ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday there was no threat to democracy, and the elected democratic government will complete its tenure. “Army neither intends to come to power, nor it will come. The judiciary is independent and pro-democratic.

The prime minister said the present government was an elected one and they had come to power after rendering sacrifices and winning elections, adding, “the mandate of people should be respected.”

He said that the media, the masses and the political parties were clear that democracy is the need of country and that the world would not accept any undemocratic move.

Gilani said army was the part of civil government and was taking part in the flood relief activities on the government’s request, adding, those who consider army and the civil government as two entities were living in fools paradise.

The prime minister said that some people were wrong in their thinking that army intends to come to power.

To a question, Gilani said why army should give any clarification on the statement of Altaf Hussain, adding, “the clarification should come from those who gave the statement, and they have already done it.”

The prime minister said that owing to the devastation of floods this Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated with simplicity and he himself will visit the flood relief camps on Eid day.

The prime minister said the government had approved the promotions of 39 officers in BS-22 through a transparent selection process, and in line with the Supreme Court verdict.

“We implemented the Supreme Court verdict in letter and spirit. Today I approved the promotions of 39 officers in BS-22 after the selection board meeting”, he said and mentioned that some people including his Principal Secretary were not promoted.

About the NAB Prosecutor General Irfan Qadir, the prime minister remarked that the government decisions deluge in media discussions, adding, “the SC verdict has been implemented.”

Courtesy by geo.tv

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday informed visiting World Bank Vice President Isabel Guerrero that a foolproof system had been evolved for transparent distribution of aid among flood victims.

He said that everyone would have access to all relevant information on the internet about the source and quantity of aid whether in cash or in any other form received and its onward distribution through various agencies and government departments.

He also called for increased World Bank assistance in energy and public-private partnership projects.

President Zardari said this in a meeting at the Bilawal House with Ms Isabel Guerrero, the vice president of the World Bank for the South Asian region, who called on him.

The meeting was also attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Secretary General to President Salman Farooqui, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Malik Hammad, Secretary Finance Salman Siddiq, Secretary to President Malik Asif Hayat and President’s Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar.

According to the presidential spokesperson, Mr Zardari has emphasised that the government is deeply conscious of the fact that the success of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction operation depends on the trust of donors that their donations are utilised for the purpose and the confidence of the victims that that every rupee meant for them is being spent on them.

Keeping this in mind, plans had been devised to ensure that complete web-based information was available to everyone and that all the stakeholders including the provinces were on board in the distribution of relief goods, the spokesperson quoted the president as saying.

Access to complete information was the key to transparency which in turn was the key to good governance and eliminating corruption and mismanagement, the president said.

Mr Zardari also said that the government had already put up a credible structures of accountability and for the first time in the country’s history had placed Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee — the highest watchdog body of public finances — under the leader of the opposition.

All international assistance for flood relief and rehabilitation therefore needed to be routed through the government agencies, Farhatullah Babar quoted the president as saying.

The president informed the World Bank’s vice president that damages caused by the flood were far too great for Pakistan to manage on its own and it needed generous international assistance and urged the World Bank to make a global appeal for mobilising financial assistance.

He said that while the country was already facing an energy crisis, the floods had caused huge damage to the existing energy infrastructure.

He emphasised that Pakistan was in critical need of international financial and technical assistance and called upon the World Bank to explore new financing avenues for energy projects in addition to the 2010-13 allocation under the Country Partnership Strategy.

The president said that poverty and deprivation was one factor that fuelled extremism and militancy. Any delay in the aid would further compound the problem of poverty and did not auger well for the fight against militancy, he said.

President Zardari said that Pakistan valued its long-standing relationship with the bank which had been instrumental in providing funds for social sector and infrastructure development and thanked the World Bank for its initial assistance and also asked for additional support.

He said that the government was conscious of the need to raise additional resources nationally to give confidence to the donors and that Pakistanis needed to help themselves as well.He said that he had advised the federal and provincial governments to consider imposing a onetime flood levy to raise additional resources to meet the challenge.
He said that the flood gravely affected efforts of the government of past 30 months to turnaround the economy.

He said that just when Pakistan’s economy was poised to overcome the effects of international recession, unprecedented floods hit the country.

Farhatullah Babar said that the president also asked the World Bank for support in new initiatives under the public-private partnership in infrastructure projects like roads, ports, bridges and power projects.

