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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry: File Photo WASHINGTON: Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry on Thursday said that Pakistan?s efforts to bring peace in the region would not be disrupted by the rhetoric of the Afghan leadership.
    He said that Pakistan wishes to see a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and sovereign Afghanistan.

    This ambassador while participating in a discussion panel in Washington stressed that there is an opportunity for both, Pakistan and the United States to work together to achieve peace in Afghanistan.

    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/ca4e8fb88c1cb9deb809acfa2e9e7687.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9Ni84LzIwMTcgNTo1MzowMSBBTSZoYXNoX3ZhbHVlPWtDbE4zeDcwTTVUR2k3R0haNDBnRVE9PSZ2YWxpZG1pbnV0ZXM9NjAmaWQ9MQ== style=center] He said mistrust between the two countries is blocking the progress in achieving the objective of peace.

    ?Terrorism under any pretext is not acceptable to us [Pakistan],? Chaudhry said.
    The ambassador reiterated that Pakistan?s efforts to bring peace in the region would not be interrupted by the rhetoric of the Afghan leadership. 


  2. Waqas Dar
    French fans of Ariana Grande flooded to a Paris concert hall on Wednesday as the US pop star resumed her European tour following a suicide bombing at the end of her show in the English city of Manchester that killed 22 people.
    There was a heavy police presence outside Paris' AccorHotels Arena, with roads surrounding the venue blocked off to traffic hours before the event started. Security staff searched all bags and police with sniffer dogs patrolled the venue.
    Paris police said security measures were at their highest level following the attacks in Manchester on May 22 and in central London on June 3 that killed a total of 30 people.
    Grande, 23, suspended her tour after the bombing at Manchester Arena. But she returned to the city on Sunday for an all-star benefit concert for victims that raised some $3 million and helped turn the former Nickelodeon child star into a national hero.
    "She began touring again quite soon after the attacks and she really did a lot of things for Manchester. She raised lots of money for the families, she went to see the affected young girls. I admire her a lot for what she does," 16-year old French fan Azliz Roult told Reuters Television.
    Some teens on Wednesday admitted they were nervous about going to Grande's concert after the attacks.
    "The excitement sort of replaces the fear, but it's true that there is a part of me that is still a bit scared," said Edith, a 16 year-old Parisian fan.


  3. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif?s younger son, Hassan Nawaz, will appear before the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT) today for the second time.

    Strict security arrangements are in place at the JIT Secretariat, which is housed at the Federal Judicial Academy in the capital. 
    Panama JIT questions Hassan Nawaz for seven hours
    Prime Minister's younger son recently returned from London after being summoned by probe team
    Hassan ? a London-based businessman ? earlier appeared before the JIT on June 2 and was questioned by the probe team for around seven hours.
    He did not speak to the media after his questioning.
    Meanwhile, the premier?s elder son, Hussain, is expected to appear before the JIT on Friday. This will be his fifth summoning by the JIT, which is investigating the prime minister?s family?s global financial dealings in light of the Supreme Court?s April 20 judgment in the Panama Papers case.
    Panama case: Supreme Court satisfied with JIT's second interim report
    High-profile probe team has spent 30 days investigating the premier's family's global money trail
    On Wednesday, the Supreme Court special bench overseeing the JIT?s probe had expressed satisfaction with the progress of the investigation after the JIT submitted its mid-term report.
    The JIT, formed on May 6, has 60 days to complete its probe and submit its final report to the Supreme Court. 


  4. Waqas Dar
    People watch a TV broadcast of a news report on North Korea firing what appeared to be several land-to-ship missiles off its east coast, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, June 8, 2017. REUTERS  North Korea fired what appeared to be several land-to-ship missiles off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea's military said, the latest in a fast-paced series of missile tests defying world pressure to rein in its weapons program.
    The launches come less than a week after the United Nations Security Council passed fresh sanctions on the reclusive state, which said it would continue to pursue its nuclear and missile program without delay.
    It also comes a day after South Korea said it will hold off on installing remaining components of a controversial US anti-missile defence system that has angered North Korea's main ally, China.
    The missiles were launched Thursday morning from the North Korean coastal city of Wonsan and flew about 200 km (124 miles), South Korea's Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
    Under third-generation leader Kim Jong Un, North Korea has been conducting missile tests at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the mainland United States.
    Compared to the different types of ballistic missiles Pyongyang has recently tested, the missiles launched on Thursday are considered to be more defensive in nature, designed to defend against threats such as enemy warships.
    North Korea unveiled a number of new weapons at a massive military parade on April 15 to mark the birth anniversary of the state's founding leader and has since tested some of them.
    "Looking at North Korea?s pattern of missile launches, it has been revealing what it brought to the recent military parade," said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University?s Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. "What appeared to be a new type of land-to-ship missile equipped with four launching canisters was unveiled at the parade. I think this might be what was used today."
    THAAD defence delayed
    South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been briefed on the latest launch, the military said, declining to give further details.
    Thursday's launch is the fourth missile test by North Korea since Moon took office on May 10 pledging to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang, saying sanctions and pressure alone have failed to resolve the growing threat from the North's advancing nuclear and missile program.
    Moon had also promised to review the deployment of the USTerminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. On Wednesday, his presidential office said installation of four additional launchers would be halted until an assessment of the system's impact on the environment was completed.
    The introduction of the THAAD system, which includes a far-reaching radar that China worries could upset the regional security balance, has sparked protests in South Korea and a backlash in China against South Korean business interests.
    There was no immediate reaction from China to the latest test.
    Seoul and Washington were analysing the launches for further information, South Korean officials said.
    Japan is on high alert and will analyse information in cooperation with the United States and South Korea, Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as saying.
    Japan's navy and air force conducted military drills with two US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan last week, following similar joint U.S.-South Korea exercises.
    "North Korea likely wanted to show off its ability to precisely target a large warship, in relation to the joint military drills involving US aircraft carriers," Roh Jae-cheon, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman told a media briefing. "By testing different types of missiles, North Korea also appears to be aiming to secure the upper hand in relations with South Korea and the United States."
    In the three earlier launches, North Korea tested different kinds of ballistic missiles, two medium-to-long range missiles as well as a short-range Scud class weapon.
    The isolated country, which has conducted dozens of missile tests and tested two nuclear bombs since the beginning of 2016 in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, says the program is necessary to counter US aggression.
    US President Donald Trump has been pressing China aggressively to rein in North Korea, warning that all options, including a pre-emptive military strike, are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development. 


