Twelve killed aftter bus plunges into canal in Shikarpur

SHIKARPUR: At least 12 passengers including women and children were killed when a speeding bus plunged into a canal here on Wednesday, Geo News reported.
According to reports a bus carrying 22 passengers lost control and went down headlong in the Kirthar Canal in Shikarpur.
The sad incident occurred in the limits of Ghari Yaseen police station.
Deputy Commissioner Shikarpur confirmed the casualties while talking to Geo News.
"Twelve passengers have lost lives in the tragic accident. Most of them are women and minors", said he.
The bodies and injured were shifted to local hospital.
Rescue teams have jumped into action at the site of the accident.
An extensive search operation for the missing passengers is also underway.
Moreover, heavy machinery and standby generators have been summoned to assist the rescuers.

Ang Lee talks about risks, spirituality of 'Life of Pi'

NEW YORK: Gay cowboy drama "Brokeback Mountain" may have been considered a risky film to make, but director Ang Lee said his new movie, "Life of Pi," a 3D exploration of faith about a boy stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger, is his riskiest yet.

The film, which was released in U.S. theaters this week, is adapted from Yann Martel's best-selling novel of the same name and was once considered impossible to make.

Oscar-winning Taiwanese director Lee, 58, took on the laborious task of using computer-generated imagery to bring the sensational plot to the big screen, taking a year and a half just to edit the film together.

The director talked to Reuters about the film's themes, technical barriers and casting an unknown actor in the lead.

Q. Why was "Life of Pi" considered unfilmable?

A. "Because you cannot make the tiger do everything you want to do, you have to use digital. A digital animal, up until two years ago, was not totally realistic yet, let alone in 3D, and then water is pretty difficult."

Q. Was this your most difficult filming experience yet?

A. "Oh yes. And it was also the longest...there was the technical difficulty and then it is a big movie. And it was across continents, I finally decided to shoot most of it in Taiwan, but we also had to go to India to shoot for two to three weeks. Because you can't fake Pondicherry, and Munnar. And then we have scenes in Canada."

Q. But Brokeback Mountain was a risky film too?

A. "No, that wasn't for me. At least when I made it, I thought it was strictly arthouse and few people would see it. And it's a lot cheaper (to make). So I didn't care...And then I got nervous, 'Oh they are going to lynch me, making a gay cowboy movie, that will go into a shopping mall.'"

Q. It was only after you made it you realized that?

A. "Yes, I was afraid. I was looking around when I walked, when I would go home, to see if anybody was following me. Once it hit the shopping mall I was nervous, actually. My brother is a distributor in Taiwan and I told him not to buy it. He hates me to this day, he is still babbling about it."

Q. Why choose unknown Suraj Sharma to play Pi?

A. "I wanted someone authentic, and no bad habits, that means you have to train them from the start. "

Q. Why did you replace Tobey Maguire and reshoot his scenes with the little-known Rafe Spall?

A. "It was a small part, and he is a big movie star. He is a good old friend of mine and he would do this for nothing, for me. But he is not doing anything (in the role), he is just sitting there listening most of the time. It becomes a little distracting I think."

Q. How does the film explore spirituality?

A. "To me, faith can be elusive, but .. As a Taoist would say, 'That's the apple's truth.' The source of all the material comes from nothingness, illusion is working more on things you can prove. That's the principle, the essence of life, it is actually an illusion, not immaterial. That's worth pursuing. So illusion is not nothing. In a way, that is the truth."

"Sometimes I feel (illusions) are more of life's essence, I can trust them more than real life that is full of deceit and covering up."

Q. Did exploring faith encourage you to make this?

"The book is fascinating, it talks about faith. But it didn't make me believe in God or anything...I didn't go to church or a temple after that. When I started making the movie, you do feel faith embody you and carry you through. But when I picked the subject, and chose to do the book, it was actually more storytelling in my mind. The value of storytelling. How people share a story. Because a story has structure, it has a beginning, middle and end. It seems to have meaning, where life has not."

Q. Do you practice any religion?

A. "No, my mother is a baptized Christian, so she made me go to church every Sunday, and I prayed four times a day until I was 14. And at lunchtime kids at school would giggle at my praying...I stopped praying. And two weeks later, nothing happened to me, so I didn't pick it up again."

"I am not particularly religious. But I think we do face the question of where God is, why we are created and where does life go, why we exist. That sort of thing. And it is very hard to talk about it these days, because it cannot be proven. It is hard to discuss it rationally."

Q. Do you consider yourself spiritual?

A. "I hate to think life is just facts and laws. And I am a filmmaker, I am a sensitive person, I like to think it is spiritual, so I like people to be more in that way. I think life without spirit is in the dark, it is absurd. Call it illusion or call it faith, whatever you call it, we have emotional attachment to the unknown. We yearn to find out. That is human nature. It can be, in a way, unrequited love, we don't know. I don't have a particular God I pray to, except sometimes a movie god."

US actor Larry Hagman dies at 81: family

LOS ANGELES: US actor Larry Hagman, who became famous for his role of J.R. Ewing in the US television show "Dallas," has died at the age of 81 after losing a battle with cancer, his family said.

"When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones," the family said in a statement. "It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for."

According to the statement, Hagman died late Friday afternoon at Medical City Dallas Hospital from complications from cancer.

No other details were given.

Study reignites controversy over mammograms

CHICAGO: As many as a third of cancers detected through routine mammograms may not be life threatening, according to a study published on Wednesday that raises fresh questions about the benefits of breast cancer screening.

The study, which looked at three decades of U.S. government data, found more than 1 million women may have been over diagnosed for breast cancer, needlessly exposing them to the anguish of a breast cancer diagnosis and the ordeal of treatment.

"It's a lot of women. It's a very substantial harm," said Dr. Gilbert Welch of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice in New Hampshire.

But proponents of mammograms have already begun poking holes in the study, by Welch and Dr. Archie Bleyer of St. Charles Health System in Oregon and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. While mammograms are not perfect, the proponents say, their benefits still outweigh the risks.

Welch has made overdiagnosis a major focus of his research. In an earlier study, he concluded that as many as 1 million U.S. men had been over diagnosed with prostate cancer since the introduction in 1986 of the widely used PSA test.

Such studies contradict the deeply ingrained belief that cancer screening is always good because it saves lives, an idea that is being steadily challenged by studies examining the harms of screening.

"We're not the first to suggest this, and it has come at a very huge human cost - the cost of telling a large number of women they have cancer and treating women for cancer with chemotherapy and radiation and surgery," Welch said in a telephone interview.

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government-backed advisory panel, issued new guidelines that suggested women should start routine mammograms at age 50 rather than 40, in part because the tests have such high false positive rates and the benefits in lives saved did not outweigh the worry and anguish caused by the false positive results.

That conclusion, which was based on a review of published studies, contradicted years of messages about the need for routine breast cancer screening starting at age 40 and triggered a backlash from cancer doctors, advocacy groups and lawmakers who said the tests save lives and are worth the risk of a false positive test result every now and then.

