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Two women among 8 killed in Karachi violence
Zardari pays tribute to outgoing senators
MQM demands suo motu notice on Ilyas Bilour statement
War on terror: 10-year Pak-US accord expires
Boxing: Amir Khan confirms Peterson rematch in Vegas
More than 80 killed in Syria, most in Homs: activists
NATO airstile killed eight children: Karzai
US recognises new government of Maldives
Israel rejects new Palestinian government: minister
Tennis: Kerber sets up Sharapova showdown in Paris
Federer to face Isner in Davis Cup singles
Djokovic gets wax figure in native Serbia
Formula One: Rosberg puts Vettel in shade
Pakistan, Afghanistan set for historic one-dayer
Misbah says Afghans need to play more test nations

Two women among 8 killed in Karachi violence

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According to police, some unidentified persons shot dead a woman in Murtaza Chorangi area of Landhi while a tortured dead body of a man was recovered from Lines Area. In Ayub Goth area, some unidentified persons opened fire and shot dead 75-year-old woman, Sahibzadi and injured two other people. Some unidentified attackers also shot dead a man in Kharadar area. In Qasba Colony, some unidentified attackers, riding on motorcycles, shot dead 55-year-old Babu Gul Afzal. According to police, Babu Gul Afzal was worker of a political party. Two dead bodies were also recovered from Rizvia and Qayumabad streams while another person was shot dead in Gulbahar area. Meanwhile, some unidentified attackers, riding on motorcycles, opened fire on a tea stall and injured six people.

Zardari pays tribute to outgoing senators

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President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday said the outgoing senators will be remembered in the parliamentary history as proud members of the parliament that unanimously removed the traces of dictatorships from the Constitution by passing the historic 18th and 19th Constitutional Amendments, besides making possible the realization of shared national ideal of restoring democracy by their wisdom and selflessness while being members of the upper House. “Nobody can deprive you of this great honour which will always remain the first line in your biography regardless of other achievements to your credit,” he remarked. The President was addressing a dinner hosted for the outgoing senators here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday night that was attended among others by Chairman Senate Farooq H. Naek, ministers, parliamentarians and outgoing senators. Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the President while commending the role of senate, said that, driven by the spirit of reconciliation and consensus, the outgoing senators have to their credit as members of the senate that passed some very important pieces of legislation unanimously including the recently adopted a far reaching pro-women bill. The President appreciated the devotion and commitment of the outgoing senators to the public welfare and said that he was confident that their successors will take their legacy to new heights expressing the hope that guided by the outgoing senators’ example the new comers will add new chapters of glory. Zardari said that differences are being created among the political leaders. He also advised the opposition to refrain from mud-slugging.

MQM demands suo motu notice on Ilyas Bilour statement

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The emergency meeting of the coordination committee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was simultaneously held in Karachi and London to discuss the statement of Awami National Party (ANP) leader, senator Ilyas Bilour, during a programme of a private TV channel. According to MQM coordination committee, the ANP leader has confessed ANP’s involvement in the Karachi unrest during the talk show. The coordination committee has asked the Supreme Court to takes suo motu notice on Ilyas Bilour statement.

War on terror: 10-year Pak-US accord expires

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The USA-Pak Acquisition and Cross Services Treaty was inked by Pakistan and United States on February 9, 2009. According to sources, joint operations were launched by intelligence agencies of both the countries against Taliban and Al Qaeda under the USA-Pak Acquisition and Cross Services Treaty. Key Pakistani airbases were also handed over to US under the agreement. The agreement was presented before the parliamentary committee on national security on the direction of Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. The sources said that now the parliament will decide the priority of the new Pak-US agreement.

Boxing: Amir Khan confirms Peterson rematch in Vegas

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Amir Khan is to face Lamont Peterson in a re-match in Las Vegas in May, the British boxer announced via Twitter on Friday. American Peterson deprived Khan of his World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) light-welterweight titles as a result of a controversial split points decision in Washington on December 10. That led the WBA to order a re-match last month and the second Khan-Peterson bout will now take places at Las Vegas s Mandalay Bay Hotel on May 19. "Big announcement. KHAN. Vs PETERSON May 19th, Mandalay Bay Hotel Vegas. At last I git (get) the fight I deserve, Big," Khan said on his Twitter account. There was confusion at the end of the pair s first meeting in Washington, Peterson s home town, with an unusually long delay between the climax of the bout and the announcement of the judges  scorecards. Referee Joe Cooper had previously deducted points from the 25-year-old Khan in the seventh and 12th rounds for pushing -- an offence rarely punished at championship level -- and did not credit Khan with what should have been a first round knockdown, according to the WBA. Further controversy ensued when Khan s camp highlighted video footage of Mustafa Ameen, an IBF official who had no formal role at the bout, which they claimed showed him interfering with the judges  scorecards. That led Ameen to threaten legal action against Khan last month.