  5. Waqas Dar
    UK Parliamentary General Election will take place on June 8, 2017. Photo: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk LONDON: Marred by two terror attacks during the campaign, Britain´s snap general election on Thursday will decide who shapes the United Kingdom´s future as it leaves the European Union.
    Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, who came to power without a national vote last year after David Cameron´s resignation, called the election three years early after just one year in charge.
    Why is the election important?
    The vote will determine who gets to negotiate Britain´s departure from the EU over the next two years, and the strength of mandate that the government will have in parliament for five years.
    Britain´s new leader will also have to deal with the aftermath of a terror rampage in a nightlife hub in London on Saturday night, the third terrorist attack in the country in less than three months.
    Britain takes a leading role in global anti-terror efforts and is a key member of the US-led coalition bombing Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
    It holds veto power at the United Nations, where it is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council along with China, France, Russia and the United States.
    How does the election work?
    There are 650 constituencies across the UK, meaning 326 MPs are needed for an absolute majority in parliament´s lower House of Commons.
    May had a slim working majority of 17 at the dissolution of the last parliament and called the election in a bid to strengthen her position going into the Brexit talks.
    Each constituency is won on a first-past-the-post basis, meaning the candidate with the most votes in that seat becomes its MP.
    Despite the focus on the party leaders, voters are not directly choosing their prime minister, only their local MP.
    A parliament is elected for a maximum of five years, meaning the next general election must be held by June 2022 at the latest.
    Voting
    The polls are open from 7:00am (0600 GMT) until 10:00pm (2100 GMT) on June 8.
    There are around 47 million registered voters.
    British, Irish and Commonwealth residents aged 18 and over can vote, plus British citizens living abroad who have been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years.
    Citizens must register to vote and voting is not compulsory.
    The options
    The main parties across the whole of Britain are the Conservatives (centre-right), led by May, and Labour (left), led by Jeremy Corbyn, followed by the Liberal Democrats (centre-left), the UK Independence Party (populist) and the Greens (left).
    The Scottish Nationalists (left), Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru (left) and four parties from Northern Ireland also won seats at the last general election in 2015.
    Polls suggest the Conservatives are on course for victory. However, Labour might be able to form a government with backing from smaller left-wing parties.
    The main issues are Brexit, terrorism, the state-run National Health Service, immigration and the economy, according to polls.
    What happens afterwards?
    The vote-counting begins immediately after the polls close and by dawn on June 9 the picture of who has won should be clear.
    As soon as possible, the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, asks the person most likely to command the confidence of the Commons to become prime minister and form an administration.
    This will typically be the leader of the largest party and would happen only once the likely nature of the government is clear.
    Parliament meets on June 13 to elect a new speaker and swear in MPs.
    The state opening of parliament by Queen Elizabeth takes place on June 19, when she will read out her government´s programme for the coming parliamentary year.
    The Brexit negotiations are also due to start in the week beginning June 19.


  6. Waqas Dar
    UK Parliamentary General Election will take place on June 8, 2017. Photo: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk LONDON: Marred by two terror attacks during the campaign, Britain´s snap general election on Thursday will decide who shapes the United Kingdom´s future as it leaves the European Union.
    Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May, who came to power without a national vote last year after David Cameron´s resignation, called the election three years early after just one year in charge.
    Why is the election important?
    The vote will determine who gets to negotiate Britain´s departure from the EU over the next two years, and the strength of mandate that the government will have in parliament for five years.
    Britain´s new leader will also have to deal with the aftermath of a terror rampage in a nightlife hub in London on Saturday night, the third terrorist attack in the country in less than three months.
    Britain takes a leading role in global anti-terror efforts and is a key member of the US-led coalition bombing Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
    It holds veto power at the United Nations, where it is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council along with China, France, Russia and the United States.
    How does the election work?
    There are 650 constituencies across the UK, meaning 326 MPs are needed for an absolute majority in parliament´s lower House of Commons.
    May had a slim working majority of 17 at the dissolution of the last parliament and called the election in a bid to strengthen her position going into the Brexit talks.
    Each constituency is won on a first-past-the-post basis, meaning the candidate with the most votes in that seat becomes its MP.
    Despite the focus on the party leaders, voters are not directly choosing their prime minister, only their local MP.
    A parliament is elected for a maximum of five years, meaning the next general election must be held by June 2022 at the latest.
    Voting
    The polls are open from 7:00am (0600 GMT) until 10:00pm (2100 GMT) on June 8.
    There are around 47 million registered voters.
    British, Irish and Commonwealth residents aged 18 and over can vote, plus British citizens living abroad who have been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years.
    Citizens must register to vote and voting is not compulsory.
    The options
    The main parties across the whole of Britain are the Conservatives (centre-right), led by May, and Labour (left), led by Jeremy Corbyn, followed by the Liberal Democrats (centre-left), the UK Independence Party (populist) and the Greens (left).
    The Scottish Nationalists (left), Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru (left) and four parties from Northern Ireland also won seats at the last general election in 2015.
    Polls suggest the Conservatives are on course for victory. However, Labour might be able to form a government with backing from smaller left-wing parties.
    The main issues are Brexit, terrorism, the state-run National Health Service, immigration and the economy, according to polls.
    What happens afterwards?
    The vote-counting begins immediately after the polls close and by dawn on June 9 the picture of who has won should be clear.
    As soon as possible, the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, asks the person most likely to command the confidence of the Commons to become prime minister and form an administration.
    This will typically be the leader of the largest party and would happen only once the likely nature of the government is clear.
    Parliament meets on June 13 to elect a new speaker and swear in MPs.
    The state opening of parliament by Queen Elizabeth takes place on June 19, when she will read out her government´s programme for the coming parliamentary year.
    The Brexit negotiations are also due to start in the week beginning June 19.


