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Badin: Police official killed in road accident
Suspension of senior doctors: YDA to observe strike today
SC to hear petitions against Memogate scandal today
Cold, dry weather predicted for next 24 hours
Lahore: CNG stations to remain shut for three days
Karachi: 50 couples tie knot at mass wedding ceremony
US, Taliban talks on prisoner swap falter
Second front for Afghan peace talks in Saudi: officials
UN nuclear inspection gets under way in Iran
Arab League seeks Beijing, Moscow support on Syria
Wrecked Italian liner to be moved by year's end: official
Pakistan beat us fair and square: Flower
Upmire kills Bangladesh cricket fan with bat: police
Pneumonia bug evolves to evade vaccine: study
Hitler painting fetches 32,000 euros in Slovak auction

Badin: Police official killed in road accident

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According to police, the van was carrying policemen from Karachi to Badin. It collided with a truck when it reached near Mir Wah Mori due to over speeding, killing one policeman and injuring 11 others. The dead policeman man was identified as Pervaiz Bangash. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. Five of the injured were referred to Hyderabad after their condition deteriorated.

Suspension of senior doctors: YDA to observe strike today

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The Young Doctors Association (YDA) has come out to protect senior doctors who have been suspended by Punjab Government after deaths from reaction of PIC drugs. The YDA has announced that Out Patient Departments of all hospitals of Lahore will remain close against transfer and suspension of senior doctors. The association said that purchase and supply of medicine is responsibility of Punjab government and suspended doctors are not guilty. The YDA demanded chief minister Punjab to resign by taking responsibility of the tragedy.

SC to hear petitions against Memogate scandal today

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The Supreme Court (SC) will hear petitions against memogate scandal and application for extension of period in respect of memogate commission today. A nine-member Supreme Court  larger bench presided over by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry will take up the petitions for hearing. SC had constituted a commission comprising 3 senior most chief justices of high courts to ascertain facts in memogate case and directed it to present its report within 4 weeks. Important witness Mansoor Ejaz in memogate scandal was summoned on previous hearing to record his statement but he failed to appear before the commission. Commission said in its order that there was no such reason that it should move to foreign country to record Mansoor Ejaz statement. Commission approached SC for extension of period. The SC will decide if the period given to commission be extended or otherwise.

Cold, dry weather predicted for next 24 hours

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According to Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), mostly cold and dry weather will prevail in most parts of the country during next few days. However, light rain and snowfall is expected in the hilly areas of the country. Minimum temperature recorded in different cities of the country was: Kalam -15C, Astore -9C, Hunza -8C, Kalat -6C, Quetta -6C, Murree -3C, Islamabad 0C, Gilgit 1C, Muzaffarabad 2C, Lahore, Faisalabad and Peshawar 3C, Multan 5C and Karachi 10 degree centigrade.

Lahore: CNG stations to remain shut for three days

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According to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) load management plan, the CNG stations in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sahiwal and Multan regions will remain shut for three days. The CNG stations will remain closed from 6:00am today to 6:00am on Thursday. On the other hand, gas supply to textile industry in Lahore region will resume for two day from 6:00am today.

Karachi: 50 couples tie knot at mass wedding ceremony

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At least couples got married at a mass wedding organized by a non-governmental organization in Karachi. The DCO Karachi, Roshan Ali Sheikh was the chief guest at the ceremony. Speaking on the occasion the chief guest said that the expenses of the weddings have been borne by President Asif Ali Zardari.

US, Taliban talks on prisoner swap falter

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Talks between the Afghan Taliban and the United States in Qatar almost failed as the Taliban leadership reportedly refused to accept the US demand of a ceasefire before swapping prisoners. Sources in the Afghan Taliban said the Taliban had set up an office in Qatar hoping that it would help in a prisoners  swap, especially for their five top commanders held at the Guantanamo Bay base since 2002. The Taliban sources said their talks with the US had been going for the past few years in exchange for an American soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, captured by Taliban militants in Afghanistan s Paktika province in June 2009, bordering Pakistan s South Waziristan. Maulvi Sangeen, a senior commander of the powerful Haqqani terror network, had initially claimed responsibility for kidnapping the US soldier. The Taliban sources said US officials had earlier promised them they would exchange prisoners and later start peace talks. However, according to the sources, the US demanded that the Taliban announce a ceasefire in Afghanistan before any prisoner swap, which they said their central leadership had turned down. "Our stance is the same. We will announce a ceasefire when the foreign forces start their withdrawal from Afghanistan," Taliban source said. The Afghan Taliban leadership is also worried about the reaction from their field commanders and fighters if a ceasefire were announced without getting anything to show in exchange. Some members of the 140-strong Taliban delegation that went to Qatar had started leaving after no breakthrough was seen in talks with the US.

