousted in a 2014 military coup, faces up to 10 years in prison if she is found guilty of negligence over her role in the scheme, which proved popular with rural voters but was a disaster for state coffers.
    The former prime minister and opposition say the trial is politically motivated and is aimed at undermining the populist movement that has won every election since 2001. The movement is opposed by Thailand's powerful military and conservative elite.
    Around 500 supporters showed up outside the court on Friday, police said, the largest turnout in many months. One wrote "Love the prime minister" on his hand, while others shouted: "fight, fight". Yingluck has denied the charges against her.
    The military has said it will deploy troops to maintain security on July 21, when a final hearing in the case is expected.
    Yingluck's critics see the rice case as a litmus test of the junta's sincerity in tackling corruption in politics, one of its promises after it seized power in 2014.
    Closing statements in the case will be delivered within 30 days of the final hearing, court officials said.
    "I'm confident in the witnesses we've presented," Yingluck told crowds outside the court.
    "The encouragement I've been given is still good ... this is a strong characteristic of the Thai people," she said.
    Street protests
    Successive Thai governments have supported farmers since the 1980s, but none of the schemes has proved as popular with rural voters as the rice programs pioneered by Yingluck's brother, ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

    Yingluck's government went a step further, promising to buy rice from farmers at some 50 per cent above the market price.
    The scheme helped her to sail to victory in a 2011 general election, making her the country's first female prime minister.
    However, public losses from the scheme fueled street protests against Yingluck that eventually saw her removed from power just weeks before the 2014 coup.
    The scheme also saw Thailand lose its crown as the world's top rice exporter as other countries, notably Vietnam and India, filled the void when Thailand held back rice stocks it had bought from farmers.
    The military government has managed to sell off most of about 18 million tonnes of rice accumulated during the rice scheme, some of it for industrial purposes, according to the commerce ministry.
    Yingluck said on Friday she was not sure when she would deliver her closing statement.


  2. Waqas Dar
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes US President Donald Trump before bilateral talks on the eve of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 6, 2017. Photo: Steffen Kugler/Courtesy of Bundesregierung/Handout via REUTERS HAMBURG: Leaders from the world's top economies will try to bridge deep differences with US President Donald Trump on climate change and trade today as a Group of 20 summit gets under way in Germany amid the threat of violent protests.
    The meeting in the port city of Hamburg comes at a time of tectonic shifts in the global geo-political landscape, with Trump's "America First" policies pushing Europe and China closer together.
    Trump will meet Russia's Vladimir Putin for the first time on Friday afternoon, an encounter that will be intensely scrutinised following allegations by US intelligence agencies that Moscow meddled in the US election to help Trump win.
    The summit also brings together Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a time when Washington is ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to rein in North Korea after it test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile and threatening the Chinese with punitive trade measures.
    Amid the big egos and intractable conflicts, the host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, faces the daunting task of steering leaders towards a consensus on trade, climate and migration ? all issues that have become more contentious since Trump entered the White House half a year ago.
    Facing her own election in two months, Merkel met with Trump for one hour at a hotel in Hamburg on Thursday evening to try to overcome differences that envoys have been unable to settle in weeks of intense talks, including a last minute trip to Washington by the chancellor's top economic adviser.
    The two leaders shook hands and smiled for the cameras, showing none of the tension that hung over their first meeting in Washington in March and Trump's first trip to Europe in May, a visit that led the usually cautious Merkel to suggest the United States was no longer a reliable partner.
    "There is quite a delicate balance that Angela Merkel will have to navigate in a way, because it is not clear that being confrontational won't just create even more of a credibility problem for G20 cooperation," Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told Reuters in an interview.
    A senior German official involved in the talks said he expected negotiators would be working around the clock to try to break the deadlock before Saturday, the final day of the summit.
    Trade war
    On climate, sources told Reuters that US officials were pushing for a mention of fossil fuels as a viable alternative to cleaner energy sources and that the Europeans were resisting. In addition to the United States, Saudi Arabia was proving difficult to get on side.

    On trade, the sources said that Washington was backtracking on language condemning protectionism that Trump agreed to at a Group of Seven meeting in Sicily in late May.
    Hanging over the trade discussions is a threat by Washington to use a Cold War-era law to restrict steel imports based on national security concerns, a step that would hit the Chinese as well as partners in Europe.
    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel suggested on Thursday that the measures could trigger a transatlantic trade war.
    Merkel was born in Hamburg and she chose the city, a trading hub that helped launch the career of the Beatles, to send a message of openness.
    The summit is being held only a few hundred meters from one of Germany's most potent symbols of left-wing resistance, a former theater called the "Rote Flora" which was taken over by anti-capitalist squatters nearly three decades ago.
    As leaders arrived on Thursday, riot police fired water cannon at a group of about a thousand black-clad protesters who hurled bottles in a demonstration organizers had dubbed "Welcome to Hell".
    Some 20,000 police from all of Germany's 16 states have been deployed on the streets of Hamburg. They will be facing off against up to 100,000 protesters, including an estimated 8,000 who police say are prepared to use violence.
    After sessions on terrorism, the global economy and climate on Friday, the leaders will be joined by their spouses for dinner at the Elbphilharmonie, a striking new glass concert hall perched atop an old warehouse building overlooking the Elbe River.


  3. Waqas Dar
    Punjab CM Shehbaz Sharif and PTI Chairman Imran Khan. Photo: File  ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif sent a Rs10 billion defamation notice to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday.

    The notice, which has been filed under sections 4 and 9 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002, states that Imran falsely accused Shehbaz of making him a financial offer for his 'silence over the Panama Papers case'.
    The petition states that ?the facts and circumstances giving rise to the filing of the instant suit are that since the last week of April, 2017, the Defendant [Imran Khan] started uttering, spreading and resorting to the publication, communication and circulation of maliciously false, baseless and unfounded oral statements and representations against the Plaintiff [Shehbaz].?
    Moreover, it states that Imran claimed that Shehbaz ?offered to pay a sum of Rs10,000,000,000 to the Defendant in exchange for his withdrawing/backing-off from, or remaining silent on the issue of the Panama Papers' case.?
    The suit also states that Imran Khan made the ?utterly false statement? on different television shows as well as at a public gathering.

    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/d09a3c2a51dedec9c0d8b96f77f95989.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9Ny83LzIwMTcgNjowMDo0NCBBTSZoYXNoX3ZhbHVlPVdseEVtUk9oa0tNT1M4LzV2ZFMwNVE9PSZ2YWxpZG1pbnV0ZXM9NjAmaWQ9MQ== style=center]
    On April 25, Khan during a gathering at Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Lahore,  alleged that he had been made an offer in the Panama case.

