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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday rejected suspended cricketer Khalid Latif’s appeal challenging the powers of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal in the PSL spot-fixing case.
    The court, during hearing of the case today, demanded response from the federal government and the PCB on June 13 regarding the matter.
    The court had earlier accepted Latif’s application challenging dismissal of his petition against proceedings of the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal in the spot-fixing case.
    Latif had filed an intra-court appeal on Wednesday challenging an order of the LHC single bench which had dismissed his petition against the PCB Anti-Corruption Code and tribunal proceedings regarding PSL corruption allegations against him.
    In his appeal, the batsman had said that the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code had status of law and it was mandatory to notify the same in a gazette of Pakistan. Since it was not notified in the gazette, it was illegal and without any force, the appeal had contended.
    The application had further claimed that the PCB chairman did not have any powers to form a tribunal, and requested the court to set aside the LHC single-bench order and suspend the tribunal proceedings till the final decision of the appeal.
    Latif has been charged for breaching Articles 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.4.4 and 2.4.5 of the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code.
    He faces five charges on counts relating to fixing and failure to report it, and another charge of attempting to lure other players to fixing.
    The tribunal, set up to hear the alleged corruption charges against the players, is headed by retired Justice Asghar Haider and comprises former PCB chairman retired Lt Gen Tauqir Zia and former Test captain Wasim Bari.
    Meanwhile, the PCB tribunal is set to conduct another hearing of the spot-fixing case against suspended batsman Shahzaib Hasan today.
    Shahzaib has been charged with violations of articles 2.1.4 (directly or indirectly facilitating with corrupt activities), 2.4.4 (failing to disclose to the PCB full details of any approaches to engage in Corrupt Conduct), and 2.4.5.


  2. Waqas Dar
    Justin Bieber – who enjoys a huge 'teen-girl' following – is probably more than geared up to perform in India next week, marking his first-ever visit to the south Asian country.
     
     
    But hold your horses!
    You won’t believe the list of demands he has compiled for his stay in India, as part of the Purpose World Tour.
    Non-negotiable items, according to Hindustan Times, comprise "'a convoy of 10 luxury sedans and 2 Volvo buses’ for Bieber and his 120-person-strong entourage, […] a private Rolls Royce for himself," and Z-level security provided by the state police, apart from his own 8-member security team.
     

    'sniff sniff I miss my home!'
     
    The 23-year-old has secured for himself and his troupe two five-star hotels, including a 1,000-square-foot personal suite – which, itself, will be refurbished to “incorporate Mogul paintings, antique furniture and signature Kashmiri bedroom linen. His room will be adorned with purple carnations, purple being his favourite colour! The hotel will convert itself into Bieber’s private villa with three floors of the hotel being booked for the artist and his entourage and one elevator blocked on all 4 full days for Bieber alone”, according to a 'press release' from Bieber's team tweeted by an Indian music journalist.
     

    'Don't ask me for an autograph; don't come near me; don't even breathe the same air as me'
     
    Here’s a list of other items he has requested because honestly, it’s a bit too much and we don’t wanna spend too much time on this spoilt celebrity. (Why did he even get famous in the first place?)
     
    Special Indian Yoga Casket containing aromatic essential oils; Jasmine, mogra, rose and camphor incense sticks; Books on chakras and yoga asanas will be placed in Bieber’s suite knowing his love for Yoga Ping pong table, PlayStation, IO HAWK Sofa set, washing machine, large glass-door refrigerator, upholstery, 400 hangers Cans of wild berries and vanilla room fresheners; Dove body wash; hydrating lip balms Only king-sized beds; a 24-hour fitness centre with a steam room; wardrobe cupboard; massage table that will be used backstage; Jacuzzi; personal masseuse who will be flown in from Kerala Private jet and helicopter available right away “to meet the artist’s immediate travel demands in India” Top culinary experts to serve “5 dishes per day being renamed after his popular song”; Vegetables seasoned with ranch sauce, diced fruit, organic bananas and seedless grapes; snacks must also include a deli platter of organic turkey, lettuce, colby and provolone cheese, black olives, as well as green and banana peppers Backstage demands: white sliced bread, potato chips, mint and watermelon gum, white cheddar popcorn, Ghiradelli dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds, menthol and watermelon gum, vinegar chips, organic dried fruit, peanuts, and all berries cereal A large pack of Swedish Fish; boxes of Ritz Bitz peanut butter; Cheese sandwiches and multiple packs of Haribo Cola Gummies Clothing shelves; eight power outlets; 12 white handkerchiefs 24 still water bottles, 24 alkaline water bottles, 4 energy drinks, 6 vitamin water bottles, 6 cream sodas, a cooler packed with assorted juices fizzy drinks, 4 natural juices, 4 vanilla protein drinks, and half a gallon of almond milk 13 backstage rooms  
    In case something got missed out, refer to this.
     
     
    And if you're not already tired of reading his childish, 'I've-got-too-much-money-so-I-don't-know-how-to-spend-it' requests, he will be performing at Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium.
     

     
    Make sure to take some lilies with you, as he does not want them in his vicinity during his stay.
     


