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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif on Monday criticised the previous governments over electricity shortfall plaguing the country, saying that those in power back then displayed ‘criminal negligence’.
    CM Punjab was addressing a ceremony in Lahore on Labour Day, where he said that the previous governments did not make adequate measures to overcome the problem.
    “Had they focused on working rather than looting, the country wouldn’t have been in the dark,” said CM Shehbaz.
    In the old days, every day a new corruption scandal emerged, he said.
    On  April 28, in a session of the Cabinet committee on Energy to review the situation of loadshedding across the country, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had expressed anger over prolonged power outages, demanding immediate action upon previous directions given to bring relief to masses.
    Loadshedding has become a major issue and public including opposition parties have been holding demonstrations across the country over the matter.


  2. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that if security is not adequate in a high-security area like Wah Cantt, then it could raise a question mark on the performance of intelligence and security agencies.
    An intelligence report expressing fears of a terrorist attack in Wah Cantt citing fears that terrorists could carry out an attack at the POF complex in the Wah Cantt area at a Labour Day ceremony at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) complex.
    Nisar said that he along with two other federal ministers would attend the ceremony today despite the security fears.
    Three federal minister — Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Rana Tanveer Hussain, and Muhammad Barjees Tahir  — were scheduled to attend a Labour Day ceremony at the POF complex.
    But, rejecting the intelligence report, Nisar said that the ceremony takes place every year and the three ministers would attend it on Monday as planned, despite the security threats.
    Nisar said that if the lives of labourers at the POF complex in Wah Cantt are not safe, then even he does not care for his own life.
    Following the news, authorities have stopped private news media channels from attending the event, which will now be covered only by state-owned media.
    Two terror suspects killed in police operation
    Two suspected terrorists were killed in a search operation conducted by law enforcement agencies in Wah Cantonment earlier on Monday.
    A suicide jacket and a large cache of arms were seized from a house in the raid, conducted under the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.
    The retaliatory firing from the security forces killed the terror suspects, Sift Allah and Muhammad Abbas, after they opened fire on the police.
    Police said they were investigating the suspects' ties with a terrorist outfit.

    In a separate operation today, the Motorway Police recovered a huge cache of arms from a car in Kot Pindi Das in Sheikhupura. Two suspects were arrested after the Motorway Police recovered approximately a hundred rifles, Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, and a huge cache of bullets from the car.
    Police said the suspects were transporting the arms and ammunition from Islamabad to Lahore via the Motorway.


  3. Waqas Dar
    Leading Bollywood ladies Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra have been making headlines after they appeared in big Hollywood projects – namely Baywatch and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, respectively – but Indian media is abuzz with entirely something else.
    Citing alleged fallout gossip due to professional tussle on an international level, various media outlets have been reporting that the two stunning actresses are not on good terms and that that’s why the Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani star was absent at a recent party hosted by Priyanka.
    Sources, however, say that Deepika is quite busy with her work, which is why she was unable to attend Teri Meri Kahaani actress’ event. “Deepika has been shooting at nights for Padmavati and was even shooting at Film City on the night of the party,” a friend said, according to Pinkvilla.
     

     
    Earlier, Deepika had slammed the rumours when she said, “I like the fact that you use the word ‘friend’ because that’s what she is to me. […] I feel extremely awkward and weird when such comparisons are made because I don’t even believe that we are professional rivals. We never were. So, why should we be now?”
     

     
    Priyanka agreed; “I have been compared to actresses all my life. I have no problems with that. They compare me to everyone during each release. It's become a habit now,” she stated, as per the publication.
    Maybe it’s time the beauties are taken at their words and left alone to focus on their careers?


  4. Waqas Dar
    Eighth-ranked Pakistan have extended advantage over ninth-ranked West Indies in the new ICC ODI team rankings annual update released May 1.
    The lead takes the Green Shirts closer to direct qualification for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, since England plus the next seven highest-ranked sides as on 30 September 2017 will qualify automatically for the Cup.
    Both Pakistan and West Indies have lost points following the update – Pakistan slipped from 90 points to 88 points and the West Indies slid from 83 points to 79 points. However, Pakistan’s pre-update seven-point gap has extended to nine points.
    South Africa have retained the number one spot in the rankings, followed by Australia at number two.

    Source: ICC
    The annual update is released to ensure the table continues to reflect teams’ recent form with older results being discarded. The table now reflects all matches from May 1, 2014, with matches played from May 1, 2016 carrying 100 percent weighting.
    In the lead up to the September 30, 2017 cut-off date, Bangladesh are scheduled to play a tri-series in Ireland, which also features New Zealand. The West Indies will host Afghanistan in a three-ODI series in June, before travelling to England where they will play five ODIs in September.
    Pakistan’s only assignment before the cut-off is the ICC Champions Trophy, which starts June 1, 2017 in England.