    "Just imagine how much money he offered me to be silent ? Rs10 billion! If he can offer me this much money, just imagine how much he could offer to others. That is why if we don't maintain public pressure on this issue, then after two months it will be dragged to the next year," Khan had claimed.
    In an interview televised following the statement, Khan refused to reveal the name of the person who made the offer but did state that this person was close to the Punjab chief minister.
    Following this, the government decided to take legal action against Imran Khan, sources had told Geo News, adding that a defamation notice would be sent to Imran over his 'false' claims. 


  4. Waqas Dar
    Havaldar Lalak Jan Shaheed. Photo: File  ISLAMABAD: The martyrdom anniversary of Havaldar Lalak Jan Shaheed is being observed today.

    Awarded the Nishan-e-Haider for the commitment and courage he demonstrated in the Kargil War in 1999, Lalak Jan was born on April 1, 1967 and enlisted in the army on December 10, 1984.
    He was serving in the Northern Light Infantry Regiment when the Kargil War broke out in 1999 and fought from the forefront to thwart heavy Indian attacks. In May 1999, he willingly volunteered to be deployed on the front positions located at the jagged peak.
    Havildar Lalak Jan repelled many aggressive ventures by the enemy and imposed massive losses on them.
    However, on July 7, Lalak Jan sustained serious injuries as enemies pounded the area with heavy mortar shells. Despite his injuries, he stayed at his position and fought off the Indian assault. He soon succumbed to his wounds and was martyred.


  5. Waqas Dar
    Joe Root acknowledges crowd after reaching his hundred/AFP LONDON: Joe Root marked his first innings as England captain with a superb 184 not out against South Africa at Lord´s on Thursday.
    England were 357 for five at stumps, having collapsed to 76 for four before lunch on the first day of the opening Test of a four-match series.
    But Root´s 12th hundred in 54 Tests, and third at Lord´s, justified his decision to bat first after winning the toss in what was England´s first match at this level since he was appointed following Alastair Cook´s resignation as skipper in February.
    New vice-captain Ben Stokes made 56 and helped wrest the initiative away from the Proteas in a fifth-wicket stand of 114.
    Moeen Ali´s 61 not out cemented the recovery as he added an unbroken 167 with Root.
    Concerns had been expressed that captaincy would reduce Root´s effectiveness as a batsman.
    ´Rode my luck´
    But, on this evidence, Root appears destined to follow the other members of world batting´s ´big four´ -- India´s Virat Kohli, Australia´s Steve Smith and New Zealand´s Kane Williamson -- all of whose Test averages as captain of their respective countries have far outstripped their equivalent figure in ´the ranks´.
    "I rode my luck a bit early on and I managed to capitalise on it," Root, in at 17 for two, told Sky Sports.
    "They bowled very well early on and I couldn´t get my feet moving but credit to Stokesy and Moeen for the way they played."
    Earlier the 26-year-old Root opted to bat first despite a green-tinged pitch offering hope of early movement.
    Joe Root walks down the steps of the pavilion at Lord's/Getty Images Cook had made just three when he was caught behind chasing a Vernon Philander ball outside off stump.
    Fellow opener Keaton Jennings, born in South Africa, fell next for eight on his home debut when lbw to Philander, who bowled the Proteas to a series-clinching victory at Lord´s five years ago.
    The 32-year-old Philander, fit following an ankle injury sustained while playing for English county side Sussex, had now taken two wickets for three runs in eight balls.
    Root, meanwhile, was fortunate, when on five a top-edged hook off Kagiso Rabada just cleared substitute fielder Aiden Markram, who was not right back on the rope at long leg.
    He had another break when on 16 an edged drive off Rabada flew through JP Duminy´s hands at gully.
    Meanwhile Root´s Yorkshire colleagues Gary Ballance (20) and Jonny Bairstow (10) both fell cheaply.
    But Stokes, who has known Root since their days as schoolboy cricket opponents, took the attack to the Proteas by driving spinner Keshav Maharaj for six.
    He was ´bowled´ off a Morne Morkel no-ball on 44, the fast bowler having only himself to blame for a considerable over-step.
    ´Not proud´
    It was one of 13 no-ball runs conceded by the Proteas and Morkel said: "It was a very good start but the way we came out after lunch was something we are not very proud of as a bowling unit.
    "Take nothing away from Joe Root, he rotated the strike really well."
    Stokes, however, fell soon afterwards when his top-edged hook off Rababa flew straight to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.
    But Root´s swept three off Maharaj saw him to a 150-ball hundred, including 15 fours.
    His century also meant the last four England Test captains -- Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Alastair Cook and now Root himself -- had all scored a century in their first game as skipper.
    Fully in command on a pitch dried out by the sun, Root drove Maharaj for six over long-off.
    Root should have been out for 149 when he charged down the pitch to Maharaj and was stumped by yards.
    But replays showed that Maharaj had bowled a no-ball -- an inexcusable error for a slow bowler.
    South Africa, with Dean Elgar captaining the side in the absence of Faf du Plessis, still at home following the birth of his first child, had long since gone on the defensive.
    The new ball failed to produce a breakthrough, with Root dismissively driving Rababa through the covers for four and two balls later pulling him for another boundary.
    Root, whose father, grandfather and young son were all at Lord´s on Thursday, walked off to a standing ovation after more than six hours at the crease.


  6. Waqas Dar
    A view of the under-construction plant in September 2016. Photo: File  JHANG: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to inaugurate the first unit of the Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant with a production capacity of 760 megawatts of electricity in Jhang today.

    The total production capacity of the Combined Cycle Power Plant is 1230 MW and it is fueled by Liquefied Natural Gas.
    The first unit has been made operational in a record period of 21 months, according to the government.
    Haveli Bahadur Shah gas power plant to begin trial production today: CM Punjab
    Plant will be able to produce 750 megawatts power in a week, the Punjab top boss said
    The project is expected to be environment friendly with a minimum impact on climate change since the most efficient technology has been used which guarantees the productivity and regulation of the plant at 62.44 per cent on LNG, said officials.
    This project will be another step towards the government?s agenda of providing the country with balanced sources of energy, they added. 


  7. Waqas Dar
    Aisam and Mergea at Wimbledon Pakistan tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea saw their Wimbledon Men?s Doubles campaign off to a winning start on Thursday.
    Aisam and Mergea outclassed Austro-Croatian duo of Weissborn and Marcan 4-6,7-6,7-6, 6-3 to win the first round of Wimbledon?s Men?s Doubles fixtures in the sweltering London heat.
    The fourth day at Wimbledon was overshadowed by US star Bethanie Mattek-Sands? horrific knee injury on Court 17, where the 32-year-old lay stricken for at least 20 minutes after collapsing while running to the net in the first point of the deciding set of her second round match against Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
    Mattek-Sands horror injury puts Djokovic, Federer in shadow
    She clutched her right knee after collapsing running to the net
    Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic breezed past outclassed Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round.
    The three-time champion brushed aside the 136rd-ranked Czech to make the last-32 for the ninth year in succession.
    Third seed Roger Federer continued his campaign for a record eighth Wimbledon title by seeing off world number 79 Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (7/0), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round for the 15th time.
    Top seed Angelique Kerber eased into the third round with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Kirsten Flipkens, a former semi-finalist. 


