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CNG stations reopened across Sindh
Hockey: Third Pakistan, China match today
6 killed in Karachi violence
Imran hints at announcement of big surprise today
5 killed in suicide hit in Bannu
Prince Philip hospitalized with chest pains
US-Taliban peace deal rejected by Karzai: report
Egyptians rally after days of deadly clashes
Dollar rises after mixed US economic reports
IMF keeps 0% rate in loans for poorest
Russian satellite falls back to earth after launch
11 crocodiles, alligator seized from Belgian villa
Confident Misbah ready for England
India seek breakthrough series win in Australia
No let-up for Sri Lanka's struggling batsmen

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All the CNG stations have been reopened at 9am on Saturday after a 24-hour closure. The CNG stations were closed on Friday morning. According to Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), CNG stations were closed to ensure smooth gas supply to the domestic consumers.

Hockey: Third Pakistan, China match today

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Third hockey match between Pakistan and China will be played today in Faisalabad. Pakistan is leading the four-match series 2-0 after winning both encounter played in Karachi. The fourth and last match between hosts Pakistan and visiting Chinese team will be played in National Hockey Stadium Lahore on Sunday.

6 killed in Karachi violence

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At least six people, including a doctor, were shot dead in different incidents of violence in Karachi. Two other people also received injuries. Some unidentified people entered a private mobile company franchise in Shadman Town area and opened indiscriminate fire, killing two people, Amir and Ashraf, and injuring Faisal and Sohail. The miscreant also set ablaze the office. Police have started a search operation after getting the CC footage of the incident. In Bheempura locality, some miscreants shot dead 25-year-old Kashif while near Baloch Colony Express Subway, dacoits shot deat 25-year-old Allah Noor on resisting the dacoity attempt. Meanwhile, some unidentified motorcyclists shot dead Dr Mahboob Siddiqui in front of a private hospital in Alfalah area while an unidentified person was shot dead near Sher Shah Graveyard.

Imran hints at announcement of big surprise today

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Talking at a reception arranged by Pakistan Tehrik-Insaf (PTI) women’s wing in Karachi, Imran said that popularity of PTI has shocked political paries. Imran said that it is high time to bring a change to save the country. He said that if people evaluate their power then it will be hard for anyone to block their path. Imran Khan also attended a reception arranged by trader community of Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, the PTI chief said the no one could stop now the political change in the country.

5 killed in suicide hit in Bannu

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According to initial reports, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive laden vehicle into the building of  Tochi Scout situated  on Kohat Road in Bannu in the early hours of Saturday, killing five officials and injuring 12 others. Police and rescue teams have reached the blast site and shifted the injured to nearby hospital for treatment. Kohat Road and other adjacent roads have been blocked and law enforcing agencies have cordoned off the area.

Prince Philip hospitalized with chest pains

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Prince Philip, 90, was taken from Sandringham, the queen s sprawling estate in rural Norfolk, to the cardiac unit at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge for "precautionary tests," a spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said. She would not say if other members of the royal family were with the Duke of Edinburgh or if he would stay the night at the hospital. The spokeswoman declined to comment further and spoke on customary condition of anonymity. A hospital spokeswoman referred all calls back to the palace. Philip has been at Sandringham since Monday for the royal family s Christmas festivities, Buckingham Palace said. It was unclear if Philip s health would alter the royal family s plans for the weekend which typically include a public appearance before church services and then a private family lunch. Papworth Hospital s website says it is the UK s largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital and the country s main heart and lung transplant center, offering services such as cardiology, respiratory medicine and cardiothoracic surgery and transplantation.