  3. Waqas Dar
    LONDON: Television crews descended on Buckingham Palace on Thursday morning after a meeting of all royal staff sparked frenzied speculation, with social media abuzz with rumours regarding the health of Prince Philip.
    But, quoting well-placed sources, British media and news agencies said there was "no cause for alarm" over the health of Queen Elizabeth II or her husband.
    The palace officially declined to comment after a newspaper report of a "highly unusual" senior staff meeting prompted speculation of an imminent royal announcement.
    But the BBC reported that it understood the meeting did not concern the health of either the Queen or her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
    A well-placed source confirmed to news agency AFP that staff from around the country had been called to the palace for a meeting on Thursday, but insisted: "There is no cause for alarm."
    "You could safely assume the Queen and Prince Philip are not dead", the New Zealand Herald quoted a Buckingham Palace press officer as saying.
    While such meetings are rare, they are not unprecedented and can happen several times a year.
    The Daily Mail report sparked global speculation about the health of the 91-year-old queen and her husband Prince Philip, who turns 96 in June.
    A few curious royal watchers joined more than a dozen cameras outside the gates of the palace, the queen's London residence.
    "My cousin got in touch with me from LA. And he said there was something going down in the palace," said 40-year-old American actress Kim Tatum.
    The queen returned to London on Wednesday after spending the Easter break at Windsor Castle.
    She met with Prime Minister Theresa May during the afternoon, to mark the dissolution of parliament ahead of the June 8 snap general election.
    Her husband Prince Philip opened a new stand at Lord's cricket ground.


  4. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: Big-hitters like Chris Gayle have long hogged the Twenty20 limelight but this season´s Indian Premier League has proved that elegant, old-school batting is just as important in cricket´s shortest format.
    South Africa´s Hashim Amla has been delighting cricketing purists by racking up large totals with his conventional style of play while Kane Williamson of New Zealand is also showing there´s more to T20 than power.
    "T20 is not about sixes... T20 is about making sure that there are no dot balls [deliveries on which no run is scored] and both these batsmen have made sure that there are very few dot balls," Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar told AFP.
    "Playing the ball according to its merit and keep the scoreboard ticking is the key. That´s how they have been more successful this year.
    "You look at the entire T20 game and you will see that any time there will be more boundaries than sixes. And you can hit the boundaries along the ground, you can hit them one bounce into the fence," he added.
    Amla has amassed 315 runs in eight matches for Kings XI Punjab, including a maiden T20 century -- one of four tons to have been hit so far in the tenth edition of the IPL.
    The 34-year-old right-hander, famed for his classic stroke-playing, has also notched two half-centuries and has been instrumental in putting his team in contention for a play-off place.
    Busting myths
    Amla has recorded 12 sixes and 32 fours while maintaining a strike-rate of 140.
    Williamson has accumulated 228 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad in just five matches, including a sublime match-winning knock of 89 against Delhi Daredevils.
    The 26-year-old New Zealander has hit just 17 fours and nine sixes and has kept his run-rate, which is above 160, topped up by his ability to sneak in quick singles and twos.
    "I think it´s a big myth that T20 is just for power-hitters. Even players like (India legend) Rahul Dravid and Amla have a fairly impressive white-ball average," Dileep Premachandran, editor-in-chief of Wisden India, told AFP.
    "If you look at Amla´s significant innings in this IPL, there have been big hits as well. Most of these batsmen have enhanced their repertoire significantly," Premachandran added.
    The success of Amla and Williamson this season has overshadowed the performances West Indies´ Gayle and Proteas ODI captain AB de Villiers, who usually dominate coverage of the IPL with their big-hitting antics.
    The pair have failed to fire for a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore side this time around with Gayle picking up 152 runs in six matches and de Villiers 196 in seven.
    Left-handed Australian David Warner is still flying the flag for the powerful hitters and leads the runs table with 489 but the exploits of Amla and Williamson show that the graceful shot-players can also thrive in T20.
    "Players like Amla and Williamson should not be branded and said that they can play ´X´ form of cricket," former Indian women´s captain and IPL commentator Anjum Chopra told AFP.
    "It was only a matter of time before they established themselves as a force to reckon with in the IPL," she added.


  5. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday accepted suspended cricketer Khalid Latif’s application challenging dismissal of his petition against proceedings of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal in the PSL spot-fixing case.
    Latif filed an intra-court appeal on Wednesday challenging an order of the LHC single bench which had dismissed his petition against the PCB Anti-Corruption Code and tribunal proceedings regarding PSL corruption allegations against him.
    In his appeal, the batsman said that the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code had status of law and it was mandatory to notify the same in a gazette of Pakistan. Since it was not notified in the gazette, it was illegal and without any force, the appeal contended.
    The application further claimed that the PCB chairman did not have any powers to form a tribunal, and requested the court to set aside the LHC single-bench order and suspend the tribunal proceedings till the final decision of the appeal.
    Latif has been charged for breaching Articles 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.1.4, 2.4.4 and 2.4.5 of the PCB's Anti-Corruption Code.
    He faces five charges on counts relating to fixing and failure to report it, and another charge of attempting to lure other players to fixing.
    The tribunal, set up to hear the alleged corruption charges against the players, is headed by retired Justice Asghar Haider and comprises former PCB chairman retired Lt Gen Tauqir Zia and former Test captain Wasim Bari.
    Meanwhile, the PCB tribunal is set to conduct another hearing of the spot-fixing case against suspended batsman Shahzaib Hasan today.
    Shahzaib has been charged with violations of articles 2.1.4 (directly or indirectly facilitating with corrupt activities), 2.4.4 (failing to disclose to the PCB full details of any approaches to engage in Corrupt Conduct), and 2.4.5.