An independent panel of advisers in Britain that reviewed data from 11 studies backed up critics of the task force, saying that for every 10,000 50-year-old women invited to have a mammogram over the next 20 years, screening would prevent 43 deaths and result in 129 cases of over diagnosed breast cancers, preventing one breast cancer death for every three over diagnosed cases.

The matter, however, is still far from settled.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the new study was an "interesting conversation starter" but not the final say about the value of mammography in the early detection of breast cancer.

"It points out issues that many if not all experts agree on, but the degree of the number of women have been impacted and the true impact of the negative side of mammography is something that other researchers would disagree with," he said.

In the latest study, Welch and Bleyer looked to see how well mammography was working as a screening tool.

They figured that to reduce the rate of death from cancer, screening needs to not only find more early-stage cancers; it must also reduce the number of cancers that are discovered at a late stage, when treatments are less likely to work.

Using government health and census data, the team compared breast cancer diagnosis between 1976-1978, before mammogram screening was widely used, with data in 2006-2008, when routine mammograms had become well established.

They found that the introduction of screening mammography in the United States has doubled the number of cases of early-stage breast cancer detected each year, but the rate at which women are diagnosed with late-stage cancer has only fallen by 8 percent.

"You see with mammography a dramatic increase in early-stage disease, but you don't see much compensatory decrease in late-stage disease. That means you are finding a whole lot of early cancers that were never destined to become late-stage," Welch said.

Welch said that mammogram screening is likely not doing much to catch cancers at an even earlier stage of the disease, when they are more treatable.

The researchers estimated that breast cancer was over diagnosed in 1.3 million U.S. women in the past 30 years. In 2008 alone, they estimated that breast cancer was over diagnosed in more than 70,000 women, accounting for 31 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed.

Welch said the findings cannot answer the question of whether women should get screened for breast cancer, nor does it suggest that there are no benefits, but the findings do challenge the assumption that mammograms are always a good idea.

"I can't discount that there may be a tiny fraction of women who are helped by screening, but we can say it is very small - much smaller than conventional wisdom," he said.

Others were quick to dismiss the findings, saying the study by Welch and Bleyer was fundamentally flawed because it underestimates the annual rate of breast cancer growth.

Dr. Debra Monticciolo, a spokeswoman for the American College of Radiology and president of Society of Breast Imaging, said the paper was an "extensive analysis based on false assumptions."

For their analysis, the researchers assumed in their "best guess" estimate that breast cancer rates would remain fairly stable over the study period, increasing at a rate of about a quarter of a percent a year.

"They are off by a factor of 4," said Monticciolo, who said the real figure is closer to 1 percent increase per year.

"If you recognize breast cancer had been increasing for 1 percent per year, there is no overdiagnosis."

Welch dismissed the criticism as a "circling of the wagons" by a specialty group that is "simply not open" to consider that there might be any problems with mammography.

"It's is a lot easier to make a simple (and misleading) case for screening, than it is to try to do better. But it is not in the best interest of our patients," he said.

Dr. Colin Begg of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York said he thinks the study makes a pretty good case for overdiagnosis, but he questions the authors' assertion that the benefits of mammography are small.

"We have had umpteen randomized trials out there that show there is a mortality benefit of about 15 percent," he said.

Begg said the authors are concerned that women are being encouraged to get mammograms when it may not be in their best interest, but he said all screening tests have risks as well as benefits.

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeded only by lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

"I'm assuming most women who get mammograms are vastly more concerned about preventing their death from breast cancer than they are about the false positives of mammography," he said. 

Four new cases of SARS-like virus found in Saudi, Qatar

LONDON: A new virus from the same family as SARS which sparked a global alert in September has now killed two people in Saudi Arabia, and total cases there and in Qatar have reached six, the World Health Organisation said.

The U.N. health agency issued an international alert in late September saying a virus previously unknown in humans had infected a Qatari man who had recently been in Saudi Arabia, where another man with the same virus had died.

On Friday it said in an outbreak update that it had registered four more cases and one of the new patients had died.

"The additional cases have been identified as part of the enhanced surveillance in Saudi Arabia (3 cases, including 1 death) and Qatar (1 case)," the WHO said.

The new virus is known as a coronavirus and shares some of the symptoms of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which emerged in China in 2002 and killed around a 10th of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide.

Among the symptoms in the confirmed cases are fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Of the six laboratory-confirmed cases reported to WHO, four cases, including the two deaths, are from Saudi Arabia and two cases are from Qatar.

Britain's Health Protection Agency, which helped to identify the new virus in September, said the newly reported case from Qatar was initially treated in October in Qatar but then transferred to Germany, and has now been discharged.

Coronaviruses are typically spread like other respiratory infections, such as flu, travelling in airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

The WHO said investigations were being conducted into the likely source of the infection, the method of exposure, and the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus.

"Close contacts of the recently confirmed cases are being identified and followed-up," it said.

It added that so far, only the two most recently confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia were epidemiologically linked - they were from the same family, living in the same household.

"Preliminary investigations indicate that these two cases presented with similar symptoms of illness. One died and the other recovered," the WHO's statement said.

Two other members of the same family also suffered similar symptoms of illness, and one died and the other is recovering. But the WHO said laboratory test results on the fatality were still pending, and the person who is recovering had tested negative for the new coronavirus.

The virus has no formal name, but scientists at the British and Dutch laboratories where it was identified refer to it as "London1_novel CoV 2012".

The WHO urged all its member states to continue surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections.

"Until more information is available, it is prudent to consider that the virus is likely more widely distributed than just the two countries which have identified cases," it said.

Caffeine-diabetes link still unresolved: study

NEW YORK: Results of a large new U.S. study confirm that sugary drinks are linked to a heightened risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, but shed little light on whether caffeine helps or hinders the process.

Among more than 100,000 men and women followed for 22 years, those who drank sugar-sweetened drinks were as much as 23 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those who didn't, but the risk was about the same whether the drinks contained caffeine or not. And drinkers of both caffeinated coffee and decaf had slightly lowered diabetes risk.

"We found that caffeine doesn't make a difference at all," said the study's lead author Dr. Frank Hu of Harvard University. "Coffee can be beneficial and the caffeine doesn't appear to have a positive or negative effect on diabetes risk," Hu told Reuters Health.

Numerous past studies have linked regular consumption of soft drinks - both sugar- and artificially-sweetened - to an increased risk of diabetes. Research over the past decade has also suggested that caffeine temporarily prevents the body from processing sugar efficiently. Those who live with diabetes deal with this problem all the time.

That at least suggests that caffeine in conjunction with sweetened drinks might raise diabetes risk even further. However, other research has found a protective effect from coffee and tea, suggesting caffeine does the opposite.

Hu and his coauthors wanted to know if people who regularly drink sugary and caffeinated beverages might only be exaggerating their risk of developing a disease that affects nearly 26 million adults and children, or about eight percent of the U.S. population, according to the American Diabetes Association.

They examined the health habits of 75,000 women and 39,000 men involved in long-term health studies that began in the mid-1980s.