US-Taliban peace deal rejected by Karzai: report

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US and Taliban negotiators reached a tentative deal last month to transfer five Afghans from Guantanamo to Qatar, the Washington Post said Friday, but it was rejected by President Hamid Karzai. The accord would have called for five inmates from the US-run detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be placed under house arrest in Qatar while the Taliban would have issued a public renunciation of international terrorism in a de facto break with Al-Qaeda, the Post reported, citing unnamed US and European officials. "Right now, things have stopped," a senior US administration official is quoted as saying. "Everybody is taking a deep breath." However, talks with the Taliban insurgency, which a US-led force has been battling for a decade, are expected to resume in early 2012, the Post reported. The tentative deal came after at least six meetings this year between US officials and a Taliban delegation headed by Tayyib Agha, an aide to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the paper wrote. German officials also met with other Taliban representatives, it said. The talks appeared to reflect a shift in what both Western governments and Taliban leaders are willing to accept, amid lowered ambitions in the United States over what can be achieved in the 10-year-old war and setbacks on the battlefield for the insurgents. "We knew what we wanted -- a statement against international terrorism" that would amount to a public break with Al-Qaeda, the official said. There would also have been a similar statement of support for Afghanistan s constitution "and an agreement to start negotiations with the Afghan government." The potential deal ran into problems initially from US legal advisers who cited restrictions Congress has placed on the transfer of any prisoners from Guantanamo. The United States refused to release the detainees and neither side wanted to move the inmates to an Afghan prison. Qatar, which had already agreed to the opening of a Taliban office, said it would supervise them under house arrest. But the Afghan president rejected the deal at the last minute, the paper said. Karzai had been "fully briefed" throughout the talks, but his stance had remained unclear. Officials told the Post Karzai had failed to build political support at home among key Afghan figures, including ethnic Tajiks and other forces in the country s north.

Egyptians rally after days of deadly clashes

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Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied in Cairo s Tahrir Square Friday to denounce violence against protesters, especially outraged by images of women protesters dragged by their hair, beaten and kicked by troops and demand an immediate end to military rule. The protesters held pictures of people killed in the deadly clashes that began last week and left at least 17 protesters killed. The scene of military troops beating and dragging women on the ground in one incident stripping one veiled protester half naked and stomping on her chest shook many in the largely conservative country, where the military in power since 1952 is highly revered. The violence has also drawn wide international criticism and increased pressure from activists for those responsible for the violence to be held accountable, including the senior military officials. "The women of Egypt are a red line," the protesters in Tahrir chanted. "We either die like them or we get them their rights," followed. Some protesters marched into the square with gags around their mouths, holding banners reading: "Our dignity." The escalation has also driven a wedge between Egyptians many of whom are tiring of the protests and fear pressure on the military to step down would leave the country in serious turmoil. Thousands attended a rival rally in another part of the city, chanting "the military and the people are one hand" in support of the ruling generals. They denounced the beaten women, expressing a sentiment shared by some that these protesters brought the violence on themselves. "You deserve the military boots," they chanted, addressing the women. They also railed against pro-democracy campaigners, singling out Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading supporter of the youth groups who has expressed readiness to run for president. "Leave ElBaradei," a graffiti read on a wall near the rally. Last week s violence erupted when military forces guarding the Cabinet building near the square tried to forcibly disperse a 3-week-old sit-in demanding that the ruling generals hand over power to a civilian authority. During the clashes over the past week, both sides threw firebombs, and several buildings were burned. A research center set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France s invasion in the late 18th century was badly damaged. Since the military took power, at least 100 people have been killed in such confrontations and in sectarian violence.

Dollar rises after mixed US economic reports

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Currency trading is thin Friday ahead of Christmas. U.S. financial markets will be closed Monday in observance of the holiday, which falls on Sunday. The euro fell to $1.3034 in morning trading from $1.3043 late Thursday. The British pound fell to $1.5653 from $1.5678. The dollar rose to 0.9382 Swiss franc from 0.9364. Orders to U.S. factories for durable goods rose 3.8 percent in November, the biggest gain since July. Consumer spending rose 0.1 percent and incomes also rose 0.1 percent. Both gains were below what economists were expecting. The dollar fell to 78.09 Japanese yen from 78.17 yen and to 1.0199 Canadian dollar from 1.0212.

IMF keeps 0% rate in loans for poorest

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The International Monetary Fund will keep its loan rate for the poorest countries in the world at zero percent for another year, the Fund said Friday. The renewal of the rate, lowered to zero for the first time ever in 2009, came automatically in the absence of any opposition to the proposal to extend it in November, said an IMF spokesman. The rate is being kept low "in view of the current severe downside risks to the global economic outlook," according to the original November proposal to extend it. Around 80 of the 187 IMF member countries could benefit from the low rate and currently 25 countries are getting loans at that rate, most of them in Africa.