More than 80 killed in Syria, most in Homs: activists

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More than 80 people died in violence across Syria on Thursday, activists said, with the majority killed in a fierce assault by regime forces on the flashpoint central city of Homs. Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that of the 83 deaths nationwide, 63 people were killed in shelling and other violence in Homs province. Fifty-three were killed in Homs city, which has been under a relentless bombardment by regime forces for the past six days, he told AFP. Of these, Abdel Rahman said 35 civilians died in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs and 11 were killed when a shell slammed into their house in the protest hub s Inshaat district. He added that seven other people died in the city s Khaldiyeh and Karm el-Zeytoun neighbourhoods. Ten more people, five from the same family, died in shelling and heavy gunfire as regime troops pushed forth with a more than week-long assault on the town of Zabadani near the Syrian capital, Abdel Rahman added. "They are trying to choke the town before storming it," he said. "Residents are fleeing to Bludan and other nearby villages." Elsewhere, seven security forces members were killed when rebels ambushed two buses near the southern town of Daraa, cradle of the revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Among other deaths in the armed forces, a military colonel was killed at his home in Rastan, in Homs province. Four other civilians, including a young woman, were killed in the northwestern province of Idlib, and a man died of wounds he suffered the day before in Daraa.

NATO airstile killed eight children: Karzai

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A NATO airstrike killed eight children in Afghanistan s Kapisa province, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday. The president "strongly condemned the aerial bombing by foreign troops that killed a number of children in Nejrab district" northeast of Kabul on Wednesday, said a statement from his office. "Based on information by (the) provincial governor, as a result of an air strike conducted on February 8 in Geyawa village in Nejrab district of Kapisa province, eight children were killed," the statement said. Karzai had assigned a delegation "to launch an all-out probe into the NATO bombing", it added. A NATO spokesman said he could "confirm there has been a situation. A joint assessment team went there to identify the situation". The Afghan president, who has a strained relationship with his Western allies, has regularly condemned NATO for civilian deaths in the decade-long war against Taliban insurgents fighting to overthrow him. A record number civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2011 -- the fifth straight year the death toll has risen, the United Nations reported last week. A total of 3,021 civilians died -- mostly at the hands of insurgents -- up eight percent from 2,790 in 2010, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its annual report. Taliban-led insurgents caused 77 percent of the deaths last year, up 14 percent from 2010, while pro-government forces were responsible for killing 410 civilians -- 14 percent of the total, the report said. Most deaths attributed to NATO forces were a result of attacks from the air, but there was an overall decline of four percent in the number of civilians killed by pro-government forces, the report said.

US recognises new government of Maldives

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The United States said Thursday it recognizes the new government of Maldives President Mohamed Waheed as the legitimate and urged him to fulfill a pledge to form a national unity government. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also said Robert Blake, the top US diplomat for south Asia, telephoned former president Mohamed Nasheed to tell him Washington backed a "peaceful resolution" of the crisis on the archipelago. "We do," Nuland told reporters when asked if Washington recognizes the new government as the legitimate government of the Maldives. She called Waheed the president and Nasheed the former president. Blake, the assistant secretary of state for south Asian affairs, will travel Saturday to the Maldives to meet with both Waheed and Nasheed, who charges he was ousted in a coup, as well as civil society. "He will be encouraging this national unity conversation," she added. "Blake spoke this morning to former president Nasheed, conveying assurances that the United States supports a peaceful resolution of this," Nuland said. Blake assured Nasheed who is facing arrest "that we are also expressing our views to the government that his security should be protected," Nuland said. Unrest has spread to the far corners of the nation of more than 1,000 islands, as Waheed struggles to maintain order.

Israel rejects new Palestinian government: minister

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Israel s foreign minister told the UN Security Council on Thursday that a new Palestinian unity government including Hamas was a setback to peace attempts, diplomats said. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman briefed the 15 Security Council ambassadors on the Middle East peace talks and the growing confrontation with Iran in a meeting at a New York hotel. Lieberman said an accord signed this week by the heads of Fatah and Hamas "does not contribute to the advancement of peace negotiations or the well being of the Palestinian people," Israel s UN mission said in a statement. The accord "reflects the personal interests" of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the head of Fatah, and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, the Israeli minister added. "Israel will not accept a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, unless it changes its current policies, recognizes Israel s right to exist and accepts all Quartet conditions," Lieberman added. Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since September 2010. The Palestinians have demanded that Israel halt settlement construction in the Palestinian territories. Israel rejects any conditions for talks to settle the Middle East conflict. Lieberman, who is on a US tour which included meetings in Washington with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also demanded that the Security Council act on Iran, the statement said. "Israel keeps all options on the table" if international sanctions do not convince Iran to halt its nuclear drive, Lieberman said. Western countries say Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb and many experts say Israel is planning for a military strike. Iran denies it is seeking a weapon. Lieberman called on the Security Council to act on statements by Iran s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who have made calls "to wipe Israel off the map," the Israeli mission said.