The World Bank vice president commiserated with the president over the loss of human lives and colossal material damages and said that the World Bank would assist Pakistan in every way possible.

She said that the WB would also assist Pakistan at the donors’ forums for raising necessary finances.

Courtesy by dawn.com

KARACHI: Fresh rains hampered rescue efforts in Pakistan’s south Friday as thousands of people trying to leave flood-threatened towns remained stranded, Sindh’s irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said.

The catastrophic flooding that has inundated vast swathes of Pakistan, killing 1,760 people so far, has continued to flow south towards the Arabian Sea and still threatens to submerge more towns and villages in its path.

“Fresh rains have affected rescue and relief efforts and thousands of people are still stranded in different towns of Dadu district,” Dharejo said.

He said that more rain was due Saturday, further endangering the strained river embankments as officials, military and local residents worked to bolster the defences around Dadu district.

“Dadu district and the town of Johi are still in danger of flooding, but rain is hampering our mobility to reach out to the maximum people,” he added.

The devastating floods have left 10 million people without shelter nationwide, according to UN figures, with UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano describing it as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters in UN history”.

Some 21 million people have been affected by the floods, which began more than six weeks ago, with more than eight million reliant on aid handouts for survival.

Advancing floodwaters continue to threaten parts of Sindh province, with 19 of its 23 districts deluged and 2.8 million people displaced, according to provincial authorities.

The UN’s development chief for Asia, Ajay Chhibber, has called on the world to respond to Pakistan’s crisis and help it rebuild to secure hearts and minds in the insurgency-wracked nation.

Global cash pledges have been slow coming to bolster rescue and relief efforts.

Last week the UN said that despite an improvement in aid donations after a visit to Pakistan by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in mid-August, extra pledges had “almost stalled” since a week earlier.

An initial relief appeal has been about two-thirds funded, and Chhibber said a second appeal would be launched on September 17, seeking help for the next steps in Pakistan’s recovery.

Courtesy by dawn.com

Once again there will be two Eids in Pakistan.

Chairman Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Munibur Rehman has announced that Shawwal moon has not been sighted and Eidul Fitr will be celebrated on Saturday.

He made the announcement while addressing the media after the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee meeting for the sighting of Shawwal moon.

The meeting was held at the Pakistan Meteorological Department Building in  Karachi. Zonal and District Ruet-e-Hilal Committees also held meetings in their respective areas.

However, following Rehman’s conference, Mufti Popalzai, head of the controversial Masjid Qasim Ali Khan in Peshawar, announced the sighting of the Eid moon – claiming that they had received a number of Shahadats (testimonies).

His announcement was backed by senior provincial minister Bashir Bilour, who said that the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will be celebrating Eid on Friday (today).

Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon are set to celebrate Eidul Fitr on Friday. The Supreme Court in Saudi Arabia ruled that since the Shawwal moon was not sighted on Wednesday, Eid would fall on Friday.

Most of the Gulf countries follow the lead of Saudi Arabia to set the day of the Eid feast.

Egypt’s Darul-Iftar, the body that issues Islamic edicts, also announced Thursday to be the end of Ramazan for the country.

Following suit, Lebanon’s Dar al-Fatwa, the country’s highest Sunni authority, likewise said that Eidul Fitr would be celebrated in Lebanon on Friday.

Courtesy by tribune.com.pk

KARACHI: The city received scattered showers from afternoon till evening on Thursday, with North Karachi getting the maximum rainfall of 36.6 millimetres – nearly one and a half inch.

On Thursday, the maximum temperature dropped to 33 degrees centigrade. The minimum temperature was recorded at 27 degrees centigrade. Humidity remained at 75 per cent.

The rainfall recorded at Faisal base was 33 millimetres; Nazimabad 29mm; Gulshan-i-Hadeed 23mm; Masroor base 22mm; airport 20.3mm; University Road 20.3mm and Landhi 16mm.

Director-general of the Pakistan Meteorological Department Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry told Dawn that rains and thundershowers were expected in Karachi during the next two days. The maximum temperature in the city is likely to remain between 33 and 35 degrees centigrade on Friday.

He said that monsoon weather system that had developed in the Bay of Bengal a few days back was moving towards Pakistan. Currently, it is hovering over the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and moving westwards towards Pakistan. He said that this weather system would continue to move further in westerly direction, towards the southern parts of Pakistan over the next 18 hours to 24 hours. Under the influence of this weather system, monsoon currents were penetrating in eastern parts of the country.