  7. Waqas Dar
    Photo courtesy: Reuters  BEIJING: Beijing on Wednesday dismissed as ?irresponsible? an annual US Defense Department report that predicted China would expand its global military presence, building overseas bases in countries like Pakistan.
    Published Tuesday, the Pentagon report estimated that China spent $180 billion last year on its military ? the world?s largest ? a figure well over the country?s official $140 billion defence budget.
    US says China likely to build more overseas bases, maybe in Pakistan
    A Pentagon report singled out Pakistan as a possible location for a future Chinese military base
    ?China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,? the report said.
    China?s Defense Ministry refuted this assessment on Wednesday. ?China is not doing any military expansion and does not seek a sphere of influence,? it said in a statement.
    Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying likewise said during a regular briefing that China ?is firmly opposed? to aspects of the publication.
    ?We have noted the report released by the US which made irresponsible remarks about China?s national defense development in disregard of the facts,? Hua said, declining to comment on ?speculation? and noting that the ?friendly cooperation (between China and Pakistan) does not target any third party.?
    As part of China?s expansive Belt and Road regional infrastructure project, China and Pakistan are building an economic corridor aimed at linking northwest China to the Arabian Sea.
    India has voiced displeasure at the planned route, which cuts through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir ? disputed territory which India claims is illegally occupied.
    China started building its first overseas military base in February 2016 in the small nation of Djibouti, where it will be stationed just a few miles from a US camp.
    The outpost will support the country?s UN peacekeepers in Africa, allow it to evacuate its nationals in a crisis and support anti-piracy activities off Somalia, according to China.
    The Pentagon report noted that the strategically-sited camp, ?along with regular naval vessel visits to foreign ports, both reflects and amplifies China?s growing influence, extending the reach of its armed forces.?
    James Char, a China analyst at Singapore?s Nanyang Technological University, told AFP that ?it would not be surprising if the People?s Liberation Army is working with its overseas counterparts on reaching formal agreements on basing arrangements.?
    Such bases would probably be intended to send forces quickly to help Chinese nationals during humanitarian crises rather than wage war, Char said.
    The Pentagon report said Beijing?s actions in the South China Sea have caused regional concern over its long-term intentions.
    China has built reefs into artificial islands capable of supporting military facilities, some with airstrips.
    ?As of late 2016, China was constructing 24 fighter-sized hangars, fixed-weapons positions, barracks, administration buildings and communication facilities? at three outposts in the Spratly Islands, the report said.
    China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
    Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations took a step in May toward easing friction, agreeing to a framework for a ?code of conduct? to prevent incidents in the disputed waters.
    China has balked at US involvement in the dispute.
    ?The US?s intensification of deployment in the region ? frequently sending navy vessels on reconnaissance operations ? has created the tense situation,? China?s Defense Ministry said.
    Though, China is engaged in a decades-long build-up and modernization of its once-backward armed forces, its military clout remains far behind that of the US, whose annual defense budget totals around $600 billion.


  8. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will leave today to attend the two-day meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kazakhstan.
    The premier is being accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir and Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz.
    The prime minister will be holding bilateral meetings with the presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan today, as well as the Mongolian and Russian presidents on Friday.
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be attending the conference, as India too will be granted full membership of the SCO.
    Sources said a chance meeting between Sharif and Modi is possible on the sidelines of the summit. 
    With the inclusion of Pakistan and India, the SCO will have a total of eight states as permanent members ? after China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
    The group will then represent nearly half of the world?s population after the inclusion of the subcontinental neighbours.  
    Pakistan and India both currently hold observer status at SCO. The decision, in principle, to grant Pakistan the membership was taken by the SCO Heads of States meeting at Ufa, Russia in 2015.
    The prime minister will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the International Expo 2017, in which more than 100 countries, including Pakistan, are participating. 


  9. Waqas Dar
    TEHRAN: The attackers who stormed Tehran´s parliament complex and the revolutionary leader´s shrine on Wednesday were Iranian nationals who had joined Daesh, a top official said.
    The six attackers "were Iranian and joined Daesh from some parts of Iran," said Reza Seifollahi, deputy secretary of Iran´s Supreme National Security Council, on state TV late Wednesday.
    13 killed after militants strike heart of Tehran, Iran blames Saudis
    Attackers entered Iranian parliament and started shooting; another 'blew up' at Khomeini's mausoleum
    It was the first attack in Iran claimed by Daesh, which had threatened to step up its campaign in the country in recent months.
    Iran is a key fighting force against Daesh and other groups in Iraq and Syria. 



  10. Waqas Dar
    DOHA: President Donald Trump called Qatar?s emir on Wednesday and offered US help as efforts grew to resolve a damaging feud between the emirate and its Gulf neighbours.
    Trump?s call to Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, a key US ally, came as a senior Emirati official said Arab states were not seeking ?regime change? in Doha.
    Investigation confirms Qatar news agency was hacked

    ?The president offered to help the parties resolve their differences, including through a meeting at the White House if necessary,? Trump?s office said after the call.
    A Qatari official said Trump had ?expressed readiness to find a solution to the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, and stressed his keenness that the Gulf remains stable?.
    Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain announced on Monday they were cutting diplomatic ties and closing air, sea and land links with Qatar, giving Qataris within their borders two weeks to leave.
    The four countries have suspended all flights to and from Qatar, pulled their ambassadors from Doha and ordered Qatari diplomats to leave.
    Riyadh and its allies accuse Doha of supporting extremist groups and of serving Tehran?s interests, claims Doha has strongly rejected.
    Kuwait is leading efforts to find a mediated solution.
    Its emir, Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah, flew to the Qatari capital on Wednesday. The Qatari ruler was at the airport to welcome him.
    Sheikh Sabah earlier met Dubai?s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum and other senior UAE officials in Dubai, after talks the day before with King Salman in Saudi Arabia.
    The Kuwaiti ruler played a pivotal role in mediating a compromise in a 2014 diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf states.
    The dispute has sparked the worst diplomatic crisis in the Arab world in years and raised fears it will cause further instability in an already-volatile region.
    The United Arab Emirates state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash on Wednesday accused Qatar of being ?the main champion of extremism and terrorism in the region?.
    But he also said measures taken against Qatar this week by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab nations were not aimed at seeking new leadership in Doha.
    The United States, France and Russia have called for dialogue while Turkey has defended Qatar and said it would further ?develop? ties with Doha.
    Turkey?s parliament on Wednesday approved deploying troops to a Turkish base in Qatar under a previously agreed plan, in a move seen as a sign of support for Doha.