Russian satellite falls back to earth after launch

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A Russian satellite fell back to Earth over Siberia after its launch on Friday, in the latest setback for Russia s space programme following a string of failures in the last year. "The satellite failed to go into its orbit. A state commission will investigate the causes of the accident," the spokesman of Russia s space forces Alexei Zolotukhin told the Interfax news agency. The Meridian communications satellite "fell to the territory of Siberia" after its launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome due to a third stage rocket failure, the Interfax news agency said, quoting a space industry source. The RIA Novosti agency said it had come down over the region of the western Siberian town of Tobolsk although it was not clear if the satellite had made contact with the ground or burned up in the atmosphere. It was the fifth launch of a satellite from the Meridian series which have dual civilian and military use and are aimed at providing communications for ships in the Arctic as well as Russia s remote Siberia and Far East regions. The satellite had been launched by a Soyuz-2.1B rocket, part of the family of Soyuz rockets that has been the backbone of Moscow s space programme for decades and still launches humans to space. The satellite was supposed to have separated from the rocket about nine minutes after its launch, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported. But the carrier rocket experienced undisclosed problems even before the separation attempt, meaning that it never reached the low Earth orbit. "According to initial data, the carrier rocket s failure occurred prior to the orbiter s separation from the carrier rocket s third stage," an unnamed source told the news agency.

11 crocodiles, alligator seized from Belgian villa

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Police carrying out a search discovered 11 Nile crocodiles five of them squeezed into a small shower and an alligator at a house in northern Belgian. Police were searching the villa of a German man suspected of fraud in the village of Lapscheure when they came across the reptiles, said Frederik Thoelen, a biologist at the Nature Rescue Center where they are now being kept. Five of the crocodiles were found squeezed into a small, dirty shower; five others were kept in an aquarium made for only two, Thoelen on Friday. The alligator, meanwhile, was rolled up in several blankets. "They were really kept in horrible conditions," said Thoelen. He said the owner told them the crocodiles were about 5 years old, but they were far too small for their age, most likely because of their restrictive caging and insufficient food. Instead of measuring more than two meters (6 feet), the newcomers at the rescue center in Opglabbeek, eastern Belgium, have grown only to a little over one meter (3 feet). But things are bound to get better for the 12 reptiles, once they get released from the rescue center s intensive care unit. The owner gave up his rights to the animals once it became clear that he did not have the necessary papers, said Thoelen. "That is very good news because now we can look for a new place for the animals," he said. An animal shelter in Germany, which has more experience with reptiles, has already expressed some interest, but for the coming weeks, they will stay in Opglabbeek, said Thoelen. The biologists at the center have already started preparations for new living quarters water pool and underfloor heating included. And they will be fed with chicken carcasses from the nearby slaughterhouse. Thoelen said the animals most likely won t get a special treat for Christmas, because, "they got their biggest present yesterday" when they were rescued.

Confident Misbah ready for England

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Pakistani skipper Misbah-ul Haq said Friday his high-flying team can beat England -- world s leading Test side -- when they meet next year, believing his side are unstoppable on current form. Pakistan returned home Friday after routing Bangladesh in two Twenty20s, three one-day internationals and two Tests, ending the year with five Test wins and without losing a series, both in five-day matches and limited overs. They now take on England over three Tests, four one-days and three Twenty20 matches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a series starting next month. Misbah said England will be a real test for his side, who are now fifth in Test rankings. "The series against England is important as well as very tough," Misbah told reporters. "England is the world s best Test team but in current form we can beat any team if we keep the good form and co-ordination which we showed this year." Since taking over as Test captain in 2010 following a spot-fixing scandal, which resulted in jail terms for players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, Misbah has led Pakistan in 13 Tests. Misbah, who has guided Pakistan to six wins, six draws and a single loss, said his team needs to improve to beat England. "Despite achieving some good results we still need to overcome some of the mistakes which we committed and the management as well as the players are determined to overcome them because England will be really tough," said Misbah. "Our targets on the Bangladesh tour were to keep consistency in our performance, overcome some of the mistakes and improve our rankings and that we achieved," said Misbah. Pakistan also beat the higher-ranked Sri Lanka 1-0 in Tests and 4-1 in one-days in the UAE in October-November. Misbah said his team has gelled over the last year. "The best part about this team is that we have good coordination among the seniors and juniors, the support staff is helping players and each and every player realises his duty and that will help us against England," said Misbah. The first Test between Pakistan and England starts in Dubai on January 17.