He said that a fresh westerly wave was also expected to approach the country on Sunday that could cause rains over upper parts of the country from Sunday to Tuesday.

Courtesy by dawn.com

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Thursday condemned as “despicable” a US church’s plan to burn the Koran on September 11, saying it could inflame Muslim sentiment across the world, a statement from the president’s office said.

President Asif Ali Zardari said “anyone who even thought of such a despicable act must be suffering from a diseased mind and a sickly soul,” the statement said.

“It will inflame sentiments among Muslims throughout the world and cause irreparable damage to interfaith harmony and also to world peace,” the statement quoted Zardari as saying.

“The President called for doing all that it takes to stop such a senseless and outrageous act,” the statement added.

Courtesy by dawn.com

ISLAMABAD

NAB Prosecutor General Irfan Qadir has been at the centre of a controversy ever since the Supreme Court ordered the government last week to remove him from office, declaring his appointment as illegal.

On Tuesday, the adamant official refused to vacate his office despite a verbal order by Gilani for his sacking. He challenged the premier’s authority to remove him under the NAB ordinance. “The prime minister, according to a NAB ordinance of 1999, cannot withdraw the prosecutor general NAB’s privileges,” he told The Express Tribune, adding that “Only the president can do that.”

However, Qadir could not resist the pressure from the premier for longer and relinquished his office on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the premier told The Express Tribune that all the state organs are bound to obey even the verbal directives by the prime minister and nobody can defy them. “The premier’s order is an order. Whether verbal or written, it has to be followed,” spokesperson Shabbir Anwar said.

PM Gilani on Tuesday ordered the Law Ministry to prepare a summary for the removal of the prosecutor general. Normally, this summary is moved by the Law Ministry to the PM secretariat and from there to the presidency, returning through the same route.

Anwar did not confirm whether the prime minister’s secretariat received this summary but added it was just a formality. Officials at the Law Ministry said they had finalised the summary. They, however, refused to confirm whether it was forwarded.

Irfan Qadir was the fourth high-profile official at NAB, the official accountability arm, whom the government had to remove from office on the Supreme Court orders.  Earlier, former chairman NAB Naveed Ahsan was also removed.

Respecting the orders of the Supreme Court, the prime minister has also removed prosecutor general Danishwar Malik and his deputy Baseer Qureshi in the recent past.

Courtesy by tribune.com.pk

QUETTA: At least three people were killed and six others were wounded when a car bomb exploded inside the residence of Balochistan’s provincial finance minister Asim Ali Kurd

The explosion occurred near Quetta’s Railway Housing Society area and two of the minister’s security guards were killed.

The 15-kilogram bomb was planted in a vehicle parked inside the minister’s residential compound, Inspector General Malik Muhammad Iqbal said.

Two people were killed at the scene and seven other wounded people were taken to hospital, he said, adding “one of the wounded succumbed to his injuries in hospital”.

KARACHI: CCPO Karachi, Waseem Ahmed was appointed Director General of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday.

According to sources, the reassignment came after disagreements between Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Waseem Ahmed.

(CNN) — Mikhail Youzhny booked his place in the last eight of the U.S. Open for only the second time as he saw off the challenge of Spain’s Tommy Robredo, while Rafael Nadal breezed into the quarterfinals.

Youzhny, the Russian world number 14, took just over three hours to beat his unseeded opponent 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-4 in Louis Armstrong Stadium at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Youzhny also beat Robredo at this stage in the 2006 U.S. Open and fired 50 winners on his way to victory.

The first set went with serve until the eleventh game when Youzhny broke Robredo and held his own to take it 7-5.

Youzhny gained a quick break at the start of the second set causing his opponent to smash his racquet on the floor in frustration. He quickly wrapped it up 6-2.

Robredo hit back in the third set and secured it with a solitary break of serve, but normal service was resumed in the fourth as the Russian took it by the same margin.

Youzhny will play Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinal after he beat American Sam Querrey in an epic encounter.

Wawrinka finally triumphed 7-6 6-7 7-5 4-6 6-3 in a match that lasted four hours and 28 minutes. His win means there are no more American players left in the men’s singles draw.

Nadal did not begin his clash with fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez until after 11pm New York time, but the world number one wrapped up a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory in just over two hours.

