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Waqas Dar

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  1. Waqas Dar
    The passengers were on their way to Chilas when the car got out of control and fell into a ravine. Photo: Geo News screen grab  DIAMER: A person was killed and five others injured after a speeding car fell into a ravine Friday morning.
    The passengers were on their way to Chilas when the car got out of control and fell into a ravine.
    The injured were taken to DHQ Hospital for treatment, where their condition was said to be critical. 
    On March 24, three people were killed in a traffic accident when a car skidded into River Panjkora, the police officials had said.
    Rescue teams recovered the three bodies from the accident site.
    Incidents such as these are common in Pakistan due to rash driving and lack of road safety measures and barriers, especially in remote areas. 


  2. Waqas Dar
    The passengers were on their way to Chilas when the car got out of control and fell into a ravine. Photo: Geo News screen grab  DIAMER: A person was killed and five others injured after a speeding car fell into a ravine Friday morning.
    The car passengers were on their way to Chilas when the car got out of control and fell into a ravine.
    The injured were taken to DHQ Hospital for treatment, where their condition was said to be critical. 
    On March 24, three people were killed in a traffic accident when a car skidded into River Panjkora, the police sources had said.
    Rescue teams recovered the three bodies from the accident site.
    Incidents such as these are common in Pakistan due to rash driving and lack of road safety measures and barriers.


  3. Waqas Dar
    ?Black Crows,? a dramatic series about life under the Daesh, will air on the Arab world?s most watched satellite channel, MBC 1, during Ramadan. Photo: Middle East Broadcasting Center DUBAI: They are mothers, daughters, wives -- and suicide bombers: an Arab television drama timed for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan tells the untold stories of women and the Daesh group.
    Inspired by true events, "Black Crows" airs over Ramazan -- prime time for television viewers in the Arab world -- which starts this weekend, and it is the first television series depicting life under Daesh rule in Syria and Iraq.
    Produced by Saudi Arabia´s MBC Group, the series focuses on the stories of the women who volunteer with or are forced to join the group and "the fear that shapes" their relationships.
    "We wanted to tell real stories that would both touch people and reflect the ugly reality of terrorism," MBC spokesman Mazen Hayek told AFP at the network´s Dubai headquarters.
    "We realised that the Arab media could no longer sit and watch while terrorist groups used media as a central part of their war."
    One episode features a girl and her grandmother, both in the niqab Muslim veil, selling dinner plates decorated with pictures of animals in a Daesh-controlled village in order to survive.
    A group of armed women from the Hesba, the extremists´ female police unit, order them to pack their goods on the grounds that the animal designs were "haram", or forbidden in Islam.
    But the grandmother refuses to yield to Hesba´s authority, saying she would rather break her plates than give in.
    The series focuses on the stories of the women who volunteer with or are forced to join the group. Photo: AFP  She is shot in the head by a member of the Hesba.
    Another episode shows a training camp for children with machine-guns and "human targets" -- prisoners taken by Daesh.
    "Bullets are faster than people," a gunman reminds a child aiming at prisoners scrambling to take cover. "Get two more of them and you can go see your mum."
    With a cast including actors from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iraq, the $10-million production was filmed mainly in Lebanon and took over a year to research and another six months to shoot.
    "Shocking scenes" in the series could "either attract or repel the viewer, but he could not remain indifferent," said Fadi Ismail, head of the production company.
    "It is strong drama and the viewer can always control what to watch," he said.
    ´Security challenge´
    Lebanon, the main location, hosts more than one million Syrian refugees and has been the scene of deadly suicide bombings claimed by Daesh.
    "Security was our most difficult challenge" during shooting, said executive producer Amer Sabbah.
    "When you transform an area in Lebanon into what resembles a Daesh headquarters, you have to consider security and safety of your crew," he said.
    In 2015, an MBC-produced Ramadan special, a satire named "Selfie", took aim at Daesh with a storyline in which the Saudi main character heads to Syria to bring back his son who had joined the group.
    The actor, Nasser al-Qasbi, received a string of online death threats after the episode aired.


  4. Waqas Dar
    The Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee led by Mufti Muneebur Rehman will meet in Islamabad on Friday evening for sighting of the Ramazan moon.

    The Pakistan Meteorological Department predicts that there are very little chances of the moon being sighted today.
    The final decision in this regard will be given by Mufti Rehman after collecting statements from all zonal moon-sighting committees across the country. 
    Saudi Arabia, along with other gulf states, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Singapore and several other countries will be observing the first day of Ramazan from Saturday as the moon was not sighted there on Thursday night. 


  5. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The Sindh home minister has taken notice of a ?fake? FIR filed late Thursday night by the Gulshan-e-Maymar police against four brothers who were reportedly involved in a road accident with a police vehicle, Geo News reported.