Compared to people who didn't consume sugary drinks, the likelihood of developing diabetes over the years for those who did was higher by 13 percent (caffeinated) or 11 percent (decaffeinated) among women, and by 16 percent (caffeinated) or 23 percent (decaffeinated) among men.

Caffeine-free artificially sweetened drinks were also linked to a slight (six percent) increase in risk among women.

However, coffee drinkers showed slightly lower risk compared to non-drinkers. The chances of developing diabetes were eight percent lower among women, whether they drank decaf or regular coffee, and for men, four percent lower with caffeinated coffee and seven percent lower with decaf.

Hu and his team have used this same dataset, which contains the health habits of mostly white health professionals, to suggest that regular coffee drinking in general is tied to lower diabetes risk.

But past studies, like the current one, have also found that the risk falls even lower if adults drink decaffeinated coffee.

"Our understanding of the body's tolerance to caffeine is not complete," said James Lane of Duke University. Lane has done short-term studies that linked caffeine to a disruption of the body's ability to process glucose, or "blood sugar."

This latest study suggests that people who currently drink sugary beverages could substitute unsweetened coffee or tea - though tea was associated with fewer benefits - instead.

Such advice could be important, since the number of Americans who develop diabetes has steadily increased, according to a study released earlier this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Diabetes can only be managed, not cured and its side effects range from high blood pressure to debilitating blindness.

"I'm disappointed that they are essentially repeating something they published several years ago. The bit about including sugar sweetened beverages and caffeine's possible interaction with sugar and diabetes does not add something of great value," Lane told Reuters Health.

Others agree more research is necessary to untangle caffeinated coffee's complicated relationship with diabetes risk.

At least one small, randomized two-month-long trial led last year by Rob Martinus van Dam of the National University of Singapore, also a co-author of the current study, found that caffeinated coffee did not seem to affect glucose levels in the blood.

Van Dam told Reuters Health that the next step toward establishing a direct link between caffeinated coffee and reduced diabetes risk would require a much larger study.

"We still don't advise people to start drinking coffee if they do not already," van Dam said.

People who want to lower their risk of developing diabetes could follow advice that has been better substantiated, such as eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly. 

India govt approves new drug pricing policy

NEW DELHI: The Indian government approved on Thursday a new drug pricing policy, two ministers told reporters, a move that will regulate the prices of 348 drugs deemed essential.
India's domestic drug market, the fourth largest in the world by volume, is valued at nearly $13 billion.

No differences between Shia and Sunni: CM

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah Sunday said that there are no differences between Shia and Sunni communities in Karachi, adding that ‘third group’ is responsible for the violence in the city.
During his visit to Hussainia Iranian Imambargah located in Kharadar area, Chief Minister said that CID police’s successful raid in Manghopir is a prove of police and rangers efforts for providing security.
He said that effective action taken by law enforcement agencies have foiled the terror bid.

Malik angry over DIK blast, orders probe

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rahman Malik Sunday expressing his annoyance over the Dera Ismail Khan blast ordered investigation into the gruesome incident and has sought report from the Khyber Pukhtunkhaw I. G., Geo News reported.
Seeking immediate report from the authorities, Rahman Malik enquired as to why the procession route was not got cleared by the bomb disposal squad.
In a handout issued here, the interior minister strongly condemned the bombing of the Muharram procession and said that had the route been got cleared by BDS, the blast would have been averted. He ordered investigation into the incident as well as probe as to why the route was not got cleared.

According to Rahman Malik the blast occurred through a time device bomb planted in a cycle shop.
Earlier, five persons were killed while seventy people injured in a remote control blast in Dera Ismail Khan.

Nigeria to host D8 trade talks February

ISLAMABAD: Nigeria will host trade talks among the Developing Eight in February as part of efforts to increase business within member states and Africa, Nigeria's trade and investment minister said.
"I will be hosting the trade and industry ministers from the D8 countries sometime around February next year to come up with a strategy plan on how we can increase trade within the D8," Olusegun Aganga told reporters.
Aganga, who held talks with his Egyptian counterpart on the margins of the D8 summit in Islamabad, said there were also plans to boost trade within Africa. Nigeria and Egypt are the only two African members of the D8.
"The outcome of our meeting is that we felt it was important that the ministers of trade and industry come together to look at how we can work together to promote trade but first within the D8 countries," Aganga said. Aganga said African intra trade is very small at 12 percent, compared to Europe at more than 60 percent and about that or more in Asia.
"We thought there was a need for some of these countries in Africa to come together and come with a strategic plan to first of all create the right environment for trade to thrive within Africa," Aganga said.
He said Nigeria has also agreed to host a meeting with Egypt, Kenya and South Africa next year to look at how to remove bottlenecks and increase trade. "This is an opportunity for Africa to come together and increase the intra trade in Africa. It must also be a target to significantly increase the intra trade within D8." Aganga said he met his Pakistani counterpart on Thursday and that the two countries agreed to collaborate in sugar manufacturing and textiles. The D8 groups Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, with an estimated total population of one billion.

Sony at greater risk than Panasonic in electronics downturn: Fitch

TOKYO: Panasonic Corp has a better chance than rival Sony Corp of surviving Japan's consumer electronics slump because of its unglamorous but stable appliance business of washing machines and fridges, credit rating agency Fitch said Friday.
Fitch cut Panasonic's rating by two notches to BB and Sony three notches to BB minus on Thursday, the first time one of the three major ratings agencies have put the creditworthiness of either company into junk-bond territory.
Rival agencies Moody's and S&P rate both of Japan's consumer electronic giants at the same level, just above junk status. Moody's last cut its rating on Panasonic on Tuesday.
Panasonic "has the advantage of a relatively stable consumer appliance business that is still generating positive margins", Matt Jamieson, Fitch's head of Asia-Pacific, said in a conference call on Friday to explain its ratings downgrades.
But at Sony, he added, "most of their electronic business are loss making, they appear to be overstretched."
Japan's TV industry has been bested by cheaper, more innovative models from Samsung Electronics and other foreign rivals, while tablets and smartphones built by Apple Inc have become the dominant consumer electronics devices.
Investors are focusing on the fate of Sony and Panasonic after another struggling Japanese consumer electronics firm, Sharp Corp, maker of the Aquos TV, secured a $4.6 billion bail-out by banks including Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Sony and Panasonic have chosen divergent survival paths.
Panasonic, maker of the Viera TV, is looking to expand its businesses in appliances, solar panels, lithium batteries and automotive components. Appliances amount to around only 6 percent of the company's sales, but they generate margins of more than 6 percent and make up a big chunk of operating profit.
Sony, creator of the Walkman, is doubling down on consumer gadgets in a bid to regain ground from Samsung and Apple in mobile devices while bolstering digital cameras and gaming.
The latest downgrades will curtail the ability of both Japanese companies to raise money in credit markets to help fund restructurings of their business portfolios.
For now, however, that impact is limited, given the support Panasonic and Sony are receiving from their banks.
In October, Panasonic, which expects to lose $10 billion in the year to March 31, secured $7.6 billion of loan commitments from banks including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ, a financing backstop it says will help it avoid having to seek capital in credit markets.
Sony, which has forecast a full-year profit of $1.63 billion helped by the sale of a chemicals business to a Japanese state bank, announced plans to raise $1.9 billion through a convertible bond before the latest rating downgrade.
Thomson Reuters' Starmine structural model, which evaluates market views of credit risk, debt levels and changes in asset values gives Panasonic and Sony an implied rating of BB minus. Sharp's implied rating is three notches lower at B minus.
Standard & Poor's rates Panasonic and Sony at BBB, the second lowest of the investment grade, while Moody's Investors Service has them on Baa3, the lowest of its high-grade category. Moody's has a negative outlook for both firms while S&P sees a stable outlook for Panasonic and a negative one for Sony.
Stock markets in Japan were closed on Friday for a national holiday.