  8. Waqas Dar
    Fire erupted after the generator kept at the patio of the house overheated. Photo: Geo News screen grab  ISLAMABAD: A fire erupted in the outer boundary of the house of an Indian embassy official early Friday morning, which was eventually put out by rescue teams and fire brigade officials.
    The fire erupted after the generator, kept in the patio of the house, overheated. The fire spread till the gas meter and the trees, near the house, also caught fire.
    The house is located in Sector 6-II. 

    As a result of the fire, the close circuit television camera and gas meter were burnt. No casualties have been reported as yet. 


  9. Waqas Dar
    Qatari Prince Hamad bin Jassim. Photo: File  ISLAMABAD: In its latest and last communication to Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani, the JIT considers the verification and investigation of Qatari Prince?s letters important for Hussain Nawaz and Hasan Nawaz.
    The latest JIT?s communication dated July 4 and addressed to the Qatari prince did not mention any relevance of Thani?s probe with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. However, on the question of jurisdiction, the letter candidly conveyed to the Qatari prince, ?Submission to jurisdiction once conceded or volunteered cannot subsequently be unilaterally withdrawn. Moreover, please also note that should your Excellency now seek to assert this position, it will impact on the admissibility, evidentiary, probative value and standing of the contents of your letters dated 5-11-2016 and 22-12-2016, which otherwise remain unsubstantiated.?
    Referring to its earlier communication, the JIT said, ?The stated purpose and background was to enable the JIT to ?verify? and ?investigate? the contents of your letters dated 5-11-2016 and 22-12-2016, which have been submitted with your expressed acquiesce by the Respondents No 7 (Hussain Nawaz) and 8 (Hasan Nawaz)?.. before the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan and to ?record your statement? in relation thereto and not merely for ?verification? of both your ?letters submitted to the JIT? as mentioned in your letter under reply.?
    The JIT conveyed to the Qatari prince that the JIT intends to go beyond mere verification of Thani?s letters. It said, ?The scope and remit of the investigation and recording of your statement as intended and sought by the JIT is therefore materially broader and different than that which has been offered in your latest letter. This is also self evident from the contents of our letter dated 22-6-2017.?
    On the question of jurisdiction as was raised by the Qatari prince in his letter written to the JIT, the team responded that the Al-Thani has accepted the jurisdiction of Supreme Court of Pakistan as well as that of the JIT by voluntarily signing and providing letters dated 5-11-2016 and 22-12-2016 for submission before the SC in support of the replies and stance adopted by Hussain Nawaz and Hasan Nawaz.
    ?You have already formally and irrevocably accepted and submitted to the jurisdiction of the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan and concomitantly the jurisdiction of the JIT,? the JIT wrote to the Qatari prince, adding, ?As a corollary, you have also accepted extension and application of the relevant laws of Pakistan. This conclusion flows inevitably not only from your aforementioned acts and conduct but is further reinforced by the contents of both of you aforementioned letters of 5-11-2016 and 22-12-2016, which have been formally placed on the record of the Supreme Court.?
    Upset with the delay of probing the Qatari prince, the JIT wrote, ?The delay in receipt of your replies has led to unnecessary loss of the very limited time granted to the JIT by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan to complete its investigation and report thereon. We, therefore, again request you to kindly respond via facsimile transmission or email which may be followed up by couriering signed originals.?
    The Qatari Prince is told, ?Submission to jurisdiction once conceded or volunteered cannot subsequently be unilaterally withdrawn. Moreover, please also note that should your Excellency now seek to assert this position, it will impact on the admissibility, evidentiary, probative value and standing of the contents of your letters dated 5-11-2016 and 22-12-2016, which otherwise remain unsubstantiated.?
    The JIT told the Qatari Prince that it is also unable to provide the confirmation regarding his appearance before any court of law or tribunal for any purpose because ?a) the JIT, which has been constituted for a specific investigative purpose is not legally competent nor has the jurisdiction to provide such an all encompassing confirmation, and (b) without prejudice to the foregoing, for your guidance and information, kindly take note that, should the SC pass any order(s) for the filing of the criminal reference against any person(s) connected with alleged crime under NAB law, the possibility of your Excellency being required to appear before the concerned accountability court undertaking the trial of the alleged offences cannot be ruled out.?
    However, the JIT added, as clarified above this could be a matter for the court of competent jurisdiction and the prosecution and defence in any such trial. The JIT cannot therefore furnish any definitive confirmation in this regard, nor it would be appropriate or within its remit to do so.
    With reference to the Prince Al-Thani?s letter 22-6-2017 to meet the JIT in Doha in order to verify in person the contents of both of his letters submitted to the JIT, the JIT said, ?The JIT originally requested you to make it contingent to record your statement before it through letter dated 13-5-2017. This was followed up by further requests through its letters of 24-5-2017 and 22-6-2017. The stated purpose and background was to enable the JIT to verify and investigate the contents of your letters dated 5-11-2016 and 22-12-2016, which have been submitted with your expressed acquiesce by the respondents No 7 and 8 before the SC. In these circumstances, we respectfully again urge you to kindly clarify your position vis-a-vis the matters explained above by return fax or by return email, failing which in view of the impending terminal date for submission of its final report to the SC, the JIT shall proceed further without any further recourse to your Excellency and shall report accordingly to the SC.?


    This report was published in The News.


  10. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: A plastic factory located in New Karachi Industrial Area caught fire, early morning on Friday, Geo News reported.
    Fire brigade and rescue personnel are trying to douse the fire with the help of 7 fire tenders and 2 fire bowsers.
    According to sources, due to the intensity of the fire, parts of the building collapsed after burning for a considerable amount of time.
    Human casualties are not reported yet.