  11. Waqas Dar
    Dozens of fertility clinics have mushroomed in land-locked Laos after scandals over commercial surrogacy have spurred wealthier Southeast Asian neighbors to ban the controversial procedure since 2015.
    The gleaming, modern clinics have names featuring words such as "Miracle" and "Perfect" to help them stand out amid the dusty surrounding roads and highways in the Lao capital of Vientiane, close to the Thai border.
    "Laos has the best governance. Surrogacy or egg donation is not illegal!" one clinic, Thai Perfect IVF, said in a recent WeChat post in Chinese, hoping to attract clients from a country where surrogacy services have been illegal since 2001.
    Rights groups say communist Laos, one of Asia's poorest countries, is a linchpin of transnational crime, and a transit center for contraband from drugs and wildlife to timber - and recently, semen.
    In April, Thai police arrested a man trying to smuggle six vials of human semen into Laos in a tank of liquid nitrogen, which police said was destined for a fertility clinic.
    Laos is becoming an international destination for infertile couples, officials of two surrogacy advisory groups told Reuters, although there are no official estimates of how many IVF clinics and surrogacy agencies have sprung up there.
    "Many are turning to Laos," said Sam Everingham, global director of Australian non-profit Families Through Surrogacy, which says its conferences and advisory sessions have drawn about 600 Australian couples and singles in the last four years.
    But there was a risk that Laos would also ban commercial surrogacy, he warned, a fear aired in February by another group, the Nevada-based Sensible Surrogacy, which warned couples to avoid Laos and halted services in Southeast Asia.
    The office of the Laos prime minister did not respond to Reuters requests for comment by email or through social media site Facebook.
    Paid surrogacy is illegal in much of Asia, having been forbidden in neighboring Thailand in 2015, after a series of high-profile cases, with Cambodia following suit last year.
    Despite the bans, would-be parents are drawn by Asia's lower costs, as compared to wealthier countries.
    Service packages, from the screening of potential surrogates to the birth of a baby, typically cost $51,150 in Southeast Asia, says surrogacy agency New Genetics Global, making it the third most affordable option after Ukraine and Kenya.
    An Australian couple can expect to pay around A$75,000 ($56,000) for a baby through a Laos surrogate - less than in the United States, though more than Ukraine, Everingham said.
    The surrogate mothers receive only a small fraction of that sum, but it far outstrips what many could earn elsewhere.
    One 28-year-old Lao surrogate, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said she was paid $8,000, or 72 times the country's monthly minimum wage, to carry twins.
    She received accommodation in Bangkok, the Thai capital, during her third trimester of pregnancy, she added.
    BORN IN THAILAND
    But few medical centers in Laos are equipped for surrogate births, particularly the twins often resulting from the multiple embryo implants used in In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), who are more likely to be born premature and require specialist care.
    "Neonatal intensive care units are only available in neighboring Thailand," said Everingham, whose group includes two Thai hospitals and two Vientiane medical centers for surrogate births.
    Thailand's ban on surrogacy services followed scandals such as one in which an Australian couple was accused of abandoning a surrogate baby born with Down's syndrome.
    Surrogates who deliver babies in Thailand are not breaking the law, said Thongchai Keeratihuttayakorn, deputy director of the Department of Health Service Support.
    "If a Lao woman is hired to be a surrogate, but close to the birth they come to Thailand to deliver, we don't consider this a violation of Thai law," Thongchai told Reuters, adding that the surrogate must identify the biological father, however.
    "At no time did we carry out surrogacy procedures in Thailand, or use a Thai surrogate," said Australian Anthony Fisk, whose baby was born in Bangkok after being implanted in Cambodia prior to the ban there.
    "Our child was born to two foreign nationals in Bangkok, and handled as such," Fisk told Reuters in an email.
    But three Bangkok hospitals contacted by Reuters said they would not accept surrogate births.
    Besides Western couples, the Laos clinics are increasingly eyeing China, where health officials estimate that 90 million couples have become eligible to have a second child after a decades-old one-child policy was relaxed in 2015.
    But such couples face tougher odds in getting pregnant, as 60 percent of them include women aged 35 or above, with half of them over 40.
    There are no official estimates of the number of Chinese babies delivered by surrogates, but media say it exceeds 10,000 every year.


  12. Waqas Dar
    Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on one of his snap-checking visits of the ongoing developmental projects in Karachi. June 8, 2017.  KARACHI: Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday night visited the metropolis' various areas to observe the progress of certain ongoing developmental projects, Geo News reported.
    Shah, who was accompanied by Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, Nasir Hussain Shah, and Jam Khan Shoro ? the provincial Ministers for Law, Information, and Housing & Town Planning, respectively ? went to Burns Road, Empress Market, and Hassan Square, a spokesperson for CM Sindh said.
    The chief minister stressed that the developmental projects currently underway should be completed as per schedule, adding that delays in their progress will not be tolerated.
    "There should be no compromise in terms of work," Shah mentioned, highlighting that action will be taken against any officer found to be involved in causing hold-ups in the projects.


  13. Waqas Dar
    File photo KARACHI: Power outage in the country's biggest metropolis continued on the 12th day of Ramazan, causing a lot of distress to the citizens, Geo News reported.
    Areas currently experiencing a major power outage include Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Johar, University Road, Keamari, Masan Chowk, New Karachi's Sector 5-A1A, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad and North Nazimabad, Shahrah Noor Jahan, Scheme 33, Lyari, Gulbahar, and Safoora Goth.
    Driven by anger and desperation, some citizens also turned to protest in various areas of the city.

    K-Electric spokespersons have repeatedly stressed that the ongoing power issue is not the usual load shedding problem. ?It is wrong to label local faults as ?load shedding?,? they have said.
    Persistent power cuts test peoples' patience
    Many areas of Sindh were in the dark Monday night after tripping of Jamshoro Line
    Back to Stone Age: Power outage in Karachi continues during second Sehri
    A K-Electric spokesperson acknowledged that some areas in Malir and Shah Faisal have no electricity










    Nevertheless, KE has not updated its social media since yesterday.

    The power-supplying company has previously noted that extra high tension (EHT) lines in various parts of lower Sindh have tripped time and again since Ramazan started, leading to disruption in electricity and becoming a source of irritation for Karachiites during Sehri and Iftar times.

    For now, it looks like the relevant authorities have gone back on all promises they made to not carry out load-shedding during Ramazan, as Karachi continues facing power cuts.



  14. Waqas Dar
    Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) told some shoppers on Wednesday that there was a problem when they were trying to view product listings.
    "Sorry something went wrong on our end," Amazon said on a page some shoppers were sent to after clicking on items from its US home page. A different image of a dog greeted users each time.
    Many shoppers took to twitter to report the error message, which Reuters witnesses separately viewed. The incident appeared to start in the early afternoon Pacific Time and subside after 2 PM (2100 GMT).
    The cause was not clear, and company representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
    Outages are rare for Seattle-based Amazon, which prides itself on being a technology company, not simply a retailer.
    In February, its cloud storage and computing business, Amazon Web Services, suffered a technical disruption. The widely felt outage underscored how enterprises from news sites to even Apple Inc (AAPL.O) rely on Amazon's cloud for some of their day-to-day operations.
    Wednesday's glitch was unlikely to slow Amazon's growing control over consumers' wallets, however.
    "A one-off outage for a couple hours in the middle of the day is not going to have a major impact," said analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research.
    Though "it's never good," he added.
    The world's largest online retailer averaged more than $151,000 in sales per minute in North America last year, reflecting lost opportunity from even short-lived disruptions.