Tennis: Kerber sets up Sharapova showdown in Paris

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Maria Sharapova will face Angelique Kerber for a place in the WTA Paris Open semi-finals, after the German ninth seed beat Romania s Monica Niculescu 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the last eight on Thursday. Sharapova, the top seed, booked her place in the quarter-finals with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 defeat of South Africa s Chanelle Scheepers at the indoor tournament on Wednesday. With Li Na and Jelena Jankovic having both withdrawn through injury, the Russian s biggest challenge is likely to come from French second seed Marion Bartoli, who tackles Croatian Petra Martic later on Thursday. A semi-finalist at last year s French Open, Bartoli is the last Frenchwoman left in the draw after Pauline Parmentier lost 6-3, 6-0 to 21-year-old German qualifier Mona Barthel on Thursday. Should Bartoli overcome Martic, she will face Italian seventh seed Roberta Vinci, who overcame a second-set slump to defeat American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Federer to face Isner in Davis Cup singles

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Roger Federer will face John Isner in the second singles match Friday when Switzerland takes on the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup. Switzerland s 28th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka opens the series against eighth-ranked Mardy Fish on the indoor clay courts at 7,000-capacity Fribourg Forum. Isner lost both matches he played Federer, each time on hard courts, and said he aims to serve well and play quick points. "I don t want to be getting in 15-ball rallies with Roger from the baseline  cause that probably won t bode well for me," the 17th-ranked Isner said. "I m going to need to play aggressive, play-first strike tennis and see how it goes." Fish, who has a 2-0 career record against Wawrinka, is satisfied to be opening the series. "I would prefer to play first. On a team note, I would like to try to get the team off to a good start," Fish said. In Sunday s scheduled reverse singles, the third-ranked Federer is set to face Fish, followed by Wawrinka against Isner. U.S. captain Jim Courier will give 19-year-old Ryan Harrison a Davis Cup debut on Saturday, partnering Mike Bryan in doubles against Federer and Wawrinka, who won Olympic gold in doubles in Beijing. Still, that plan could alter depending how deep Fish and Isner go in their singles matches. "We ll see as we go," Courier said. "That s the team we are nominating now, but certainly things can change given whatever happens (Friday)." Bryan s twin brother, Bob, is unavailable after his first child was born last week. The U.S. has a 2-1 edge on Switzerland in Davis Cup encounters, though each series went with home advantage on hard courts. The Americans  dream team of Courier, Andre Aggasi, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras won the 1992 final played at Fort Worth, Texas, and a first-round series when Federer was unavailable in 2009 at Birmingham, Alabama. A 19-year-old Federer won all three of his rubbers to lead the Swiss to victory in a 2001 first-round match in his home city Basel.

Djokovic gets wax figure in native Serbia

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The Australian Open champion was in the central Serbian town of Jagodina on Thursday to attend the unveiling of his likeness in wax. Djokovic, who is adored in the Balkan country, did not speak to reporters at the wax museum. Serbian media reported that Djokovic later traveled further south to a ski resort on Mt. Kopaonik. Djokovic is sitting out of Serbia s Davis Cup match against Sweden to rest after winning the Australian Open. He led Serbia to its first Davis Cup title in 2010.

Formula One: Rosberg puts Vettel in shade

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Double world champion Sebastian Vettel returned to the track for the first time in two months on Thursday, but was overshadowed by German compatriot Nico Rosberg. Vettel, behind the wheel of the new Red Bull RB8, clocked 1min 19.297sec in his first stint of winter testing with Rosberg flying to a day s best of 1min 17.613sec in his Mercedes. "It s been two months since we were in the car, so it does take a couple of laps to get back in the rhythm, but the car feels fine and as we expected," said Vettel. "There s quite a loss of grip due to the regulation changes, but you get used to it quickly and then start to explore how the new car feels. So far we can be happy, we had a couple of issues, but it s normal when the car is new." Rosberg s speed followed on the trail of teammate and former seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher who was fastest on Wednesday with 1min 18.561sec. "I m happy with the testing that we have achieved here in Jerez, and we learned a lot about the Pirelli tyres and a few other things for the new car," said Rosberg. "It seems that the tyres are closer performance-wise this year, with the rear tyres also looking a bit stronger. "You can t really compare the lap times with other teams, but it was interesting to learn a lot with our 2011 car. Now I m really looking forward to the two Barcelona tests with our new Silver Arrow." Lotus driver Romain Grosjean clocked the second-fastest time of the day with       1:18.419 off 117 laps while Britain s Lewis Hamilton was fourth in his McLaren. "Today felt pretty good considering it was my first time in the new car. My initial feelings are pretty positive, despite going through a long, tough programme of initial tests -- there were no nasty surprises, which is pleasing," said Hamilton. "This year s car feels a bit different from last year s. In 2011, we had so much stability from the rear-end, particularly in the high-speed corners, but we re now having to find that grip elsewhere, or, at least, take grip off the front and somehow offload it at the rear." The third day of testing at the Spanish circuit took place in challenging, chilly conditions with Force India unable to get extensive track time after French driver Jules Bianchi buried the car in the gravel. Force India were unable to repair the damage, which left Nico Hulkenberg kicking his heels until Friday s final day of testing.