    In what is being termed a car-collision accident, a policeman driving an official vehicle hit a private vehicle from the rear Thursday night, following which he got out and allegedly assaulted all four passengers, called backup and then took the passengers of the private vehicle to the Gulshan-e-Maymar Police Station.
    The policeman, along with his colleagues at the police station, continued to thrash the four passengers ? all brothers ? in the police station as well, and then went on to register a case against them.
    In the FIR filed at the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station on the complaint of police official Kamran, the blame for the entire episode has been put on the four brothers. It has also been mentioned that the brothers? vehicle hit the police van from the rear-end. However, the dents on both vehicles belie those claims as the front side of the police vehicle has been damaged along with the rear-end of the private car.
    Moreover, the policeman was also allowed to take away his official vehicle without any examination being conducted on it by the Gulshan-e-Maymar police.
    When the news of the treatment meted out to the private citizens was reported in the media, Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial took notice of the incident and ordered corrective action.
    ?We will not let Karachi become a police state,? Siyal stated, adding that action will be taken against the policemen who filed the false case and the SHO of the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station.
    The minister, who noted that the policemen wrongly favoured their colleague, ordered the DIG East to conduct an inquiry into the incident.
    However, till this report was filed, the four brothers continue to languish in the police lockup. 


  6. Waqas Dar
    Jared Kushner is currently ?being investigated because of the extent and nature of his interactions with the Russians?, the Washington Post reported. Photo: Reuters WASHINGTON: The activities of President Donald Trump´s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner have come under FBI scrutiny as part of the probe of Russian interference in last year´s presidential election, US media reported Thursday.
    Although it is unclear whether Kushner is a main focus of the probe, he is under investigation for the "extent and nature" of his interaction with Russian officials, The Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
    NBC News, citing unnamed US officials, also reported that the FBI is looking at Kushner but emphasised that although investigators believe he has "significant information relevant to their inquiry," it does not mean they suspect him of a crime.
    The news is sure to rankle Trump, who was in Italy for a Group of Seven summit, accompanied by his top aides including Kushner.
    Kushner held meetings with the Russian ambassador to the United States and a banker from Moscow in December, the Post said.
    The banker, Sergei Gorkov, is chairman of VneshEconomBank, a state bank under US sanctions since July 2014.
    Kushner initially failed to declare the meetings on forms to obtain a security clearance to serve in the White House. His lawyer later said it was a mistake, telling the Federal Bureau of Investigation that he would amend the forms.
    Kushner, who is married to Trump´s daughter Ivanka, is the only current White House official known to be considered a key figure in the probe, which is targeting other members of Trump´s campaign team.
    "Mr Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings," Jamie Gorelick, one of his attorneys, said in a statement.
    "He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry."
    ´Witch hunt´?
    The Post reported last week that the Russia investigation had been extended to a top White House official as a "significant person of interest."
    But NBC noted that Kushner was not considered to be in the same category as either former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort or sacked national security adviser Michael Flynn, who are considered "subjects" of the probe.
    Investigators are looking into possible financial crimes in addition to possible collusion between the campaign and Russian officials, the paper reported on Thursday.
    The probe is headed by former FBI director Robert Mueller, appointed special counsel with broad powers to investigate Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign after the president sacked FBI director James Comey, who was heading the investigation, earlier this month.
    Comey´s firing, together with Trump´s reported repeated efforts to persuade senior politicians, justice and intelligence officials to help push back against the probe, have brought accusations that he is obstructing the investigation.
    Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, amid accusations from US intelligence that Russian President Vladimir Putin orchestrated a sweeping campaign to tilt the vote in the Republican´s favor.
    The president last week declared himself the victim of the "greatest witch hunt" in American political history.
    This week, former CIA director John Brennan revealed that intelligence chiefs had been looking into suspicious contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials since mid-2016.


  7. Waqas Dar
    According to PMD, mainly very hot and dry weather is expected in most plain areas of the country. Photo: file Continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
    Mainly very hot and dry weather is expected in most plain areas of the country today.
    However, rain-thunderstorm is expected at a few places in Rawalpindi, Hazara divisions, Kashmir and its adjoining areas.
    Past weather
    Weather remained hot and dry in most parts of the country. However, rain-thunderstorm occurred at isolated places in Malakand, Hazara, Rawalpindi divisions and Islamabad.
    Rainfall in the last 24 hours (mm)
    KP: Kakul 08, Lower Dir 05, Dir 02; Punjab: Islamabad 02, Rawalpindi 01.
    Yesterday's highest temperatures
    Sibbi, Dadu, Jacobabad, Larkana 49°C, Sukkur, Moenjo Daro, Turbat, Sakrund 48°C, Bhakkar, Rahim Yar Khan, Rohri 47°C


    Data courtesy: Pakistan Meteorological Department 


  8. Waqas Dar
    LEFT: Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Washington, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg; CENTRE: A close-up of the Trump-Macron handshake before a working lunch ahead of NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst; RIGHT: Emmanuel Macron delivers an address in London, Britain, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville.  A handshake is one of the ways a person makes their first impression and US President Donald Trump is obviously a firm believer of this thought.
    Trump met the newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron right before the NATO summit on Thursday and the meeting offered a sneak peek into how the US-French relations may pan out in future.
    So let?s take a look at their handshake!


    The American President makes sure to meet at least one new leader every two or three weeks so he can add a new handshake to his constantly expanding collection of awkward but well-documented handshakes.