    Amazon's share price was largely unchanged in after-hours trading.


  15. Waqas Dar
    Former FBI Director James Comey said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump asked him to drop an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of a probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
    In written testimony released the day before he appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said Trump told him at a meeting in the White House in February: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go."
    The testimony puts more pressure on Trump, a Republican, whose presidency has been overshadowed by allegations that Moscow helped him win last year's election.
    Some legal experts said Comey?s testimony could strengthen any impeachment case built on obstruction of justice, but US markets shrugged off the news from the testimony for lack of any major disclosures.
    To build a criminal obstruction of justice case, federal law requires prosecutors to show that a person acted with "corrupt" intent. It does not matter whether the person succeeds in impeding an investigation.
    While a sitting president is very unlikely to face criminal prosecution, obstruction of justice could form the basis for impeachment.
    Comey said he had told Trump on three occasions he was not being investigated, confirming an earlier account from the president.
    Trump, who spent part of Wednesday in Ohio talking about the need to fix the nation's crumbling infrastructure, ignored reporters? shouted questions about Comey. On returning to the Oval Office, Trump went into a meeting with top advisers, including chief of staff Reince Priebus.
    Later, his outside counsel released a statement saying Trump felt "completely and totally vindicated" by Comey's account.
    "The president is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the president was not under investigation in any Russian probe," Marc Kasowitz, Trump's attorney, said in a statement.
    Awkward silence
    Several congressional committees, as well as the FBI and a special counsel, are investigating whether Russia tried to tilt last November's election in Trump's favour, using means such as hacking into the emails of senior Democrats. Trump and the Kremlin have separately denied any collusion.
    Trump abruptly fired Comey, who was leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation's probe, on May 9.
    Comey painted a vivid picture for senators of awkward encounters with Trump in seven pages of testimony.
    Comey described a private dinner in the Green Room of the White House on Jan. 26, where Trump asked him whether he wanted to stay on as FBI director, telling him: "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty."
    "I didn?t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence," Comey said in his testimony, explaining he became concerned that Trump was trying to create "some sort of patronage relationship."
    On Feb. 14, after an Oval Office briefing on counterterrorism, Trump asked Comey to stay behind, dismissing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who lingered, and waving off Priebus, who peeked through the door.
    "When the door by the grandfather clock closed, and we were alone, the president began by saying, 'I want to talk about Mike Flynn,'" Comey said in his testimony.
    Trump had fired Flynn the previous day in a controversy over contacts between the retired general and the Russian ambassador to the United States. The FBI has been investigating Flynn as it looks into allegations of links between Russia and the Trump campaign.
    Comey quoted Trump as telling him: "I hope you can see your way clear to let this go, to let Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."
    On March 30, Trump phoned Comey and asked what "we could do to lift the cloud" of the FBI's Russia investigation.
    "He said he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia," said Comey, who had briefed Trump on "salacious material" that had arisen in a counter-intelligence investigation.
    Michael Cohen, a lawyer for Trump, said in a statement that the uncorroborated dossier of compromising material that Russian operatives allegedly collected on Trump has been "debunked."
    "Comey?s statement released today needs to be carefully scrutinised as his testimony claims the president was concerned about the dossier," said Cohen.
    Cohen, along with Flynn, has been subpoenaed by the House Intelligence Committee, which is also conducting a Russia probe.
    Legal fallout
    Some legal experts said Comey?s written statement could be used to show that Trump engaged in obstruction of justice.
    ?It shows the president was doing everything he could to shut down the Flynn investigation,? said Andrew Wright, a professor of criminal law at Savannah Law School.
    Bruce Green, a professor of law at Fordham University School of Law, said it would be difficult, however, to show that Trump intended to obstruct justice. Trump could say he was merely vouching for Flynn's character and voicing concerns about how the probe was interfering with his ability to function effectively as president, Green said.
    Democrats jumped on the testimony, expressing concern that Trump had inappropriately meddled with the probe.
    "It's certainly very possible that this is evidence, in combination with other actions by the president, that could amount to obstruction. It's certainly an effort to interfere in the investigation," the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Adam Schiff, told CNN.
    Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, asked about Trump's request for loyalty from Comey, said it was "very, very critical" that FBI directors remain "independent."
    But Republican Senator Richard Burr, who heads the Senate intelligence panel, said he did not take issue with Trump's request.


    "I don't think it's wrong to ask for loyalty from anybody in an administration," Burr said.


  16. Waqas Dar
    File photo KARACHI: Seven suspects, including an extortionist, were taken into custody during a search operation conducted late Wednesday night in Mobina Town here, police sources revealed.
    Suspect Haq Nawaz has been involved in numerous cases of extortion, security officials said.
    In addition, suspects Jahangir and Yasir have been detained for violating Temporary Residents Act, while arrestees Abdul Qadir, Arif, Arshad, and Abid were wanted for various street crimes, police stated.
    Security authorities mentioned that cases have been registered against the respective suspects.
    On the other hand, three other suspects were arrested during a search operation carried out on Wednesday night here in Lyari's Baghdadi area. They have been identified as Gordan, Anwar, and Sajjad, police explained.
    Security officers said that weapons and contraband have been recovered from the detainees, who were allegedly involved in street crimes and drug-selling activities.
    Combined operation in Lahore
    Police and law enforcement agencies conducted search operations in various areas of Lahore on Wednesday night.
    18 suspects were taken into custody from Hanjarwal area, while seven were arrested in Kahna area, police commented.


  17. Waqas Dar
    Dust, thunderstorm, and rain with gusty winds are expected at scattered places in Multan, Sahiwal, D.G. Khan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha divisions and Kashmir, and at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, D.I. Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Zhob divisions, FATA, Islamabad, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

    Hot and dry weather is expected in other parts of the country, the MET said.

    7 easy hacks to beat the heat
    We have compiled a few tips for you to beat the heat this summer.
    A westerly wave continues to affect the upper and central parts of the country and is likely to persist during the next 2-3 days, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said on Thursday.