  11. Waqas Dar
    India captain Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten century as his team crushed West Indies by eight wickets to clinch their one-day international series in the final match on Thursday.
    Kohli scored 111 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, securing victory in style with a six as India won at a canter with 79 balls to spare to take the five-match series 3-1.
    India scored 206 for two wickets in reply after West Indies won the toss and batted, compiling 205-9 off their allotted 50 overs on a good batting surface.
    Kohli scored at almost a run a ball, smashing 12 fours and two sixes for his 28th ODI century. He was ably assisted by Dinesh Karthik, 50 not out, and opener Ajinkya Rahane (39).
    Kohli was named Player of the Match, with Rahane Player of the Series.
    ?First and foremost the aim was to win the series, have a complete team performance,? Kohli said in an on-field interview.
    ?Special mention to Rahane, who has come back after a while and he was outstanding... ?Really pleased with the team effort in general. People are grabbing their opportunities.?
    Rahane finished the series with 336 runs at an average of 67.2, taking his opportunity after failing to make the team for the recent Champions Trophy in England.
    ?I wanted to enjoy my batting,? he said. ?Even in the Champions Trophy I was batting very well in the nets, and I really wanted to make it count here.?
    The Hope brothers provided a rare bright spot for the home team, with opener Kyle compiling a quick 46 off 50 balls, while Shai made a more patient 51 off 98 balls.
    West Indies captain Jason Holder praised his bowlers, but admitted the batting was not up to scratch during the series.bowlers, but admitted the batting was not up to scratch during the series.
    ?I sympathise with the batsmen but they need to learn quickly, and use the off-season well,? he said.quickly, and use the off-season well,? he said.
    Chris Gayle returns for West Indies when India's brief tour of the Caribbean wraps up with a Twenty20 in Kingston on Sunday.
    Jamaican Gayle has never played an international Twenty20 at Sabina Park.


  12. Waqas Dar
    Hopes of finding life on Mars, at least on the surface, were dealt a blow Thursday by a study revealing that salt minerals present on the Red Planet kill bacteria.
    In lab tests on Earth, the compounds known as perchlorates killed cultures of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, a basic life form, a research duo from the University of Edinburgh?s School of Physics and Astronomy reported.
    Perchlorates, stable at room temperature, become active at high heat. Mars is very cold.
    In the new study, Jennifer Wadsworth and Charles Cockell showed the compound can also be activated by UV light, without heat, in conditions mimicking those on the martian surface.
    It killed bacteria within minutes, said the team, implying the planet was "more uninhabitable than previously thought."
    "If we want to find life on Mars, we have to take this into consideration and look at trying to find sub-surface life that wouldn't be exposed to these conditions," Wadsworth told AFP.
    Perchlorates are natural and man-made on Earth, but are more abundant on Mars where they were first recorded by NASA's Phoenix Lander in 2008.
    The fact that perchlorates killed B. subtilis in the presence of UV radiation did not necessarily mean that all other life forms would similarly die, said Wadsworth. Further tests would have to be done to confirm this.
    Perchlorates have previously been spotted in lines, thought to be brine streaks, on the surface of Mars.
    Their presence was presented as evidence by scientists in 2015 of liquid water on the Red Planet.
    But the new study said brine seeps, "although they represent local regions of water availability, could be deleterious to cells" if they contain perchlorates.
    The findings do contain some good news.
    They mean that organic contaminants left on Mars by robotic exploration, of which B. subtilis is a common one, are unlikely to survive long.
    It is widely accepted that the Red Planet once hosted plentiful water in liquid form, and still has water today, albeit frozen in ice underground.
    Liquid water is a prerequisite for life as we know it.


  13. Waqas Dar
    Jeanne Gang has dedicated her life to using architecture and design to connect people of various backgrounds who otherwise would not interact.
    So when the architect noticed how difficult it was to hear someone standing just 10 feet (three meters) away in the Great Hall of Washington's cavernous National Building Museum, she set about tackling how to change this feeling of "being out in the open in a giant agricultural field."
    Her answer: building three tall, interconnected domed structures using more than 2,500 interlocking wound paper tubes that are lightweight, recyclable and renewable.
    Simultaneously monumental and intimate, the domes transform light and sound while also encouraging social interaction.
    Inside the two smaller domes, visitors are invited to play instruments made of commonplace construction materials like copper pipes, wrenches and drainage pipes.
    "This would be similar to standing in a clearing in a forest where you can have a conversation, make music, and you would be able to hear the things around you," Gang told AFP.
    The installation, dubbed "Hive," opens Thursday and runs through September 4.
    Gang, a MacArthur "genius" fellow and French legion of honor recipient who presented a translucent marble curtain here in 2003, heads the architecture and urban design collective Studio Gang. It has been acclaimed for its innovative work on projects like the Aqua Tower in Chicago or the Taipei Pop Music Center.
    It's also one of two finalists in a competition to redesign the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper in Paris, which Gang says "aims to bring community but still preserve this monumentality."
    Inspired by Women's March

    Hive's paper tubes are a brilliant silver on the outside, contrasting with the museum's bronze and rust 19th century interior, and magenta on the inside, a color Gang said was inspired by the "***** hats" worn by protesters at the Women's March on Washington after President Donald Trump took office in January.
    "We wanted to make a relationship to this historic structure but also be very contemporary about current events and what's going on in our country right now," Gang said.
    "The magenta is about people coming together. So our hopes for these two months while this is up is that people from different backgrounds will intersect. And there's something about the round plan that focuses people inward toward each other."
    Gang is also concerned about growing polarization in the United States.
    "We really need to speak to each other, and maybe architecture can help shape that or set the stage for that. That's my hope and my dream," she said.
    Complex design

    Hive's largest dome measures some 60 feet (18 meters) tall, with an oculus of over 10 feet in diameter opening onto the ceiling.
    The domes are similar to the vaulted structure of cathedrals or ancient arches designed to bear their own weight.
    Because such a structure had never really been done before, it was necessary to test the tubes until failure. Gang had the Carleton Laboratory at Columbia University perform a crush test on the tubes to measure compressive strength.
    In fact, the design is so complex that the exhibit had to be delayed by two days as workers placed the last pieces on top of the largest dome, like the keystone of a masonry arch.




  14. Waqas Dar
    Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects profits to jump 72 percent in the second quarter to a record high, amid soaring memory chip prices and increased demand for smartphones.
    Operating profit is estimated at 14 trillion won ($12.1 billion) in the April-June period, up from 8.14 trillion won a year earlier, the tech giant said.
    It marks the all-time high quarterly operating profit ever posted by Samsung Electronics, surpassing the previous record 10.1 trillion won set in the third quarter of 2013.
    Sales for the April-June period are also expected to surge 17.8 percent on-year to 60 trillion won.
    Samsung witholds sector-by-sector business performance until it releases its final earnings report later this month.
    The earnings forecast surpassed a market consensus of around 13.2 trillion won compiled by FnGuide, a financial information service provider.




  15. Waqas Dar
    Kesha attends the Billboard Women in Music 2016 event on December 9, 2016, in New York City, US. AFP/Angela Weiss/File Photo  NEW YORK: The singer Kesha ? who galvanised the music industry with her legal battle against a producer she alleges raped her ? returned Thursday with an impassioned ballad about finding spiritual strength.