    'I know what you're gonna do!'
    'I'm fully aware of what's coming'
    'Haha, gotcha!'
    According to The Washington Post?s Phillip Rucker, who watched the two leaders greet each other in person, ?their knuckles turned white, their jaws clenched, and their faces tightened. Trump reached in first, but then he tried to release, twice, but Macron kept his grip until letting go.?
    A combination photo shows US President Donald Trump (L) trying twice to let go of a handshake with France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) as Macron holds tight, before a working lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst  Needless to say, the businessman-turned-President always attempts to imply that he holds more power. Or maybe it is just a war of wills.



    Trump?s handshakes have gained popularity around the world for being longer than expected and depicting his signature tug-shake-tug-some-more move.














    On the other hand, Trump notoriously ignored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's offer of a handshake.





    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to have gotten the hang of it.





    Oh and someone in the past totally blocked Trump's offer to shake hands!


    However, by now, most of the leaders are well-prepared for the tug so it seems that Trump?s technique has started to fail.



  9. Waqas Dar
    Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it would set up a 500 billion won ($445 million) fund to help small suppliers, the highest-profile South Korean firm to unveil steps in the wake of new President Moon Jae-in's call to protect small businesses.
    Moon came to power this month promising to rein in the family-owned conglomerates that dominate Asia's fourth-largest economy. Calling himself the 'jobs president', he has also said he wants to discourage contract jobs, raise the minimum wage and reduce working hours.
    Samsung Electronics said the fund will allow its suppliers to borrow cash interest-free for a year so that those suppliers' subcontractors can be paid promptly. It will run until May 2020.
    The tech giant decided to establish the fund after meetings with suppliers late last year, it said in a statement.
    In other recent moves by South Korean firms to support jobs, the nation's largest agricultural cooperative said it will consider making 5,245 temporary workers regular employees.
    The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation employs more than 35,000 full-time and part-time workers at dozens of affiliate companies, including a bank and a hypermarket chain.
    SK Broadband Co Ltd, an affiliate of South Korea's largest telecom firm SK Telecom, will set up a service subsidiary that will make 5,200 workers currently on contract regular employees, Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday citing the company.



  10. Waqas Dar
    Syrian girls act in an English-language adaptation of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at a school in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of Damascus. Photo: AFP DOUMA: To escape the nightmare of life in their besieged hometown near Syria´s capital, 13 young girls sought refuge in a fairytale performance of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".
    The all-girl cast spent months memorising lines from the classic Brothers Grimm fable before performing in front of a packed audience this week in the elementary school in Douma.
    "It was really hard, but I memorised all my lines in English," said proud 10-year-old Afnan, who played the story´s lead antagonist, the Queen.
    "When I act, I forget the war that we´re living through in Douma and I feel happy and hopeful," she said.
    Afnan´s hometown is the de facto capital of the Eastern Ghouta region, the last remaining rebel enclave near Damascus and besieged by government troops since 2012.
    Until this month, Eastern Ghouta had been regularly targeted by air strikes and artillery as part of a government offensive chipping away at rebel territory.
    The bombardment would often wound or kill children as they headed to street markets, played outside, or walked to school.
    But the skies have been quiet since a landmark deal earlier this month to create four "de-escalation zones" in Syria, where more than 320,000 people have been killed since conflict broke out in 2011.
    ´Bombing is their normal´
    On-stage, her character is consumed by a search for youthful beauty, but Afnan said her own ambitions in life lie elsewhere.
    "The lesson from the play is that beauty is in your heart and your soul, not in your looks! I want to be a doctor -- I want to be brave and treat sick people," Afnan said.
    With the glittering stage decorations and nervous murmurs of young students, the evening could have almost taken place in any school around the world.
    But halfway through the performance, two distant booms shook the room -- rockets that hit the edge of the town, residents later said.
    "These children don´t know what it´s like not to have shelling. For them, bombing is their normal," a female stagehand told AFP.
    Earlier this year, international aid group Save the Children warned that a whole generation of war-scarred Syrian children may be "lost to trauma and extreme stress".
    For the school´s director of extracurricular activities, Yasser al-Assaad, theatre is one of the most effective ways to offset years of traumatic experiences -- for the young students and their mentors alike.
    For the lead actress Rayhana Noaman, who played Snow White, said her favourite part of the story was escaping a tragic fate. Photo: AFP  "I get my rehab from a student´s smile, and that student draws her psychotherapy from the teacher that came to her school to motivate her," Assaad told AFP.
    It is his third fairytale performance: in 2015, he helped put on "Little Red Riding Hood", and last year his students performed "Beauty and the Beast".
    "We want to send a message to all of humanity that Syrian children can create, that we are open to all civilisations," he said.
    ´Flowers can grow´
    Despite efforts to leave Douma´s devastation behind, death seemed to touch the cast of Snow White.
    Just days before the final performance, the director´s husband was killed by a stray bullet from intra-rebel clashes in the town.
    And the play´s rosy-cheeked narrator, Dania, recalled how her own school had been bombed just a year and a half ago.
    "It was all blood and (the bodies of) girls in front of me," the 11-year-old told AFP.
    Even lead actress Rayhana Noaman, who played Snow White, said her favourite part of the story was escaping a tragic fate.
    "The witch wanted to kill me, but the charming prince saved me from death!" she said with a shy smile.
    Slender Amal al-Kurdi burst onto the stage with an explosive introduction: "A-a-achoo! I´m Sneezy!"
    The eight-year-old actress donned a white felt beard and brown shirt like her fellow dwarfs.
    "I really liked acting because we learned how to be brave and how not to be afraid to speak in front of an audience," she said.
    As his students prepared to raise the curtain, Assaad said the performance was a sign that "flowers can grow amid rocks of pain."
    "Every household in Douma has lost someone and tasted the anguish of pain, war, and siege. Despite this, we can build Syria anew," he said. 