  6. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: The Sindh High Court, on Thursday, approved the bail of 10 accused individuals including MQM leader Gulfaraz Khatakk involved in the case pertaining an incendiary speech by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder.
    The court ordered the defendants to submit Rs 200,000 each as bail bond.
    The special public prosecutor stated that the accused individuals attacked media houses following the vitriolic speech by the MQM founder.
    Read more: Non-bailable arrest warrants for Farooq Sattar, MQM founder issued
    The self-exiled MQM leader, in speech to participants of a hunger strike outside Karachi Press Club on August 22, had incited party workers to take to the streets, ransack media houses and vandalise property.
    At least one person died and eight others were injured in the ensuing violence.
    On April 1, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) issued non-bailable warrants for MQM founder, Farooq Sattar, and MQM leaders including Khushbakht Shujaat, Junaid Lakhani, and Amin Ul Haqq.
    Read more: Police release Farooq Sattar after brief detention
    The court heard one of the 27 cases against the MQM founder's incendiary Aug 22 speech.
    The accused including Mehfooz Yar Khan, Qamar Mansoor, Sathi Ishaq, Amjadullah were presented in court. However, the verdict was not announced due to the judge's absence.
    Hearing of the case registered in Azizabad police station was postponed until April 7.


  7. Waqas Dar
    BELQINA: An Egyptian artist who educated himself after dropping out of school has spent three years creating what he hopes is the world´s biggest Holy Quran.
    Saad Mohammed, who has hand-painted Islamic motifs on the walls and ceilings of his home in the town of Belqina, north of Cairo, has reproduced the Muslim holy book on a paper scroll 700 metres long.

    He displays the intricately decorated manuscript in a large wooden box with rollers at each end.
    "This Quran is 700 metres long, and of course that´s a large amount of paper," he told Reuters Television.
    "I self-funded this project for the past three years - and I´m an average person. I don´t have assets or anything."

    Mohammed wants to submit the Quran for inclusion in Guinness World Records.

    Guinness says that while there is a record for the world´s biggest printed Quran, there is so far no record holder for the largest handwritten version.
    Mohammed says he is hoping for help with the costs of applying to Guinness from the government or any other interested party.
    Photos by Reuters


  8. Waqas Dar
    SRINAGAR: Indian forces cordoned off more than 20 villages in Shopian district of Occupied Kashmir, Indian media reported on Thursday, in the wake of a surge in rebel attacks on the occupying forces in recent weeks.
    According to NDTV, more than 3,000 personnel of the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir police were involved in the search operation launched early Thursday morning.
    A few days ago, similar raids were carried out at various places in Kulgam, as well as adjoining Shopian following a tip off about the presence of two people suspected of involvement in the killing of seven people including five Indian policemen, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.
    Read more: Indian troops kill two Kashmiri youth in IOK
    On April 22, Indian troops martyred two Kashmiri youth in Budgam district of the occupied valley.
    According to Kashmir Media Service, the youth were martyred during a siege and search operation at Hayatpora area of Chadoora in the district.
    Innocent civilians were beaten by Indian troops during the operation, which led to clashes between Indian troops and the youth, locals reported.
     


  9. Waqas Dar
    SOCHI: Russia and Turkey have agreed to lift nearly all remaining trade restrictions imposed in the aftermath of Ankara's downing of a Russian warplane in 2015, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.
    "You asked when we can speak about the lifting of the restrictions that emerged some time ago. We can speak of that today," Putin said at a news conference alongside his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
    "We agreed on a comprehensive solution to all these problems linked to the restrictions."
    Relations between Moscow and Ankara hit rock bottom after Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane over the Syrian border in November 2015, which Putin at the time labelled a "stab in the back".
    In the wake of the incident, Moscow slapped a range of sanctions on Ankara, including an embargo on some Turkish food products, as well as a ban on charter flights and sales of package tours to the country and the reintroduction of visas for Turkish visitors.
    But Putin said Wednesday that Russia's embargo on the import of tomatoes from Turkey and its visa restrictions on Turkish nationals will remain in place for the time being.
    He did not provide a timeline for the lifting of these two restrictions.
    "Now we can say with certainty that the recovery period in Russo-Turkish relations is over," the Kremlin strongman said. "We are returning to a normal cooperation partnership."
    Putin last year ordered that the government normalise trade ties with Turkey as he lifted the ban on the sale of packages tours in Turkey.


  10. Waqas Dar
    India cricket captain Virat Kohli has been assured by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) that India will be playing the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England starting June 1.
    The CoA has been in contact with Kohli and assured the skipper not to worry about the speculation circulating in some circles that his team may not get a chance to defend the title, India Today reported, citing sources.
    "Virat Kohli was feeling anxious and down, we have allayed fears and assured him that India will play the Champions Trophy," the sources told the publication.
    The CoA has also spoken to team coach Anil Kumble and stated that there is no doubt over India’s participation in the tournament.
    The BCCI has been in a tussle with the ICC after it was recently outvoted 13-1 in its bid to stall a new revenue model, which considerably slashes India´s share from global events in the 2015-2023 cycle.
    Read more: Big 3 abolished; India isolated, outvoted in ICC meeting
    The BCCI, in protest, also missed the April 25 deadline for announcing the squad, with all the other seven countries having already named their team list. Rumours have since been making rounds that India may pull out of the tournament.