Second front for Afghan peace talks in Saudi: officials

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Afghanistan and Pakistan plan to open a second front in negotiations with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia as US-brokered talks get under way in Qatar, officials said Sunday. The Taliban, ousted from power by a US-led invasion in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, announced earlier this month that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar ahead of talks with Washington. And Taliban negotiators have begun holding preliminary talks with US officials in the Gulf state on plans for negotiations aimed at ending the decade-long Afghan war, a former Taliban official said Sunday. But Afghan and Taliban officials indicated in response to a BBC report about plans for talks in Saudi Arabia that both Kabul and Islamabad -- usually at loggerheads on the issue -- were looking for their own talks with the Taliban. Asked for his response to the BBC report, Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said: "Of course we support any steps towards the Afghan peace process." He refused to comment further. But a senior Afghan government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the BBC report was accurate, saying: "We will always pursue all roads towards peace in Afghanistan, including contacts with the Taliban that are not limited to the Qatar office." A member of the Taliban s leadership council, the Pakistan-based Quetta Shura, also backed the report of talks in Saudi Arabia. "The idea that the Taliban should have a point of contact in Saudi is pushed by the Pakistan and Afghan governments," he said on condition of anonymity. "This is because they think they have been sidelined. They want some control over peace talks." Supporting this theory, Kabul announced Sunday that Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar would visit Kabul on Wednesday, marking what Mosazai called a "new phase" in cooperation between the two countries. Khar would meet President Hamid Karzai to "discuss the fight against terrorism and Pakistan s essential support to the peace process in Afghanistan", he said. Khar s visit comes after the always touchy relations between the two countries broke down following the assassination of Kabul s chief peace envoy, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September.

UN nuclear inspection gets under way in Iran

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Iran s foreign minister expressed optimism Sunday that a visit by U.N. inspectors to Iran s nuclear facilities would produce an understanding, despite world concerns that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. The three-day inspection tour by the International Atomic Energy Agency team comes during spiking tension. The West is imposing new sanctions to try to force Iran to slow or halt its nuclear program, and Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passage, in retaliation. Visiting Ethiopia, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi appeared to be trying to defuse the crisis. "We are very optimistic about the mission and the outcome" of the IAEA mission, Salehi was quoted as saying by Iran s semiofficial Mehr news agency. "We ve always tried to put transparency as a principle in our cooperation with IAEA," Salehi said. "During this visit, the delegation has questions and the necessary answers will be given," The findings from the visit could greatly influence the direction and urgency of U.S.-led efforts to rein in Iran s ability to enrich uranium which Washington and allies fear could eventually produce weapons-grade material. Iran has declined to abandon its enrichment labs, but claims it seeks to fuel reactors only for energy and medical research. The team is likely to visit an underground enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Tehran, which is carved into a mountain as protection from possible airstrikes. Earlier this month, Iran said it had begun enrichment work at the site, which is far smaller than the country s main uranium labs but is reported to have more advanced equipment. The U.N. nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations that it seeks nuclear warheads. In unusually blunt comments ahead of his arrival, the IAEA s Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts who is in charge of the agency s Iran file said he wants Tehran to "engage us on all concerns."

Arab League seeks Beijing, Moscow support on Syria

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Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi is fighting an uphill battle to court Russia and China to win their support at the United Nations for the latest Arab plan aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria. Russia has made it clear that regime change in Damascus constitutes a "red line," but Arabi said on Sunday as he left for New York that his organisation was in talks with Moscow and Beijing. He hoped the two veto-wielding countries would change their stand on a draft resolution under discussion at the UN Security Council, based on an Arab proposal for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy. The Arab League chief, accompanied by Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, is to present details of the plan to the council on Tuesday. Qatar says the plan foresees the "peaceful departure" of the Syrian regime. It also calls for an end to the violence and a power transfer, with Assad handing over responsibilities to his deputy, before the launch of negotiations between the government and the opposition. The Syrian authorities have flatly rejected this formula. And Moscow, which along with Beijing represents one of Damascus s staunchest allies, remains hostile to the Arab proposition, saying it crosses its clearly drawn lines. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday also slammed the Arab League s decision to suspend its hard-won monitoring mission in Syria. The Arab League suspended its observer mission the previous day saying it took the decision in response to an "upsurge of violence whose victims are innocent civilians." Russia and China vetoed a previous European-backed draft resolution at the Security Council last October that would have condemned Damascus, accusing the West of seeking regime change. The League s decision to turn to the Security Council, experts say, aims to step up the pressure on Assad s regime but it is not likely to put a stop to the violence.

