17 dead in Yemen, Saleh loses US favour

SANAA — Yemeni security forces shot dead at least 17 protesters on Monday as Gulf states offered their mediation and Washington reportedly pulled the plug on embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

“The death toll has gone up to 17,” said Sadeq al-Shujaa, head of a makeshift field hospital at a square in central Taez after security forces opened fire on demonstrators marching on the local governorate headquarters.

Witnesses said the demonstrators stormed the courtyard of the governorate and that plainclothes gunmen and rooftop snipers also took part in the gunfire to push them back.

The bloodshed, a day after another protester was shot dead in Taez, 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital, sent the death toll to more than 100 in a crackdown on protests in the impoverished state since late January.

Saleh, a longtime US ally in Washington’s fight against Al-Qaeda, appears to be losing American support.

The US government is taking part in efforts to negotiate the president’s departure and a transitional handover of power, according to a report in the New York Times on Sunday.

US officials have told allies they see Saleh’s position as untenable due to the widespread protests, and believe he should leave office, the paper said. Negotiations on his departure had been launched more than a week ago.

The talks centred on a proposal for Saleh to hand over to a provisional government under his vice-president until new polls. The principle is “not in dispute”, an unnamed Yemeni official told the paper.

With the timing still to be worked out, the focus for Washington remains on keeping its Saleh-backed counter-terrorism operation in Yemen unaffected, the Times reported.

The opposition Common Forum on Saturday offered its “vision for a peaceful and secure transition of power”, calling on Saleh to hand power to Vice-President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who would be a caretaker president.

But the president, who has adopted a defiant tone over the past week, on Sunday told the opposition to end protests and remove roadblocks, offering a “peaceful transition of power through constitutional ways”.

Youth protesters staging sit-in protests, however, said they would accept nothing short of an end to Saleh’s autocratic rule along with the departure of top figures in his regime.

Oil-rich Gulf states also said late on Sunday that they are seeking to mediate between Saleh and the opposition.

“The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have agreed to begin contacts with the Yemeni government and opposition with ideas to overcome the current situation,” it said after a meeting of foreign ministers in Riyadh.

On the ground in Sanaa, soldiers who have sided with protesters intervened on Monday to prevent police from taking on thousands of demonstrators camped at a square in central Sanaa.

Thirteen people were shot and wounded late on Sunday as police clashed with tens of thousands of demonstrators in the Red Sea city of Hudaydah, according to witnesses.

Police opened fire as the protesters marched on the city’s main local government building, they said.

In renewed clashes on Monday in Hudaydah, witnesses reported that dozens of people were wounded by police gunfire and rocks, while hundreds needed treatment for tear-gas inhalation.

The demonstrations in Taez and Hudaydah were part of a renewed spurt of protests for Saleh to end his three-decade rule.

The tide appeared to turn against Saleh on March 18 when regime loyalists gunned down 52 demonstrators in Sanaa, sparking widespread condemnation abroad and a string of defections from his camp.

But boosted by two huge pro-regime rallies in the capital and previous US statements on the battle being waged against al-Qaeda in Yemen under its ally Saleh have produced shows of defiance by the president.

New dad Swann ready to fly out and join England squad

LONDON: England spinner Graeme Swann will soon fly out to join the rest of the World Cup squad after his wife Sarah gave birth to their first child on Thursday.

Yousafzai takes charge as PIA’s new MD

ISLAMABAD: Nadeem Yousufzai has taken charge as new Managing Director (MD) of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) on Saturday and urged the employees to take every step to normalize the flight schedule.

The MD has appealed the PIA employees to work hard to recover loss occurred in last four days due to the protest.

Sources said that a change in different departments’ administrators is expected in coming few days.

The flight operation of PIA has returned to normal and the spokesperson of PIA has asked the passengers to arrive at airports two hours before the departure. TrendPK

PM Gilani leaves for two day tour of Tajikistan

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani left for a two day tour of Tajikistan on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister will attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Dushanbe. All SCO member country heads will attend the conference and Gilani will represent Pakistan.

Before his departure to Tajikistan, Gilani said while talking to media at the airport that Pakistan will try to get a permanent membership of SCO and would discuss the enhancement of economical and security cooperation with China and Russia.

He added that during his visit, Pakistan Steel Mills’ expansion plan will also be discussed with the Prime Minister of Russia. Trend Pk

Saudi king to get medical treatment in U.S.

KUWAIT/JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s elderly King Abdullah will leave for the United States on Monday for medical checks for a back ailment, and Crown Prince Sultan is returning from holiday abroad, state media said on Sunday.

Western diplomats in Riyadh said the prince’s return indicate that kingdom, which has no political parties or elected parliament, is trying to prevent a power vacuum and reassure Washington and other allies.

A day before his departure, the king reappointed several officials close to him, including Saudi Arabia’s relatively moderate top Islamic scholar and the ambassador to Washington.

Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi said the court’s fourth medical bulletin in little more than a week showed the desert kingdom, known for its secrecy, wanted to dispel any rumours.

