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Ghee, edible oil mills strike enters third day
Pakistan, England 4th ODI today
Ricky Ponting concedes his ODI career is over
Balochistan resolution could damage Pak-US ties: Hina
Rs 366.1 mn funds for senators before passage of 20th Amend
Obama, Karzai discuss Afghan reconciliation moves
4 die in military crash near US base in Africa
30 killed in attack on Nigeria market
Syrian forces mass outside rebel stronghold
Ljubicic, Roger-Vasselin advance at Open 13
Jankovic determined to get back on top of the world
Azarenka shrugs off Djokovic comparison -- for now
Olympics: Doha would host 2020 Summer Games in October
Russians revive Ice Age flower from frozen burrow
PIA orders five boeing 777s, option for five more

Ghee, edible oil mills strike enters third day

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The strike of ghee and edible oil mills entered the third day across the country as factories remained shut for an indefinite period while no supply would be made to any wholesale and retail market from today. Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Chairman Sheikh Abdul Waheed said that a letter has already been written to the government officials for the provision of security but so far no official has contacted yet. Subsequently, the halt would be observed for indefinite period, he said. The chairman said all edible oils and ghee mills were closed after the trucks transporters and tankers mafia set on fire four trucks of the National Logistic Company (NLC), loaded edible oil of worth Rs30 million, on February 17 2012. Following such terrorist incident by trucks transporters and tankers mafia, the PVMA chairman said, it had decided to close the factories for an indefinite period.

Pakistan, England 4th ODI today

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Pakistan will be looking for their first win in ODI series against England in the fourth and last match in Dubai to avoid a whitewash. Pakistan have been outsmarted by England who rode on back-to-back hundreds by skipper Alastair Cook to win the first two matches in Abu Dhabi and then Kevin Pietersen hammered an unbeaten century -- his first since 2008 - to win the third match in Dubai on Saturday.

Ricky Ponting concedes his ODI career is over

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Australia s former captain Ricky Ponting does not expect to play one-day international cricket again after he was dropped from the team on Monday but would continue to be available for Test matches, he said on Tuesday. The 37-year-old is the second most prolific batsman of all time in limited-overs internationals, scoring 13,704 runs in 375 matches since his debut in 1995. The Tasmanian was dropped from the Australia team because of poor form on Monday with selectors strongly indicating that his career in one-day internationals was all but over. Ponting, who had made just 18 runs in five games in the ongoing Tri-series against India and Sri Lanka, said he had spoken to chairman of selectors John Inverarity who told him he was not in the plans for the future direction of the team looking to the 2015 World Cup. "I have been dropped, which is disappointing, but I accept that. My performances over the last five games haven t warranted me being there," Ponting told a media conference. "John has been pretty clear on the reasons why and the direction they are heading with the one-day team and I am not part of their plans. "It s a bit hard to say I ve retired given I ve been dropped but I don t expect to play one-day international cricket any more and I m sure the selectors don t expect to pick me either." Ponting said he wanted to continue playing Test matches. "I ve only got Test cricket left now and I want to make every post a winner," he added. "I think I ve proved this summer that I can still play great cricket for Australia and deserve to be out there."

Balochistan resolution could damage Pak-US ties: Hina

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Speaking at a ceremony in London, Pakistan Foreign Minister hina Rabbani Khar said that tabling a resolution on Balochistan in the US congress based on mala fide intention. She said Balochistan was Pakistan’s internal matter and the Balochistan provincial assembly would act to resolve its issues and not the US congressmen. Hinna Rabbani Khar said that resolution on Balochistan in the US congress could only aggravate Pakistan’s already estranged relations with US and it would distance the two allies even further. She said that the bill was contrary to the principles of UN Charter and international law. The Foreign Minister said that the Bill was also against the very fundamentals of the long-standing Pakistan-US relations. Regarding ties with India she said keeping the dialogue alive on top of exhibiting mature-sightedness would be the right thing to do for both neighbours. Going ahead, Khar tied Pakistan’s future with Afghanistan’s vowing unwavering support for peace process in the war-torn country.