  11. Waqas Dar
    A view of the houses destroyed in the US airstrike in west Mosul on March 17. Photo: AFP WASHINGTON: A Pentagon investigation has concluded that at least 105 civilians died in an anti-Daesh strike in the Iraqi city of Mosul in March, officials said Thursday, but they blamed the toll on a secondary explosion of militants? munitions.
    A US aircraft delivered a single precision-guided bomb into a building in west Mosul on March 17, with the aim of killing a pair of snipers on the second story of the structure in the Al-Jadida neighbourhood, which at the time was under Daesh control.
    But the bomb also caused a large cache of Daesh explosives to detonate, leading to the catastrophic collapse of the building that had civilians sheltering downstairs, officials said.
    "The secondary explosion triggered a rapid failure of the structure which killed the two Daesh snipers, 101 civilians sheltered in the bottom floors of the structure and four civilians in the neighbouring structure to the west," said US Air Force Brigadier General Matt Isler, the lead investigator.
    Isler said another 36 civilians who are "believed to be connected" to the building remained unaccounted for, but they had likely fled the area shortly before the strike. He said he was "very confident" in the final toll.
    It was the single deadliest incident for civilians stemming from a coalition strike since anti-Daesh operations in Iraq and Syria began nearly three years ago.
    Residents in western Mosul on Friday carried the bodies of people killed in fighting between Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State. Scores of residents are reported to have been killed by coalition airstrikes in the area this month. Photo: Associated Pres The United States had previously only acknowledged that it "probably" had a role in the civilian deaths.
    The investigation comes amid broader claims that US forces under President Donald Trump are killing more civilians as the military fulfills a plan to "annihilate" the Daesh group.
    The Pentagon denies this and says its rules of engagement remain unchanged and insists its precision-targeting abilities are the best in the world.
    ´Defeat Daesh´
    Officials say the US takes every precaution to avoid hitting civilians, including by aborting missile strikes at the last moment if a civilian unexpectedly wanders into the target zone.
    "Our condolences go out to all those that were affected," said Major General Joe Martin.
    A man exits a house in Mosul damaged in the fighting. Photo:Associated Press "The coalition takes every feasible measure to protect civilians from harm. The best way to protect civilians is to defeat Daesh."
    No condolence payments have been made, Isler said, though such a move has not been ruled out.
    According to Isler, Iraqi counterterrorism service (CTS) troops had been moving into the Al-Jadida neighbourhood in west Mosul when they came under fire from the Daesh snipers.
    Mosul was a former Daesh bastion but the militants now only control about 10 percent of the city.
    Bad weather had kept surveillance drones from gathering video of the area for two days, and CTS and coalition forces -- not knowing civilians were in the building -- ultimately called in a strike, Isler said.
    The precision-guided bomb selected -- a GBU-38 carrying 192 pounds of explosives -- was rigged to cause only localised damage to the building, but it ignited a large amount of ordnance which, unbeknownst to the coalition, Daesh fighters had previously placed inside.
    "Post-blast analysis detected residues common to explosives used by Daesh, but not consistent with the explosive content of a GBU-38 munition," Central Command said in a statement.
    A man is helped after identifying the body of a relative who died in the Mosul Jidideh neighbourhood. Residents there said airstrikes hit a number of houses in recent days, killing dozens, including children. Photo: Associated Press "Engineering and weapons analysis indicates that the GBU-38 should have resulted in no more than 16-20 percent damage to the structure, localised to the front of the second floor."
    Officials said Daesh may have deliberately rigged the building to explode and then used the snipers to intentionally provoke an air strike.
    As of the most recent Centcom official tally, a total of 396 civilians had been killed since the beginning of the bombing campaign against the Daesh group in Iraq and Syria nearly three years ago.
    The 105 figure from the March incident would push that number beyond 500.
    Airwars, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers that tracks civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria, claims a minimum of 3,350 people have died in coalition strikes. 


  12. Waqas Dar
    Photo: Reuters  LONDON: New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson said the squad he will lead into June´s Champions Trophy should be in good form given plenty of recent preparations but admits that is no guarantee for success when it comes to one-off clashes.