  11. Waqas Dar
    Khiladi Kumar on Wednesday won his first-ever National Award for Best Actor for his role in the 2016 Bollywood film Rustom, and he celebrated it with his family, who were overcome with joy and pride.
    In celebration, the Kumar family – comprising wife Twinkle Khanna and son Aarav Kumar – sported traditional sub-continental wear and posed for an adorable picture.
     
     
    But Khanna didn’t let the excitement hold her back from joking about her husband, as she wrote, “Now I can officially refer to him as my trophy husband.”
    It’s refreshing to see a family so happy together and comfortable enough to share teasing comments in a light-hearted manner. Khanna is known for her humour.
    Kumar, who is noted for his role in films such as Airlift, Tees Maar Khan, and Singh is Kinng, is currently working on 2.0 – an S. Shankar-directed film slated for release in 2017 and starring Rajinikanth and Amy Jackson.


  12. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: The Punjab government imported 56,000 laptops from China on Wednesday, customs department sources told Geo News.
    A cargo flight transported the laptops from China to Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport.
    According to sources, the laptops will be handed over to the Punjab government after customs duty clearance.
    The Punjab government will distribute the laptops to students with exceptional academic records.
    Read more: 1,771 students given laptops twice under PM’s youth scheme
    About 1,771 students received laptops twice under the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme in Punjab, disclosed an inquiry report into the alleged corruption in the scheme.
    The scheme, which was launched in 2013 as a part of Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, aimed to help improve the scope of research and provide quality education with access to information technology to the students.
    However, many instances of an alleged scam in the scheme were reported following which a committee, headed by the Additional Chief Secretary Punjab to Chief Minister Shamail Ahmad, was formed to investigate the issue.


  13. Waqas Dar
    Continental air prevails over most parts of the country on Thursday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reported.
    A shallow westerly wave is present over the upper parts of the country, according to the PMD report. 
    Read more: 7 easy hacks to beat the heat
    Mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most plain areas of the country in the next twenty-four hours. However, a light rain-thunderstorm is expected at a few places in Malakand, Hazara divisions, upper FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir.                  
    Rainfall in the last 24 Hours (mm)                               
    KP: Dir 24, Abbottabad 05, Malamjabba 04, Mirkhani 03, Drosh, Chitral, Saidu sharif, Lower Dir 01. FATA: Parachinar 08. Punjab: Murree 02, Kashmir: Garhi Dupatta 04, Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot 01.
    Yesterday's highest temperatures
    Sh. Benazirabad, Dadu 44°C, Sukkar, Turbat, Padidan, R.Y. Khan, Jacobabad 43°C, Moenjo Daro, Larkana, Sibbi, Hyderabad, Chhor, Lasbela 42°C.
     
     
    Data courtesy: Pakistan Meteorological Department


  14. Waqas Dar
    PARIS: French centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe Wednesday in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country.
    The duel ahead of Sunday´s election was billed as a confrontation between Macron´s call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen´s France-first nationalism.
    The tone was set in the opening minutes, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister and investment banker "the candidate of the elite" and the "darling of the system".
    Macron replied that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was "the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades", adding: "You play with fear."
    The 39-year-old frequently branded Le Pen a liar and even a "parasite of the system", who he said lived off the frustrations of France´s blocked political system.
    On Europe, Le Pen accused Macron of being "submissive" towards German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying: "France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel."
    She also accused Macron of an "indulgent attitude" towards Islamic fundamentalism and constantly sought to remind viewers of his role as a minister in unpopular President Francois Hollande´s Socialist government.
    But Macron was in combative form throughout, repeatedly portraying Le Pen´s proposals as simplistic, defeatist or dangerous and targeting her proposals to withdraw France from the euro in particular.
    The euro policy "was the big nonsense of Marine Le Pen´s programme," he said midway through the 140-minute debate.
    Le Pen called the euro, shared by 19 countries in the European Union and blamed by some in France for a rise in prices, as "the currency of bankers, it´s not the people´s currency."
    Trailing in the polls, the debate was probably her last chance to change the dynamics of the race ahead of the final weekend of a long and unpredictable campaign.
    A poll by the Elabe group for the BFM channel immediately afterwards showed that 63 percent of people interviewed found Macron the most convincing versus 34 percent for Le Pen.
    This broadly mirrors forecasts for Sunday´s vote.
    Macron would win around 59 percent to 41 percent if the vote were held now, surveys suggest, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have shifted public opinion.
    Normalisation of far-right
    The duel marked a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France´s political establishment to be an extremist fringe that should be boycotted.
    When her father Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate with him out of fear of "normalising hate and intolerance".
    In the first round of the election on April 23, Marine Le Pen finished second scoring 21.3 percent after softening the FN´s image over the past six years -- but without fully removing doubt about the party´s core beliefs.
    She sees her rise as the consequence of growing right-wing nationalism and a backlash against globalisation seen in the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Britain´s decision to leave the European Union.
    "I am the candidate of the people of France such as we love it, of the nation that protects jobs, security, our borders," she said in her opening comments.
    Abstention factor
    The debate was unlikely to have swayed any committed supporters of either candidate, but it could influence the roughly 18 percent of undecided voters and others who were planning to abstain.
    Like much of the French press, daily Le Monde deplored a "brutal debate" that was "violent from start to finish".
    Many supporters of Communist-backed candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came fourth in the first round, have said they will not vote on Sunday, comparing the final round as a choice between "the plague and cholera".
    President Hollande and members of the government have led warnings about the risk of a Le Pen presidency.
    "We are in a zone of absolute danger," warned Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before the debate. "Do not play Russian roulette with our democracy."
    Hollande told reporters that "we shouldn´t think the result is a foregone conclusion" and urged Macron, his former adviser and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world.
    Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months.
    On Thursday, Macron will hold his final campaign meeting in the southwest town of Albi while Le Pen will have hers in Ennemain in the north.