Rs 366.1 mn funds for senators before passage of 20th Amend

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The letters to release funds amounting to Rs 366.1 million were issue for 60 senators before the passage of 20th Amendment Bill in the Senate. According to sources, funds were released to senators from PPP, PML-N, PML-Q, MQM, ANP, JUI and Jamaat-e-Islami. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senator Pervaiz Rashid got the largest chunk of funds which amounted to Rs 20.4 million while PPP’s Nayar Bukhari got funds amounting to Rs 15.3 million ans Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief got Rs 10.4 million funds. Abdul Ghafoor Haidri got funds of Rs 12.7 million, Interior Minister Rehman Malik Rs 17.33 million, Mola Bakhsh Chandio Rs 11 million, Ahmad Ali Rs 16.2 million, Tahir Mashadi Rs 9.71 million, Babar Awan Rs 3.21 million and Muhammad Ali Durani Rs 6.88 million. Pakistan People’s Party’s Faisal Raza Abdi got funds amounting only to Rs 70 thousands, Sabir Baloch Rs 10 million, Prof Khursheed Rs 1.49 million,Saleem Saifullah Rs 0.74 million, Sardar Ali Khan Rs 17.2 million, Mushahid Ullah Khan Rs 18.75 million, Jamal Laghari Rs 14 million and Adnan Khan Rs 16.5 million funds.

Obama, Karzai discuss Afghan reconciliation moves

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US President Barack Obama talked with Hamid Karzai Monday about Afghan-led reconciliation moves following the Afghan president s talks with the leaders of Pakistan and Iran, the White House said. The telephone conversation also followed Karzai s assertion in a newspaper interview last week that his government was involved in talks with the Taliban, both with and without the United States. "They discussed regional support for Afghan-led reconciliation, the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran trilateral meetings last week in Islamabad, and other strategic issues of mutual concern," the White House said in a statement. "They agreed to speak again soon to remain closely aligned as both countries continue our efforts to achieve common goals, and work to forge a long-term partnership," it said. Karzai went to Islamabad on Friday and met with Pakistan s President Asif Ali Zardari and Iran s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as part of an effort to get regional support for a negotiated solution to the 10-year-old war in Afghanistan. Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are traditionally mired in distrust, but both sides have made overtures towards reconciliation to facilitate talks with the Taliban, over which Pakistan is considered to have influence. Ahmadinejad, for his part, used his presence in Islamabad to blame all of the region s problems on foreign interference but said he was there to solidify cooperation with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Karzai, meanwhile, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that his government was involved in secret three-way contacts with the US and the Taliban -- a claim the insurgent militia denied but the White House confirmed. With US combat forces due to be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the pressure is growing for diplomacy aimed at bringing the parties to the conflict together to work out a negotiated solution. Washington has said it is open to a dialogue subject to certain conditions, namely that Taliban members who want to take part must lay down their arms, renounce Al-Qaeda and pledge allegiance to the Afghan constitution. The Taliban said last month that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar ahead of possible formal talks with the United States, and Afghan and US officials have said that exploratory contacts are already under way.

4 die in military crash near US base in Africa

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An American reconnaissance plane crashed 6 miles (10 kilometres) from the only U.S. base in Africa, killing four service members on board, after returning from a mission in support of the war in Afghanistan, the military said Monday. The statement said that the crash occurred at about 8 p.m. Saturday in Djibouti. U.S. personnel from Camp Lemonnier in the tiny Horn of Africa nation responded to the scene. Specialist Ryan Whitney of the 1st Special Operations Wing said that initial indications are that the plane did not crash because of hostile fire. The plane was conducting an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission, he said. A statement from U.S. Africa Command called it a "routine" flight. Amy Oliver, public affairs director of the Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing, said the single-engine, fixed-wing U-28A was returning from a mission in support of the Afghanistan war. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Camp Lemonnier lies only miles from the border with Somalia. The four killed in the crash included: Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, with the 319th Special Operations Squadron; Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Georgia, with the 34th Special Operations Squadron; 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Oregon, with the 34th Special Operations Squadron; and Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with the 25th Intelligence Squadron. Hall was a U-28 pilot with more than 1,300 combat flight hours. He was assigned to the 319th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

30 killed in attack on Nigeria market

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Suspected Nigerian Islamists opened fire and set off bombs at a market in the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Monday, killing at least 30 people, a medic and a witness said. Gunmen believed to be members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram stormed the fish section of Baga market and sprayed stallholders and vendors with bullets, traders said, reporting that women and children were among the dead. "The number of dead could not be less than 30," a Maiduguri hospital nurse told AFP. The military confirmed the assault on the market but denied any civilian deaths, saying security forces had killed eight assailants and safely detonated bombs planted by the attackers. "At about 1:30 (1230 GMT) this afternoon at Baga market of Maiduguri metropolis some gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram attacked and shot civilians at the market," Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed, spokesman of a special military unit in the city, told AFP. He said several people had been wounded but that there was "no civilian death at this time". The military "immediately came to the rescue of the situation and safely detonated three bombs planted by members of the sect and shot and killed eight members of the sect," Mohammed said. However, one trader who have his name as Mairami, said six gunmen stormed the food and commodities market and "opened fire indiscriminately. At least 30 people including women and children were killed." Another vendor by the name Gana gave a similar account of the attack in the city, the stronghold of Boko Haram which has been blamed for a deadly wave of bombings and shootings mainly in the north of Africa s most populous country.