“To be in the quarterfinals of the US Open without lose a set and without lose a serve, two things must work really well: the concentration and the serve,” Nadal told the U.S. Open website.

“I think I am playing better and better every day, and I had to play a little bit better this match.”

Nadal, who is still to lose his serve in the tournament, will face another Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the next round.

Eighth seed Verdasco came back from two sets and a break down to overcome his compatriot David Ferrer 5-7 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

The sixteenth seeded South Asian duo beat the Argentine pair of Eduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos 7-6 (7-5) and 6-4.

This is the best grand-slam run yet for Qureshi and Bopanna, who at number 15 in the ATP doubles team rankings.

Qureshi, already the best player to represent Pakistan on the ATP circuit, has also reached the mixed doubles final at the US Open with his Czech partner Kveta Peschke.

The 30-year-old from Lahore is being hailed as a hero in the country already as he continues breaking records at a time when Pakistan’s famous cricket team is going through a tumultuous period.

Courtesy: dawn.com

State media showed China’s president, Hu Jintao, meeting Wednesday with Lawrence H. Summers, the director of the National Economic Council, and Thomas E. Donilon, the deputy national security adviser. American and Chinese officials have been trying to lay the groundwork for a state visit to the United States this winter by the Chinese president.

Wednesday’s meeting with Mr. Hu followed earlier talks this week in Beijing by the two American officials that were aimed not at fashioning new pacts, but at maintaining a dialogue that had been strained at times in recent months.

“Strategic trust is the basis of China-U.S. cooperation,” said Dai Bingguo, a Chinese state councilor who met with them, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told the two Americans that China and the United States should not view themselves as rivals, according to the Chinese state news media.

Both countries have been seeking an agreement to resume contacts between the two countries’ militaries. China suspended military exchanges last winter to protest a White House decision to proceed with arms sales to Taiwan, a self-ruling island Beijing officials regard as a renegade province.

On Wednesday, The South China Morning Post, citing unnamed Chinese officials, reported that the two countries had agreed to negotiations for the resumption military exchanges.

But Chinese officials were quick to dash any hopes that a thaw in Chinese-American relations would lead to appreciation of China’s currency, the renminbi. After strengthening on Monday on the hope that the talks in Beijing might produce a breakthrough, the currency’s value retreated in offshore futures trading on Tuesday after Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Beijing, said, “Our exchange rate reform can’t be pressed ahead under external pressure.”

After keeping the renminbi tightly pegged to the dollar for nearly three years, China announced on June 19 that it would allow greater flexibility. But the renminbi has inched up less than 1 percent since then against the dollar, as China has continued to intervene heavily in currency markets to prevent a more rapid currency appreciation that could hurt the competitiveness of Chinese goods in overseas markets.

President Mahinda Rajapakse secured the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to rush through the controversial 18th amendment, scrapping the two-term presidential limit and letting him appoint judges, police and election commissioners, and central bank officials.

The amendment passed with 161 votes in the 225-member parliament. Seventeen MPs voted against while the main opposition United National Party boycotted.

“We don’t want to be contaminated by this undemocratic act,” UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday, as he joined other opposition politicians in an angry demonstration outside parliament. The changes have been condemned by lawyers, rights activists and some religious groups.

Under the previous 17th constitutional amendment, the appointments power was invested in a nominally independent 10-member Constitutional Council to avoid centralising power in the hands of one autocratic figure.

Mr Rajapakse, who was re-elected in January for another six-year term after securing victory against the Tamil Tiger separatists, has argued he needs more time to steer the country’s economic development following three decades of civil war.

He has dismissed claims the constitutional changes are undemocratic, saying a president must still be elected to govern.

But the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives executive director Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu said that argument ignored widespread concerns raised during this year’s elections, including by the country’s election commissioner, that the government had abused state resources and power to secure victory.

“This is about consolidating power, establishing authoritarianism and trying to ensure - as far as he’s concerned - there’s a clear line of succession,” Dr Saravanamuttu told The Australian, saying the changes could lead to new conflict.

The government is already dominated by the Rajapakses - the President’s three brothers all hold important ministerial posts, and one of his sons, Nimal, is an elected MP.

The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said the amendment marked “the end of liberal democracy” in Sri Lanka.