  15. Waqas Dar
    WASHINGTON: US lawmakers will vote Thursday to repeal and replace Obamacare, Republican House leaders said, in the latest effort to provide President Donald Trump a crucial legislative victory in his first months in office.
    The announcement comes after a new health care reform bill gained momentum Wednesday when two key Republican representatives -- Fred Upton of Michigan and Billy Long of Missouri -- reversed course and threw their support behind the measure following intense lobbying by the president himself.
    "We will be voting on the health care bill tomorrow. Because we have enough votes," Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters late Wednesday.  "It´ll pass. It´s a good bill."
    The vote, which follows weeks of tweaking to the controversial bill in order to bring enough Republicans on board, is expected to be very close.
    With no Democrats supporting the revision, Republicans will need to cobble together the 216 votes necessary to pass the legislation exclusively within their own party, despite internal differences on the way forward. They can afford just 22 defectors.
    The effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been seven years in the making. Republicans including Trump have campaigned relentlessly on pledges to dismantle Obamacare.
    An earlier version of the Republican plan collapsed in March, when opposition from both moderates and conservatives torpedoed their own party´s attempt to do away with former president Barack Obama´s Affordable Care Act of 2010.
    But leadership apparently won over enough skeptical members with an amendment drafted by Upton which adds $8 billion to help cover insurance costs for people with pre-existing conditions.
    Trump has touted the amended draft multiple times in recent days, and engaged personally in the arm-twisting, reaching out to several Republicans by phone and in person.
    "The president said ´Billy we really need you. We need you, man.´ I said ´You don´t have me,´" Long told reporters at the White House, describing an extended back-and-forth with Trump over what it would take for Long to back the bill.
    Long says he jumped on board after the president gave his blessing to the amendment that adds the supplemental $8 billion, which would bu used to cover health care costs for people in so-called "high-risk pools" that
    Upton previously opposed the legislation, saying he was uncomfortable with a provision allowing states to remove coverage guarantees for people with pre-existing conditions -- guarantees that were provided under Obamacare.
    Many health policy experts and Democrats, however, say $8 billion will not be enough to help provide coverage for sick people.
    "This craven bill is going to hurt many, many more Americans," Democratic Senator Cory Booker told MSNBC.
    The bill faces a steeper path in the Senate, where Republican moderates are almost certain to change the legislation, a move that would prompt a new round of negotiations.


  16. Waqas Dar
    SAN FRANCISCO: A ´phishing´ scam that tricked people with what appeared to be Google Docs links was doused by the internet giant after spreading wildly.
    The purpose of the scam, and the culprits behind it, remained unknown late in the day.
    "We have taken action to protect users against an email impersonating Google Docs, and have disabled offending accounts," a Google spokesperson said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.
    "We´ve removed the fake pages, pushed updates through Safe Browsing, and our abuse team is working to prevent this kind of spoofing from happening again."
    The scam combined "a phishing attack and a worm," using a deceptive email to get people to open the door to malicious code that wriggled into their messaging programs to spread itself to others, according to Electronic Frontier Foundation staff technologist Cooper Quintin.
    Email sent from a known contact´s real address would arrive containing a link it claimed led to a file to be shared at Google Docs online service, according to a rundown of the chicanery.
    Read more: WhatsApp back online after global outage of ´a few hours´
    Clicking the link led to a real Google web address and asked for authorization to run an application the attacker had cleverly called ´Google Docs.´
    Permissions granted to the application included allowing it to read or send email on a person´s behalf.
    "It doesn´t immediately look like a phishing email," Quintin said.
    "When you authorise the app, the very next thing it does is send the same emails to everyone in your contacts."
    The application, along with online domains it was connecting to, were disabled within hours of it starting to spread wildly, according to Quintin.
    "I suspect that it was far more successful than whoever released it into the world hoped or expected, and was maybe undone by its own success," he said.
    "The domains went down pretty quickly. Google disabled the app, so it is no longer a threat."
    The campaign affected fewer than a tenth of a percent of Gmail users and was stopped within an hour, according to the California-based internet powerhouse.
    Gmail is reported to have more than a billion users.
    Google determined that while contact information was accessed, no other data was gleaned by the ruse, according to the spokesperson.