Syrian forces mass outside rebel stronghold

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Syrian tanks and troops massed Monday outside the resistance stronghold of Homs for a possible ground assault that one activist warned could unleash a new round of fierce and bloody urban combat even as the Red Cross tried to broker a cease-fire to allow emergency aid in. A flood of military reinforcements has been a prelude to previous offensives by President Bashar Assad s regime, which has tried to use its overwhelming firepower to crush an opposition that has been bolstered by defecting soldiers and hardened by 11 months of street battles. "The human loss is going to be huge if they retake Baba Amr," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The central city of Homs and in particular the opposition district known as Baba Amr has become a critical ground for both sides. The opposition has lionized it as "Syria s Misrata" after the Libyan city where rebels fought off a brutal government siege. Assad s regime wants desperately to erase the embarrassing defiance in Syria s third-largest city after weeks of shelling, including a barrage of mortars that killed up to 200 people earlier this month. At least nine people were killed in shelling Monday, activists said. Another massive death toll would only bring further international isolation on Assad from Western and Arab leaders.

Ljubicic, Roger-Vasselin advance at Open 13

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Ivan Ljubicic hit 27 aces en route to beating Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 Monday and reach the second round of the Open 13. The seventh-seeded Croat broke for a 4-2 lead in the final set. Ljubicic also broke Serra s serve at 4-4 in the first set, but the Frenchman dominated the second-set tiebreaker, winning five straight points to take a 5-1 lead before leveling the match at one set apiece. A runner-up at this tournament in 2005, Ljubicic will next face Paul-Henri Mathieu of France or Karol Beck of Slovakia. Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France downed Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-2, 7-6 (4). Nieminen, who won the Sydney International last month, dropped serve twice to lose the opening set. The Finnish lefty saved four break points in the next set to force a tiebreaker, but Roger-Vasselin jumped out to a 4-0 lead before clinching victory.

Jankovic determined to get back on top of the world

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Former world number one Jelena Jankovic here on Monday made it clear that she has not given up hope of regaining her former status after making a winning start in the city of her adopted home. The extrovert Serbian overcame Petra Cetkovska, the Paris-based Czech, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the second round of the WTA Dubai Open, where she once reached the final. Jankovic was in good form both on and off the court, hitting ground strokes with good rhythm despite the cold conditions, describing her injury problems in some detail, and not missing an opportunity for humour. "I don t know what s happened to the weather here," she said. "I love it here. But it was very cold and it was windy out there, and it s been a bit crazy with the dust too. "I have been eating kilos of dust when I ve been training. It s not the same as some of the desserts" Jankovic also moved fairly well, which was a little surprising since she suffered an injury at the Fed Cup two weeks ago which required heavy bandaging to her left thigh. "I had a five point five centimetre tear in the muscle, and now it s only a centimetre," she claimed. "So that s good." Getting fully fit and remaining so is the key to her climbing from her current world ranking of 14 to challenge for the top spot again, she acknowledged with some force. "I wish," she said. "It s my biggest wish. But sometimes there are things you can t control." How far she has controlled her latest ailment, and how likely she is to reach her allotted seeding place in the quarter-finals may be tested more rigorously by her next opponent, Flavia Pennetta. The Italian won 6-3, 6-3 against Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, perhaps buoyed by the memory of her conquest here last year of Victoria Azarenka, now the world number one. Earlier Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova s hope of challenging for the world number one spot took another blow when she was forced to retire from her second tournament in a row. The fierce-hitting left-hander from the Czech republic decided that she had not recovered sufficiently from a virus to take her place in the draw as second seed. Kvitova also withdrew from last week s Qatar Open in Doha. It means that there will be a delay in the next episode in her rivalry with Azarenka, whom she has beaten in their last four meetings, and had been seeded to meet in Saturday s final. Azarenka who won the title in Doha and is unbeaten in all her 17 matches in 2012, begins her campaign to win her fourth successive title on Wednesday against a surprise opponent. That is Germany s Julia Goerges, who came back from a set and 1-3 down to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, her first victory in three attempts against the former French Open champion from Russia.