In an open letter published in the country’s liberal-leaning Sunday Leader, civil rights activist Suriya Wickremasinghe warned that the constitutional amendment would “further entrench the worst features of the presidential system of government under the present constitution”. He said the two-term limit and Constitutional Council were the only checks on the already powerful President, who remains immune from prosecution during his term in power.

“If the term limit is to go, then the immunity conferred on the President must also be removed,” Mr Wickremasinghe said.

“For the knowledge that - at a definite time within the foreseeable future - the President will once again be legally accountable for acts committed while in office is a powerful deterrent against misuse of power.”

Contractors who worked for BP on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil rig have criticised the company’s report into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Drilling firm Transocean branded the report “self serving” while cement contractor Halliburton said it contained “omissions and inaccuracies”.

BP blamed a “sequence of failures involving a number of different parties” for the spill.

It faces billions of dollars worth of compensation claims over the disaster.

Transocean dismissed BP’s report, accusing the oil giant of having designed a “fatally flawed” well and making “cost-saving decisions that increased risk - in some cases, severely”.

“This is a self-serving report that attempts to conceal the critical factor that set the stage for the Macondo (well) incident: BP’s fatally flawed well design,” the Swiss-based group said in a statement.

Halliburton also hit back at the 193-page report.

“As we continue to review BP’s internal report published earlier today, we have noticed a number of substantial omissions and inaccuracies in the document,” it said.

“Halliburton remains confident that all the work it performed with respect to the Macondo well was completed in accordance with BP’s specifications for its well construction plan and instructions, and that it is fully indemnified under its contract for any of the allegations contained in the report.”

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed his car into a police residential complex in Kohat on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, officials said, in another blow for a country grappling with devastating floods.

The blast in the northwestern garrison town of Kohat came hours after the Taliban threatened more suicide attacks on a government and security forces already overwhelmed by the worst flooding in Pakistani history.

A number of houses collapsed from the force of the blast and rescuers sought to dig out their occupants.

Police official Dilawar Khan Bangash said the bomber drove a car laden with about 300 kg (660 lb) of explosives into the gates of the complex as people were breaking their dawn-to-dusk fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and the blast brought down several houses and damaged nearby buildings.

He said several people were in critical condition and the death toll could rise. Earlier, local authorities estimated that at least 50 people were injured.

Shortly afterwards, a police patrol hit a roadside bomb in the nearby town of Hangu, and several policemen were wounded.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani denounced the Kohat attack as a “most heinous crime against innocent civilians.

“While the nation is passing through difficult times due to devastating floods, these coward criminals have killed innocent Muslims when they were breaking their fast in their homes,” Gilani said in a statement.

Islamist militants have killed nearly 120 people in suicide bombings since resuming a bloody campaign last week to topple the government after a one-month lull during the floods.

A Taliban spokesman on Tuesday threatened more suicide attacks on security forces and government offices in response to U.S. drone aircraft strikes on its members in tribal areas.

“Americans are carrying out drone attacks with the permission of Pakistan and we will take revenge with suicide attacks on security forces, police and government offices,” Taliban spokesman Azim Tariq told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

“Drone attacks have killed dozens of innocent women and children but America has never expressed its regret.”

Nineteen people, including policemen and children, were killed in a suicide bombing at a police station in the northwestern town of Lakki Marwat on Monday.

Renewed violence and the floods, which have killed more than 1,700 people and made millions homeless, have raised questions about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan, which Washington sees as a vital ally in the U.S. war against militancy.

NEW DELHI - Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owner and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan finds the new Indian Premier League (IPL) format for the fourth season “confusing”.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had Sunday unveiled a new format for the next season with 10 teams split into two groups and the cap on team spending increased to $9 million. The teams will be allowed to retain four players in their squads from the last event - a maximum of three Indians and two foreigners.

“New IPL rules a bit confusing. Two new teams added (good). All players should go into pool to make it fair for everyone. Simple and straight,” Khan tweeted Tuesday.

The fourth season of the IPL will have 10 teams after the addition of two new teams. There will be 74 matches in total, compared to 60 earlier this year.

The format needed to be changed after the inclusion of two new franchises - Pune Warriors and Kochi.

The ICC’s letter, dated Aug 21, was sent to the two players before details of the News of the World expose surrounding the no-ball scandal in the fourth Test against England at Lords surfaced, Dailymail Tuesday reported.

