Awaz Apni

French Football Federation (FFF) president Jean-Pierre Escalettes said on Monday he was resigning after France's World Cup fiasco. France left the World Cup with one point and one goal from the group stage after the team created a scandal by boycotting a training session in support of striker Nicolas Anelka, who was sent home for insulting coach Raymond Domenech. "I consider that it is my duty to resign from my role as president of the French Football Federation," Escalettes said in a statement.   "I accept my share of responsibilty", he added. "My decision is essentially dictated by my will to preserve and facilitate the evolution of an institution I have served with passion for several decades."   The 75-year-old Escalettes, who headed the FFF since 2005, said he would officially present his resignation at a council meeting of the ruling body scheduled for Friday.   French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot had said last week Escalettes...

  G8 sets timeframe for Afghan withdrawal Awaz Apni: The G8 group of major world powers set a five-year timeframe for the government of Afghanistan to take increasing control of its own security. The communiqué, released at the end of the two-day Muskoka summit in Canada, represents the first time the international community has put a clear timescale at the highest level for the conclusion of the foreign intervention in Afghanistan, which began in 2001. And it sets a probable end date for the withdrawal of Britain’s 10,000-strong deployment in the country. It came a day after Prime Minister David Cameron indicated that he envisages the bulk of UK troops coming home from Afghanistan by the time of the next general election due in 2015. The agreed communiqué by G8 members Britain, the US, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan – calls on the Afghan government to set out ...

CNews TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Iran would not retreat in the face of demands by world powers for Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear work. "Taking one step back against arrogant (powers) will lead to them to take one step forward," Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television in a sermon. His comments come ahead of a Saturday deadline for Iran to respond to a package of incentives aimed at persuading it to freeze uranium enrichment, a process that makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb. Iran on July 19 held talks with representatives of major powers including EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and for the first time an official from Tehran's arch-foe the United States, William Burns. Iran was given until Saturday to give its final answer. But Iran has rejected any deadline, saying it was agreed in Geneva that it would during a two-week period examine the proposal put forward by permanent UN Security Counci...

CNews ISLAMABAD: Over 10,000 Pakistani and foreign observers are monitoring general elections in Pakistan. The election commission has issued 1050 accreditation cards to foreign observers and 4600 cards to the local observers. Foreign observers mostly came from United States, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Britain, Germany and France as well as from Japan, Bosnia, China, Nigeria, Belgium, India, Estonia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Moreover, observers have also arrived in Pakistan from Holland, Scotland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Hungary. The foreign office has issued visas to 3000 foreign observers that will be lapsed on February 25. The election authorities have also issued observers’ cards to the diplomats of America, Britain, Canada and Japan. Provincial election commissioners of Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and Lahore and 125 District Returning Officers have also issued accreditation cards to over 4400 observers. Mr. Grant, a representative of International Foundation For Electoral Sys...