Azarenka shrugs off Djokovic comparison -- for now

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Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka is pleased with her 17 straight victories so far this season, but the Australian Open champion is not about to compare her winning streak with Novak Djokovic s all-conquering start to last season just yet. "I am honored to have the comparison because he is a great champion, but I have a lot of work to do to catch up with him," Azarenka said. Djokovic went 41 matches unbeaten at the start of last season. The 22-year-old Azarenka is the top-seeded player at the Dubai Tennis Championships, which started Monday amid a rash of withdrawals. The field also includes defending champion Caroline Wozniacki and U.S. Open winner Sam Stosur, but Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, French Open winner Li Na and Vera Zvonareva all withdrew because of illness and injury. Last week, Zvonareva retired from the Qatar Open while trailing Monica Niculescu of Romania 7-5, 3-2 because of pain in her left hip. Kvitova pulled out of that event with an unspecified injury. However, Azarenka shook off a lingering ankle injury to win the Qatar Open on Sunday, routing Australia s Stosur 6-1, 6-2. The Belorussian s 17th straight victory sealed her first title since replacing Wozniacki at the top of the rankings after winning in Melbourne. The Doha victory was Azarenka s third title of 2012, having started out by winning the Sydney tournament. "I am enjoying a moment a lot," Azarenka said. "I did not practice today, giving my foot a rest and hopefully (it will) heal." Like Djokovic, Azarenka couldn t single out a particular change in her game or training to explain her start to the season one she might not even have played after almost quitting tennis a year ago, following early defeats in Doha and Dubai. "It s hard to say it s one thing. Behind that (success) is a lot of hard work, some unfortunate losses last year, and some good losses I learnt from last year," Azarenka said. "I am also a more mature player. I have a better mind, a clearer mind. I know what I am doing." Rather than quitting, Azarenka took a brief break and returned to tennis to have her best season in 2011, winning 55 of 72 matches to finish the year at No. 3.

Olympics: Doha would host 2020 Summer Games in October

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Doha unveiled their plans should they win the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games on Monday and unlike their counterparts who won the race to host the 2022 World Cup they have opted for an October date and not the searing hot temperatures in July. Doha - who failed to make the short list for the 2016 Games - would be one of the most accessible,  fan friendly  Games in modern history, with a focus on utilizing existing and planned sports venues in five Sports Zones. They are competing against Istanbul, who are seen as lively dark horses in what is their sixth bid, Tokyo and Madrid, who finished third and second respectively behind Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 edition and Baku. The candidates will learn whether they have made the short list at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Quebec City from May 23-25. The ultimate winner will be voted on in Buenos Aires on September 7 next year. The Doha bid team said that they proposed to host the Olympic Games between October 2 and October 18, and the Paralympic Games between November 4 and November 15, to ensure ideal conditions for athletes and spectators. They trumpeted the fact that they already had 91% of sports venues already built or already planned and budgeted for and that half the tickets would cost spectators less than $25. Athletes too would face little problem in getting to their respective venues as they would at the most have travel times of just over 20 minutes but those times would be reduced over time with the planned transport improvements. Noora Al Mannai, the bid s chief executive, said that they hoped to leave a legacy that would benefit the young of the region for years to come - something that is also at the centre of Istanbul s bid. "Our aim is to create a legacy for sport in the entire region empowering a new generation of girls and boys to become active through sport," he said.

Russians revive Ice Age flower from frozen burrow

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Russian scientists say they have resurrected an entire plant an Ice Age flower in a pioneering experiment that paves the way for the revival of other species. They say the Silene stenophylla is the oldest plant ever to be regenerated and is fertile, producing white flowers and viable seeds. The raw material for the project was fruit tissues from an Ice Age squirrel s chamber, a burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for over 30,000 years. The Russians said the experiment proves that permafrost serves as a natural depository for ancient life forms. They published their findings in Tuesday s "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" of the United States.

PIA orders five boeing 777s, option for five more

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US aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced Monday that Pakistan International Airlines has ordered five of its 777-300ER long-range passenger jets, with an option for five more. The planes are "valued at nearly $1.5 billion at list prices," the US manufacturer said in a statement. PIA "has been renewing its long-haul fleet to accommodate increased demand for air travel as well as to introduce new routes," Boeing said. PIA managing director Nadeem Yousufzai lauded the 777-300ER s "excellent operating economics, long range capability and reliability." Boeing said it had logged 200 net orders for 777s in 2011, by far the best year for the family of aircraft, in service since 1995.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

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