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PPP-MQM panel expedites progress on LG draft bill
Architect company attacked on refusing to pay extortion
Multan by-poll win proves PPP political edge: Khursheed
IG Punjab relaxes belly reduction deadline for Ramazan
Ban says Syria 'manifestly failed' to protect civilians
Jobless Spaniards protest as crisis outlook darkens
2 Russian soldiers killed in Ingushetia
Sun comes out as Olympic torch tours London
Runner without country to compete at Olympics
Olympics: Moutoussamy, 14, makes fencing history
Alonso gains pole in wet qualifying for German GP
Scott takes 4-shot lead into Open final round
Smith joins 100 in 100th Test Club
Amla, Smith tons put South Africa in charge
Mortaza leads Bangladesh to series sweep of Ireland

PPP-MQM panel expedites progress on LG draft bill

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A meeting of Core Committee of ruling Pakistan People’s party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was held here to deliberate over issue of local body system in the province. Sindh Chief Minister’s House spokesman said on Saturday that the meeting was attended by PPP’s ministers Agha Siraj Durrani, Muhammad Ayaz Soomro, Pir Mazharul Haq and Rafiq Engineer and MQM’s leaders Dr. Farooq Sattar, Dr Sagheer Ahmad, Naveed Jameel and Kanwar Navid. Different suggestions regarding new local body system were discussed in the meeting. The meeting decided to finalize the local bodies’ act 2012 soon.

Architect company attacked on refusing to pay extortion

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A cracker attack was carried out on an architect company situated in front of Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine in Karachi. According to police, no one was killed or injured in the attack, however, a vehicle and a container parked outside the office were damaged. Police said that grenade and cracker attacks were carried out in the past too against traders who refused to pay extortion money.

Multan by-poll win proves PPP political edge: Khursheed

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Talking to media in Sukkur, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Syed Khursheed Shah, said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) defeated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf in the Multan by-poll. Khursheed Shah said that past rulers, who ruled the country for 13 years, could not provide jobs to 200 people whereas PPP has provided 13,000 jobs to people in Sukkur alone.

IG Punjab relaxes belly reduction deadline for Ramazan

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The Inspector General (IG) Punjab on Saturday postponed the belly reduction deadline for the Punjab police in the month of Ramazan. According to the spokesman of Punjab police the Punjab police were given a deadline of 1st August to reduce their belly. However, the new deadline would be announced after the holy month of Ramazan.

Ban says Syria 'manifestly failed' to protect civilians

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UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday that Syria s rulers had "manifestly failed" to protect civilians and called on the world community to act to stop the bloodshed. Ban, in Croatia as part of a week-long Balkans tour, also said he was sending to Syria the UN peacekeeping chief, French diplomat Herve Ladsous, as well as chief UN military advisor General Babacar Gaye. "The Syrian government has manifestly failed to protect civilians, and the international community has a collective responsibility to live up to the UN charter and act on its principles," said Ban, on Croatia s Brijuni Island. Syrian activists say more than 17,000 people have died in the past 16 months and Damascus has now become a major battleground. The UN chief said he was "deeply distressed by the rising death toll and the number of people forced to flee their homes" as troops clashed with rebels in Syria s second city of Aleppo Saturday, according to activists. "The UN remains actively engaged and fully mobilised," he said. "I am sending my under secretary-general for peacekeeping operations Herve Ladsous to Syria to asses the situation as well as the top UN military advisor, General Gaye, to lead UNSMIS in this critical phase." Ban praised a UN Security Council vote on Friday to allow a "final" 30-day mandate extension to the UN Supervision Mission in Syria. Permanent members Russia and China both voted in favour of extending the mission, after blocking a text that could have imposed sanctions. "The unanimous vote on resolution 2059 is a constructive sign," Ban said. "Now the council must redouble efforts to forge the united way forward and exercise collective responsibility under the charter of the UN." The UN secretary general also called on the parties in Syria, government and opposition forces alike, "to stop armed violence without any conditions". "The extension of the UNSMIS mandate for only 30 days is a strong signal that the onus is above all on the parties, with the Syrian government in the first place, who must stop the killings and the use of heavy weapons against population centres," Ban said.