    Williamson, who is set to lead New Zealand into his first major 50-over tournament as captain, said a lot of the team´s members have been heavily involved in the Indian Premier League while others were in Ireland for the Tri-Series last week.
    "It counts for something but not for everything because we still come back to one-off clashes with opponents and if you win then you can go a long way in the competition," said Williamson, who took over as captain from Brendon McCullum in 2016.
    "But there is not much time for slip-ups or conservative cricket."
    New Zealand are in Group A of the Champions Trophy, to be held in England from June 1-18, with Australia, England and Bangladesh the other teams in their group.
    Williamson is familiar with being a part of thrilling one-day series in England but hopes his team will fare better this year after squandering a 2-1 lead over England in a best-of-five one-day series in 2015.
    "Any time you have those experiences against opponents you are coming up against in similar conditions, it is the same side too, it is only a good thing," said Williamson.
    "But you don´t tend to look too much into it in tournaments like this ? it is a one-off game and both teams will be playing with freedom and hope it comes off.?


  13. Waqas Dar
    Robert Pattinson, a man used to being pursued by fans and paparazzi, managed to shoot an entire film on the streets of New York without being recognized, he said on Thursday ahead of the movie's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
    "Good Time" was filmed 'guerrilla style' among real people on the streets, meaning it was vital the camera-phones did not start firing, said Pattinson, who plays a man trying to get his younger brother out of jail after a botched bank heist.
    "I was really practicing ways to kind of disappear," he told Reuters in an interview.
    "It's crazy. I have never been on a shoot where not a single cellphone picture (was taken) on the entire shoot."
    The anonymity was important as the crew was using real locations, without cordoning off the public.
    "We were shooting in an emergency room in a hospital with no permission. It's amazing what you get away with without asking permission. You just go in, do it and you've got it," Pattinson said.
    Co-directors, brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, said Pattinson - who has sought out a strong of challenging art-house projects since soaring to stardom in the Twilight movies - had approached them after seeing their previous film "Heaven Knows What".
    "He said: 'I'll do whatever you are doing next, whether it's the catering or playing a part in the movie!'" Josh Safdie told Reuters, relishing the ease by which the young movie makers had managed to land the biggest star they have ever directed.




  14. Waqas Dar
    Motorbike and scooter riders hold a flag in St Ann's Square to pay their respect for the victims of the Manchester Arena attack in central Manchester. Photo: REUTERS British police arrested a man on Friday in the suburb of Moss Side, the tenth person to be taken into custody in connection with Monday night's Manchester attack.
    Eight men are in custody now after a man and a woman were released without charge, Greater Manchester police said in a tweet.
    Moreover, cases were also registered against four suspects over charges of terrorism.
    A suicide bomber killed at least 22 people in a packed concert hall in Manchester, in what British Prime Minister Theresa May called a sickening act targeting children and young people.
    Manchester terror attack: What we know
    Here is what we know so far about the terror attack, the deadliest in Britain since 2005
    UK election campaign resumes after Manchester attack
    The two main parties will restart their national campaigns on Friday




  15. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: A six-year-old boy died in a traffic accident late Thursday night when a dumper truck hit him near the Korangi Crossing area of the city, rescue officials said.

    On the other hand, a body was recovered from Surjani Town?s Khuda Ki Basti area, rescue officials informed. They identified the body ? said to be several days old ? as that of 55-year-old Saeed Ahmed.
    Police operations
    One suspect was arrested during a search operation carried out in Karachi?s Pirabad area, police officials said, adding that weapons were recovered from the arrested suspects who are said to have been involved in numerous burglaries. 
    Lahore raids
    Four suspects were taken into custody during a search operation in Lahore?s Shafiqabad neighbourhood, police said.
    The officials explained that two of the suspects are accused of violating the Temporary Residents Act wherein the relevant police station has to be informed of temporary residents living in rented spaces. 
    Weapons were recovered from one of the suspects, while drugs were seized from another, police added.
    During the entire operation, 200 houses were searched, the officials stated further. 
    Combined search operation in Lodhran
    Officials carrying out biometric identification in Lodhran. Photo: Geo News screen grab Police, elite forces, and agencies collaboratively carried out a search operation in Lodhran, which led to the arrest of three suspects. Two motorcycles were also confiscated. 
    During the operation, more than 34 houses were searched and biometric identification of 29 people was carried out, police added.


  16. Waqas Dar
    Photo: ICC LONDON: Virat Kohli, who was part of the India squad which won the ICC Champions Trophy four years ago, believes his side is in an even better position to rule the world this year as he prepares for his first major competition as captain.

    ?I am very excited to be playing as captain in my first major ICC competition,? he said.

    ?As far as the team goes, we won last time because our fast bowlers did very well, our spinners were strong and our opening batsman did well.
    ?They were the main three factors. This year the team is a lot fitter, the cricketers are a lot more mature because that was a very young group four years ago. It has gained a lot of experience in the last three or four years. I love the tournament because it represents a challenge from the (word) go.?
    Kohli admitted that he needs to prove his superstar status to English crowds at the Champions Trophy after his powers deserted him on his last visit to the country.
    Kohli has a staggering average of over 90 in one-day cricket in the last 12 months and is fourth on the list for most centuries in the 50-over format with 27.
    But the 28-year-old struggled in England three years ago, averaging under 20 across five Test matches.
    Kohli has a staggering average of over 90 in one-day cricket in the last 12 months. Photo: AFP  "If you talk about the longer format of the game then I did not do well here three years ago," said Kohli.