Nokia imaging chief Damian Dinning to quit

HELSINKI: Nokia's long-time imaging chief Damian Dinning has decided to leave the loss-making cellphone maker at the end of this month, the company said in a statement.
The strong imaging capabilities of the new Lumia smartphone models are a key sales argument for the former market leader, which has been burning through cash while losing share in both high-end smartphones and cheaper handsets.
Nokia's Chief Executive Stephen Elop has replaced most of the top management since he joined in late 2010 and Dinnig is the latest of several executives to leave.
Dinning did not want to move to Finland as part of the phonemakers' effort to concentrate operations and will join Jaguar Land Rover to head innovations in the field of connected cars, he said on Nokia's imaging fan site PureViewclub.com.

Wall Street ends higher in short session, led by techs

NEW YORK: Stocks rose for a fifth day during a holiday-shortened, thinly traded session on Friday as investors picked up recently beaten-down shares of large technology companies.
Market participants were also encouraged by signs of progress in talks about releasing aid to debt-saddled Greece and piled into U.S. retail shares as Black Friday got the holiday shopping season under way.
U.S. stock market trading ended early and was closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Volume was the lightest of the year, though the session was abbreviated. Shares of big-cap technology companies climbed as investors took advantage of the day's upward momentum to add to positions, helping the S&P 500 rack up its second best week of 2012.
"Anyone that was on the sidelines waiting for a pullback like the one we just had in some of the tech names, they're looking for any glimpse of strong price action for 'permission' to enter into those (stocks)," said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati, Ohio
Microsoft (MSFT.O) helped lift the Nasdaq, gaining 2.8 percent to $27.70, while Apple Inc (AAPL.O) rose 1.7 percent to $571.50.
From mid-September to mid-November, the S&P tech sector .GSPT shed about 13 percent as the broader market also dropped.
Research in Motion (RIMM.O) surged on optimism about its soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10 devices that will vie against Apple's (AAPL.O) iPhone and Android-based smartphones. RIM was up 13.6 percent at $11.66.
Greece said the International Monetary Fund had relaxed its debt-cutting target for the country, suggesting lenders were closer to a deal for a vital aid tranche to be paid. But other sources involved in the talks cautioned the funding gap was far bigger than Greece has suggested.
Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and European Central Bank (ECB) failed earlier this week to agree on how to shrivel the country's debt to a sustainable level and will have a third attempt at resolving the issue on Monday.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 172.79 points, or 1.35 percent, to 13,009.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 18.12 points, or 1.30 percent, to 1,409.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC climbed 40.30 points, or 1.38 percent, to 2,966.85.
The S&P 500 broke a two-week losing streak to rise 3.6 percent. Stocks had tumbled earlier in the month on worries about the impact of tax and spending changes set to take effect from January, but hopes that politicians will reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff helped the market recoup some of those declines this week.
The Dow and S&P 500 both closed above key technical levels for the first time since Nov 6, which could provide additional support. The Dow ended above 13,000, while the S&P broke above 1,400.
The Dow rose 3.3 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq jumped 4 percent. The Nasdaq had ended lower for the previous six weeks in a row.
Volume was about 2.8 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the year-to-date average daily closing volume of over 6 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,407 to 469 on the New York Stock Exchange. On the Nasdaq, advancers had the lead, with 1,775 stocks gaining and 548 shares declining.
The retail sector rose as investors looked for signs of how much consumers are spending as stores lured shoppers with Black Friday deals and discounts.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, kicks off the U.S. Christmas shopping season for retailers and is often the busiest shopping day of the year. The National Retail Federation expects sales during the holiday season to grow 4.1 percent this year compared with last year's 5.6 percent increase.
If the traffic and sales numbers look strong early on, "it usually gives a sense that the season will be in line with expectations," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.
"The way that could work against a stronger retail season is if there's no follow-through, there could be discounting on the part of retailers."
Wal-Mart (WMT.N) rose 1.9 percent to $70.20, while Target (TGT.N) gained 1.2 percent to $64.48.

Psy's "Gangnam Style" video becomes YouTube's most viewed

LOS ANGELES: South Korean rap star Psy's music video "Gangnam Style" on Saturday became the most watched item on YouTube with over 800 million views, edging past Canadian teen star Justin Bieber's two-year-old video for his song "Baby."
The milestone was the latest pop culture victory for Psy, 34, a portly rap singer known for his slicked-back hair and comic dance style who has become one of the most unlikely global stars of 2012.
Psy succeeded with a video that spawned countless parodies and became a media sensation, and in the process he gained more fame outside his native country than many of the more polished singers in South Korea's so-called K-Pop style who have sought to win over international audiences.
YouTube, in a post on its Trends blog, said "Gangnam Style" on Saturday surpassed the site's previous record holder, Bieber's 2010 music video "Baby," and by mid-day "Gangnam Style" had reached 805 million views compared to 803 million for "Baby."
"Gangnam Style" was first posted to YouTube in July, and by the following month it began to show huge popularity on YouTube with audiences outside of South Korea.
"It's been a massive hit at a global level unlike anything we've ever seen before," said the YouTube blog.
The blog also said the "velocity" of the video's popularity has been unprecedented for YouTube, and that users from all over the world search the site for the words "Psy" and "Gangnam Style".
Fans of Psy celebrated his victory, noting in the comments section of YouTube on Saturday that it took just four months for his video to rocket to over 800 million views, compared to two years for Bieber's "Baby."
In his "Gangnam Style" video, named after the affluent Gangnam District of Seoul, the outlandishly dressed Psy dances in the style of someone riding a horse and raps in Korean.
Earlier this month, Psy closed out the American Music Awards with a rousing performance of the song as he was joined on stage by MC Hammer, an American rapper whose hit single "U Can't Touch This" made him a pop culture sensation in 1990.