Pakistan, Afghanistan set for historic one-dayer

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Pakistan and Afghanistan play a historic first-ever one-day international between the two countries here on Friday with both captains vowing to make the game a memorable one. "It is a very important game for both countries and we will try to make the occasion memorable with some quality cricket," Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said. "It is important for countries like Afghanistan to play a top team which will help them improve and we are going to play with our full strength team as they have some good players." Friday s match in Sharjah Stadium -- which holds the world record of staging the most one-day internationals with 201 -- is fitting because most of the Afghan players learnt the game in Pakistan while staying as refugees after the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979. Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal thanked Pakistan for giving them chances. "We thank Pakistan for allowing us to play this one-day and also giving us opportunity to play in their domestic competitions which raised our confidence," said Mangal, who led Afghanistan to one-day status. "It is a history making match against a top team like Pakistan and we will try our best to put up a good fight in a contest which is a big challenge for us," said the 27-year-old Mangal, an off-spin bowler. Mangal said his team had prepared well for Pakistan s spinners Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman who were behind the 3-0 destruction of England in their three-Test series: Ajmal finished with 24 wickets while Rehman took 19. "We have prepped well for Pakistan s spin duo and I am confident my batsmen will do their best," said Mangal, adding that paceman Hamid Hassan, who has 24 wickets in 14 one-day internationals, will miss the match through knee injury. They still have Mohammad Nabi, an off-spinner who took five wickets while playing for an ICC Combined XI against England last month and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Shahzad who scored 51 and 74 in the same match. Pakistan will be further boosted by the return of all-rounder Shahid Afridi who will add variety to team s spin attack. Mangal hoped a sell-out crowd of 15,000 largely Afghan and Pakistan expats, enjoying the weekly holiday here, will show their support. "We want the public to share this historic moment with both the teams," said Mangal. War-ravaged Afghanistan gained a notable foot up on the world cricket stage by finishing fifth in the 2011 World Cup qualifiers which earned them the right to play one-day internationals. They also won the right to play the third edition of World Twenty20, held in the Caribbean in 2010, by winning the qualifying tournament and then finished with a silver medal in the Asian Games in China in November that same year. Afghanistan, one of the 59 associate members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), are also the title holders of the Inter-Continental Cup meant for the Associate nations. The ICC, which contributes approximately 700,000 dollars a year to help Afghanistan s development in cricket, has shown great delight in their progress, terming it as "a success story in cricket".

Misbah says Afghans need to play more test nations

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Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq wants fast-improving teams like Afghanistan to play more international matches against test-playing nations to be better able to gauge their progress. Having been awarded one-day international status in 2009, Afghanistan will play its first ODI against a test-playing country on Friday when it takes on Pakistan. "Once you play against test teams, only then you can know what type of improvement is required," Misbah said. "It s very important that such matches are organized so that these teams can realize where they stand." The match will serve as a warm-up for Pakistan for the four ODIs against England, starting next week. Misbah came across some of the players as captain of the Faisalabad Wolves when the Pakistan Cricket Board invited Afghanistan to compete in domestic Twenty20 tournament. "They are fighters, they have good fielders and you can t take them easy," Misbah said. Former captains Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik are back for the shorter format of the game after Misbah led Pakistan to a clean sweep against England in the test series. Malik was a surprise inclusion in the squad with the allrounder taking only five wickets and scoring 35 runs in his last eight ODIs. Misbah requested Malik after he was left out from the original squad last week. "I think there was some misunderstanding," Misbah said. "Maybe he didn t bat well last year, but his bowling played a vital role against Sri Lanka here in Sharjah. "Since the opposition is struggling against spinners and sometimes our batting also struggles, I thought Malik s inclusion will benefit the team." Misbah also reminded his players not to rest on the laurels of the recent past and to prepare hard for the upcoming challenges against Afghanistan and England. "I always say that whatever performance you have given in the past is history and one should look ahead," he said. "It s true we won the test series and we did celebrate it, but for us tomorrow s match is important to mold us back in this format."

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Friday, February 10, 2012

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