    The 30-year-old pop star became a radio fixture with her 2012 album Warrior that featured the feel-good hits "Die Young" and "Tik Tok" but said she afterwards plunged into debilitating depression as she fought in vain to exit a contract with producer Dr. Luke.
    "Praying" ? her first solo song in more than four years ? is anything but a party anthem. She announced that it is the first single off her next album Rainbow, which will come out on August 11.
    Driven by a piano as Kesha's voice builds in volume into a plaintive cry, the song unmistakably reflects on her experience with Dr. Luke as she sings that she is "proud of who I am" despite a person who "told me that I was nothing without you".
    "I don't need you / I found a strength I've never known / I've been thrown out, I've been burned / When I'm finished, they won't even know your name," she sings.
    "Some say, in life, you're gonna get what you give / But some things only God can forgive," she sings.
    The video for "Praying" quickly became a top trending item on YouTube. A kaleidoscope of colours and spiritual imagery, with nods to Brazil and India, the video shows Kesha climbing a beachside hill to find solace in prayer, with pig-faced men in suits trying to drag her down.
    "I hope this song reaches people who are in the midst of struggles, to let them know that no matter how bad it seems now, you can get through it," Kesha wrote on the feminist blog Lenny Letter.
    Kesha in her lawsuit said that Dr. Luke ? a prominent producer whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald ? drugged and raped her in 2005 and 2008 and tormented her psychologically.
    She sought to suspend her contract with Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records, part of the Sony Music conglomerate. Dr. Luke denied the charges and countersued, accusing Kesha ? whose full name is Kesha Rose Sebert ? of lying to get out of the record deal.
    A court last year rejected Kesha's lawsuit, enraging feminists. The singer enjoyed public shows of support from top women in music, including Adele and Taylor Swift.
    But Sony Music quietly parted ways with Dr. Luke earlier this year.
    Kesha remains on the Kemosabe label but wrote "Praying" with new collaborators ? Ryan Lewis, who is one-half of a hip-hop duo with Macklemore, and Australian folk singer Ben Abraham.


  16. Waqas Dar
    Germany leapfrogged Brazil and Argentina to move back atop the Fifa rankings released yesterday thanks to the team winning the Confederations Cup last week.
    The world champions beat Chile 1-0 in the Russia-based tournament a year out from the 2018 World Cup to ensure a first return to the top of the rankings in more than two years.
    Brazil fall to second and Argentina third, just ahead of European champions Portugal.
    Fifa rankings as of July 6
    1. Germany (+2 places)
    2. Brazil (-1)
    3. Argentina (-1)
    4. Portugal (+4)
    5. Switzerland (+4)
    6. Poland (+4)
    7. Chile (-3)
    8. Colombia (-3)
    9. France (-3)
    10. Belgium (-3)


  17. Waqas Dar
    US President Donald Trump warned that the future of the West was at risk and lashed out at Russia and North Korea on Thursday at the start of a high-stakes trip to Europe.
    In key US ally Poland on the first leg of the trip, he accused Russia of "destabilising" action in Ukraine and warned North Korea it faced "consequences" after an intercontinental ballistic missile test that has alarmed the international community.
    On the eve of what is likely to be a prickly G20 summit in Hamburg, Trump -- who faces animosity from traditional US allies -- used his keynote address in Warsaw to warn that a lack of collective resolve could doom an alliance that endured through the Cold War.
    "The defence of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will of its people to prevail," he said.
    "The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive."
    Seeking to ease allies' concerns about the US commitment to NATO, Trump endorsed its one-for-all-and-all-for-one mutual defence pact.
    "The United States has demonstrated not merely with words, but with it actions, that we stand firmly behind Article Five," he said, while calling for more defence spending on the eastern side of the Atlantic.
    "The transatlantic bond between the United States and Europe is as strong as ever, and maybe in many ways, even stronger," he added.
    Speaking in a country alarmed by Moscow's increasing military assertiveness, Trump hit out at Russia, just a day before his highly anticipated first face-to-face talks with President Vladimir Putin at the G20.
    "We urge Russia to cease its destabilising activities in Ukraine and elsewhere, and its support for hostile regimes -- including Syria and Iran -- and to instead join the community of responsible nations in our fight against common enemies and in defence of civilisation itself."
    He also said Moscow "may have" tried to influence the 2016 election that brought him to power, but suggested others too may have been involved and blames his predecessor Barack Obama for failing to act.
    'Very bad behaviour'

    Arriving at the G20 host city Hamburg later Thursday, Trump headed in the evening to talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has vowed to defend the 2015 Paris climate accord which the US leader has pledged to withdraw America from.
    Trump would then hold a dinner meeting with leaders of South Korea and Japan, when focus will be trained on another crisis that erupted this week when Pyongyang successfully tested an ICBM that could deliver a nuclear payload to Alaska.
    In his first public remarks since the test, Trump said in Warsaw that Pyongyang's military sabre-rattling must bring "consequences" and warned he was considering a "severe" response to its 'very, very bad behaviour".
    After repeatedly urging Beijing to ratchet up the economic pressure on North Korea, Trump will hold what promises to be a testy meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20.
    The White House wanted to use Trump's Warsaw speech -- with its echoes of historic addresses overseas by Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy -- to burnish his credentials as a global statesman and deflect suggestions he is making the United States a virtual pariah.
    Speaking in front of 10,000 people at Krasinski Square -- which memorialises the Warsaw uprising against Nazi occupation -- Trump pointed to Poland as an example of resolve in the defence of Western traditions.
    "The people of Poland, the people of America, and the people of Europe still cry out 'We want God'," Trump said.
    Referring to the Nazi and Soviet invasions of Poland, he said: "That's tough."
    'Blow to global consensus'

    But he is likely to encounter a cool reception elsewhere.
    Thomas Wright from the Brookings Institute said that Trump's backing of NATO's Article Five and reference to the Russian threat had done the "bare minimum" to repair a speech he made to the alliance earlier this year.
    "But its overall thrust was one of nationalism and sovereignty," he said.
    "The great risk is that in his off-the-cuff remarks he will begin dividing Europe into old and new-- or those who don't like him and his message and those who do."
    While Trump positions himself as a leader with the vision to confront an epoch-making crisis, for many US allies in Europe and beyond it is Trump himself who has called the world order -- and a century of American global leadership -- into doubt.
    "Trump's decisions to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate accord have dealt a blow to the near-global consensus," said Dmitri Trenin, director for the Carnegie Moscow Center.