  17. Waqas Dar
    WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to do "whatever is necessary" to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, but gave no sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations.
    In their first meeting, Trump pressed Abbas to do more to stop "incitement to violence" against Israelis and, according to the White House, urged him in private to halt payments to families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a demand long pressed by Israel.
    Even as Trump boldly predicted he would achieve peace where other presidents had failed, he stopped short of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of US policy.
    Some Palestinians said they were disappointed by the omission.
    Despite what many experts see as a long-shot bid, Trump told Abbas: "I will do whatever is necessary.... I would love to be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator, and we will get this done."
    Abbas reasserted the goal of a Palestinian state, saying it must have East Jerusalem as its capital with the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war. Most Israelis want all of Jerusalem as their capital and reject a full return to 1967 borderlines as a threat to their security.
    Trump has faced deep skepticism at home and abroad over the chances for him to achieve any quick breakthrough, not least because his administration has yet to articulate a cohesive strategy for restarting the moribund peace process.
    Abbas’ White House talks followed a February visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved to reset ties after a combative relationship with the Republican president´s predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama.
    Trump sparked international criticism at the time, when he appeared to back away from a two-state solution, saying he would leave it up to the parties to decide.
    Palestinian statehood has been the objective of successive US administrations and the international community. The meeting with Abbas, the Western-backed head of the Palestinian Authority, was another test of whether Trump, in office a little more than 100 days, is serious about pursuing the kind of comprehensive peace deal that eluded his predecessors.
    Trump insisted he was ready to try to reach the "toughest deal." But when he later sat down to lunch with the Palestinian leader, he said it was "maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years."
    Trump, who said he decided to "start a process" but offered no new policy prescriptions or timetable, may be underestimating the challenge when trust between the two sides is low, analysts said.
    "You can’t just pretend you only have to handle a few key issues and that’s it," said David Makovsky, a member of Obama’s negotiating team during the last talks, which collapsed in 2014.
    Still, plans are being firmed up for Trump to visit Netanyahu in Jerusalem and possibly Abbas in the West Bank on May 22 and 23, say people familiar with the matter.
    That has sparked speculation about a meeting of the three US and Israeli officials have declined to confirm the visit.
    ABBAS UNDER PRESSURE AT HOME
    Trump and Abbas appeared friendly but businesslike as they stood at side-by-side lecterns. But that was a far cry from the way Trump and Netanyahu interacted in February.
    Abbas promised that under "your courageous stewardship and your wisdom, as well as your great negotiating ability," the Palestinians would be partners seeking a "historic peace treaty."
    But under pressure at home to avoid major concessions, the 82-year-old leader said: "It’s about time for Israel to end its occupation," referring to Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
    Abbas, however, did not repeat in public his demand that Israel freeze settlement construction on land Palestinians want for a state as a condition for negotiations.
    US lawmakers have warned that Palestinian funding could be cut off unless Abbas halts PLO stipends to families of prisoners whom Israel considers terrorists but many Palestinians see as heroes.
    There was no indication Abbas, who governs in the West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza, bowed to pressure on the issue, especially with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.
    In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the promises Abbas made at the White House "don´t obligate anyone.”
    Questions have been raised about Trump´s choice of son-in-law Jared Kushner to oversee the peace initiative, along with Trump’s longtime business lawyer, Jason Greenblatt, as envoy.
    Efforts to enlist Israel´s Sunni Arab neighbors, who share Israeli concerns about Shi´ite Iran, to help rejuvenate peacemaking, have yet to yield results.
    National security adviser H. R. McMaster described Trump’s foreign policy approach as "disruptive," saying his unconventional ways could create an opportunity to help stabilize the Middle East.
    But Trump’s unpredictability has even at times rattled a close ally like Israel.
    His pro-Israeli campaign rhetoric suggested he might give Netanyahu free rein. But Trump’s promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv is on the back burner, and he caught Netanyahu off-guard by asking him to put unspecified limits on settlement activity.


  18. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday test-fired advanced version of its 'Brahmos' cruise missile, according to Indian media outlets.
    The surface-to-surface cruise missile was launched from a mobile autonomous launcher (MAL) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
    Indian media claimed that Wednesday's test was successful as the "test flight met all parameters."
    They said the missile hit its target accurately.