India seek breakthrough series win in Australia

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India are desperate to bury their unwanted tag of being poor travellers as they bid to win their first series in Australia starting on Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Indians, ranked second in Test cricket, two places above Australia, have failed to win a series Down Under in nine previous tours over 64 years but face a home team in the throes of a painful transition. India will be playing their first away Test series since losing all four matches in England in July-August in a whitewash that cost M.S. Dhoni s men their number one ranking. India have developed an unwelcome reputation as poor travellers and a win in the four-Test series against Michael Clarke s Australians represents a career-defining goal for many of the team s ageing stars. Sachin Tendulkar, bidding for his 100th international century, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and V.V.S. Laxman are all unlikely to get the opportunity again in their cricket careers and are motivated to succeed. The Boxing Day Test is one for the purists with the rarity of Test cricket s three greatest runscorers -- Tendulkar (15,183), Dravid (13,094) and Australia s Ricky Ponting (12,656) -- all featuring in the same match. While India are top heavy with batting experience, it will come down to the ability of front-line bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma to bowl out Australia for India to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy they have held since 2008. Australian bowling legends Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have needled the Indians this week, saying India will struggle if Zaheer and Sharma are not fully fit for the gruelling series. But the Australians are nowhere near as formidable as they once were and this month crashed to a humiliating defeat to lowly New Zealand in Hobart. Australia have a new skipper, a new coach and a revamped selection panel following their traumatic 3-1 Ashes home series defeat to England last January and are very much a work in progress. Skipper Michael Clarke, who has taken over from Ponting, has won just three of his eight Tests in charge and is entrusted along with incoming coach South African Mickey Arthur with rebuilding the Australian team. Ponting, who turned 37 this month, and Mike Hussey, 36, are still there to help guide a new batch of rookie batsmen into the Test arena -- David Warner, (two Tests), Ed Cowan (0), Shaun Marsh (three) and Dan Christian (0). Australia named an extended 13-man squad for the Melbourne opener amid fitness doubts over Marsh (back), with opener Cowan poised for his Test debut after four centuries this season, including 109 for a Chairman s XI against India.

No let-up for Sri Lanka's struggling batsmen

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There will likely be no let-up for Sri Lanka s under-fire batting lineup in next week s second Test, with rain in Durban on Friday hinting at another field day for South Africa s buoyant fast bowlers. Having been bowled out for 180 and 150 to lose the first test by an innings, Sri Lanka s misfiring batters look set to face another green-tinged, seamer-friendly surface at Kingsmead from Monday as they aim to fight their way back into the three-test contest and avoid a fourth straight series defeat. Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said his team s underperforming top order experienced as it is was responsible for the poor recent run. The skipper conceded the group was now suffering from a lack of confidence as well as runs, leading to the tourists swapping training for team-bonding sessions this week. The Sri Lankans have not won in 15 Tests after falling to a heavy defeat in Centurion under an onslaught from the Proteas  quicks to start their first long format tour of South Africa in nine years in familiar fashion: the tourists have never won a Test here and are now 0-7 with one draw in South Africa. Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene all failed in the series opener with more expected, especially, of No. 1 Test batsman Sangakkara and former captain Jayawardene. Recalled veteran Thilan Samaraweera and all-rounder Angelo Mathews fared slightly better. There was no excuse for the poor performances, Sri Lanka batting coach and former player Marvan Atapattu said after Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn ripped through the visitors  lineup twice inside three days not even a long-running saga over Sri Lanka s players not being paid salaries for nine months. "There have been more than a couple of batting failures in the last six months or so," Atapattu said. "Obviously we have had various issues but as of now there are no excuses. This is the best, or let me put it this way, this is the most experienced six batsmen we can have from Sri Lanka in test match cricket.

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Saturday, December 24, 2011

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