  5. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Monday said that the Afghan leadership has assured cooperation in cementing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    "The entire political leadership of Pakistan spoke with one voice for developing meaningful partnership between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the speaker said while talking to media after returning from high-level parliamentary delegation's visit to Afghanistan.
    Sadiq said it was time Pakistan moved forward in confidence and trust and that the country would continue playing its role in improving relations with neighboring countries.
    He said that Pakistan wanted to promote peace in the region and it would continue its endeavour to obtain this objective.
    The speaker expressed hope that the visit of the high-level parliamentary delegation would open a new chapter in the bilateral relations of the two countries.
    The main objective behind the visit was to revive relations between the two countries and address all concerns, he said, terming the visit as very successful.
    He added that there was representation of all provinces and parliamentary parties and that both sides raised issues and discussed them in detail.
    Sadiq said that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and the people, parliament and the government of Afghanistan welcomed the delegation.
    He also expressed hope that the visit would pave way for lasting peace and friendship between the two countries.
    The speaker said that Iran had also shown its willingness to become part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
    He added that the Afghan leadership would visit Pakistan soon.
    A 17-member parliamentary delegation visited Afghanistan comprising the entire political spectrum, represented in both houses of the parliament.
    The Pakistan parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, comprised Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Federal Ministers Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch, Mir Hasil Bazinjo and Akram Durrani, Chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Relations Committee Sardar Awais Leghari, Chief of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party MNA Mehmood Khan Achakzai, parliamentary leaders of PPP Syed Naveed Qamar, ANP's Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, PTI's Shafqat Mehmood, Jamat-e-Islami's Sahibzada Tariqullah, Qaumi Watan Party's Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and FATA leader G. G. Jamal.


  6. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has shunned an intelligence report expressing fears of a terrorist attack in Wah Cantt, saying he along with two other federal ministers would attend a Labour Day ceremony at the Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) complex today despite the security fears.
    Intelligence agencies had given a report to the Interior Ministry citing fears that terrorists could carry out an attack at the POF complex in the Wah Cantt area.
    Three federal minister — Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Rana Tanveer Hussain, and Muhammad Barjees Tahir  — were scheduled to attend a Labour Day ceremony at the POF complex.
    But, rejecting the intelligence report, Nisar said that the ceremony takes place every year and the three ministers would attend it on Monday as planned, despite the security threats.
    The Interior Minister said that if security was not adequate in a high-security area like Wah Cantt, then it raised a question mark on the performance of intelligence and security agencies.
    Nisar said that if the lives of labourers at the POF complex in Wah Cantt are not safe, then even he does not care for his own life.
    Following the news, authorities have stopped private news media channels from attending the event, which will now be covered only by state-owned media.
    Two terror suspects killed in police operation
    Two suspected terrorists were killed in a search operation conducted by law enforcement agencies in Wah Cantonment earlier on Monday.
    A suicide jacket and a large cache of arms were seized from a house in the raid, conducted under the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad.
    The retaliatory firing from the security forces killed the terror suspects, Sift Allah and Muhammad Abbas, after they opened fire on the police.
    Police said they were investigating the suspects' ties with a terrorist outfit.

    In a separate operation today, the Motorway Police recovered a huge cache of arms from a car in Kot Pindi Das in Sheikhupura. Two suspects were arrested after the Motorway Police recovered approximately a hundred rifles, Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, and a huge cache of bullets from the car.
    Police said the suspects were transporting the arms and ammunition from Islamabad to Lahore via the Motorway.


  7. Waqas Dar
    SOCHI: Valtteri Bottas waited 81 races for his first Formula One win to come along but it will get easier for the Finn after Sunday's success in Russia, according to former world champion Niki Lauda.
    "To win the first grand prix...is always the most difficult one," the retired triple champion and non-executive chairman of Bottas's Mercedes team, told reporters.
    "This I know out of my own experience. So every one that comes next, for him his life is easier. He has proven that he can win.
    "As soon as you win the first grand prix, a big load comes off," added the Austrian, who was surprised Ferrari did not win in Sochi given their race pace and having both cars starting on the front row.
    Instead, Bottas roared past both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen to seize the lead into the first corner in a move that decided the outcome.
    The Finn has had to wait longer than most to scale the top step of the podium but the man he replaced in January, retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg, took his first victory in his 111th grand prix start after also starting out at Williams.
    Fellow-Finn Mika Hakkinen, world champion in 1998 and 1999 with McLaren, took 96 races.
    Only last week, reporters were asking Bottas about having to accept so-called 'team orders' and help triple champion team mate Lewis Hamilton in the title battle against Vettel but it looks different already.
    Bottas is now just 10 points adrift of Hamilton and, having started the season as an emergency stopgap, can now quite legitimately see himself in the championship mix.
    That situation poses another headache for Hamilton but is one that Mercedes are relaxed about having to manage. They do not expect the relationship to turn sour as it did between the Briton and Rosberg.
    "He (Bottas) took up that risky move to be Lewis Hamilton's team mate, to take over the reigning world champion's car, and I think that he has done a very good job," said team boss Toto Wolff.
    "The relationship between the two is very intact, Lewis was one of the first to congratulate Valtteri on his first race victory and I think that shows the respect that they have towards each other.
    "Nevertheless, both of them are fierce competitors and they will want to win races and fight for a championship; But I don't think it will affect the relationship and the dynamics within the team like it did in the last years between Nico and Lewis."