  19. Waqas Dar
    People with insomnia who take placebos, or “dummy pills,” may feel more rested than patients who get no treatment at all, a review of sleep research finds.
    Previous clinical trials testing sleep drugs like temazepam (Restoril) against placebo pills have found insomnia symptoms can improve even when patients don’t get the real treatment, said senior study author Dr. Ben Colagiuri of the University of Sydney in Australia. One problem with using placebos in these trials, however, is that sometimes simply taking part in a study can influence how people perceive their symptoms, he said.
    To solve this issue, Colagiuri and colleagues examined data from 13 previously published studies that assigned some insomnia patients to receive a placebo they were led to believe was an active treatment or to a control group that got no treatment.
    Compared to participants who didn’t receive any treatment, those who got placebos they believed were real treatments reported more improvements in their ability to fall asleep, total amount of rest and sleep quality, the analysis found.
    “The comparison with no treatment means that we can be sure that the improvement we observed was due to a genuine placebo effect, rather than being an artifact of simply taking part in a trial,” Colagiuri said by email. “The study provides new evidence that genuine placebo effects exist for insomnia treatments.”
    Combined, the studies used in the analysis had a total of 566 participants who either reported that they had insomnia or had the condition diagnosed by a clinician.
    It’s unclear exactly why the placebo might help some people feel better rested, but it’s possible just the act of taking a pill eased some anxiety that made it harder for people to fall asleep, Colagiuri said. Some recent research in other conditions like migraines and chronic pain suggests the placebos may help even when people know they’re taking dummy pills, he added.
    However, when researchers examined data on 103 participants who had objective tests like sleep-phase monitoring to measure how quickly patients fell asleep with a placebo or without treatment, they didn’t find any significant difference between these groups.
    Beyond the small number of total participants, another limitation of the current study is that researchers didn’t have objective measurements of sleep quality or duration to compare placebos against no treatment, the authors note in Sleep Medicine.
    Still, the results make sense because insomnia is ultimately a disorder of perception, said Patrick Finan, a psychiatry and behavior researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
    For example, a person who reports typically getting only four hours of sleep a night, for example, might not meet the criteria for insomnia if they don’t feel like the lack of rest impairs their mood, cognition or behavior, Finan, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
    By contrast, a person who says they normally get seven hours a night might still have insomnia if they feel like they the amount or quality of sleep they get is inadequate and they also report daytime impairments in work or home life that they attribute to a lack of sleep, Finan added.
    “The upshot is insomnia is shaped by expectation and perception, so it is not surprising that placebos, which implicitly alter expectation, are effective in improving perceptions of sleep,” Finan said. “It is notable that the effects of placebos did not extend to objective measures of sleep.”


  20. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) late on Wednesday apprehended nine fraudsters involved in depriving citizens of their hard-earned money in the name of sending them abroad, sources informed Geo News.
    These fraudsters were rounded up in raids conducted in Gujrat, Faisalabad, Mianwali, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala.
    FIA officials nabbed three fake consultants in Gujrat. They were identified as Nasir Iqbal, Asif Shehzad and Fida Hussain, according to sources.
    Two agents, Zulfiqar Ali and Shehbaz Hussain, were arrested in Faisalabad. In Mianwali, officials took Bashir Ahmed and Ghulam Hussain into custody, sources said.
    Two more agents, Amir Shehzad and Muhammad Nadeem, were apprehended from Gujranwala and Mandi Bahauddin, they added.
    The suspects were being further investigated about their illicit dealings.


  21. Waqas Dar
    A crude joke about US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked a social media storm with calls for late-night TV show host Stephen Colbert to be fired competing with praise for his outspoken remarks.
    Colbert, host of the "The Late Show" on CBS, made a lewd joke on Monday night about Trump and Putin during a scathing diatribe against the US president.
    It triggered a #FireColbert trending Twitter hashtag, with Trump supporters on Wednesday calling for a boycott of CBS Corp advertisers, some people accusing Colbert of being homophobic, others accusing left-wingers of hypocrisy, and still more defending the comedian.
    CBS on Wednesday declined to comment on Colbert's remarks, which follow a surge in popularity for "The Late Show" since the host stepped up his scathing nightly attacks on Trump. Colbert has also remained silent on the social media reaction.
    The bleeped joke, which referenced Trump's oft-stated admiration for Putin during the 2016 election campaign, came at the end of an insult-heavy monologue by Colbert.
    Addressing Trump, Colbert said, "Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head."
    Colbert told his audience that he was responding to Trump's appearance on the CBS political show "Face the Nation" over the weekend, when the Republican president walked out after telling host John Dickerson that he liked to call the Sunday morning news show "Deface the Nation."
    The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Colbert's monologue.
    Colbert, 52, has been attracting the biggest audiences for late-night US television in recent months with his blistering attacks on Trump.Some 3 million people watch "The Late Show," according to ratings data, which has challenged the genial formula of topical jokes, games and celebrity guests seen on NBC rival "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon.
    "If we don't go after his network sponsors or affect their ratings base, he will just get more popular," tweeted a user called @hackenbush77.
    Social media monitoring company Brandwatch said on Wednesday that the #FireColbert hashtag had been used 200,000 times since Monday and there had been more than 10,000 tweets about persuading brands to pull their ad dollars from CBS.


  22. Waqas Dar
    Wild dolphins are exposed to more pollutants than their captive counterparts, which could explain why they face higher rates of illness and disease, US researchers said Wednesday.
    The study in the journal PLOS ONE analyzed the health of two wild dolphin populations -- one group in Florida and another in South Carolina.
    They were compared to two populations of captive dolphins in Georgia and California, which turned out to be far healthier.
    Fewer than half the wild dolphins studied were "clinically normal," and many had chronically activated immune systems, signaling they were fighting off disease.
    "This is likely a result of encountering pathogens, parasites and anthropogenic pollutants in the ocean that do not exist in closely managed zoological habitats," said lead author Patricia Fair, research professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.
    In humans, this kind of chronic immune response has been linked to cancer, heart disease and increased vulnerability to infectious disease.
    Co-author Gregory Bossart, chief veterinary officer at the Georgia Aquarium, has been studying the health of more than 360 individual dolphins living in Indian River Lagoon in Florida and Charleston, South Carolina since 2003.
    Since then, he and fellow researchers have documented "emerging infectious diseases, tumors, antibiotic resistant bacteria and alarmingly high levels of contaminants in dolphins from both wild populations," said the study.
    We are not listening