“They want to make a point that there is no room for rumours.

Hajis to return to Mecca to perform rituals today

Staff Report

MECCA: Hajis are completing last rituals of Haj and will return back to Mecca after performing Rami (stoning the devil), Trend Pk learnt Thursday.

Hajis will spend one night in Mecca after performing all three Rami and will start their departure from tomorrow after doing their last circumambulate.

PIA will start their Haj flights from November 21, 2010 which will continue till December 21.

According to Minister of Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi, the Saudi government has created a committee to monitor difficulties faced by Pakistani hajis along with other four countries’ hajis. Trend Pk

PCB suspends Zulqarnain contract, fails to make contact

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Cricket Board has suspended the contract of wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider after failing to make contact with him in the wake of his departure for England.

“The contract of Zulqarnain Haider has been suspended for violating its terms and conditions,” the PCB said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement also said that the PCB had so far failed in its efforts to contact the player.

Zulqarnain fled the team’s hotel in Dubai on Monday, hours before the fifth and final one-dayer against South Africa, and flew to London.

The 24-year-old said he feared for his safety after being ordered to cooperate with match-fixers. AGENCIES

No difference b/w N-League, PPP: Shujaat

LAHORE: President Pakistan Muslim League-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Sunday claimed that there is no difference between Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan People’s Party.

At a press conference in Lahore, Chaudhry Shujaat said both the parties issue statements against each other and then waste no time to patch things up over the telephone.

The state in which affairs of the province are being run is visible to all, he said, adding ‘we had not expected that children would be pulled into the mess’. The children were handcuffed and then orders were sought from above to remove them.

The PML-N President said in his party’s rule no hurdles were created in the departure of Hussain Nawaz for London. “We don’t believe in the politics of revenge,” he claimed.

He maintained that the (Punjab) province has become bankrupt where people are committing suicides.

Saif Ali Khan loses 9 kilos for his new look in Agent Vinod

Saif avoided cameras and paparazzi pictures until his departure to Morocco this week to avoid giving away his Agent Vinod look. But man proposes, Aamir disposes. Aamir insisted that Saif make it to the party at his home last weekend, thereby blowing the whistle on Saif’s carefully-concealed look.

On the eve of his departure to Morocco for the shooting of his second home production Agent Vinod, Saif Ali Khan completely revamped his look and went into hiding until he left the country.

According to close friends, Saif was apprehensive about the exposure of his special makeover in as Agent Vinod. He has lost oodles of weight changed his hairstyle and redesigned his entire body language to play a lean spy.

A friend of Saif says, “If Shahid Kapoor in his dad’s film Mausam has modelled his look on Tom Cruise in Top Gun, Saif’s role model for Agent Vinod is Matt Damon in Bourne Identity.”

A special hair styling done by Aalim Hakim clipping off the long tresses that Saif was lately seen sporting had been planned for six months. Saif wanted to delay the haircut until the final moment before his departure from Morocco.

Besides that, Saif has been working out frantically and toning his muscles to look sinewy agile and panther- like.

While Saif remained inaccessible for any questions on his makeover for Agent Vinod (he probably thinks even talking about it would invite copycats) his ladylove Kareena Kapoor willingly and proudly spills the beans. “Saif has never looked cooler. He has lost 9 kilos in three months. He has all toned and rippling muscles. He was with long hair for so long that I had forgotten how dashing he looks in cropped hair. Saif has got his hair cropped really short, that’s all I can tell you about his Agent Vinod look. He got it done a couple of days back. Since then he was reluctant to step out of his house. ”

So frightened was Saif of revealing his new look that he refused to show it even to his own parents. Only Kareena had the privilege of seeing Saif’s makeover avatar. Until Aamir’s party.

“And that too only because I’ll see how he looks anyway because I’m his co-star,” laughs Kareena, adding that her look in Agent Vinod would also be unique.

“Akki Narula is doing my look for Agent Vinod. I don’t think I’ve ever looked the way I would in Agent Vinod. As for Saif, he looks like a Hollywood star for the film. I can’t take my eyes off him.”

david evans controller

David Evans controller – Suspect of Killing Stephany Flores, for more details online video and headlines news. On Thursday the US charged van der Sloot with extortion and wire fraud. He attempted to get $250,000 from Natalee Holloway’s mother in exchange for details of her daughter’s death and the location of the Natalee’s body.
Joran van der Sloot confessed to killing Stephany Flores in Peru. The 22-year-old Dutch man made the confession during an interrogation by Peruvian police on Tuesday, June 8th.00″ />
The Huffington Displace reports, “Guard Colonel Man Gamarra told The Related Pressure new Tuesday that van der Sloot confessed during an inquiring.”

Van der Sloot told guard that Stephany Flores looked into files on his machine and realized he was engaged in the departure of Natalee Holloway in Island. Van der Sloot claims he snapped and murdered Flores as a lead of her insight.
source:watch-leslieann

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