  18. Waqas Dar
    WASHINGTON: Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc will ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to bar Apple Inc from selling some iPhones and iPads in the United States that use chips made by competitor Intel Corp on the grounds that the devices infringe on six Qualcomm patents.
    In a request that would broaden its legal battle with Apple, San Diego-based Qualcomm said it will ask the US ITC to ban imports of the infringing Apple devices. A related lawsuit was filed in federal court in California on Thursday to request monetary damages.
    Qualcomm, which also supplies chips to Apple, said the six patents help devices perform well without draining the battery.
    Apple referred reporters to its earlier comments on the dispute with Qualcomm, which accuse Qualcomm of unfairly imposing what Apple calls a 'tax' on Apple devices using Qualcomm chips. Intel declined comment.
    There has been long-running tension between Qualcomm and Apple over Qualcomm's practice of taking a cut of the total price of the phone in exchange for "modem" chips that help phones use wireless networks data plans.
    The ITC is a popular venue for patent disputes because it handles cases relatively quickly and can more easily bar an infringing product from the US market than federal courts.
    Animosity between the two companies burst into the open in January, when the US Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm and accused it of using "anticompetitive" tactics to maintain its monopoly on a key semiconductor used in mobile phones.
    The FTC, which enforces antitrust law along with the Justice Department, said that Qualcomm used its dominant position as a supplier of certain chips to impose "onerous" supply and licensing terms on cellphone manufacturers and to weaken competitors.
    Days later, Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion, accusing it of overcharging for chips and withholding promised rebates because of Apple's discussions with South Korea's antitrust regulators in their probe of Qualcomm.
    Separately from this dispute, Qualcomm is a major supplier to both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for modem chips that connect phones to wireless networks. The two companies together accounted for 40 percent of Qualcomm's $23.5 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year.
    Qualcomm has faced a series of antitrust rulings across the globe.
    South Korea's antitrust regulator fined Qualcomm Inc 1.03 trillion won ($854 million) in December for what it called unfair patent licensing.
    In February 2015, Qualcomm paid a $975 million fine in China following a 14-month probe, while the European Union in December 2015 accused it of abusing its market power to thwart rivals.


  19. Waqas Dar
    File photo LAHORE: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight ? en route from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ? made an emergency landing at Multan International Airport Thursday night due to worsening weather conditions, Geo News reported.

    Passengers from PK-726, the Lahore-bound flight, have been stranded in Multan since almost nine hours, as of reporting time, airport sources revealed. 

    On the other hand, those waiting to go from Lahore to Quetta ? since the flight was set to fly to Balochistan's capital city following the stopover ? also found themselves stuck at Allama Iqbal International Airport and consequently engaged in arguments with the crew, sources added.
    However, sources explained that despite the banter with airport crew, passengers intending to fly to Quetta will now have to wait until the next scheduled flight on Monday.


  20. Waqas Dar
    Colourful US star Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffered a horrific knee injury at Wimbledon on Thursday which left her screaming in pain, pleading for help and officials accused of freezing in her desperate moment of need.
    The distressing drama on Court 17, where the 32-year-old lay stricken for at least 20 minutes, pushed the title campaigns of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer onto the sidelines.
    "Please help me! Please! Please!" screamed Mattek-Sands as she clutched her right knee after collapsing running to the net in the first point of the deciding set of her second round match against Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
    The women's tour said Mattek-Sands had suffered an "acute knee injury" and had been taken to hospital.
    Cirstea questioned why it took so long for the medical team to arrive at Court 17 which is right next door to the tournament's famed Centre Court.
    "She was in shock. Her knee was in a very weird position. I've never seen anything like this except in the movies," said Cirstea.
    "And, yeah, I panicked a little bit, as well. I called for help, but no one was coming.
    "Everyone froze and I screamed something to the chair umpire. Bethanie was saying 'Sorana, please help me.' But I felt useless. I wished I could have done more.
    "It felt forever for help to come. It was me, her husband Justin and my physio. I don't know for how long she was on the ground, but I would say 10, 15 minutes."
    The All England Club defended their response, claiming: "The first response to Court 17 was within one minute, by a qualified ambulance technician.
    In a statement, they added: "The player was kept on court while pain relief was given.
    "The player was then transferred directly to an ambulance and taken under emergency conditions to a hospital."
    Meanwhile, Djokovic shrugged off sweltering 30-degree heat to breeze past outclassed Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 to reach the third round.
    The three-time champion brushed aside the 136rd-ranked Czech to make the last-32 for the ninth year in succession.
    Pliskova defeated

    Djokovic, the second seed whose shock third round loss to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon 12 months ago precipitated a worrying decline in form, will next face Ernests Gulbis.
    "It was a very warm day, it wasn't easy to play point after point and some long rallies," said Djokovic.
    Gulbis, a former top 10 player, sprang a surprise as the world number 589 defeated former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
    Third seed Federer continued his campaign for a record eighth Wimbledon title by seeing off world number 79 Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (7/0), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round for the 15th time.
    "I struggled at the start and couldn't find my rhythm," said Federer, who dropped his first service game to trail 2-0 to his 79th-ranked opponent.
    "But once I got rid of the nerves I played some inspired stuff."
    The Swiss star next faces German serve-and-volleyer Mischa Zverev.
    US 17th seed Jack Sock suffered the biggest upset of the day, losing to 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2 to Austrian world number 217 Sebastian Ofner who had never played at the majors before this week.
    The women's event was thrown wide open when third seed Karolina Pliskova crashed to defeat against world number 108 Magdalena Rybarikova.
    Rybarikova won 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 on Centre Court, earning the Slovakian a last 32 clash with Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko.
    "For me, the tournament is over. So whatever happens happens. I'm not going to pray for somebody losing or winning. That's not my thing," said Pliskova who has yet to get beyond the second round at the All England Club.
    Top seed Angelique Kerber eased into the third round with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Kirsten Flipkens, a former semi-finalist.
    Kerber next faces Shelby Rogers who beat Lucie Safarova 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-3 with the Czech possibly still distracted by the events involving close friend and doubles partner Mattek-Sands.
    Bernard Tomic may have been knocked out but the Australian was still making waves on Thursday when he was fined $15,000 after claiming he was "bored" during his lacklustre defeat to Mischa Zverev.
    Tomic also lost his raquet sponsor Head as a consequence.
    Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic, the runner-up to Andy Murray in 2016, beat Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 7-5.
    Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 finalist, saved two match points to see off Christina McHale 5-7, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.