    "I was not able to contribute to the team and I want to succeed, although not to prove a point. It motivates me further to come back and do better.
    "For me it is a game of cricket. From then to now, I have shown I am strong mentally. England brings a lot for challenges for a batsmen and I want to overcome them personally for my satisfaction at the end of my career. From that point of view, it is exciting for me."
    Kohli´s India won the last edition of the Champions Trophy, also played in England, in 2013, defeating the hosts by just five runs in a final reduced to 20 overs a side due to rain.
    Kohli played a key role, ending the truncated game with a top score of 43.
    The 2017 eight-nation Champions Trophy gets under way on June 1 and runs until June 18.
    India are in the same group as archrivals Pakistan, against whom they open their campaign at Edgbaston on June 4, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
    India have not played a 50-over match since beating England 2-1 on home ground in January.
    Kohli may be the star of the team, but old stagers Yuvraj Singh and former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni still have major roles to play.
    "We needed to strengthen our lower middle order contribution. Too much burden was on MS (Dhoni)," said Kohli.
    "He was not able to express himself. But now we are balanced, we have good fast bowlers, depth in batting and the series against England sealed it for us.
    "We are in a good head-space going into this tournament."


  17. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The Sindh home minister has taken notice of a ?fake? FIR filed late Thursday night by the Gulshan-e-Maymar police against four brothers who were reportedly involved in a road accident with a police vehicle, Geo News reported.

    In what is being termed a car-collision accident, a policeman driving an official vehicle hit a private vehicle from the rear Thursday night, following which he got out and allegedly assaulted all four passengers, called backup and then took the passengers of the private vehicle to the Gulshan-e-Maymar Police Station.
    The policeman, along with his colleagues at the police station, continued to thrash the four passengers ? all brothers ? in the police station as well, and then went on to register a case against them.
    In the FIR filed at the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station on the complaint of police official Kamran, the blame for the entire episode has been put on the four brothers. It has also been mentioned that the brothers? vehicle hit the police van from the rear-end. However, the dents on both vehicles belie those claims as the front side of the police vehicle has been damaged along with the rear-end of the private car.
    Moreover, the policeman was also allowed to take away his official vehicle without any examination being conducted on it by the Gulshan-e-Maymar police.
    When the news of the treatment meted out to the private citizens was reported in the media, Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Sial took notice of the incident and ordered corrective action.
    ?We will not let Karachi become a police state,? Siyal stated, adding that action will be taken against the policemen who filed the false case and the SHO of the Gulshan-e-Maymar police station.
    The minister, who noted that the policemen wrongly favoured their colleague, ordered the DIG East to conduct an inquiry into the incident.


  18. Waqas Dar
    Anil Kumble. Photo: AFP NEW DELHI: India´s cricket board Thursday invited applications for a new head coach, as Anil Kumble´s contract draws rapidly to a close.

    The former Test captain was appointed coach in June 2016 for a year but will automatically be considered for a renewed term.
    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given other interested parties until May 31 to put in their resumes.
    "The process has been initiated since the term of the current coach, Mr. Anil Kumble concludes with the Champions Trophy," the board stated in a release.
    "To ensure a fair and completely transparent process, a nominee of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) will oversee the entire process along with the Cricket Advisory Committee," it added.
    All applicants will be interviewed by a cricket advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
    The advertised opening comes as India prepares to defend their Champions Trophy title in England. India will kick off their campaign in the eight-team event next week with an opening round match against Pakistan.
    The BCCI had always stated Kumble´s performance would be reviewed after his one-year term, but the timing on the eve of a major event has raised eyebrows.
    Local media has reported that Kumble displeased some within the world´s most powerful cricket board when he demanded pay hikes for himself and skipper Virat Kohli, and extra retainer fees for Grade A players.
    "Kumble spoke to the Committee of Administrators (CoA), while Kohli joined on Skype, asking for 150 per cent hike in the retainership of the Grade A players," reported Indian news website NDTV.
    The gutsy cricketer, who captained the Test side for just over a year after replacing Rahul Dravid in 2007, has had a largely successful run on the international coaching circuit.
    India has won all their five Test series under Kumble, even beating top sides like England and Australia in a hugely successful home season.