  8. Waqas Dar
    US public health officials declared victory over malaria in 1951, but the mosquito-borne disease continues to infect and kill American travellers, a new study shows.
    From 2000 through 2014, more than 22,000 people with malaria were hospitalised in the US, including 182 who died from it, according to estimates published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
    Using hospitalisation data, researchers found an average of more than 2,100 US malaria cases a year – nearly double the number previously reported.
    Most of those hospitalised for malaria in the US are men. A majority are black, most likely foreign-born individuals who travelled abroad, frequently to their countries of origin, where they often fail to realise they are no longer immune to the deadly parasitic disease, lead author Diana Khuu said in a phone interview.
    “We need to encourage travellers to seek pre-travel advice and to use personal protective measures against mosquitoes and anti-malarial medications when they travel to malarious countries,” said Khuu, an epidemiologist at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
    “Because a lot of people are not using these preventive measures, it’s resulting in a lot of hospitalisations and in half a billion dollars in hospital charges from 2000 to 2014,” she said.
    Insecticide-treated bed nets have been credited with spurring a 41 percent drop in worldwide malaria incidence and a 62 percent drop in worldwide malaria deaths over the past 15 years.
    Despite the progress, malaria infected an estimated 212 million people and killed an estimated 429,000 in 2015. Nearly 90 percent of cases were in children under age 5 in Africa, where malaria claims a child’s life every two minutes, according to a statement from the National Institutes of Health this week on World Malaria Day, April 25.
    Meanwhile, the number of imported malaria cases has steadily increased in the US
    Dr Stephen Gluckman of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia sees six to 10 patients a week who travel to malaria-risk areas in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and parts of South America.
    He attributes the increase in US malaria cases to an increase in Americans travelling to developing parts of the world where the disease continues to threaten lives.
    He advises people travelling outside the US to consult a “bona fide” travel clinic before departing. “There are several options and significant nuances in advice for preventing malaria,” he said in an email.
    Checking the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website for travellers also can be helpful, but Gluckman, who was not involved with the study, believes individualised advice is superior.
    He warned that people infected with malaria might carry the disease for months or years before falling ill. In the meantime, an infected pregnant woman could pass malaria to her unborn child, and a mosquito could bite an unsuspecting infected person and pass malaria on when it bites another person.
    Moreover, Gluckman warned, there is “a very large group of at-risk people who rarely get screened”.
    “These people grew up in developing parts of the world but now live in the US,” he said. “When returning to visit their country of origin, they very rarely seek any prevention advice because they grew up in a community that did not have access to prevention.”
    “They are difficult to reach but clearly could be accessed by the proper public health programs in the communities where they live in the USA,” he said.
    People who grew up in malaria-endemic areas, especially those who were exposed as children, do gain some natural protection, but they still can get malaria and therefore need to take preventive steps. In addition, spending long periods in a malaria-free area, like the US, can reduce immunity and render people more susceptible to infection.
    “You can develop immunity,” Khuu said. “But after you move away, that immunity wanes. If they go back to visit, they might not use the preventive measures because they might think they’re still immune.”
    And why do men appear to be more vulnerable, comprising 60 percent of the US cases?
    Khuu believes they are less likely to seek pre-travel advice, less likely to use mosquito repellent and take anti-malarial medication, and their sweat might be more attractive to mosquitoes.


  9. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: People like model Ayyan Ali are taking bags full of the country's wealth outside, said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan while addressing traders on Monday.
    "The more the tax increases the more incidents of theft and robbery will increase in the country," he said, adding traders are not even ensured security in the country.
    "The country cannot prosper, where traders are under constant threat of their children being kidnapped."
    Imran also compared the powers given to representatives in Karachi to those with their counterparts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying his government in the province has empowered the inspector general. 
    "The powers Waseem Akhtar [Karachi mayor] is asking for are those that Peshawar mayor already has," he maintained. 
    While talking about the work his party has done for the region, Imran said Galiyat, near Abbottabad, has started to look like Europe. He pointed out at the state of sanitation in Karachi, saying the city is drowning in dirt. 


