KIEV: Security forces clashed with protesters as they began tearing down opposition barricades and tents set up in the center of the Ukrainian capital early Wednesday, in an escalation of the weeks-long standoff threatening the leadership of President Viktor Yanukovych. Several thousand police in riot gear used their shields to push back protesters and successfully removed some of their tents and barricades. But thousands of protesters, their ranks swelling through the night, put up fierce resistance for hours, shoving back at the police lines to keep them away from the center of the protest camp on Independence Square in downtown Kiev.
Frozen chills Hunger Games’ lead at US box office
Disney animation Frozen has toppled Hunger Games: Catching Fire off the top of the US box office chart in its second week of release. According to early estimates, Frozen took $31.6m (£19.3m) over the weekend, with the Hunger Games sequel slipping to second place with $27m (£16.5m). The only new wide release was Out of the Furnace, which took $5.3m (£3.2m) to earn third place. The steel-town drama stars Christian Bale and Casey Affleck. Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World and Vince Vaughn’s Delivery Man rounded out the top five.
Wii Fit games ‘help control diabetes’
Playing “active” computer games can help people with type-2 diabetes better control their blood sugar, a medical trial has indicated. Researchers recruited 220 diabetic patients for their study and asked half to use Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus for half an hour a day over three months.The gamers not only lost weight but also achieved lower glucose levels.When the other group later switched to play the Wii they had similar benefits, BMC Endocrine Disorders reports.
Central African Republic violence: US to fly in peacekeepers
The US is to help fly African Union peacekeeping troops into the Central African Republic (CAR), officials say. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered US forces “to begin transporting forces from Burundi to the Central African Republic,” his spokesman said in a statement. It follows a request from France, which has deployed 1,600 soldiers to the CAR. President Obama has called for calm and the arrest of those behind the violence. ‘Catastrophe’ French soldiers started to remove weapons from fighters on Monday.
Hagel warns Nato blockade can block aid flow
ISLAMABAD – US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel has warned the US can stop economic aid to Pakistan if it fails to keep the ground supply routes open. According to sources, the visiting US dignity sounded the warning to Pakistani leaders during a series of meetings he held with them on Monday. A press statement issued by the US Embassy said Secretary Hagel raised the issue of blockade of Nato supplies with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. But there was no mention of it in the official handout issued by the Prime Minister’s House. The US Embassy further stated Secretary Hagel also expressed the US concern over the presence of Haqqani network in Pakistan.
Question about judges goes unanswered
ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: As parliamentarians continue to push ahead with their quest for transparency on the matter, a question was put in the National Assembly on Monday for the ministry of law, justice and human rights by a PPP lawmaker about the number of judges holding nationalities of other countries, but to no avail. Surriya Jatoi’s question was put in a category whose written answers are given but not taken up for discussion. The ministry said in its reply that it didn’t possess information sought in the question, but registrars of the superior courts had been forwarded the request.
Ukrainian police move against Kiev protesters
KIEV: Ukrainian security forces on Monday moved in on pro-EU demonstrators to end a week-long blockade of the government headquarters, prompting Washington to urge Kiev to “immediately de-escalate the situation”. With the authorities apparently keen to regain control of the city centre, the party of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said that armed police had raided their offices although this was denied by police. Upping the stakes after more than two weeks of protests over the government’s rejection of a pact with the European Union, the protesters a day earlier symbolically toppled the statue of the Soviet Union’s founder Vladimir Lenin in Kiev.
Sui Northern suspends supplies for industrial, CNG sectors
LAHORE, Dec 9: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) decided on Monday to suspend, for an indefinite period, supplies to the industrial and compressed natural gas (CNG) sectors from 6am on Tuesday. The reason given is that its deficit has risen to more than 50 per cent of the demand. By Monday, the gas requirement in the region covered by the company rose to 2.5 billion cubic feet with supply being 1.2 billion cubic feet, leaving a gap of 1.3 billion cubic feet. According to SNGPL General Manager (sales) Mohammad Ashraf, the industries drew around 700 million cubic feet per day and the CNG sector 300 million cfd.
Efforts under way for talks with insurgents: Dr Malik
QUETTA, Dec 9: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has said that insurgency in the province can be ended through dialogue. Speaking to officers attending a senior management course here on Monday, he pointed out that all the pervious insurgencies had been controlled through talks. Mr Malik said his government was trying to initiate talks with disgruntled Baloch leaders to find a solution to the Balochistan issue. The chief minister said the Balochistan government had appointed Senator Raza Rabbani as legal consultant to guide it in implementing the 18th Amendment. He said the provincial government had ensured transparent distribution of relief goods among survivors of the recent earthquake in Awaran and Kech, maintained peace during Muharram and successfully held local bodies’ elections.
SC wants defective vehicles off road
ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: The Supreme Court ordered on Monday that all public vehicles, including buses, vans, trucks, taxis and rickshaws, plying across the country without fitness certificates and route permits or violating provisions of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1965, be kept off the road. The court issued the directive in a suo motu case relating to the May 25 incident in which 16 children and a teacher were killed when a school van caught fire near Gujrat. The notice was taken on an editorial that appeared in an English daily on May 26. It described tragedy as nothing short of murder or at least manslaughter. The editorial also blamed the van driver and said the convenient, standard identification of short-circuiting as the cause of fire were dire signs of guilty seeking to take the old escape route.