Australia closing on win over Proteas

ADELAIDE: Australia were closing in on a significant victory and taking a one-nil lead in the series after dominating South Africa at the second Adelaide Test on Sunday.
Michael Clarke's team were in full command after declaring at 267 for eight to leave the Proteas 430 runs for an improbable to win off a maximum of 140 overs.
South Africa's remote hopes of defying history nosedived with the loss of four wickets, including those of skipper Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, to leave the Proteas battling for survival on Monday's final day.
Australia need to win the three-Test series to take the world number one ranking off South Africa with the final Test starting in Perth on Friday.
At the close of the fourth day, South Africa were 77 for four off 50 overs with AB de Villiers on 12 and debutant Faf du Plessis not out 19.
The odds were already firmly stacked against the South Africans as they needed to set a new record for a successful fourth innings run chase at the Adelaide Oval.
The existing record is the 315-6 Australia scored 110 years ago to overhaul England.
The Australians, bowling with a full head of steam despite the loss of young firebrand paceman James Pattinson, quickly rammed home the advantage of their massive lead.
Pattinson was Sunday ruled out for the remainder of the home Test season with a left side strain after coming off the field on Saturday's third day.
Australia had South Africa under the pump, taking the wickets of Smith and Amla inside the opening 12 overs to leave the tourists in deep trouble in their daunting run chase.
Smith, who scored 122 in the first innings, was out second ball when he got a thick edge to a Ben Hilfenhaus outswinger and Ricky Ponting snapped up a splendid low catch at second slip.
It was also a psychological blow as the Proteas have not lost a Test match in the previous 25 matches in which talisman Smith has scored a century.
Amla was taken at slip by a juggling Clarke off spinner Nathan Lyon for 17, nine balls before tea.
Both Smith and Amla were match-changing scalps for the Australians because of their ability to occupy the crease and bat for long periods.
The wickets continued to tumble with Jacques Rudolph again out cheaply for three, caught at short leg by Ed Cowan off Lyon for the off-spinner's 50th Test wicket.
Alviro Petersen was out seven balls later when he got an inside edge off Peter Siddle onto his stumps for 24 and the Proteas were 45 for four.
De Villiers and du Plessis dug in and it took 30 overs before they claimed their first boundary, when du Plessis edged off Siddle.
Skipper Clarke declared Australia's second innings halfway through the day with Pattinson not out 29 and Hilfenhaus on 18.
Senior Australian batsman Mike Hussey, chasing his third successive century in the series, was out in the over before lunch for 54 off 95 balls. It was his 29th Test half-century.
Hussey attempted to pull Morne Morkel but the ball came off high on his bat to spoon a catch to Dale Steyn at midwicket.
Clarke, who scored 230 in the first innings, fell leg before wicket to Steyn for 38.

Monty wrecks Indian batting line in 2nd innings

MUMBAI: India were looking in trouble to resist against England spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann as they lost seven wickets for only 117 runs in the second innings on the third day of the second Test here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
India achieved a slender lead of 31 runs with just three wickets in hand and they pinned all their hopes on opener Gambhir Singh who held one end with an unbeaten 53 when the third day’s play ended.
Earlier, England resumed their fist innings at 178 for two with the overnight batsmen Alaister Cook and Kevin Pietersen.
England started the day firmly in control as Cook and Pietersen reached their respective centuries in style in the first session.
Pietersen played one of the great Test innings to leave England scenting victory against India who had won the first Test at Ahmedabad last week.
Pietersen made a brilliant 186 and captain Cook made 122 before left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha wrecked the lower order, snapping up five for 143 and keeping England's lead to 86 in the second session.
When India came out to bat a second time, Panesar and Swann terrorised their batting in the final session's play.
Panesar has ten wickets in the match to date, the first time an England spinner has done that since Hedley Verity in the 1930s.

All-rounder McLaren to join Proteas tour squad

ADELAIDE: Chevrolet Knights all-rounder Ryan McLaren has been called into the South African tour squad as cover for several injured players ahead of this week's final Perth Test against Australia, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Sunday.
All-rounder Jacques Kallis has an injured hamstring and paceman Vernon Philander missed the current second Adelaide Test with a lower back complaint.
"There are injury concerns around both Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander," CSA selection convener Andrew Hudson said in a statement.
"So we have specifically gone for an all-rounder as a like-for-like replacement. Ryan can comfortably bat at number seven in addition to his seam bowling skills."
McLaren's only previous Test match was against England at the Wanderers Stadium in 2010.
CSA said McLaren will leave for Australia on Monday.
The third and final Test begins at Perth's WACA Ground on Friday.

Taylor, Williamson steer Kiwis to 223-2 against Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Ross Taylor hit a solid century as New Zealand recovered from early blows to post a healthy 223-2 on the opening day of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
The tourists were struggling at 14-2 in the fourth over before skipper Taylor (119 not out) and Kane Williamson (95 not out) propped up the innings with an unfinished 209-run stand for the third wicket at the P. Sara Oval.
Taylor completed his eighth Test hundred, and his first against Sri Lanka, in the last session when he flicked seamer Shaminda Eranga to deep square-leg for two.
Williamson provided valuable support and looked set to complete his third Test century when play was called off due to rain, with more than nine overs remaining in the day.
New Zealand, shot out for 221 and 118 during their 10-wicket defeat in the opening Test in Galle, staged a more determined performance this time and Taylor led from the front.
The tourists made the most of winning the toss on a good batting pitch as Taylor and Williamson frustrated Sri Lanka with responsible batting against both pace and spin.
The New Zealand captain, who gave a difficult chance on 14 when his edge off Eranga went past Angelo Mathews in the slips, has so far hit 10 fours in his 241-ball knock, while Williamson's 229-ball innings included eight fours.
The pair denied Sri Lanka for more than two sessions, taking no risks and patiently waiting for loose deliveries to punish.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who took 11 wickets in the last Test, was pressed into the attack after 14 overs but failed to break the stand. He has so far conceded 45 runs in his 21 overs.
New Zealand made a poor start, losing openers Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum in the first four overs.
Guptill was caught by Mathews at first slip in Nuwan Kulasekara's opening over. McCullum was unlucky to be given out leg-before off Eranga as TV replays suggested he had inside-edged the delivery on to his pad.
Guptill and McCullum each scored four.
Sri Lanka made one change from the last Test, replacing Dimuth Karunaratne with fit-again opener Tillakaratne Dilshan.
The tourists brought in debutant leg-spinner Todd Astle in place of all-rounder James Franklin.

Taliban behind insurgency in Karachi: Khursheed

SUKKUR: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Syed Khursheed Shah has said that Taliban not political parties are involved in acts of terrorism in Karachi, Geo News reported.
Talking to Geo News here on Sunday, the minister said that all the possible steps have been taken for security in Muharram-ul-Haram.
Shah said that Talibanization has raised in Karachi and the government is trying to curb it. Taliban are involved in Karachi unrest, adding these are not the activities of workers of any political party.
Responding to a question Khursheed Shah said all parties have to sit together for making the strategy against the terrorism before general elections.

Terror bid thwarted, huge weapons recovered in Manghopir

KARACHI: CID Police have thwarted a terror bid and killed a suspect besides recovery of a huge quantity of explosive material and arms in Manghopir area of the metropolis, IG Sindh Fayaz Leghari said.
During a press conference at a local hotel here on Sunday, IG Sindh said that the police during their raids faced confrontation from the suspects.
He told newsmen that the police launched a raid in Manghopir area at 4 AM on Sunday. He said that 2 suicide jackets were also recovered from the site.
Leghari said that the alleged terrorist had planned to enter the main procession of Ashura to make a big blow which was foiled by CID police.
He said that it is premature to name Lashkar e Jhangvi for their involvement.
IG Sindh said that they are facing shortage of police personnel in a mega city like Karachi, adding that 5,700 more policemen would be recruited this year.
He said that forensic laboratories are being upgraded while 500 new police vehicles would be received and 100 surveillance cameras would be installed to maintain peace in the city.
Meanwhile, Governor Ishrat ul Ebad announced a cash reward of Rs 2 million.