  10. Waqas Dar
    LOS ANGELES (via Variety.com): It has become a familiar story – The Fate of the Furious is, once again, the box office champ.
    The massively-popular eighth episode in the Fast and Furious franchise earned $19.4 million this weekend from 4,077 locations, placing it securely in first place during a sputtering weekend, anticipating the summer season. After winning the domestic box office for three straight weeks, the Universal movie's US total stands at $192.7 million.
    Not only that, Fate's global total officially crossed the $1-billion mark, making it the 21st highest grossing movie of all time behind 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Its total global sum stands at $1.06 billion.
    On the other hand, it fuelled China's box office sales to their fastest pace in over a year in April, churning in $362.7 million in the China market, EntGroup data showed.
    But while Fate's victory seemed inevitable, the rest of the weekend's top five reaped intrigue. Pantelion's How to be a Latin Lover slid into second over Tom Hanks and Emma Watson's not-so-distant future tech-thriller The Circle. Led by Mexican star Eugenio Derbez, Latin Lover attracted $12 million from only 1,118 targeted locations. The opening weekend's audience domestically was 89% Hispanic.
    In Latin Lover, Derbez plays a man named Maximo who made a career seducing older women. When his now 80-year-old wife kicks him out for a younger man, Maximo goes to live with his sister (Salma Hayek) and attempts to remaster his art of seduction. Rob Lowe and Kristen Bell also star in comedic actor Ken Marino's directorial debut. Derbez has won over the domestic box office in the past. In 2013 Instructions Not Included, which he directed in addition to starring in, earned $7.8 million in its opening weekend from only 348 theatres.
    Despite screening in only 420 locations, the South Indian epic Baahubali 2: The Conclusion landed in third for the weekend with a hefty sum of $10.5 million. The movie, from Great India Films, is the sequel to Baahubali: The Beginning which made $3.6 million when it opened in 236 theatres in 2015. S.S. Rajamouli returned to direct the movie starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, and Anushka Shetty.
    Baahubali 2 earned $1.8 million of its domestic total from 45 IMAX screens alone. Five domestic IMAX locations set new three-day weekend records, and the film also set records in India, making it the biggest domestic IMAX opening for a foreign language film.
    Not every story from the weekend box office was quite so rosy. Slapped with a rare D+ CinemaScore and a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Circle landed $9.3 million from 3,163 theatres, falling short of its double-digit projections. The $18-million movie was acquired by EuropaCorp for an estimated $8 million.
    The film hoped to draw audiences by tapping into modern-day anxieties surrounding technology and privacy. In the movie, Hanks plays the CEO of a Silicon Valley social media company. His young employee, played by Watson, finds herself wrapped up in an experiment that tests ethical limits. James Ponsoldt directed the movie and co-wrote the script with Dave Eggers, who wrote the novel on which the movie was based.
    Blumhouse's BH Tilt label released Sleight in 565 theatres and saw a weekend gross of $1.7 million. The film tells the story of a young street magician in Los Angeles (Jacob Latimore) who uses magic and his mind to save his kidnapped sister. Seychelle Gabriel, Dule Hill, Storm Reid and Sasheer Zamata also star. The label's marketing and release strategy targeted a young, urban audience – 72% of audiences fell in the 18-34 demo and 45% were African-American.
    In its fifth weekend, Fox's Boss Baby held onto the fifth position. The animated film earned an additional $9.1 million from 3,739 locations, raising its domestic total to just shy of $150 million.
    Next weekend marks the first summer frame and should see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 post huge numbers. The sequel earned over $101 million at the foreign box office in its opened weekend – one ahead of the US When the now-beloved first Guardians movie launched as a relatively unknown property in August of 2014, it made $94 million in its opening weekend.
     
     


  11. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Punjab president Qamar Zaman Kaira has announced to start an anti-government campaign this week.
    Speaking at an event held to commemorate Labour Day, Kaira said his party would organise a camp outside Minar-e-Pakistan on May 4 aimed at toppling the government.
    “The PPP would announce its next plan of action against [the PML-N] on May 4,” he said, adding, “If Shehbaz Sharif can put up a camp then why not us?”
    Taking aim at the current regime, the former Information Minister said the government keeps coming up with one drama after another.
    “For how much longer can they continue to burn records of their thefts?” he remarked, and vowed that the PPP campaign would force the government to leave.
    Referring to the withdrawal of the portfolio of Foreign Affairs from the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, Kaira said the “house of cards has begun to fall apart”.
    “What if the Dawn Leaks records are set on fire?” the PPP leader questioned.
    Earlier this week, Kaira rejected the probe report of Dawn Leaks, saying that it was expected that the government would try to brush the matter under the carpet.


  12. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Authorities were unable to rescue a 19-year old boy who fell in a 50-feet deep well on Sunday afternoon in Karachi.
    Authorities failed to rescue the teenager, identified as Faizan, even after 18 hours had lapsed since the incident took place near Sassi Toll Plaza.
    Locals engaged in rescue activities near Ghaghar Phatak where the teenager fell into the well.
    The District Council Chairman Salman Murad visited the site of the incident; however, he took no concrete measures for a rescue operation to be launched.  
    Earlier in April, a woman was rescued, while her alleged kidnappers were arrested from Mobina Town in Karachi.
    While talking to the media, the rescued woman accused Anas of trapping her in the name of love. Later, she said, they threatened of killing her brother if she would not go with them. "That is why I went with them," she said. 
    Read more: Woman rescued, alleged kidnappers arrested in Karachi
    "He had kept me locked in the room [of a house]." 
    However, Anas said him and the woman wanted to marry each other.  