The newspaper reported that suspended captain Butt and wicket-keeper Akmal were contacted by the ICC after suspicion arose during the Asia Cup in June in Sri Lanka.

The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit has demanded that the cricketers release details of their telephone activity during the summer tournament in Sri Lanka and are expecting full cooperation from them.

The ICC, however, is yet to receive a response from the Pakistan camp, the report said.

The ICC earlier suspended Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer from playing international cricket until the investigations on the spot-fixing scandal are complete. If found guilty, Butt and Asif could be banned for life while Aamer might be punished with a lengthy ban.

It is understood Aamer, 18, will be told he could avoid a life ban if he gives evidence against his team-mates in the Lord’s inquiry.

“You will have to ask the ICC or the players themselves on the status of the investigation,” said Pakistan associate manager Shafqat Rana.

The ICC is also investigating Australia’s victory over Pakistan in the Sydney Test in January but they are satisfied the match was not fixed.

A report in the Wall Street Journal claimed the EU stress tests of 91 banks in July understated some lenders’ holdings of potentially risky debt. Meanwhile, the Financial Times said Germany’s top ten banks will have to raise as much as euro105 billion ($135 billion) to meet new capital requirements.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index closed down 0.6 percent at 5,411.69 and Germany’s DAX fell 0.6 percent to 6,122.34. France’s CAC-40 shed 1.1 percent to 3,645.77.

Losses in Asia were more modest but Wall Street opened lower after being closed Monday for the long Labor Day holiday weekend. The Dow industrials average was down 0.7 percent at 10,371.34 and the Standard & Poor’s was 0.9 percent lower at 1,094.82.

President Barack Obama’s announcement of a new $50 billion jobs program failed to provide much support to markets. Instead, the Wall Street Journal report weighed on bank stocks. Societe Generale shares were down 3.9 percent and BNP Paribas 2.3 percent.

Barclays, which said its investment bank chief Robert Diamond would become CEO next year, saw its shares slide 2.6 percent. HSBC, which separately announced the retirement of its chairman, was flat.

Although worries of a double-dip recession eased after last week’s publication of U.S. jobs figures, which were not as dire as feared, investors remain tense. EU finance ministers, who were meeting in Brussels, acknowledged that despite the improvement in economic indicators in recent months, the recovery is still fragile and uneven.

“We are certainly not out of the woods yet,” said Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.

The union’s 27 finance ministers agreed to create new financial oversight institutions, including a systemic risk board chaired by European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet. But they failed to find common ground on a levy on banks or on a new tax on financial trading.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index declined 75.32 points, or 0.8 percent, to 9,226.00 amid continued strength in the yen, which eats into profits of the country’s crucial exporters. Japan’s central bank voted Tuesday to keep interest rates near zero, holding off on further measures to tackle a strong yen that is undermining a fragile economic recovery.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 percent to 21,401.79 while South Korea’s Kospi edged lower by 0.3 percent to 1,787.74. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent to 4,573.20.

Markets in Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia also fell while India and Indonesia gained.

In currencies, the dollar slipped to 83.79 yen in Tokyo from 84.11 yen in London. The euro declined to $1.2712 from $1.2833.

Benchmark crude for October delivery was down $1.72 to $72.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The gene, known as NDM-1, was found in a Japanese man in his 50s, Kensuke Nakajima said.

Researchers say the gene - which appears to be circulating widely in India - alters bacteria, making them resistant to nearly all known antibiotics.

Drug-resistant bacteria are not new. Many bacteria are resistant to the world’s first antibiotic, penicillin, as well as successive generations of drugs. Excessive use and improper use of antibiotics have exacerbated the problem and led to the emergence of superbugs.

“The potential of NDM-1 to be a worldwide public health problem is great, and coordinated international surveillance is needed,” according to a widely publicized report in the British medical journal Lancet in August.

The gene has been seen largely in the deadly E. coli bacteria and on DNA structures that can be easily copied and passed onto other types of bacteria.

The man was hospitalized in April 2009 after returning from India where he had medical treatment. Nakajima declined to say what kind of treatment the man had received in India, citing the man’s privacy.

The man had a high fever while staying at a hospital in Tochigi, north of Tokyo. He was discharged in October last year.

The hospital - Dokkyo Medical University Hospital - kept a preserved sample of the suspected superbug from the man. The hospital examined the sample after the Lancet report.