  19. Waqas Dar
    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg returned on Thursday to Harvard University, the school he dropped out of to start the pioneering social network, to urge its graduating class to help create a new social safety net to allow creative risk-taking.
    The 33-year-old tech founder of the world's largest social networking company said he would never have been able to risk leaving the elite Ivy League school if he had not known that his family would have been able to support him if he failed.
    "There is something wrong with our system when I can leave here and make billions of dollars in ten years when millions of students can't afford to pay off their loans, let alone start a business," Zuckerberg told the crowd on a cold, drizzly day when graduates' dark academic robes stood in contrast to the brightly colored plastic rain ponchos scattered through the audience.
    "When you don't have the freedom to take your idea and turn it into a historic enterprise we all lose," said Zuckerberg, who was also named an honorary doctor of laws.
    He offered no specific solutions to the problems he highlighted, but urged graduates to contemplate them.
    Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has inspired a host of competitors, including Twitter Inc and Snapchat.
    Today some 1.9 billion people use Facebook each month. Its broad reach has made the company a lightning rod for controversy, most recently for the ways that producers of fake news stories used it to influence public opinion during the 2016 US presidential election, and for a pair of incidents last month in which users posted videos of two murders, one of them live.
    The Menlo Park, California-based company has vowed to tackle both problems and this month said it would hire 3,000 new workers to speed up the removal of videos depicting murder, suicide and other violent acts.
    Earlier in the day the website of the school's student newspaper, The Crimson, was briefly filled with satirical headlines about Zuckerberg. The newspaper on Twitter apologized to its readers for the incident.
    Zuckerberg's speech was not the first time a successful dropout returned to the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to address graduates.
    Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates spoke to graduates in 2007, shortly after saying that he would step away from his day-to-day role with the world's largest software company to focus his time on philanthropy.


  20. Waqas Dar
    LOS ANGELES: Dead men tell no tales, unless, of course, they are undead decaying pirates seeking mythical treasure in the vast fathoms of the sea in the fifth instalment of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.
    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, out in theatres worldwide this weekend, sees Johnny Depp reprise his role as the hapless, swaying, slurring pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, once again roped into an adventure on the high seas.
    Depp, who's been embroiled in personal issues, including a bitter divorce from ex-wife Amber Heard as well as claims and counter claims about his behaviour and lavish lifestyle, sat out media interviews for the film in Los Angeles.
    But his co-stars rushed to his defence and to deny reports, stemming from duelling court documents over his finances, that he is fed his movie lines through an earpiece and was difficult and late while filming.
    Pirates franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer said Depp is "not fed lines at all" and credited him with crafting the tone of the franchise.
    "(The pirates) are irreverent characters, something he totally created and the kind of irreverent fun attitude that all the movies have is because of Johnny," Bruckheimer said.

    geo_embedgallery He added that as long as Depp, 53, was aboard for more films, the Pirates saga has no definitive end.

    "As long as the audience wants to come, we'll be there, and Johnny wants to make it and Disney wants to finance it. I hope it goes on forever," he said.
    The Pirates franchise has grossed $3.7 billion since the first film in 2003 and despite poor reviews, Dead Men Tell No Tales is expected to take in some $80 million at the North American box office this weekend, trade publication Variety said.
    Dead Men Tell No Tales introduces the franchise's next generation; Brenton Thwaites, who plays the son of Orlando Bloom's Will Turner and Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann, and actress Kaya Scodelario, an intelligent, headstrong woman escaping accusations of being a witch.
    The new characters link back to 2003's The Curse of the Black Pearl.
    "We talked a lot about the first film and that first-time high. We just felt that the balance was really right in that movie and we love it and we wanted to honour it," co-director Espen Sandberg said.


  21. Waqas Dar
    White House senior advisor Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump arrive at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi  President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser, is under scrutiny by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the Russia probe, the Washington Post and NBC News reported on Thursday.
    Kushner is being investigated because of his meetings in December and other possible interactions with the Russian ambassador and a banker from Moscow, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.
    Kushner is the only current White House official known to be considered a key person in the probe, the newspaper reported.
    The FBI, several congressional committees, and a special counsel appointed by the Justice Department are looking into allegations of meddling by Russia in the 2016 US election and possible ties between Trump's presidential campaign and Russian officials seeking to influence the election.
    The controversy has engulfed Trump's administration since he fired FBI Director James Comey on May 10. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations with Trump denying any collusion with Russia.
    The interest in Kushner does not mean investigators suspect him of a crime or intend to charge him, the officials told NBC News. It is also not known whether Kushner has received any requests from the FBI for records, NBC News said.
    One of Kushner's attorneys, Jamie Gorelick, said in a statement her client would cooperate with the investigation.
    ?Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry,? Gorelick said.
    The FBI and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


  22. Waqas Dar
    US President Donald Trump never fails to stay from headlines.
    Not only do his comments make waves ? the latest case in point being how he told NATO member countries to "finally contribute their fair share" ? but his actual, in-person behaviour as well.
    Trump indifferently shoved aside Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic ? almost like a bulldozer steamrollering past insignificant elements in its path ? as he walked with leaders of various NATO countries during his Thursday visit to the organisation's new headquarters in Brussels.


    'America First', eh?
    Poor Markovic is surprised at first to see who suddenly tried to swoosh past him, but then reassuringly smiles and pats like any person would to a stubborn child trying to get his wish fulfilled.


    But it doesn't stop here.


    Trump then goes on to adjust his jacket, bringing the lapels together but staying unaware that he just pushed the leader of the newest NATO member country, who didn't even mind.
    Or... Markovic wanted to make a good impression.
    Nevertheless, Twitter is obviously having a field day.
    Even the Trump-slamming, extremely-vocal-about-injustice, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling jumped in.
    However, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said, "I have not seen the video," when asked to comment on the incident, USA Today reported.