  13. Waqas Dar
    Hasan Minhaj, commonly known for his role of the correspondent on The Daily Show program, ripped apart US President Donald Trump and his policies at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which took place in Washington on Saturday.
    The 25-minute-long game of heated taunts was initiated brilliantly by Minhaj. “No one wanted to do this. So of course, it landed in the hands of an immigrant. That’s how it always goes down. [And] I’ll be known in a few weeks, no. 830-287,” he said.
    “In the age of Trump, you guys have to be more perfect, now more than ever,” he said, calling the event the “series finale” since Trump was notably absent as he boycotted media outlets.
    The speech was full of snide comments, as Minhaj rained down jabs and jeers at the incumbent president. “Now you know what it feels like to be a minority,” he said since if “one of you messes up, [Trump] blames your entire group”.
    Minhaj viciously criticised Trump’s dislike of the minorities, including Muslims, Sikhs, and the LGBT community. “Everyone is gonna expect you to be the mouthpiece for the entire group,” he said to the crowd of celebrated reporters and journalists.
    As to why he thinks he can talk on this matter, he had the perfect response: “You guys got a lot more experience than me, but I got three decades of being brown.”
    Blazing away despite the organisers' wishes of refraining from mocking Trump, Minhaj said he did so to honour US constitutional protection of free speech. “Only in America can a first-generation, Indian-American Muslim kid get on this stage and make fun of the president,” he explained.
    The comedian went on to say that minority communities experience a lot of prejudice and are stereotypically thought to be the bad guys – which means that if someone from the marginalised groups does an outstanding job, they “get hit with the most condescending line in the English language: ‘Hey, you’re actually one of the good ones’”.
    White House Correspondents’ Dinner is famous for its traditional roasting of state policies, administration’s beliefs and viewpoints, and the US Presidents, who also take the stage to make self-deprecating remarks in a light-hearted evening with the press.
    However, it’s “not Donald Trump's style,” says NBC News' Andrea Mitchell, hinting at how the president manages to make comments that imply he’s the best at every job and that he’ll make “America great again”.
    Trump had instead scheduled a rally in Pennsylvania where he brutally lambasted the media, including prominent names such as CNN and The New York Times, and became the first incumbent US president to bow out in 36 years.
    To which, Minhaj’s response was: “We have to address the elephant not in the room. The leader of our country is not here. But that's because he's in Moscow.”
    “As for the other guy, I think he’s in Pennsylvania because he can’t take a joke.”
    Regardless, Minhaj managed to pull in Trump’s lies and his unnaturally long ties as well.
    “We are here to talk about the truth. It is 2017, and we are living in the golden age of lying. Now’s the time to be a liar, and Donald Trump is liar in chief. And remember, you guys are public enemy no. 1. You are his biggest enemy. Journalists, ISIS, normal-length ties.”
    Plus, it’s good that Trump gets to play golf frequently, claims Minhaj referring to media’s disapproval of the president’s hobby. “I think I speak for all of us when I say he's done far too much bombing this month.”
    So if you think you need to double up your efforts as an immigrant or come from an immigrant family for lesser credit than you deserve, Hasan Minhaj has the best advice.
    “Remember, you’re a minority. […] You gotta think like a minority.”
    Take a seat and enjoy the entire 25 minutes of these fantastic burns here:
     

     


  14. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) will meet on Sunday to consider an additional revenue offer from the game´s world governing body but regardless of what decision they come to, a Champions Trophy pullout by the holders looks unlikely.
    Unaccustomed to being snubbed at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings, the BCCI was outvoted 13-1 last week 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
    Unimpressed by the $293 million forecast, down from the $570 million it would have received under the 2014 arrangement, the BCCI responded by refusing to name the squad for next month´s Champions Trophy before the April 25 deadline.
    ICC president Shashank Manohar, a former BCCI chief, has tabled an additional $100 million and the India board will discuss the offer at Sunday´s special general body meeting.
    The operations of the BCCI are currently being supervised by four court-appointed administrators and the head of the committee, Vinod Rai, told Reuters last week that it was "too early" to comment on a possible pullout Champions Trophy.
    Another of the quartet, Ramchandra Guha, has since made it clear he wants India to defend the title they won in 2013 at the June 1-18 tournament in England and Wales.
    "Speaking in my personal capacity, as a cricket fan, I believe the Indian cricket team absolutely must? take part in the Champions Trophy," Guha, a historian, tweeted.
    "Boycotting or threatening to boycott a prestigious international tournament does not become a great cricketing nation.
    "Under the Members Participation Agreement for the Champions Trophy, there is no scope for sanctions for missing the deadline for naming squads.


  15. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced on Monday to distribute Rs500 million among labourers in the form of marriage, death and education grants.
    Addressing an event held to commemorate Labour Day at CM House, the chief minister said Rs 1 billion have been planned for labourers by the Workers Welfare Board.
    "The remaining Rs500 million are in the pipeline and will be distributed by this year among labourers," he maintained. "In fact this event has not been held just to mark Labour Day, but to carry out the first phase of distribution of the amount."
    He pointed out the Pakistan Peoples Party has passed 13 laws for labourers in five years, including a safety and health policy. A draft labour policy is in its last stages, the chief minister said.
    PPP has always worked for labour rights: Bilawal 
    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/5ca65b30a72482076576707c31e35e35.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9NS8xLzIwMTcgNzozMjoxMCBBTSZoYXNoX3ZhbHVlPTdPbENiTHF1K2hDRXVWVm9IUExMMmc9PSZ2YWxpZG1pbnV0ZXM9NjAmaWQ9MQ== style=center]????
    Also present on the occasion, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the incumbent federal government does not care about the rights of labourers. These are the leaders who have looted the public and made off-shore companies and accounts, he added.
    Bilawal lamented that institutions like the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution and Workers Welfare Board are not properly empowered.
    "Our provincial government wants to solve these issues but the federal government is using delaying tactics," he said.

    Bilawal also spoke about labour courts, saying the purpose they were made for was not being fulfilled.
    "These courts are not helping the labourers get their rights," he said. "We request the federal federal government to make labour courts effective with the cooperation of Sindh High Court."
    Bilawal added that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had always worked for farmers, labourers and the youth.
    "He became the voice of the labourers and brought about reforms in the country," the PPP chairperson said. "No one can separate PPP from labourers."  