    Past weather:
    Dust, thunderstorm, and rain with gusty winds occurred at scattered places in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
    The weather remained hot and dry in other parts of the country.
    Rainfall in the last 24 Hours (mm):
    Punjab: Sahiwal 29, Kasur 25, T.T Singh 20, Okara 19, Bhakkar 15, Faisalabad 12, Murree 11, Mangla 10, Lahore (City 10, A/P 09), Chakwal 09, Sargodha (City 07, A/P 01), Noorpur Thal, Jhelum 05, Rawalpindi (Chaklala 04, Shamsabad 01), Shorkot 04, Jhang 02, Islamabad (Z.P, Saidpur, Bokra 01), Kamra 01, Kashmir: Rawalakot 13, Kotli 08, Garhi Dupatta 07, Muzaffarabad 01, KP: Malamjabba 10, Dir 07, Pattan 04, Kalam 03, D.I Khan, Kakul 02, Peshawar city, Balakot, Cherat, Lower Dir 01, GB: Bagrote 08, Gupis, Astore 03, Skardu 02, Bunji, Chillas 01, Sindh: Karachi AP 01
    Today's highest maximum temperatures:
    Sibbi 50°C, Dadu 46°C, Sh. Benazirabad 45°C, Padidan 44°C, Jacobabad, Turbat, Larkana, Sukkar, Rohri, R.Y. Khan 43°C.


    Data courtesy: Pakistan Meteorological Department 


  18. Waqas Dar
    Images on the right via US Embassy London website. British police said on Wednesday they had carried out a controlled explosion near where the United States is building a new embassy in Wandsworth, south-west London, but the unattended vehicles that triggered the action turned out not to be suspicious.
    Police said they were called out after a report of two unattended vehicles near the embassy site, and carried out a controlled explosion at around 4:37 PM GMT (9:37 PM PST).

    According to The Guardian, "police used a bomb disposal robot for the controlled explosion of a red van parked next to the unopened building on Ponton Road".

    Residents were asked to stay inside their homes, whereas the close-by Waitrose supermarket car park was shut down briefly. Security officials said London Ambulance service and fire brigade were in attendance as well, while the site was cordoned off.

    Security authorities, almost 90 minutes later, declared the incident "was not terrorism related".
    A US embassy spokeswoman said no US diplomats were present at the construction site.
    Police at that time also noted that nearby roads will be reopening shortly.

    "The first staff move into the [US] embassy early next month," The Guardian added.


  19. Waqas Dar
    MONTREAL: Former US President Barack Obama praised US states and cities for maintaining measures against climate change in a fresh jab at his successor's decision to quit the Paris accord.
    Addressing a crowd of 6,000 in Montreal Tuesday, he argued that his administration had been able to show that greener policies were good for economic growth.
    "When it comes to the threat of climate change, we have shown that environmental sustainability and economic progress are not contradictory but are complementary," he told the enthusiastic crowd.
    "I took great comfort last week in seeing American states and cities and universities and corporations to make it clear that they will keep pushing ahead for the sake of the future generations."
    Last week US President Donald Trump's decided to pull out of the Paris climate accord, attracting international condemnation.
    A string of state governors, city mayors and powerful companies were quick to pledge to meet greenhouse gas emission targets regardless of Trump's decision.
    During Obama's presidency, the United States was one of the 195 countries around the world to sign up to the 2015 agreement.


  20. Waqas Dar
    Computer games such as Minecraft teach Syrian children new language and coding skills and boost morale in refugee camps, according to new research.
    "Play is a universal way of learning," said Bruce Homer, an associate professor of educational psychology at the City University of New York.
    "In taking a game-based and playful approach to learning, we created an intervention that was not only effective, but also one in which the children were engaged and wanted (to) continue doing," he said in a statement.
    The researchers worked with 147 Syrian refugee children living in the southern Turkish town of Urfa, on the border with Syria, where language barriers stop most children from going to school and half of them suffer mental health problems.
    The children took part in daily, two-hour sessions over four weeks and researchers measured their satisfaction with various games, as well as the games' educational and psychological impact.
    While Minecraft, in which players roam a virtual world with very few limitations, helped children feel more positive, other games improved their Turkish language skills and taught them the basics of coding.
    The research, published on Tuesday, was funded by the Turkey-based Bahcesehir Ugur Education Foundation.
    The Syrian conflict, now in its seventh year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, around half within Syria and half as refugees abroad.




  21. Waqas Dar
    LONDON (via Thomson Reuters Foundation): Facebook on Wednesday launched disaster maps ? an initiative aimed at helping humanitarian organisations save lives in emergencies.
    "When there's a flood, earthquake, fire or other natural disaster, response organisations need accurate information quickly about where people are in order to save lives," founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Facebook.
    "When traditional communication channels like phone lines are down, it can take too much time to figure out where people need help," the social media giant's chief added.


    The maps will reflect the movements and location of people before, during and after disasters to help aid agencies work out where they should deliver food, water and medical supplies.

    Zuckerberg said the new maps would "help organisations understand who's in danger, who's safe, and where to send resources", and build "safe communities".
    The company worked with the UN children's agency UNICEF, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Food Programme, among others, to identify what data would be most useful. They would all have immediate access to the new maps, with other agencies to follow.
    Facebook said it would provide three types of maps:
    Location density maps will show people's location before, during and after a disaster.
    Movement maps will illustrate flight between neighbourhoods or cities over several hours.
    Safety check maps will show when users let their family and friends know they are out of harm's way.




  22. Waqas Dar
    Flowers are laid by an officer from Police Scotland outside the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, ahead of the funeral of Manchester bomb victim Eilidh MacLeod, in Castlebay on the island of Barra, in Scotland June 5, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Milligan/Pool  British police arrested two 20-year-old men in Manchester on Wednesday in connection with last month's suicide bombing that killed 22 children and adults attending a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande, police said on Wednesday.
    One was arrested overnight when police searched an address in the city, while the other presented himself voluntarily at a police station.
    In total, 21 people have been arrested so far in the investigation pertaining to the suicide bombing. Twelve were released without charge and nine remain in custody.
    The released ones included a teenage boy and a woman arrested in the week ended May 29.

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    On the other hand, bomber Salman Abedi's father and brother are also in detention in Libya.
    Abedi had reportedly returned from Libya only a few days before the attack that left 22 people dead, including seven children under 18.
    However, police are still trying to establish the extent of his wider network.