Wrecked Italian liner to be moved by year's end: official

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The ship s owner Costa Crociere is readying a call for tenders, and the few companies capable of the job will quickly respond with recovery plans, said the head of Italy s civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli. "These two stages should take about two months," Gabrielli told the media, after which, "taking into account the constraints that weather and sea conditions may impose, it will take seven to 10 months to remove the wreck," he said. The 114,500-tonne ship ran aground on rocks with some 4,200 people aboard on January 13 and is lying on its side off the Tuscan island. A total of 17 bodies have been recovered, and 16 people remain missing. Heavy weather on Saturday forced salvage crews to suspend pumping thousands of tonnes of fuel from the wrecked ship, though recovery operations continued and divers found the latest body, an unidentified woman. Many in the region are concerned about fuel leaks from the ship into the area s popular recreation waters, saying a spill would be environmentally disastrous in one of Europe s biggest marine parks. Gabrielli said the ship s most recent movements, which led to a suspension of the search on Sunday morning, were due to tidal and wave conditions. Overnight the wreck, which usually moves two to three milimetres per hour, shifted 3.5 centimetres (1.4 inches) amid high winds and large waves. Gabrielli stressed, however, that Italian authorities remained determined to resume the search for more bodies as quickly as possible, citing "the moral imperative to return the bodies to their families."

Pakistan beat us fair and square: Flower

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England coach Andy Flower said Sunday Pakistan s series-clinching Test win would be a huge boost to the country, but called on his team to show their mettle on subsequent matches in the subcontinent. Pakistan thumped England by 72 runs in the second Test here on Saturday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. They won the first Test by ten wickets in Dubai. The third and final Test begins in Dubai from February 3. Under Flower England had been unbeaten in their last nine Test series, which saw them rise to number one in rankings last year. But after being set a tricky 145-run target to win on Saturday, England were dismissed for a paltry 72 runs as Pakistan s spin bowlers came to the fore. "We realise that we haven t been very skillful in dealing with that type of cricket. In saying that, it s also right to praise the Pakistan team for what they have done. They beat us fair and square," said Flower. "They have beaten us properly in two matches. They have fought hard and worked hard at their game and in a way I m very happy for them. It s good for their cricket and it s good for their country." Flower, a former Zimbabwean batsman, said defeats were a  wake-up  call for England. "It was a wake-up call no one wanted to get. Not to that degree. But, yes it is," said Flower. "Saturday was very poor. The three days preceding that were pretty good. We put ourselves in a good position where we could have won the Test but then performed very badly with the bat to lose it. "We didn t put any pressure on their bowlers in the second innings. We allowed them to bowl and create pressure. In saying that, the conditions to play against quality spinners were difficult and we weren t good enough." Pakistan spin duo Abdul Rehman, who recorded career-best figures of 6-25, and Saeed Ajmal (3-22) led the fightback after they had conceded a first-innings lead of 70 runs. Flower said dropping a few catches in the first innings was crucial. "Maybe we dropped a couple of important catches, but other than that the bowlers and fielders were outstanding and Monty Panesar was great. But obviously our batting against spin let us down." England dropped Misbah-ul Haq on 30, who went on to make 84. Panesar, playing his first Test since the Cardiff Test in 2009 Ashes, took 6-62 to bowl Pakistan out for 214 in the second innings. Flower admitted that not playing well in the subcontinent was a big challenge to overcome. "This is a great challenge for all of us. The issues are not going to disappear. We ve got another Test. We ve got a one-day and T20 series, and then we ve also got Sri Lanka and India before the year is out. "So these issues will not disappear and we ve got to face them with skill and a bit of courage. We ve got to be a lot better than we were yesterday. Each individual will have to work very hard in working out his method of scoring." When asked if batsmen repeating mistakes was frustrating, Flower said: "I think that is fair comment, yes. We expect to learn quickly and that is a big part of our job, and my job."