  16. Waqas Dar
    NEW YORK: The Iraq war may not sound like musical comedy, but an Off-Broadway revival is spinning intelligence failures and tragedy into a farce that offers potent messages for Donald Trump´s America.
    "Baghdaddy" officially opens on Monday, telling the true story of an Iraqi defector, code named Curveball, whose claims about weapons of mass destruction became justification for the US-led invasion in 2003.
    "If you put ´Hamilton´ and ´The Office´ in a blender you would have this show," says producer Charlie Fink of the Broadway smash hit about American founding father Alexander and the US television sitcom.
    The plot opens in the present day with disgraced CIA spies gathering at a support group -- think Spooks Anonymous -- as they seek understanding and redemption for mistakes that haunt them years later.
    The action then switches back in time to Frankfurt airport, where the informant offers to trade apparent secrets about Saddam Hussein´s presumed bio-weapons program for political asylum.
    German intelligence consults the CIA, where analysts driven by ambition, office crushes and intransigent bosses see Curveball as a ticket out of everyday routine and a fast-track to promotion.
    But the growing farce quickly gives way to the 9/11 attacks, swapping comedy for tragedy and the onset of a war still being fought today, 14 years after an invasion found no weapons of mass destruction.
    It´s a fast-paced script woven into a tight score that blends traditional musical theater and camp dancing with hip-hop tracks that carry a stark warning that history should not repeat itself.
    Fink says it is more relevant than ever in today´s climate of "fake news" and "alternative facts" as some fear that Trump could drag the country into another conflict, if not in Syria then over North Korea.
    "It has an immediacy that it didn´t have in 2015 and a sense that we´re doing this all again," says Fink, referring to a short run two years ago.
    ´Scary´
    "It feels like a time when rules are being rewritten and authority is listening to its instincts, rather than listening to facts and analysis. And that´s scary," says Fink.
    The first preview on April 6 coincided with the day that the president ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase, the first direct US action against the Syrian regime.
    Low budget and in the works for 10 years, there are just eight actors playing six main roles. "Baghdaddy" returns at the height of the Broadway season, competing with more than a dozen other new shows.
    It also spreads responsibility for the 2003 invasion far and wide, not just at the door of then president George W. Bush or the US government but the country as a whole and its Western allies in general.
    "We all messed up," says Marshall Pailet, director, co-writer and composer. Far from seeing comedy as inappropriate, he says it´s a great vehicle to get New York theater-goers thinking.
    "Because we open up their minds and their hearts with comedy, we´re able to slip in substance, story, character and a lesson."
    A.D. Penedo, who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book, admits it was daunting to turn the subject into a musical that both entertains and sends people away with a clear message.
    "We want them to be entertained and moved," he said. "But we want them to take away... that even though you feel like you don´t matter, you really do, and there´s ramifications for your actions."
    The show is scheduled to run until June 18 at St Luke´s Theatre, a basement venue just steps from Times Square.
    But never does the show laugh at war itself. More than 4,500 US troops have died in Iraq since 2003. Some estimates for the number of civilians to have perished range from 173,916 to nearly half a million.
    "We all own it," says Fink. "A wound in the world that is not going to be healed with tears or laughter."


  17. Waqas Dar
    NEW DELHI: Two Muslim men have died after they were attacked by Indian villagers who suspected them of stealing cows, police said Monday, the latest such attack over the animal Hindus consider sacred.
    Police in the northeastern state of Assam said they had registered a murder case over the deaths of Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali, who were beaten with sticks on Sunday. Two suspects have been detained for questioning.
    "They were chased and beaten with sticks by villagers who said the two boys were trying to steal cows from their grazing field," Debaraj Upadhyay, Nagaon´s top cop, told AFP by telephone.
    "By the time we took them to the hospital at night they had succumbed to their injuries," he added.
    The incident comes amidst a wave of rising tensions over the killing and smuggling of cows in Hindu-majority India, where the animal is considered sacred and its slaughter is a punishable offence in many states.
    There have been a spate of attacks in recent months by ´cow protection´ vigilante groups, who roam some highways inspecting livestock trucks for any trace of the animal.
    A Muslim man died last month after his truck carrying cows was attacked by a group in western Rajasthan state.
    But Updadhyay dismissed any suggestion that a vigilante group or association was involved in the latest incident.
    In 2015, a Muslim man was lynched by his neighbours over rumours that he had slaughtered a cow. Police later said the meat was mutton.
    Critics say the vigilantes have been emboldened by the election in 2014 of Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
    Last year Modi criticised the cow-protection vigilantes and urged a crackdown against groups using religion as a cover for committing crimes.


  18. Waqas Dar
    WELLINGTON: Rapper Eminem launched court action against New Zealand´s ruling political party on Monday, accusing it of using an unlicensed version of his hit "Lose Yourself" in a campaign advert.
    Lawyers for the US artist told the High Court in Wellington that he never gave the National Party permission to use the song, which featured in the 2002 movie "8 Mile".
    Barrister Garry Williams said National breached the copyright of Eight Mile Style, Eminem´s publisher, by using the tune in a 2014 election television commercial.
    Williams said the Detroit rapper´s hit was "iconic", having won an Academy Award, two Grammys and critical acclaim.
    He said that meant rights to the work were "enormously valuable" and were strictly controlled by the publisher, which had rarely licensed them for advertising purposes.
    Williams said the song, which topped the charts in 24 countries, dealt with "the idea of losing yourself in the moment and not missing opportunities in life".
    "That´s why the song appeals to both the public and those who wish to influence the public by using it in advertising," he said.
    No details were immediately revealed of what damages Eminem was seeking.
    National´s lawyers are set to argue the tune they used, "Eminem-esque", was a generic track that was part of a library bought from production music supplier Beatbox.
    They are expected to contend that any copyright infringement was accidental.
    The conservative party´s campaign director Steven Joyce dismissed Eminem´s claim when the row erupted in 2014.
    "We think it´s pretty legal, I think these guys are just having a crack," he told reporters at the time.
    The judge-only hearing is scheduled to take six days.