  23. Waqas Dar
    Defending champion Novak Djokovic crashed out of the French Open on Wednesday, sparking fresh fears over his appetite for the sport he once dominated as Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray made the semi-finals.
    World number two Djokovic slumped to a stunning 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-0 quarter-final loss to Dominic Thiem for his earliest exit in Paris in seven years.
    Nadal, chasing a 10th Roland Garros title, will face 23-year-old Thiem after making the last four without breaking sweat.
    He was 6-2, 2-0 up on Pablo Carreno Busta when his Spanish compatriot quit with an abdominal injury.
    Friday's other semi-final will pitch world number one Murray, the runner-up to Djokovic in 2016, against 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.
    Murray made the semi-finals for the fifth time with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/0), 6-1 win over Japanese eighth seed Kei Nishikori.
    Wawrinka became the oldest French Open semi-finalist in 32 years when he brushed aside Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
    Djokovic, who had brought in Andre Agassi as coach in an effort to boost his flagging career, hinted he may step back from the sport to regroup even with Wimbledon fast approaching.
    "Trust me, I'm thinking about many things, especially in the last couple months," he said.
    "At the same time, I have responsibility to the game itself, towards others. We'll see. Obviously it's not an easy decision to make, but I will see how I feel after Roland Garros and then decide what to do next."
    Wednesday's defeat to Thiem was Djokovic's first straight-sets loss at a major in four years and comes just 12 months after he completed the career Grand Slam in Paris.
    Djokovic 'up for challenge'

    He then also held all four majors and became the first man to break the $100 million prize money barrier.
    Wednesday saw him suffer a first 6-0 'bagel' at a Slam since the 2005 US Open while the defeat will see him slip out of the world's top two for the first time in six years.
    "All the top players go through this. It's a big challenge but I am up for it," said Djokovic who was also runner-up in Paris in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
    Thiem had lost to the Serb in the semi-finals last year and took just one game in a straight-sets loss in Rome in May.
    His shock quarter-final victory was his first in six meetings with the 12-time major winner.
    Austrian sixth seed Thiem is the only man to beat Nadal on clay this year -- his Rome quarter-final success offsetting losses in the final in Barcelona and Madrid.
    "It's going to be the toughest match you can imagine," admitted the 23-year-old.
    Fourth seed Nadal recorded his 100th best-of-five-sets victory on clay -- from just 102 matches.
    He will be playing in his 10th semi-final in Paris and has made it having lost just 22 games through five matches.
    Bjorn Borg surrendered just 32 games on his way to the 1978 French Open, but Nadal insisted he has no interest in such records.
    "I don't know how many games I lost this year, but I really don't care about this. I only care that I am in the semi-finals," said Nadal.
    Murray advanced to his fourth straight semi-final in Paris, defeating Nishikori to avenge his loss to the Japanese star at the US Open last year.
    The Scot set up a semi-final rematch with third seed Wawrinka after beating the Swiss in four sets at the same stage a year ago.
    "He's played fantastic this tournament so far," Murray said of the 32-year-old, the oldest Roland Garros semi-finalist since Jimmy Connors in 1985.
    Like Nadal and Thiem, Wawrinka has not lost a set on his way to a third successive semi-final at Roland Garros.
    "It was perfect today, I'm very satisfied," said reigning US Open champion Wawrinka after a 12th win in 14 meetings with Cilic.


  24. Waqas Dar
    geo_embedgallery
    TEHRAN: Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people in an unprecedented assault that Iran's Revolutionary Guards blamed on regional rival Saudi Arabia.
    Daesh claimed responsibility and threatened more attacks against Iran's majority population, seen by the hardline militants as heretics.
    Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted: "Terror-sponsoring despots threaten to bring the fight to our homeland. Proxies attack what their masters despise most: the seat of democracy."
    He did not explicitly blame any country but the tweet appeared to refer to comments made by Saudi Arabia?s deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, in May, saying that Riyadh would bring "the battle" for regional influence to Iran.
    Saudi Arabia denied any involvement in the Tehran attacks, but the assault further fuels tensions between Riyadh and Tehran as they vie for control of the Gulf and influence in the wider Islamic world. It comes days after Riyadh and other Muslim powers cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing Tehran and militant groups.
    They were the first attacks claimed by Daesh inside the tightly controlled Muslim country, one of the powers leading the fight against IS forces in nearby Iraq and Syria.
    The deputy head of Iran's National Security Council, Reza Seifollhai, told state TV late on Wednesday that the attackers were people from Iran who had joined Daesh. Iranian police said they had arrested five suspects
    Armed men launched two attacks in Iran's capital on Wednesday morning, killing a guard at the parliament and wounding several people in the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini. Photo: Iranian news agency Mizan  Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said: "These fireworks have no effect on Iran. They will soon be eliminated."
    "They are too small to affect the will of the Iranian nation and its officials," state TV quoted him saying.
    The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Riyadh of being behind the attacks and vowed to seek revenge.
    "This terrorist attack happened only a week after the meeting between the US president (Donald Trump) and the (Saudi) backward leaders who support terrorists. The fact that Daesh has claimed responsibility proves that they were involved in the brutal attack," a Guards statement said.
    Trump said in a statement that he prayed for the victims of the attacks but added that "states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote." The US State Department and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres both condemned the attacks.
    Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said he did not know who was responsible for the attacks and said there was no evidence Saudi extremists were involved.
    DRESSED AS WOMEN
    Attackers dressed as women burst through parliament's main entrance, deputy interior minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari said, according to the Tasnim news agency. One of them detonated a suicide vest, he said.
    Police helicopters circled over parliament, with snipers on its rooftop. Within five hours, four attackers were dead and the incident was over, Iranian media said.
    "I was inside the parliament when shooting happened. Everyone was shocked and scared. I saw two men shooting randomly," said one journalist at the scene.
    Soon after the assault on parliament began, a bomber detonated a suicide vest near the shrine of the Islamic Republic's revered founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, a few kilometres south of the city, Zolfaghari said.
    A second attacker was shot dead, he said. The shrine is a main destination for tourists and religious pilgrims.
    "The terrorists had explosives strapped to them and suddenly started to shoot around," said the shrine's overseer, Mohammadali Ansari.
    By late evening, deputy interior minister Zolfaghari put the death toll at 13, with 43 wounded.
    The Intelligence Ministry said security forces had arrested another "terrorist team" planning a third attack. The National Security Council's Seifollhai said Iran had foiled 58 similar attacks, without specifying a time period.
    REGIONAL ANIMOSITY
    The attacks follow several weeks of heightened rhetorical animosity between Riyadh and Tehran.
    In unusually blunt remarks on May 2, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is Saudi defence minister and a son of King Salman, said he would protect his country from what he called Iranian efforts to dominate the Muslim world.
    Any struggle for influence between the Muslim kingdom and the revolutionary theocracy ought to take place "inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia," he said without elaborating.
    The next day Iran accused Saudi Arabia of seeking tension in the region, saying the prince had made "destructive" comments and it was proof that Riyadh supported terrorism.
    The attacks could also exacerbate tensions in Iran between newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, who positions himself as a reformer, and his rivals among hardline clergy and the Revolutionary Guards.
    But Rouhani said Iran would be more united and more determined in the fight against regional terrorism and violence.
    "We will prove once again that we will crush the enemies' plots with more unity and more strength," he said.
    In an appeal for unity, Rouhani?s chief of staff, Hamid Aboutalebi, took to Twitter to praise the security services.
    "Applause to the power and firmness of our revolutionary guards, Basij (volunteer militia), police and security forces," he wrote.
    However, two senior government officials, who asked not to be named, said the attacks might prompt a blame game.
    "They (hardliners) are very angry and will use every opportunity to grow in strength to isolate Rouhani," said one. The other said the attacks would push Iran towards "a harsher regional policy".
    Militant attacks are rare in Tehran and other major cities although two militant groups, Jaish al-Adl and Jundallah, have been waging a deadly insurgency, mostly in remote areas, for almost a decade.
    Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, in the southeast on the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to the Balouch minority and has long been a hotbed of insurgents fighting the republic.
    Last year Iranian authorities said they had foiled a plot by militants to bomb targets in Tehran and other cities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.