  21. Waqas Dar
    US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was considering a "pretty severe" response to North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test, even as China appealed for a scaling down of rhetoric.
    In a further sign of divisions after Tuesday's launch -- a milestone in Pyongyang's drive to threaten the US mainland with a nuclear strike -- Russia blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for fresh sanctions.
    The United States had led the push for tougher sanctions, and Trump has also warned he is ready to use force if necessary.
    "I call on all nations to confront this global threat and publicly demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for their very, very bad behaviour," Trump said during a visit to Warsaw.
    "I have pretty severe things that we're thinking about," Trump said, adding: "That doesn't mean that we'll do them."
    The launch of the missile, which experts say could reach Alaska or even further towards the continental US, is set to be a key issue at the G20 summit in Germany that begins Friday with the leaders of the US, China and South Korea in attendance.
    It poses a thorny policy challenge for Trump, who is at loggerheads with Beijing over how to handle Kim Jong-Un's regime.
    Trump has repeatedly urged Pyongyang's chief backer Beijing to rein the Stalinist state in, taking to Twitter this week to publicly berate Beijing for not squeezing the North hard enough on trade.
    China responded Thursday with a call for more moderate language from all sides.
    "We also call on relevant parties to stay calm, exercise restraint, refrain from words and deeds that may heighten tensions," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.
    Russia blocks UN statement

    Washington had made a hard-hitting call in the UN Security Council on Wednesday for tougher sanctions against Pyongyang after the missile test.
    But Russia blocked a Security Council statement Thursday calling for "significant measures" in response, signalling that it might not back a final resolution putting fresh sanctions in place.
    China's President Xi Jinping stressed that the best way to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons was through dialogue and negotiations, the Xinhua news agency reported.
    South Korean President Moon Jae-In said his previous offer for talks with Kim was still on the table despite the missile test, saying it was "dangerous" if there was "no dialogue whatsoever".
    "When the conditions are met, I am prepared to meet the North Korean ruler wherever and whenever," he told an audience in Berlin.
    But he has also called for a response to the test beyond "just words", prompting a joint missile drill with its ally the US aimed at countering threats from the North.
    Trump had dismissed the idea of North Korea having a working ICBM, vowing it "won't happen".
    The test has sent jitters through global stock markets, with Asian and European shares falling on Thursday.
    'We had to try'

    Beijing insists it has made "relentless efforts" to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions in line with UN economic sanctions.
    China decided to stop buying North Korean coal in February and total imports from the North have steadily dropped every month from $207 million in January to $99 million in April.
    But official Chinese customs data shows a 37.4 percent rise in yuan terms in overall trade with North Korea and 30.6 percent in US dollars in the first quarter.
    "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40%... so much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!" Trump tweeted on Wednesday.
    For China, the worst-case scenario is a collapse of the regime in Pyongyang, which could see an influx of refugees from its impoverished neighbour, and worse yet, US troops stationed on its border in a united Korea.
    Trump had until recently nurtured friendly ties with Xi, hosting him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in April, when they agreed on a 100-day plan to improve trade relations.
    Beijing's spokesman Geng defended his country's dealings with North Korea, insisting that China has upheld UN sanction resolutions "in a comprehensive and earnest manner".
    But, he added, sanctions "should not harm the livelihood and normal humanitarian need of the DPRK," using the initials of North Korea's official name.
    Multiple sets of UN sanctions have failed to derail the North's weapons programmes.


  22. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The weather turned pleasant after parts of Karachi received light rain in the wee hours of Friday.
    Several of those commuting on motorcycles slipped due to the slippery roads following the rain in various areas including Shahrah-e-Faisal, MA Jinnah Road.
    Areas of Gurumandir, Lasbela, Saddar, II Chundrigar, Urdu Bazar also experienced light showers.
    The overnight rain caused several roads across the city to flood up with water.


  23. Waqas Dar
    HAMBURG: Protesters threw bottles and torched cars, injuring seven police officers, before a G20 summit in Hamburg on Thursday, tarnishing the start of a meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes will cement her role as a stateswoman as she seeks re-election in September.
    Merkel, who is campaigning for a fourth term, can ill afford images of chaos and disharmony. The summit, which starts in earnest on Friday, is a chance for her to polish her diplomatic credentials but would be disastrous if marred by widespread violence.
    She met US President Donald Trump for an hour on Thursday evening, but less than an hour later police clashed with anti-capitalist demonstrators near the summit venue and fired water cannon at black-clad protesters after they threw bottles.
    A Reuters eyewitness saw at least one protester with blood on his face being treated. "Welcome to Hell" was the protesters' greeting for Trump and other world leaders arriving for the two-day meeting. Police said at least seven officers were injured in clashes that continued after a late sunset in the northern city.
    Merkel has taken a high-risk gamble by choosing to hold the summit in the northern port city of Hamburg, partly to show the world that big protests are tolerated in a healthy democracy.
    Before meeting Trump, she struck a consensual tone, holding out hope for agreement on the divisive issue of climate policy and pledging to broker compromises. She pledged to represent German and European interests at the summit, but added:
    "On the other hand, as hosts we - and I - will do all we can to find compromises."
    Trump faces a testy confrontation at the summit with leaders of the other big Group of 20 economies after deciding last month to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate deal.
    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel cited "many commonalities" on foreign policy after a meeting that included Merkel, Trump, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Trump family members and advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
    But he told German broadcaster that "clear differences" on climate change and trade continued to divide the two allies.
    Merkel has held out hope that an agreement could yet be found on climate.
    "There are various options, which can be discussed. We know that the United States have withdrawn. All others ... or as far as I know, many many others stand by this agreement," she said.
    As the leaders began holding informal meetings, thousands of protesters from around Europe, who say the G20 has failed to solve many of the issues threatening world peace, poured into Hamburg to join the main demonstration.
    Police expected around 100,000 protesters in the port city, some 8,000 of whom are deemed by security forces to be ready to commit violence. At least 13,000 protesters joined the main march on Thursday, including around 1,000 black-clad anarchists, police said. Up to 20,000 police officers from across Germany are on hand.
    DELICATE BALANCE
    As summit host, Merkel must seek consensus among the G20 leaders not only on the divisive issue of climate policy but also on trade - an area fraught with risk as Trump pursues his 'America First' agenda.
    Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Merkel must be careful not to allow acrimony to undermine the summit.
    "There is quite a delicate balance that Angela Merkel will have to navigate in a way, because it is not clear that being confrontational won't just create even more of a credibility problem for G20 cooperation," she told Reuters.
    Merkel earlier said she was committed to an open international trading system, despite fears of US protectionism under the Trump administration.
    "We're united in our will to strengthen multilateral relations at the G20 summit ... We need an open society, especially open trade flows," Merkel said in Berlin.
    She and Trump discussed G20 themes, North Korea, the Middle East, and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a German government spokesman said. Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan is among other leaders Merkel was to meet.
    Trump, who earlier in Poland called again on NATO partners to spend more on defence and said he would confront the threat from North Korea, will also hold his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit.
    Their meeting, scheduled for Friday, will be closely watched at a time when mutual ties remain strained by US allegations of Russian election hacking, Syria, Ukraine and a US row over Trump associates' links to Moscow.
    Ahead of the meeting, Putin threw his weight behind the Paris accord.
    "We see the Paris Agreement as a secure basis for long-term climate regulation founded on international law and we want to make a comprehensive contribution to its implementation," he told German business daily Handelsblatt.