Hand grenade blast injures 3 in Nowshera

NOWSHERA: A hand grenade bomb exploded on Mardan road, injuring three people, world news reported

Nasrallah vows 'thousands of rockets' if Israel hits Lebanon

BEIRUT: "Thousands of rockets" will hit Israel if it attacks Lebanon, the chief of the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah said on Sunday, reiterating support for Iran and the Palestinian resistance. Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television and over stadium screens, addressed tens of thousands of supporters who massed in the southern suburbs of Beirut to mark the commemoration of Ashura. The recent conflict in and around the Gaza Strip, which killed 166 Palestinians and six Israelis, was "a great victory for the resistance," Nasrallah said. "Israel was shaken by a handful of Fajr 5 missiles. How would it bear the thousands of rockets that would hit Tel Aviv and beyond if it attacked Lebanon," he challenged. "That which protects Gaza, after God, is the will of the resistance, its people, its weapons and its rockets," said the leader of Lebanon's most powerful military force. While Gaza people are constrained by their geography, he stressed that "the battle with us runs through occupied Palestine, from the Lebanese to the Jordanian border to the Red Sea, from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat (Israel's northernmost and southernmost localities)." "The time when Israel could terrorise us has expired," he said. Meanwhile, Nasrallah fiercely defended his backer Iran: "Day after day, it is confirmed that Iran is an ally of Arabs and Muslims... and this was confirmed during the recent confrontation in Gaza and before that in Lebanon." "There are Arab and Islamic countries working to offer Israel a friend and Iran an enemy," he said, in an apparent reference to Gulf countries. "But Israel does not help its friends in the Arab and Muslim world." According to Pentagon officials, Hezbollah has 50,000 missiles, including some capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

Five killed, 70 injured in D.I. Khan blast

D.I. KHAN: Five more people were killed and 70 others injured in second blast in two days in D.I. Khan, Geo News reported. The bomb was put in a shop in Chogla area. It was detonated with a remote-controlled device. Police and LEAs have cordoned off the area after the blast. Emergency have been declared in all the hospitals. It is said that Ashura procession was the target of miscreants and the blast occurred near it. Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar confirmed the death toll, adding that the bomb was planted in a closed shop. It is second blast in two days. On Saturday eight people including four children were killed in the blast near 9th Muharram procession.

Euro weakens as eurozone fails to agree Greek deal

HONG KONG: The euro fell in Asian trade on Wednesday and shares were mixed after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree on a deal to unlock the latest batch of crucial bailout cash for Greece.
Ministers said in a statement at the end of talks that ended in the small hours that they would meet again next Monday "for further technical work on some elements of the package".
The news sent the euro diving from recent highs against the yen, while it also lost almost a US cent from its intra-day peak against the dollar.
In afternoon trade the single currency bought $1.2753 and 104.37 yen, after hitting $1.2820 and 105.07 yen ahead of the announcement from Brussels.
It had finished in New York Tuesday at $1.2818 and 104.70 yen.
The dollar, which had touched a seven-month high of 81.97 yen in the morning, bought 81.81 yen.
Traders were left disappointed as they had been buying the euro on expectations an agreement would be made in Brussels, while Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over the Eurogroup has said there were "good chances of an agreement".
However, the meeting ended with a statement saying only that they "made progress in identifying a consistent package of credible initiatives aimed at making a further substantial contribution to the sustainability of Greek government debt".
"It was progress but we have to do a little bit more," International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde told reporters as she left the meeting.
The major sticking point had been whether to give Greece, which is in desperate need of the $40 billion handout, an extra two years to arrive at a point where it can raise its own funds.

Crude up in Asia

SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose in Asian trade Wednesday on an unexpected fall in US crude stockpiles but eurozone ministers' failure to reach a Greek bailout deal pared earlier gains, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January was up two cents at $86.77 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery added 16 cents to $109.99.

Oil prices fall amid hopes for Mideast truce

NEW YORK: Oil prices slumped Tuesday on fresh economic strains in Europe and amid expectations -- still unfulfilled late in the day -- of a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza.
New York's main contract, WTI light sweet crude for delivery in January, slid $2.53 from Monday to $86.75 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for January shed $1.87 to $109.83 a barrel in London trade.
"Rumors abound today as headlines out of the Middle East signalled an 'imminent ceasefire' agreement, but as of this writing nothing has been set in stone," said BMO Capital Markets in its market summary.
"The rumor alone pushed the market lower erasing much of the gains from the previous day sessions, and given all the headline watching, expect continued swings as the Middle East risk premium has re-emerged as the Alpha dog on the street."
Oil prices had surged about $2 a barrel to strike one-month highs on Monday as Israel stepped up its assault on Gaza.
The pressure lower also came with Moody's downgrade of France's sovereign rating late Monday, warning that it was vulnerable to more deterioration in the eurozone.
Despite hopes for a cease-fire and the unexpected arrival in Israel of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, there was no letup late Tuesday to Israel's attacks on Gaza, killing another 26 and taking the toll of the week-long assault to more than 130.
Clinton was to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Palestinian officials and to visit Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, seen as one of the most influential negotiators in the current conflict.

HTC "happy" with Apple settlement, slams media estimates

TOKYO: Taiwan's HTC Corp is happy with its patent settlement with Apple Inc, but regards media reports on details of the licensing agreement as "outrageous", chief executive Peter Chou told reporters on Tuesday.
HTC and Apple announced a global patent settlement and a 10-year licensing agreement this month after a bruising patent war between the two smartphone makers.
The companies did not disclose details of the settlement or the licensing agreement, but HTC said it will not change its fourth-quarter guidance.
Responding to a question about media reports that HTC will pay Apple $6 to $8 per Android phone as part of the patent settlement, Chou said it was an outrageous estimate.
"I think that these estimates are baseless and very, very wrong. It is a outrageous number, but I'm not going to comment anything on a specific number. I believe we have a very, very happy settlement and a good ending," said Chou at a KDDI Corp product launch in Tokyo.
Apple sued the Taiwanese handset maker in 2010, its first major legal salvo against a manufacturer using Google's Android operating system. Since the suit, a patent war has engulfed competitors including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google's Motorola Mobility unit.