  23. Waqas Dar
    US President Donald Trump never fails to stay from headlines.
    Not only do his comments make waves ? the latest case in point being how he told NATO member countries to "finally contribute their fair share" ? but his actual, in-person behaviour as well.
    Trump indifferently shoved aside Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic ? almost like a bulldozer steamrollering past insignificant elements in its path ? as he walked with leaders of various NATO countries during his Thursday visit to the organisation's new headquarters in Brussels.

    'America First', eh?
    Poor Markovic is surprised at first to see who suddenly tried to swoosh past him, but then reassuringly smiles and pats like any person would to a stubborn child trying to get his wish fulfilled.

    But it doesn't stop here.

    Trump then goes on to adjust his jacket, bringing the lapels together but staying unaware that he just pushed the leader of the newest NATO member country, who didn't even mind.
    Or... Markovic wanted to make a good impression.
    Nevertheless, Twitter is obviously having a field day.
    Even the Trump-slamming, extremely-vocal-about-injustice, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling jumped in.
    However, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said, "I have not seen the video," when asked to comment on the incident, USA Today reported.


  24. Waqas Dar
    The first time he was scheduled to die, Tommy Arthur invited his family to death row to say goodbye.
    He did that again and again for his next five dates with death, but each time a stay of execution meant that he evaded the lethal injection. By the seventh time, he stopped inviting relatives: it was simply too painful.
    Nicknamed the Houdini of death row, 75-year-old Arthur was scheduled to be strapped to a gurney and wheeled into the execution chamber late Thursday, his eighth -- and possibly final -- rendezvous with Alabama's capital punishment system.
    Arthur was first sentenced to death back in 1983 for a murder he denies committing. Since then, the southern US state has executed 58 people, although Arthur has managed to evade his own final sentence. The last time, in November of 2016, he was granted a stay of execution just minutes before he was due to be strapped down for the fatal injection.
    His case has angered both opponents and supporters of the death sentence: the former see his endless run-ins with execution as a form of psychological torture, while those who support the sentence see Arthur and his legal team as constantly playing the system to cheat justice.
    "Thomas Arthur is an escape artist," said Janette Grantham, director of the advocacy group Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL). "He has used every trick in the books to manipulate the courts for over 34 years. He has used every trick possible to manipulate the public into believing he is innocent."
    "Hopefully Houdini's bag of tricks is empty and he is finally going down. No Houdini no more," she said as Arthur was scheduled to be put to death at 6 pm in Alabama (2300 GMT).
    11th-hour appeal

    Arthur was found guilty of conspiring with his then-lover Judy Wicker to murder her husband Troy so that she could cash in on his life insurance. She was accused of paying Arthur $10,000 for the hit.
    Arthur had already served five years for the 1977 murder of his sister-in-law and was out of jail on work release at the time. He admitted to the previous killing, which he says was an accident and blames on being drunk. But he has always denied murdering Wicker.
    Troy Wicker's niece told Alabama media that the execution would give surviving family members closure after decades of pain.
    "There are no words to describe the living hell that this has been for the Wicker family. We are hoping and praying that the execution is not delayed any further," Vicky Wilkerson told AL.com.
    "Our family deserves closure and justice for the loss of (Wicker) and the nightmare that we have lived through," she said. "Tommy Arthur placed our family through a living hell for a pathetic $10,000 payout."
    Arthur's lawyers have demanded that modern forensic testing be done on the original crime scene evidence, and have challenged the injection method to be used in his latest execution on Thursday. The drug to be used on Arthur took 13 minutes to kill a man last December in Alabama.
    His lawyers have also requested that witnesses be allowed to keep their mobile telephones during his execution. That petition was rejected Wednesday by a court of appeal, but his lawyers have filed a last-minute appeal before the US Supreme Court.
    The last time Arthur was due to be put to death, last November, he was granted an 11th-hour stay by the Supreme Court. Conservative chief justice John Roberts said that although he did not consider the case worthy of the court's review, he agreed to a stay "out of courtesy" to the four judges who did.




  25. Waqas Dar
    Manchester United's Europa League victory gave the city a boost just two days after a devastating suicide bomb attack left 22 dead and dozens injured, claimed legendary former manager Alex Ferguson.
    United beat Dutch side Ajax 2-0 in Sweden -- goals by Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan sealing an emotional win and a place in the Champions League next season -- to deliver some joy to the city that saw pop concert goers as young as eight killed by the blast.
    Ferguson, who managed United through a golden era from 1986 to 2013 which saw them win the Champions League twice among many other trophies, told Sky Sports that Manchester was a resilient city.
    "First of all Manchester is a working class city and it has fantastic people there," said the 75-year-old Scot, who began his working life in the Glasgow shipyards.
    "They went through some difficult times in the past, they will get together because they've got a working class ethic about them and there's a great unity there in the city.
    "I think United gave the city a lift and I think that was what it was about. We're all proud of them, it was a great achievement."
    The trophy is not the only lift the club gave the city as United and Manchester City pledged £1 million ($1.3m, 1.2m euros) on Thursday to an emergency fund set up for the victims and their families.


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