  24. Waqas Dar
    It is one of the most tantalising mysteries in aviation lore -- the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
    What happened to the legendary American aviatrix and her navigator, Fred Noonan, during their 1937 round-the-world flight has fascinated historians for decades and spawned books, movies and theories galore.
    But a documentary to be aired on the History Channel on Sunday -- "Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence" -- claims to have unearthed a beguiling new clue about their fate.
    The prevailing belief is that Earhart, 39, and Noonan, 44, ran out of fuel and ditched their twin-engine Lockheed Electra in the Pacific Ocean near remote Howland Island while on the third-to-last leg of their epic journey.
    The History program suggests, however, that Earhart, who was seeking to become the first woman flier to circumnavigate the globe, and Noonan may have survived and been taken prisoner by Japanese forces.
    The evidence cited by History is a blurry black-and-white photograph discovered in the National Archives in Washington which purports to show the pair in the Marshall Islands after their capture.
    The picture depicts several people on a dock at Jaluit Atoll including a woman, seen with her back to the camera, who has a build that resembles Earhart's and appears to be wearing trousers, as the aviator was known to do. The woman wears her hair in the close-cropped style favored by the pilot.
    A possibly Caucasian man standing nearby on the wharf has a hairline which a facial recognition expert cited in the program says is strikingly similar to Noonan's.
    Behind the wharf is a ship, said to be a Japanese vessel, the Koshu Maru, towing an object on a barge the documentary makers identify as possibly Earhart's ill-fated aircraft.
    According to History.com, the photograph bears markings from the US Office of Naval Intelligence.
    Marshall Islanders have claimed over the years that Earhart and Noonan survived an emergency landing and were captured by the Japanese -- a theory explored also by the History producers.
    "We believe that the Koshu took (Earhart) to Saipan (in the Mariana Islands) and that she died there under the custody of the Japanese," Gary Tarpinian, executive producer of the History program, told NBC News.
    "We don't know how she died," Tarpinian said. "We don't know when."
    'C'mon. It's silly'

    Other Earhart experts were dismissive of the documentary's claims that the pair in the picture were Earhart and Noonan.
    "I've known about this photo for a year," said Richard Gillespie, executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which has spent decades trying to figure out what happened to Earhart and Noonan.
    "I'm astonished that anyone would take this seriously," Gillespie told AFP in a telephone interview. "As a piece of evidence, it's laughable."
    "This is just a picture of some people on Jaluit wharf," he said. "Where are the Japanese? Where are the soldiers?"
    Gillespie said there "might be a white female" in the picture and "there appears to be a Caucasian male."
    "Suddenly this is Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan?" he said. "C'mon. It's silly."
    Gillespie's group, TIGHAR, is behind "The Earhart Project," which has conducted extensive research into a hypothesis that her plane crash-landed on uninhabited Gardner Island, now known as Nikumaroro, part of the Republic of Kiribati.
    Earhart, who won fame in 1932 as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, took off on May 20, 1937 from Oakland, California, hoping to become the first woman to fly around the world.
    She and Noonan vanished on July 2, 1937 after taking off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, on a challenging 2,500-mile (4,000-kilometer) flight to refuel on Howland Island, a fly speck of a US territory between Australia and Hawaii.
    They never made it.




  25. Waqas Dar
    French electronic composer Pierre Henry -- whose music inspired the theme tune of the American animated television series "Futurama" -- has died at the age of 89, his assistant said Thursday.
    Known as the "grandfather of techno", Henry's "Psyche Rock" riff was used in the Oscar-winning Costa-Gavras film "Z" (1969) and later remixed by British DJ Fatboy Slim for the 2004 Lindsay Lohan film "Mean Girls".
    French electronic music star Jean-Michel Jarre led the tributes to Henry, who he said had opened the way for his own music.
    "He wasn't just a musician and an innovator, he was a poet. All his life he tried to bring about a fusion between experimentation and poetry," Jarre told AFP.
    "He leaves behind an enormous and impressive body of work, and I hope France grants him the homage that he deserves."
    Henry's assistant Isabelle Warnier said the composer "died during the night. He would have celebrated his 90th birthday in December."
    France's National Orchestra said it would dedicate its performance Thursday to his memory and the Pilharmonie de Paris concert hall announced it would give over a whole night to celebrating Henry's work in October.
    "Psyche Rock" will be also played at a huge free ball in the centre of the French capital next week during the country's Bastille Day celebrations.
    Never one to be unduly hamstrung by modesty, Henry liked to call himself "the father of modern music".
    A pioneer of early electronic music made with all sorts of recorded sounds known as "concrete music", he studied at the Paris Conservatoire under one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Olivier Messiaen.
    Music of creaky doors

    Two years after leaving he formed the GRMC, the Research Group into Concrete Music, with the sound engineer and writer Pierre Schaeffer.
    Jarre said the group had been a huge influence on him.
    "With Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry gave me the inspiration at the end of the 1960s to set out on my own path," he added.
    The pair's "Symphonie pour un homme seul" ("Symphony for a lone man") -- recorded in 1950 -- is regarded as the first major work of the "concrete music" genre.
    The choreographer Maurice Bejart took up the piece for his 1966 dance piece of the same name.
    Henry's work was also later used by other legendary choreographers including George Balanchine and Merce Cunningham.
    Bespectacled and owl-like, Henry would often spend his days recording sounds in the streets and parks around his home in east Paris, complimenting passing joggers on their breathless panting.
    But it remains for the bells and static of his three-minute "Psyche Rock" that he is best known.
    Taken from his 1967 dance piece "Messe pour le temps present" ("Mass For The Present Time"), it became a catchy worldwide jingle after it was reworked for Matt Groening's sci-fi sitcom "Futurama", set in the 31st century.
    Not all of Henry's work was so easy on the ear. His "Variations for a Door and a Sigh" comprised nearly 50 minutes of doors creaking, snores and sighs.
    It did not stop both Bejart and Balanchine turning it into ballets.
    "Psyche Rock" was also remixed by a younger generation of DJs including William Orbit and Dimitri from Paris.
    The admiration tended to be only one way, however.
    Henry was often highly critical of popular young practitioners of techno music for the "lack of maturity in their writing", while he dismissed DJs for playing "only with their left hand".
    Even so he rejoiced in the fact that thanks to them, electronic music had become "a natural function of human beings".


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