Jobless Spaniards protest as crisis outlook darkens

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Unemployed Spaniards on Saturday held the latest in a series of angry demonstrations against the government s economic crisis cuts, as fears rose for the country s financial stability. Several hundred people thrown out of work by the recession converged on the capital after walking hundreds of miles from around Spain and gathered on the grass opposite Madrid s Prado museum waving signs and shouting slogans. "It s a long walk, but we couldn t just stay at home," said Rafael Ledo, 31, tanned and with a walking stick in each hand after hiking some 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the northern region of Asturias. The protestors planned to march together at 1630 GMT to the central Puerta del Sol square, the symbolic hub of social protests since last year. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators massed there on Thursday night in a mostly peaceful mass protest that ended with police firing rubber bullets to disperse small groups. Saturday s protests came as Spain s economic and financial outlook darkened. The government warned Friday the recession will drag on through 2013, and the interest rates on Spanish sovereign bonds rose to danger levels. An almost-daily string of protests erupted after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on July 11 announced 65 billion euros ($80 billion) in fresh austerity measures including cuts to pay and unemployment benefits. Protestors say the efforts to cut Spain s deficit target the poor unfairly and will depress the recession-hit economy further. Rajoy s measures raise sales tax (VAT) and cut benefits for the newly unemployed after six months from 70 percent of basic salary to 50 percent. Previously, the reduction had been to 60 percent. On Friday the government cut its economic growth forecast for 2013 from 0.2 percent growth to a contraction of 0.5 percent. Unemployment is at more than 24 percent. Under pressure from European authorities to calm the anxiety over Spain s finances, the government says it has no choice but to pass its harsh economic measures given the high public deficit. On Friday one of Spain s indebted regional authorities, Valencia, reached out for emergency aid from a fund of 18 billion euros set up by the central government for struggling regions. In response, the Madrid stock exchange plunged by 5.8 percent. A eurozone rescue deal for Spanish banks finalised by finance ministers on Friday provided no relief. The return on Spanish 10-year bonds jumped above the 7.0 percent danger level and another key measure, the difference between the yields on Spanish and safe haven German bonds, moved dangerously high, topping 600 points. The indicators revived warnings that the banking bailout may not be enough to stabilise Spain s finances, a key concern for the future of the eurozone. The soaring of the risk premium "pushes Spain close to a total bailout", headlined the right-leaning newspaper El Mundo on Saturday.

2 Russian soldiers killed in Ingushetia

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Russian officials say two soldiers and two insurgents have been killed in separate incidents in the country s restive Caucasus region. In Ingushetia, attackers fired automatic weapons and grenades Saturday from a passing car at a military convoy, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, said Oleg Zvyagintsev, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Also Saturday, two rebels were killed in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, after police cornered them in an apartment building, according to Zvyagintsev. Dagestan and Ingushetia both border Chechnya, where Russian troops and separatist rebels fought two wars in the past two decades.  Dagestan suffers frequent attacks by militants apparently inspired by the Chechen insurgency, while Ingushetia is hit by sporadic violence.

Sun comes out as Olympic torch tours London

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After weeks of unseasonably chilly temperatures and miserable rain, the sun came out Saturday as thousands of people turned out to watch the flame begin its seven-day trip of the Olympic host city. The torch arrived late Friday in the city with a dramatic entrance, abseiled from a helicopter by a Royal Marine to the Tower of London on the shore of the River Thames. After a night locked inside the Jewel House of the 11th century landmark, the torch started a journey through London that took it from a historic ship to a shiny new shopping mall. From the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the torch was carried to the Cutty Sark, a newly restored 140-year-old ship docked in the Thames. Nadia Comaneci, the legendary Romanian gymnast who won nine Olympic medals in the 1976 and 1980 games, and former basketball player John Amaechi took the torch to the roof of the North Greenwich Arena, the venue for the gymnastics events and basketball finals. "You know it doesn t seem like it s been 36 years ago," Comaneci, the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 score in an Olympic gymnastics event, told the BBC. "It s hard to believe that what I ve done then people still remember. So I m very honored to be here." Phillips Idowu, a champion triple jumper for Team Great Britain, later took the torch to the Westfield mall, Europe s biggest, next to the Olympic Park. Saturday s torch relay also included stints from London s youngest and oldest torchbearers: 12-year-old Chester Chambers, and 101-year-old Fauja Singh. Like most other torchbearers, they were nominated by their communities. The torch, which has already traveled across Britain for more than 60 days, will continue to tour London s streets until it ends its journey at the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony in the capital on July 27.