Upmire kills Bangladesh cricket fan with bat: police

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Nazrul Islam, 15, ran onto the pitch during an amateur game in the remote northern district of Kishoreganj and started an argument with the umpire, who took one of the players  bats and hit the teenager. Islam showed no serious injury from the blow during the game on Friday but suffered an internal haemorrhage overnight and died in hospital the following day, local police chief Mosharraf Hossain told AFP. "The two argued over a not-out decision by the umpire. He accused the umpire of bias. At one stage, the umpire became angry, took a bat and hit the young boy on the head," Hossain said. The umpire was being sought for questioning but had gone into hiding, he added. Cricket is hugely popular sport in Bangladesh, which last year co-hosted the World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.

Pneumonia bug evolves to evade vaccine: study

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Bugs that cause childhood pneumonia and meningitis have evolved to evade vaccines by swapping bits of their genome with other bacteria, according to a study published Sunday. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, show how quickly these life-threatening pathogens can disguise themselves with borrowed genetic decoys, and how hard it is for medicine to keep up. Diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae are thought to kill over a million young children around the world each year. Vaccines that protect against these so-called pneumoccoccal infections are designed to recognise a material on the outer surface of a bacterium s cell called polysaccharide. Each of over 90 kinds, or "serotypes", of these bacteria have a different polysaccharide coating. In 2000, a vaccine that targeted seven serotypes proved highly effective when introduced in the United States. The same formula -- which also prevented transmission from children to adults -- was adopted in Britain. Over time, however, the vaccine worked less well, so researchers led by Rory Bowden at the University of Oxford set out to discover why. Combining cutting-edge genetic analysis with epidemiology, which examines how disease spreads, they found that the deadly pathogens escaped detection by swapping genes with other, slightly different, bacteria. Remarkably, the exchanged genetic material came from precisely that part of the genome responsible for making the cell s coating -- the area targeted by the vaccine. The bacteria, in other words, had kept their virulence intact but changed their outward appearance. "Imagine that each strain of the pneumoccoccus bacteria is a class of schoolchildren all wearing the school uniform," explained Bowden. "If a boy steals from the corner shop, a policeman -- the vaccine -- can easily identify which school he belongs to by his uniform." But if the boy swaps his sweater with a friend from another school, Bowden continued, the policeman will no longer know where to look and the thief, like the bacteria, will escape. The researchers identified several such "recombined" serotypes resistant to the vaccine, and one in particular that had spread across the United States from east to west over several years. They also observed -- for the first time outside a laboratory -- that the bugs were able to swap several parts of their respective genomes at once. "This is of particular concern, as recombination involving multiple fragments of DNA allows rapid and simultaneous exchange of key regions of the genome within the bug, potentially allowing it to quickly develop antibiotic resistance," the researchers said. In both the United States and Britain, the original vaccine has now been replaced with a new one that targets 13 rather than seven of the telltale serotypes. But the scientists caution that the bacteria will continue to morph into new forms. "The current vaccine strategy ... is extremely effective," co-author Bernard Beall, a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said in a statement. "However, our observations indicate that the organism will continue to adapt to this strategy with some measurable success."

Hitler painting fetches 32,000 euros in Slovak auction

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A 1913 painting by Nazi Germany s dictator Adolf Hitler sold for 32,000 euros ($42,300) in a Slovak internet auction on Sunday, the Darte auction house said. The starting price for the painting titled Maritime Nocturno was set at 10,000 euros, while an expert put its value at 25,000 euros, said Darte, which sold the painting in a closed VIP auction. The mixed-media painting depicts a full moon over a glittering seascape. "The painting has been offered for sale by an unnamed family of a Slovak painter who probably met Hitler personally when he was struggling to become an artist in Vienna during the early 20th century," Darte owner Jaroslav Krajnak said earlier. "I look at him as an artist -- in 1913, when Hitler painted this picture, he didn t know what would become of him in the decades to come," he added. The auctioning house already sold a painting by Hitler from the same family collection last year for 10,200 euros. Sunday s auction also offered a painting by Pablo Picasso for 15 million euros.

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Cricket - Sports

Monday, January 30, 2012

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