The five-time US Open winner beat Melzer, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 yesterday, for yet another straight-set victory at Flushing Meadows. Next up - a meeting with one of the few players who has enjoyed success against both Federer and Rafael Nadal on the sport’s biggest stages.

That would be No 5 Robin Soderling, who defeated No 21 Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the second straight year.

The runs at the US Open are nice, but where Soderling has really made his name is against Nadal and Federer at recent French Opens.

He beat Federer at this year’s French Open to end Fed’s string of 23 straight Grand Slam semifinal appearances. Last year, Soderling notched a fourth-round victory over Nadal at Roland Garros that, coincidentally, simplified Federer’s path to finally complete the career Grand Slam. With Nadal out of the way, Federer’s opponent in last year’s French final: Soderling.

The Swede, ranked a career-high fifth at this year’s US Open, is one of only two players (Juan Martin del Potro is the other) with Grand Slam victories over both of the world’s top two players.

“I think it’s always a very nice feeling to play against the world’s best,” Soderling said. “It’s matches like that that you train for. It’s matches like that I’ve been dreaming of playing since I started playing tennis. You know, playing at the big courts in the big tournaments. It’s very fun.”

So far, Federer has been enjoying his stay at Flushing Meadows, where he has won 44 of his last 45 matches - the only loss coming to del Potro in last year’s final. The second set of the Melzer match offered some perspective into how difficult it can be to break through against the player with a record 16 major titles.

After exchanging early breaks, the players held serve to play it out to a tiebreaker.
It was there that Federer, who doesn’t need any extra help, twice hit balls that dribbled off the net cord and over for winners. He also won a point after a replay that came when a bad line call nullified Melzer’s solid return of Federer’s serve. It added up to a 7-4 win in the breaker, and when he lost set point, Melzer looked skyward and screamed in frustration.

“I wasn’t happy with my fortune. Let’s put it that way,” Melzer said.

When they shook hands at the end, Federer apologized to him about the second-set tiebreaker.

“I think I deserved the second set,” Melzer said. “You couldn’t be more lucky in a tiebreaker than he was in this tiebreaker.”

Federer admits he is taking nothing for granted against Soderling, whose victory at the French this year was the first in 13 meetings between the players. The match came after a rainstorm, when the red clay at Roland Garros was moist and slow. Still, Federer knows, a win is a win.

“I expect it to be really tough, especially now that he’s gotten a taste of how to beat me,” Federer said. “It’s up to me to clean up my game and put in a good performance.”
In the quarterfinal opposite Federer-Soderling, No 3 Novak Djokovic will play No 17 Gael Monfils. Djokovic dispatched No 19 Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to leave only one American man in the draw, No 20 Sam Querrey.

Querrey plays No 25 Stanislas Wawrinka today in a quarter of the draw that doesn’t have a top-10 seed left.

“I think the world of Sam’s game,” Fish said. “I really think he’s got a lot of upside. If he were a stock, I’d buy big time.”

In the featured women’s match yesterday, No 1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated No 14 Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in a match that saw Sharapova commit 36 unforced errors to only 10 from Wozniacki.

In other words, Sharapova did what everyone does when they play “Woz” - the human backboard.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, said Wozniacki.

“I think that’s great tennis when there are good rallies,” she said. “I think it’s good for the crowd, as well. It just feels great, when you feel like you’re hitting the ball right, it’s in the middle of your racket, the ball does whatever you want it to do.”

Which has pretty much been the case for Wozniacki, who is trying for a return trip to the finals at Flushing Meadows. Counting the Sharapova match, she has lost a grand total of 10 games in four matches and she has committed only 40 unforced errors, compared to 123 by her opponents.

“She’s retrieving a lot of balls. She served really well today. She used the wind really effectively,” Sharapova said. “She was able to use many things to her advantage.”

Next, Wozniacki plays unseeded Dominika Cibulkova, who defeated No 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (4) yesterday. The bottom half of that side of the bracket pits No 31 Kaia Kanepi vs No 7 Vera Zvonareva.

The other side of the women’s draw is tougher. In quarterfinals today, it will be No 2 Kim Clijsters, the defending champion, against No 5 Sam Stosur, and No 3 Venus Williams against No 6 Francesca Schiavone.

The men’s fourth-round matches feature an all-Spanish quadrant: No 1 Rafael Nadal vs No 23 Feliciano Lopez and No 10 David Ferrer vs No 8 Fernando Verdasco.