Runner without country to compete at Olympics

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Guor Marial ran for his life to escape a Sudanese child labor camp. Now he will get to run at the Olympics. Marial s heartwarming rise from a fearful kid who hid in a cave, fled his war-torn homeland and finally arrived in the United States as a refugee took another incredible turn Saturday. Despite having no passport and officially no country and at one time very little hope the 28-year-old marathoner was cleared by the IOC to compete at the London Games under the Olympic flag. "The voice of South Sudan has been heard," Marial told The Associated Press from his home in Flagtaff, Ariz. "The South Sudan has finally got a spot in the world community. Even though I will not carry their flag in this Olympic Games, the country itself is there. "The dream has come true. The hope of South Sudan is alive." Marial who was born in what is now South Sudan, a newly independent African country that doesn t yet have a national Olympic body was one of four competitors let in at the London Games as independent athletes. Three others from Netherlands Antilles also were allowed to take part under the Olympic flag, but the case of Marial was the first of its kind at the Olympics, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "He s actually running times I m told wouldn t get him a medal but could get him in the top 10 to 20," Adams said. "He s come from out of nowhere. He s done two times, one of 2:14 and one of 2:12. Amazing." Marial posted the Olympic qualifying time in his first ever marathon last year after being a cross-country runner at Iowa State University.  He will get a chance to test himself against the best in the world in the Olympic marathon on Aug. 12, the last day of the games. But Marial has less than a week to get to London so he can march at the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium and be part of the first day. "I think they (his entourage and backers in the U.S.) will move heaven and earth for him to get here for the ceremony," Adams said. The IOC s executive board gave Marial a chance after he didn t qualify for Sudan, South Sudan or the United States under its rules. He s a permanent resident of the U.S. after arriving as a refugee when he was a kid, but doesn t yet have American citizenship. He was ready to head out to train when he heard he could go to the Olympics. "I was getting ready to go for a run," Marial said. "Wow. This is so exciting. It s hard to describe. I m speechless. The body temperature is up. I have to train like an Olympian now." He told AP he didn t want to represent Sudan because he lost 28 family members to violence or disease during the civil unrest that left the country devastated and eventually led to the south splitting from Sudan last year. Marial said he d ask his father who still lives in South Sudan to travel to the nearest city to watch him on TV if he got to compete at the Olympics. Two decades ago, Marial escaped from the labor camp in Sudan when he was 8, running away under darkness with another child about a week after he was kidnapped by gunmen and forced to work. The pair hid in a cave until dawn, he said, and then followed the path of the sun. Marial lived in Egypt before eventually reaching the United States. "I used to hate running. I was running back home to save my life," he told the AP in an interview Friday. But he was good at it, grew to like it, and now loves it. At 16, Marial joined the Concord High School track team in New Hampshire after encouragement from a gym teacher who saw he never got winded during any sports activities.

Olympics: Moutoussamy, 14, makes fencing history

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Algerian 14-year-old Lea Moutoussamy will make history in London when she becomes the youngest fencer in Olympic history. The sabre specialist booked her place at the Games by winning the Africa zone qualifying tournament, beating an opponent 17 years her senior. Although born in Paris, the French-Algerian began representing Algeria in September 2011. Moutoussamy is one of the youngest competitors at the Games, but she is 15 months older than swimmer Adzo Kpossi from Togo, who, at 13, is the youngest athlete due to compete in London.

Alonso gains pole in wet qualifying for German GP

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Championship leader Fernando Alonso secured pole position for the German Grand Prix on Saturday, while defending world champion Sebastian Vettel qualified second in his bid to win his home Formula One race for the first time. Vettel s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber of Australia, who won the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, was third fastest but will be dropped five places on Sunday s grid because of a gearbox change. As a result, seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher of Germany moved up from fourth to third in his Mercedes, putting him in position to win a record fifth race on the Hockenheim circuit. Schumacher has yet to win a grand prix three seasons into his comeback. Alonso has a 13-point lead over Webber heading into the 10th of 20 races this season and is looking for his third win of the year after victories in the Malaysian and European GPs. Alonso, who has 22 poles in his career to go with 29 wins, clearly didn t enjoy driving his Ferrari on Saturday s water-logged circuit despite taking pole. Nico Hulkenberg of Germany was fifth fastest for the session in his Force India and Pastor Maldonado of Venezuela came in sixth in his Williams. Both will also move up a position after Webber s penalty. Alonso and his rivals could have an easier time on Sunday, with the forecast predicting dry weather. After a dry first session, a loud burst of thunder foretold what was to follow a heavy storm that drenched the circuit during the second session. The cars began slipping all over the track, but there were no major incidents. The rain stopped in time for the third session, though the track remained covered by water. As the drivers raced to get better times on the drying track late in qualifying, Vettel lost time with teammate Webber in front of him. Webber said he was pleased with his run, despite losing five places. Schumacher crashed heavily in Friday s practice but emerged from qualifying looking like a contender. McLaren teammates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will start sixth and seventh, moving up one place each because of Webber s penalty. The British pair looked good in dry weather but their cars, and tires, were not able to cope with the rain.