Sindh:CNG stations shut for 48 hours

KARACHI: All CNG stations in the province of Sindh including this mega-metropolis city have been closed for 48 hours from 9.00 A.M. in the morning on Wednesday, Geo News reported.
Earlier, Sui Southern Gas Company officials had announced that CNG stations all across Sindh will be shut down for two days from tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 9.00 A.M. to Friday morning at 9.00 A.M. Last week also the company had suspended supply of CNG to the all the stations in Sindh for two days due to what they said low pressure of gas from the source i.e. the gas fields.
Meanwhile the coaches, buses, taxis, rickshaws, motorists as well as the commuters are facing great difficulties due to frequent suspension of gas supply to CNG stations. The vehicle owners complain that they have to wait for hours in long queues for getting their gas cylinders re-filled and even those fortunate who succeed in their efforts cannot keep their vehicles running during 48 hours of break that cause thinning out of the public transport on roads, who are forced to travel hanging around or even sitting at the rooftops of jam-packed mini-buses and coaches. Besides, traders and shopkeepers also grumbled that frequent interruptions in transport facility due to non-availability of CNG hampering their business activities and causing losses owing to less shoppers and less sale.

Bike riding banned in Islamabad Red Zone for 24 hours

ISLAMABAD: The government has banned motorcycle riding in the Red Zone area of the capital for 24 hours, Geo News reported.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that the ban would be applicable from 12:00 AM Wednesday to 12:00 AM Thursday in Islamabad’s Red Zone.
Malik announced that offices of interior and foreign ministries and district administration would remain opened.

Avastin misses key data point in brain cancer study

ZURICH: Swiss drugmaker Roche's cancer drug Avastin failed to make a statistically significant difference to survival rates of patients with a common form of brain cancer in a late-stage study, the company said on Saturday.
The Phase III AVAglio study presented at the Society for Neuro-Oncology congress in Washington on Saturday showed Avastin, combined with radiation and chemotherapy, reduced the risk of cancer worsening or death, the Basel-based drugmaker said in a news release.
But the drug did not reach statistical significance in overall survival, a key data point. Further data are expected next year, Roche said.
"The interim results for overall survival (OS), the other co-primary endpoint, did not reach statistical significance," the company said in the statement.
Earlier data from the study published in August showed Avastin significantly extended progression-free survival of people with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Avastin is Roche's third-biggest seller and is approved to treat several types of cancer, including breast, kidney, colorectal and ovarian cancers.

New SARS virus linked to bats

PARIS: A novel strain of the deadly SARS virus that sparked a health scare this year is closely related to a virus found in Asian bats, according to a study published on Tuesday.
Scientists in the Netherlands said they had sequenced the genetic code of a viral sample taken from a 60-year-old man whose death in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in June triggered fears that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was returning in a new guise.
The new strain, called HCoV-EMC/2012, is part of a viral family called coronavirus, but in a specific category called betacoronavirus.
Its closest known cousins are a strain found in lesser bamboo bats (Tylonycteris pachypus) and another found in Japanese house bats, Pipistrellus abramus.
"The virus is most closely related to viruses in bats in Asia, and there are no human viruses closely related to it," said Ron Fouchier of the prestigious Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.
"Therefore we speculate that it comes from an animal source," he said, noting that Pipistrellus bats are present in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.
An epidemic of SARS erupted in China in 2002, eventually claiming around 800 deaths in some 30 countries.
Bats were linked with a novel strain of SARS found in 2005. Hong Kong researchers found a natural "reservoir" of it in Chinese horseshoe bats.
Two other men have also fallen sick in the latest SARS episode.
One is a Qatari man who had been in Saudi Arabia and is being treated at a hospital in London.
There is 99.6-99.7 percent similarity between his strain and the virus sequenced in the Netherlands, said Fouchier in a press release.

HIV infections fall, UN says ending AIDS 'feasible'

LONDON: An end to the worldwide AIDS epidemic is in sight, the United Nations says, mainly due to better access to drugs that can both treat and prevent the incurable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the disease.
Progress over the past decade has cut the death toll and helped stabilize the number of people infected with HIV, the U.N. AIDS program said in its annual report on Tuesday.
"The global community has embarked on an historic quest to lay the foundation for the eventual end of the AIDS epidemic. This effort is more than merely visionary. It is entirely feasible," UNAIDS said.
Some 34 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2011, the report said. Deaths from AIDS fell to 1.7 million in 2011, down from a peak of 2.3 million in 2005 and from 1.8 million in 2010.
Worldwide, the number of people newly infected with HIV, which can be transmitted via blood and by semen during sex, is also falling. At 2.5 million, the number of new infections in 2011 was 20 percent lower than in 2001.
"Although AIDS remains one of the world's most serious health challenges, global solidarity in the AIDS response during the past decade continues to generate extraordinary health gains," the report said.
It said this was due to "historic success" in bringing HIV programs to scale, combined with the emergence of new combination drugs to prevent people from becoming HIV infected and from dying from AIDS.
"The pace of progress is quickening - what used to take a decade is now being achieved in 24 months," said Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS. "We are scaling up faster and smarter than ever before. It is the proof that with political will and follow through we can reach our shared goals."
TIMELY TREATMENT
Since 1995, AIDS drug treatment - known as antiretroviral therapy - has saved 14 million life-years in poorer countries, including 9 million in sub-Saharan Africa, the report said.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the most severely affected region with almost one in every 20 adults infected, nearly 25 times the rate in Asia, there are also almost 5 million people with HIV in south, southeast and east Asia combined.
Some 8 million people were being treated with AIDS drugs by the end of 2011, a 20-fold increase since 2003. The United Nations has set a target to raise that to 15 million people by 2015.
"Scaling up HIV treatment to 15 million people ... is feasible and has the crucial triple benefit of reducing illness, reducing death, and reducing the risk of transmission," said Manica Balasegaram of the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.
But he said the pace must be stepped up "so that every month more people are started on life-saving HIV treatment than the month before".
Scientific studies have shown that getting timely treatment to those with HIV can also cut the number of people who become newly infected with the virus.
UNAIDS said the sharpest declines in new HIV infections since 2001 were in the Caribbean and in sub-Saharan Africa - where new infections were down 25 percent in a decade.
Despite this, sub-Saharan Africa still accounted for 71 percent of people newly infected in 2011, underscoring the need to boost HIV prevention efforts in the region, UNAIDS said. Of the 1.7 million AIDS-related deaths in 2011, 1.2 million were in sub-Saharan Africa.
HIV trends are also a concern in other regions, it said.
Since 2001, the number of new HIV infections in the Middle East and North Africa was up more than 35 percent from 27,000 to 37,000, it said, and evidence suggests HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia began increasing in the late 2000s after being relatively stable for several years.

Charlie Chaplin hat and cane net more than $62,000

ANGELES: Charlie Chaplin's iconic bowler hat and cane were auctioned off for $62,500 this weekend.
The hat and cane, trademark of Chaplin's Little Tramp character, were in "remarkable condition" and had been estimated to go for between $40,000 and $60,000 at the sale by auction house Bonhams on Sunday. But when it went under the hammer, the sale price hit $62,500 the auctioneers said.
Legend has it that Chaplin came up with the tramp persona and wardrobe spontaneously one rainy afternoon in February 1914, seizing various wardrobe items in a communal male dressing room at a Hollywood studio.
These included baggy trousers from actor Fatty Arbuckle, size 14 shoes which he had to wear on the wrong feet to keep them from falling off, the hat belonging to Arbuckle's father-in-law, and a mustache intended for another actor.
The 32-inch (81-centimeter) bamboo cane is inscribed "CCLT 36" in black ink, a reference to the Little Tramp, Chaplin's signature character.