  19. Waqas Dar
    WAH CANTONMENT: Two suspected terrorists were killed in a search operation conducted by law enforcement agencies in Wah Cantonment on Monday.
    A raid conducted under the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a suicide jacket and a large cache of arms were seized from a house in the area.

    The accused opened fire on the police. The retaliatory firing from the security forces killed the terror suspect Sift Allah and Muhammad Abbas.
    Read more: Huge cache of arms and ammunition seized in Sheikhupura
    Investigations of the deceased individuals' ties with a terrorist outfit are underway, the police said.
    Earlier on Monday, the Motorway Police recovered a huge cache of arms from a car in Kot Pindi Das in Sheikhupura.
    Two suspects were arrested after the Motorway Police recovered approximately a hundred rifles, Kalashnikov rifles, pistols, and a huge cache of bullets from a car.
    The accused were transporting the arms and ammunition from Islamabad to Lahore via the Motorway, the Motorway Police told Geo News.
     


  20. Waqas Dar
    WASHINGTON: The White House on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's decision to invite Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to Washington, saying his cooperation was needed to counter North Korea, even as the administration faced human rights criticism for its overture to Manila.
    Trump issued the invitation on Saturday night in what the White House said was a “very friendly” phone conversation with Duterte, who is accused by international human rights groups of supporting a campaign of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines.
    “There is nothing right now facing this country and facing the region that is a bigger threat than what’s happening in North Korea,” White House chief of staff Reince Priebus told ABC’s This Week during a weekend in which Trump sought to firm up support in Southeast Asia to help rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
    Priebus insisted the outreach to Duterte “doesn't mean that human rights don't matter, but what it does mean is that the issues facing us developing out of North Korea are so serious that we need cooperation at some level with as many partners in the area as we can get to make sure we have our ducks in a row”.
    The invitation for Duterte to the visit White House at an unspecified date appeared to be the latest example of the affinity Trump has shown for some foreign leaders with shaky human rights or autocratic reputations.
    For instance, he expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 presidential campaign, hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House, and has had warm words for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who Trump is pressing to do more to rein in its ally and neighbour North Korea.
    On Sunday, Trump also extended a White House invitation to Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general who heads a military government that took power in a 2014 coup. Prayuth’s administration had strained relations with Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.
    “Celebrating a man who boasts of killing his own citizens and inviting him to the White House, while remaining silent on his disgusting human rights record, sends a terrifying message,” said John Sifton, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
    “By effectively endorsing Duterte's murderous ‘war on drugs’, Trump has made himself morally complicit in future killings,” he said.
    A Trump administration official insisted, however, that the invitation was not a reward to Duterte or an endorsement of his policies but a decision that engagement with the Philippines, an important longtime US ally, was better than withdrawal which could “intensify bad behaviour” by Duterte.
    “It’s not a ‘thank you’,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s a meeting.”
    The official denied a New York Times report citing administration officials saying the State Department and the National Security Council were caught off-guard by the invitation to Duterte and were expected to object internally. "We were not surprised. The guys who prepared for the call were unified on this," the official said.
    'ON THE SAME PAGE' ON NORTH KOREA
    Priebus made clear that North Korea was the top priority.
    “If we don’t have all of our folks together — whether they’re good folks, bad folks, people we wish would do better in their country, doesn’t matter, we’ve got to be on the same page” on North Korea, Priebus said.
    But taking a swipe at Trump for his invitation to Duterte, Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy tweeted, “We are watching in real time as the American human rights bully pulpit disintegrates into ash."
    Thousands of Filipinos have been killed since Duterte unleashed his fierce anti-drugs campaign nearly 10 months ago. Police say they have killed only in self-defense, and the deaths of other drug dealers and users were down to vigilantes or narcotics gangs silencing potential witnesses.
    Human rights groups say official accounts are implausible and accuse Duterte of backing campaign of systematic extrajudicial killings by police. The government denies that.
    Duterte was infuriated by the Obama administration's expressions of concern about extrajudicial killings after he took office last year and threatened to sever the long-standing US defence alliance.
    Duterte spoke positively about Trump, a fellow populist, after the US presidential election in November, and the new administration has sought ways to mend the alliance.
    In a summary of Saturday’s phone call between the two leaders, the White House said the two discussed “the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world”.
    The White House statement included no criticism of Duterte’s methods.


  21. Waqas Dar
    DUBAI: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to cut the price of its flagship Arab Light by 40-50 cents a barrel in June to the lowest in nine months, a survey of Asian refiners showed.
    Official selling prices (OSPs) are expected to fall across the board for Saudi crudes sold to Asia in June, after a fall in the Middle East benchmark Dubai crude due to ample oil supplies, the survey of five refiners found.
    "We expect Saudi OSPs to fall as the spot market has collapsed amid oversupply," an analyst with a North Asian refiner said, adding that the June Arab Light OSP will drop by at least 50 cents a barrel.
    Reflecting weak demand, the spread for first- and third-month cash Dubai prices widened in contango in April from a month ago, traders said.
    In a contango market, prompt prices are lower than those in future months as ample supplies weigh on the spot market.
    Last month, almost all grades of Middle East crude loading in June traded at discounts to their price markers as they faced stiff competition from record flows of oil shipped to Asia from Europe and the United States in recent months, particularly as US shale production grows.
    Demand from China and Japan has also slowed as some refining units have yet to return from maintenance, while independent Chinese refiners are waiting for more import quotas to be issued by Beijing.
    Most of the survey respondents expect Arab Light crude to be cut by 40 cents in June. The respondents expect smaller price cuts for Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude as Saudi Arabia could continue to tighten exports of these grades to comply with a deal by OPEC and some non-OPEC producers to cut output.
    The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will decide in late May whether it will extend output cuts for another six months in a bid to draw down global inventories. Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth of each month, and set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti, and Iraqi prices, affecting more than 12 million barrels per day (BPD) of crude bound for Asia.
    State oil giant Saudi Aramco sets its crude prices based on recommendations from customers and after calculating the change in the value of its oil over the past month, based on yields and product prices.
    Saudi Aramco officials as a matter of policy do not comment on the kingdom's monthly OSPs.