Scott takes 4-shot lead into Open final round

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Australian Adam Scott, seeking his first major title, fired a two-under par 68 on Saturday to seize a commanding four-stroke lead after the third round of the British Open at Royal Lytham. Scott, who began the day one stroke off the pace, birdied the par-5 seventh and par-4 eighth, added another at the par-5 11th and took his lone bogey of the round at the par-4 13th before parring his way to the clubhouse. The Aussie stood on 11-under 199, one stroke off the Open s 54-hole record, to stand four strokes ahead of Northern Ireland s Graeme McDowell, his partner in Sunday s final pairing, and American Brandt Snedeker, who stumbled to a 73. McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion and runner-up at last month s US Open, fired a 67 to stand second alongside Snedeker on 203. Tiger Woods, trying for his 15th major title and his first major triumph since the 2008 US Open, fired a 70 to stand fourth on 204, one stroke ahead of 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson and three-time major winner Ernie Els.

Smith joins 100 in 100th Test Club

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South Africa captain Graeme Smith became only the seventh player in cricket history to score a hundred in his 100th Test match when he reached three figures against England on the third day of the first Test at The Oval here on Saturday. The left-handed opener was eventually out for 131 in the afternoon session, having brought up his century shortly before lunch. Australia great Ricky Ponting made two hundreds in his 100th Test, against South Africa at Sydney in 2006. The complete list of players to have made a hundred in their 100th Test is as follows: Colin Cowdrey 104 (England v Australia at Birmingham 1968). Javed Miandad 145 (Pakistan v India at Lahore in 1989). Gordon Greenidge 149 (West Indies v England at St John s in 1990). Alec Stewart 105 (England v West Indies at Manchester in 2000). Inzamam-ul-Haq 184 (Pakistan v India at Bangalore in 2005). Ricky Ponting 120 (Australia v South Africa at Sydney in 2006). Ricky Ponting 143* (Australia v South Africa at Sydney in 2006). Graeme Smith 131 (South Africa v England at The Oval in 2012).

Amla, Smith tons put South Africa in charge

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Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith hit centuries as South Africa wiped out England s lead in the first Test at The Oval on Saturday by closing on 403-2 18 runs in front. Amla was 183 not out, with 22 fours from 369 balls, while captain Smith made 131 from 270 balls with 20 fours for his 25th Test century. Jacques Kallis eased to 82 not out from 161 balls, with 10 fours after South Africa began day three on 86-1. Tim Bresnan, who took 1-77, was the only bowler to take a wicket on a demoralizing day for the hosts. The first hour was intense and the pressure was almost suffocating for both sides. England s attack bowled hardly any loose deliveries and the batsmen played almost no false strokes, making for unspectacular but high quality cricket. Amla reached 50, from 110 balls, with a single off Graeme Swann, while Smith took 160 balls to reach the same landmark, taking three from the same bowler after going 17 balls without scoring. Something had to give and Swann s final over before the drinks break went for 11. Having made painstaking progress early in his innings, Smith drastically upped his scoring rate and his second 50 came off 41 balls. Smith playing in his 100th Test reached his century when he punched the penultimate ball of the morning from Tim Bresnan through point for four, to conclude an excellent session for the tourists. Amla completed his ton, from 199 balls, with a single from Anderson in the 72nd over, to pass three figures for the 15th time in Test cricket. The new ball brought no respite for England. Smith hit three successive fours from Stuart Broad but the breakthrough finally came when Bresnan replaced Broad from the Pavilion End in the 88th over. Smith got an inside edge to Bresnan s first ball and it trickled off his pads on to the stumps, but the wicket did little to slow South Africa s progress. Amla reached 150 from 294 balls after tea and Kallis took 94 balls to reach 50.

Mortaza leads Bangladesh to series sweep of Ireland

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Mashrafe Mortaza produced a fine all-round display as Bangladesh completed a 3-0 Twenty20 series sweep of Ireland with a dramatic last-ball victory at Stormont here on Saturday. The fast-medium bowler took four wickets for 19 runs as Ireland, who made a good start, were restricted to 140 in their 20 overs. And he then struck 30 off just 13 balls with four sixes as Bangladesh won by two wickets. Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Ashraful put on 62 in 9.2 overs before the latter fell for 24. But Iqbal swiftly followed and a flurry of wickets, as Paul Stirling took three for 21 and Ziaur Rehman was run out without facing, left the Tigers in trouble on 87 for six. However, Mortaza revived the innings before falling to Kevin O Brien, who  fumbled the last of his sixes over the rope. Mushfiqur Rahim s dismissal in the last over set up a nailbiting finish but Elias Sunny saw Bangladesh home off the last ball.

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Sunday, July 22, 2012

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