Bieber sweeps American Music Awards with big wins

LOS ANGELES: Canadian pop star Justin Bieber swept the American Music Awards on Sunday, topping strong competition from Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, and sending newcomers British boybands One Direction and The Wanted home empty-handed. Bieber, 18, won all three categories in which he was nominated, including the night's biggest award, artist of the year, over Rihanna, Katy Perry, Maroon 5 and Drake.
"This is for all the haters who thought that maybe I was just here for one or two years, but I feel like I am going to be here for a very long time," Bieber said on stage, dedicating his first win of the night to his mother, Pattie Mallette, who accompanied him after his widely reported split from girlfriend Selena Gomez.
"It's hard growing up with everything going on, with everyone watching me. I wanted to say that as long as you guys keep believing in me, I want to always make you proud," Bieber said at the end of the night.
Bieber, who also won favorite pop/rock male artist and favorite pop/rock album for "Believe," took to a bare stage to sing an acoustic stripped-down version of his latest single "As Long As You Love Me" before livening up the show with Nicki Minaj for "Beauty and a Beat."
The American Music Award nominees and winners are voted online by fans, and the awards are handed out during a live three-hour broadcast featuring performances by artists.
R&B singer Rihanna, 24, and rapper Minaj, 29, led the nominees going into Sunday's awards with four apiece.
Minaj won favorite rap/hip hop artist and rap/hip hop album of the year for "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded." The singer, known for her extravagant on-stage performances, sang her latest hit "Freedom" in a winter wonderland-themed set.
Rihanna came away with one win. She couldn't make the show because she is in Berlin, midway through a seven-day tour across seven cities around the world promoting her upcoming "Unapologetic" album.
Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen, 26, picked up the coveted new artist-of-the-year award over One Direction, Australian artist Gotye, indie-pop band fun. and rapper J. Cole. She performed her hit "Call Me Maybe."
"I am floored," the singer said, thanking Bieber along with her fans in her acceptance speech.

'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' earns Rs120 crore in six days

MUMBAI: 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' (JTHJ), legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra's last directorial venture, is raking in the moolah at the box-office -- the romantic saga has collected over Rs.120 crore worldwide in just six days of its release. The film, which came out on Diwali alongside Ajay Devgn-starrer 'Son of Sardaar', has earned Rs.80.73 crore at the domestic box office. In India, it earned Rs.15.23 crore (Tuesday), Rs.19.54 crore (Wednesday), Rs.14.45 crore (Thursday), Rs.11.17 crore (Friday), Rs.10.38 crore (Saturday) and Rs.9.96 crore (Sunday). The Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma-starrer is also minting money in the overseas market where it has collected Rs.41.7 crore.

'Hitchcock' trains lens on the love story of Alfred and Alma

NEW YORK: She won Oscar gold for her uncanny performance as Britain's Queen Elizabeth, but Helen Mirren's latest portrayal finds her as the power behind the throne -- or, more precisely, the director's chair.
In "Hitchcock," Mirren stars opposite Anthony Hopkins as legendary director Alfred Hitchcock's devoted wife Alma Reville, and early buzz has her a contender for another Oscar nomination.
The film, which opens in limited release on Friday, explores the domestic life of one of Hollywood's most iconic and revered directors, set during the days of his struggle to put the ground-breaking 1960 classic, "Psycho" on the silver screen.
Toggling back and forth between his on-set battles with censors and his cast including Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson), Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) and Tony Perkins (James D'Arcy), and his strained relationship with Alma as she copes with his well-documented obsession with his ravishing leading ladies, "Hitchcock" treats film fans to a glimpse of bygone Hollywood.
But it paints a more nuanced and sympathetic portrait of the director Hopkins called "a damaged man" than the recent television film "The Girl," which dramatized the hell Hitchcock put Tippi Hedren through during filming of "The Birds."
"It's a great role," Mirren said of Alma, a film editor and assistant director in her own right who ceded the spotlight to her husband, but as the film makes clear was involved in virtually every aspect of his films and even re-cut "Psycho" into the masterpiece it is known as today.
"So, you don't turn that down," she told Reuters.
Having won her Oscar as one of the world's most famous women, Mirren said she finds herself drawn to "the ones I don't know anything about, like Alma. Those are the most fun."
With little to go on, Mirren said she turned to the 2003 book "Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man," by the couple's daughter Patricia, who also acted in several Hitchcock films.
"I'm not that much of a film buff that I knew about Alma, and I had no idea about Hitchcock's private life," she said, adding the book aimed "to bring her mother out of the shadows."
HITCH THE BRAND
By all accounts making the movie about the movies was a joy, with Mirren and Hopkins co-starring in their first film together under first-time director Sacha Gervasi ("Anvil: The Story of Anvil"), who fixed a script that had made the rounds.
Hopkins described it as the "most fun" since his Oscar-winning role in the thriller "Silence of the Lambs."
Mirren recalled rushing off to work each day: "I couldn't wait." And it helped that the actors have the same approach.
"There's no mystery to it ... They talk about chemistry, and Helen agrees with me, there's no such thing. You know your part, she knows hers, and off you go, hope it works," Hopkins said.
But Mirren and Hopkins, who is also being touted for an Oscar nomination, parted ways when speculating on how the auteur director, who never won an Oscar during five decades of work, would have fared in the Hollywood of today.
"He would have despaired," Hopkins said. "It would have been anathema to him. That kind of artistry is gone."
Corporate control means "you have eight or nine producers on the set, everyone's got a say in the scripts, and even craft services!"
But Mirren differed, imagining "he'd do brilliantly well."
"He was a great salesman, and the Hollywood of today is so much about being a salesman and being able to sell yourself as a brand," she explained. "He did that brilliantly. I think the two of them sold Hitch. Hitch was the faceman, he was the brand."
"Also," she added, "his filmmaking techniques would be incredibly successful," given the technological advances since Hitchcock's death in 1980.
Hitchcock was on a roll in his early 60s, with his "Psycho" follow-up, the shocking thriller "The Birds" becoming a hit and a much-loved classic. But none of the handful of films he made afterward attained their iconic status.
Mirren, 67, by contrast, truly hit her stride during her 40s, despite a steady two-decade career by that point.
Starting with the TV show "Prime Suspect" to the films "Gosford Park," "The Queen" and "The Last Station," she racked up four Oscar nominations and a mantel full of Emmys, which raises a question about the validity of complaints that Hollywood has no use for actresses over 40.
"I think what has changed is, the world around has changed," Mirren said when reflecting on her success and acclaim.
"I was lucky that I hit my 40s just as the world around me was changing. Twenty years before I never would have been cast in 'Prime Suspect' because there were no women inspectors."
And so, she looks forward.
"As I've carried on, my God, 20 years ago it was inconceivable that you'd have a female president of the United States," she said.
"Now, the next president of America may well be a woman, and if there is a female president, that means that if a movie comes along, and there's the president of America ..." She laughs.
"You know what I mean?"