  25. Waqas Dar
    A Qatar Airways aircraft is seen at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon  DUBAI/DOHA: US President Donald Trump offered on Wednesday to help resolve a worsening diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other Arab powers as the United Arab Emirates invoked the possibility of an economic embargo on Doha over its alleged support of terrorism.
    In his second intervention in the row in as many days, Trump urged action against terrorism in a call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, a White House statement said.
    "The President offered to help the parties resolve their differences, including through a meeting at the White House if necessary," it said.
    The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday over long-standing allegations that Doha is courting Iran, which they deem the region's biggest external threat, and supporting militant groups, seen as the biggest internal danger.
    The four countries also cut transport links to tiny gas-rich Qatar, disrupting food and other supplies and deepening uncertainty about the future of trade and investment ties.
    In a sign of economic damage from the dispute, Standard & Poor's downgraded Qatar's debt on Wednesday as the country's riyal currency fell to an 11-year low amid signs that portfolio investment funds were flowing out because of the rift.
    S&P cut its long-term rating of Qatar by one notch to AA- from AA and put the rating on CreditWatch with negative implications, meaning there was a significant chance of a further downgrade.
    UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash told Reuters there would be more economic curbs on Qatar if necessary and said Doha needed to make ironclad commitments to change what critics say is a policy on funding militants.
    He later told France 24 television that any further steps could take the form of "a sort of embargo on Qatar".
    Regional tensions
    Reiterating comments by Gulf officials, Gargash told Reuters there was no plan to seek a change in Qatar's leadership, only a change in its policies.
    Regional tensions, already high following the diplomatic dispute, ratcheted up further after militants attacked targets in Tehran on Wednesday, killing at least 12 people.
    Iran blamed arch-foe Saudi Arabia for the attack, which was claimed by Daesh. Riyadh denied any involvement.
    Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Gulf states could resolve a row with Qatar among themselves without outside help.
    "We have not asked for mediation, we believe this issue can be dealt with among the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council," he told a news conference with his German counterpart during a visit to Berlin that was broadcast on Saudi state television.
    Jubeir declined to confirm a list of 10 demands published by Al Jazeera, which included shutting down the Doha-based news channel but added that Qatar knew what it needed to do to restore normal relations.
    Meanwhile, Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah continued a regional effort to mediate the crisis, shuttling from the UAE en route to Qatar on Wednesday evening, a Kuwaiti diplomat told Reuters.
    But efforts to defuse the worst crisis among Gulf Arabs for two decades showed no immediate progress.
    The UAE threatened anyone publishing expressions of sympathy towards Doha with up to 15 years in prison and barring entry to Qataris.
    Turkish support
    Qatar has backed extremist movements but vehemently denies supporting terrorism. It drew some support on Wednesday when Turkey's parliament approved a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a military base in Qatar. Turkish exporters have also pledged to provide food and water to Qatar if needed.
    Trump's defence secretary, James Mattis, spoke to his Qatari counterpart to express commitment to the Gulf region's security. Qatar hosts 8,000 US military personnel at al Udeid, the largest US airbase in the Middle East and a launchpad for US-led strikes on Daesh jihadists.
    The sudden isolation has spurred Qatar to hold talks with Turkey, Iran and others to secure food and water supplies, said a Qatari official. He said there were enough grain supplies for four weeks and Qatar also had large strategic food reserves.
    Abu Dhabi port authorities in the UAE have eased curbs on non-Qatari oil tankers going to and from Qatar, according to industry sources and shipping circulars Reuters saw on Wednesday.
    Bans on Doha's fleet using regional ports and anchorages are threatening to halt some of its exports and disrupt those of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
    UAE-based newspaper Gulf News and pan-Arab channel Al-Arabiya reported the crackdown on expressions of sympathy with Qatar.
    "Strict and firm action will be taken against anyone who shows sympathy or any form of bias towards Qatar, or against anyone who objects to the position of the United Arab Emirates, whether it be through the means of social media, or any type of written, visual or verbal form," Gulf News quoted UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi as saying.
    On top of a possible jail term, offenders could also be hit with a fine of at least 500,000 dirhams ($136,000), the newspaper said, citing a statement to Arabic-language media.
    Slogans against and in support of Qatar have dominated Twitter in Arabic. Newspapers and television channels in the region have also been engaged in a war of words.
    Complexity
    UAE airlines Etihad and Emirates said all travellers holding Qatari passports were currently prohibited from travelling to or transiting through the emirates.
    They announced details of the restrictions after Australian carrier and Emirates partner Qantas Airways said it would not fly Qataris to Dubai because of the bans.
    Foreigners residing in Qatar in possession of a Qatari residence visa would also not be eligible for visas on arrival in the UAE, an Etihad spokesman said in an email.
    Gargash, the UAE minister, told Reuters in an interview it would be very complex to disentangle the "very diverse" business ties between Qatar and its neighbours but suggested this might be necessary.
    "You cannot rule out further measures. We hope that cooler heads will prevail, that wiser heads will prevail and we will not get to that."
    "Tensions are still high and mediation efforts by fellow Gulf Cooperation Council state Kuwait have yet to lead to a concrete solution, so investors will likely remain on edge," said one Dubai-based trader.


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