    As large predators near the top of the food chain, dolphins accumulate any toxins ingested by their prey.
    Studies have shown dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon have high levels of mercury.
    Previous research has also shown evidence of fungal diseases in these dolphins, "as well as new, emerging viruses and infectious agents some of which are also potential human pathogens," said the study.
    In Charleston, South Carolina, dolphins had high levels of human-introduced organic chemicals, which likely came from industrial sources.
    "These wild dolphins are trying to tell us something and we are not listening," said Bossart.
    "As a sentinel species, dolphins are an important way to gauge the overall health of our oceans," he added.
    "If wild dolphins aren't doing well, it could also indicate future impacts to ocean health and even our own health."
    The captive dolphins at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego had less chronically activated immune systems.
    Bossart said this was not surprising.
    "Dolphins in human care are exposed to fewer pathogens because of environmental controls of water and food quality and preventative medical programs," he said.
    "Thus, their immune responses tend to be more focused and short acting."


  23. Waqas Dar
    KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday declined an invitation to visit Pakistan, his deputy spokesman confirmed, saying he would not visit the neighbouring country until perpetrators of recent attacks in Afghanistan are not handed over.
    Ghani's deputy spokesman said the president turned down the invitation during his meetings with Pakistani delegates, the BBC reported.
    "I will not go to Pakistan until Islamabad hands over perpetrators of Mazar Sharif, American University Kabul and Kandahar attacks to Kabul," the spokesman quoted Ghani as saying.
    The Afghan president also demanded action against Afghan Taliban present in Pakistan, an accusation Islamabad has repeatedly denied.
    However, neither the Foreign Office of Pakistan nor military officials have so far reacted to turning down of the invitation by President Ghani.
    Pakistan has long been saying that its soil is not being used against any country including Afghanistan.
    Islamabad has also time and again apprised the Afghan government of terrorist attacks being coordinated from its territory against Pakistan.
    Earlier this year, Pakistan was hit by five deadly terrorist attacks in a week. The attacks were claimed by outlawed Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which operates with impunity on the Afghan soil.
    They followed nearly a month's closure of Pak-Afghan border and an intense military campaign to wipe out all terrorists from the country.


  24. Waqas Dar
    FAISALABAD: Two under custody suspects were killed during an alleged encounter in Faisalabad late Wednesday, with police claiming they were killed in firing by their accomplices.
    Police sources said the suspects, Qaisar and Fayyaz, were involved in serious offences including robberies.
    They were being escorted for recovery that their accomplices opened fire on police team near Khanwala area to free them.
    The gunfire by their accomplices seriously wounded the two suspects, while one of the attackers was also injured in retaliation by the law enforcers. The assailants, however, managed to flee away.
    The wounded suspects were being shifted to hospital, police said, but they succumbed to their injuries on the way.


  25. Waqas Dar
    Even when children take drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) they may still have a hard time succeeding in school, and girls may struggle more than boys, a recent study suggests.
    That’s because children taking ADHD drugs are more likely than other kids to need special education services, to be chronically absent or expelled, to get lower grades and to leave school before age 16, the study found.
    “Fewer girls are treated for ADHD, but when girls are diagnosed they fare worse than boys with ADHD,” said senior study author Dr. Jill Pell of the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
    “Having ADHD had a bigger effect on girls than boys in terms of having special education needs, being excluded from school, doing worse on exams, being unemployed and needing to be admitted to the hospital,” Pell said by email.
    ADHD affects about 6.5 percent of kids, and is four times more common in boys than in girls, researchers note in JAMA Pediatrics.
    It can be hard to measure how kids with ADHD manage in school because students with more severe symptoms or disruptive behaviors tend to be diagnosed and medicated more often than children with more subtle problems with focus or attention that don’t bother their classmates or teachers.
    Children with ADHD are more prone to difficulties with reading, writing and executive function. Medication may help improve concentration by controlling impulsivity and making kids feel calmer.
    For the current study, researchers examined data on 766,244 children and teens attending school in Scotland between 2009 and 2013. This included 7,413 kids taking medication for ADHD.
    About 85 percent of the kids taking ADHD drugs were boys.
    Compared to kids not being treated for ADHD, boys taking medication for the disorder were more than three times as likely to get poor grades in school. Girls on ADHD drugs, however, were more than five times as likely to get poor grades.
    Roughly 64 percent of students taking ADHD drugs dropped out of school before age 16, compared with 28 percent of other students.
    When they dropped out, boys with ADHD were 40 percent more likely than kids without the disorder to be unemployed six months later. For girls with ADHD, the risk of unemployment was 59 percent greater.
    The study isn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove that ADHD diagnosis or treatment directly causes educational problems. Another limitation is the possibility that the ADHD group included only severe cases when kids got medication, and excluded students with milder forms of the disorder who didn’t receive drugs, the authors note.
    “Those children who receive medication typically are sicker than those kids who do not receive medication treatment for ADHD,” said Dr. Timothy Wilens, chief of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
    “The severity of illness is what is really determining the outcome, not the treatment,” Wilens, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
    Even so, the study adds to a large body of evidence suggesting that stimulant medication for ADHD may not be enough on its own to help kids succeed, said Dr. William Pelham, director of the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University in Miami.
    “Childhood ADHD leads to a host of negative outcomes later in life, and interventions that help with the three major domains that predict later functioning - parenting, peer relationships, and academic success - need to be used,” Pelham, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.


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