  22. Waqas Dar
    Twitter Inc is partnering with Bloomberg Media for a round-the-clock streaming television news service on the social networking platform, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday.
    The channel, which is yet to be named and is expected to begin operations this fall, would be announced Monday, WSJ said.
    Twitter's user growth has stalled in the past few quarters and the company has been trying to convince advertisers that it will strengthen its user base. As part of its efforts, it has updated its product offerings including live video broadcasts from its app and launched new features to attract users.
    Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in an internal memo last October one of the company's missions was defined as being the "people's news network".
    Twitter has made a push into news and sports on mobile devices last year and this foray could pique the interest of a media company as an acquirer, analysts have said.


  23. Waqas Dar
    A week before the decisive second round in France's presidential election, many voters are sceptical that either of the two candidates can solve chronic unemployment or tackle security concerns, a poll published on Sunday found.
    The Ifop survey for the Journal du Dimanche highlights two key battlegrounds as centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right opponent Marine Le Pen enter a final week of campaigning - France's economy and borders.
    Polls predict that Macron, a former economy minister, will win the May 7 run-off with about 59-60 percent. But the momentum has recently been with Le Pen, who has clawed back about five percentage points over the past week.
    According to the Ifop poll, 45 percent of voters believe the two finalists would not put an end to unemployment, which has for years stood close to 10 percent in France. And 36 percent say neither candidate is able to protect France from attacks.
    Read more: Polling station evacuated in eastern France due to suspicious vehicle
    France has been under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks, mostly perpetrated by young men who grew up in France and Belgium. More than 230 people have been killed in the past two years.
    Days before the first round of voting on April 23 a French policeman was shot dead and two others were wounded in central Paris in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

    A woman walks past the new official posters for the candidates for the 2017 French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, (L) and Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader (R), in Paris, France, April 28, 2017. REUTERS
    The result of the run-off vote will depend to a large extent on floating voters and the level of abstentions.
    In the first round 22.2 percent of voters abstained, the highest percentage since 2002 when Marine Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, won through to the second round only to be soundly defeated by conservative Jacques Chirac.
    This time if turnout is low in the second round analysts say Macron could struggle to reproduce the same broad movement against the National Front candidate, citing his mainly free-market policies at a time when anti-establishment feeling has been on the rise in Europe and the United States.
    Left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, with 19.6 percent of the votes in the first round, has urged his supporters to oppose Le Pen but has refused to back Macron for the second round.
    Le Pen traveled to Marseille on Sunday to speak on the environment, a key issue for Melenchon supporters, while Macron visited the Holocaust memorial in Paris.
    Read more: Security dominates French election after shooting
    The Ifop poll found 42 percent of voters believe neither Macron nor Le Pen would be able to reunite the country after months of bitter campaigning, while 43 percent questioned whether either would be able to govern after capturing the Elysee palace.
    France returns to the polls in June to select members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, where a majority is needed to push through government policies.
    Both Macron, who launched a new party a year ago, and Le Pen, whose National Front has only two seats in the National Assembly, have faced questions about their ability to build a parliamentary majority.
    Le Pen said on Saturday defeated right-wing candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan would be her prime minister if she won.
    In a statement outlining the alliance struck with Dupont-Aignan's small nationalist party, Le Pen said there was no rush to dump the euro and that other policy changes might take precedence, in what appeared to be a softening of her stance towards the single currency.
    She appeared to reverse this position on Sunday, making clear in a video published on newspaper Le Parisien's website that she was still intent on leaving the euro eventually.
    A policy coordinator with Le Pen confirmed she would call a referendum within six months on France's future in the European Union, and therefore on the euro, if she were to be elected.
    Analysts said the confusion was largely due to the fact that Le Pen's plans to quit the EU and the euro are among the least popular policies in her protectionist, anti-immigration electoral platform.
    Macron received support on Sunday from Jean-Louis Borloo, a previous leader of the UDI, a small centrist party, but has yet to say who he would ask to lead a government.
     


  24. Waqas Dar
    San Diego police said on Sunday they had shot and killed a man who had opened fire beside a pool at an apartment complex, while holding a beer in his other hand, wounding eight people.
    San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman told an evening news conference the gunman was killed after pointing his weapon at police, who had responded to reports of shots being fired at an apartment complex in the wealthy enclave of La Jolla just after 6 PM local time (6 AM Pakistan time).
    Eight people were hit, Zimmerman said. Several were in critical condition and being treated in hospitals in the area. The gunman was not identified and no motive was disclosed.
    A resident of the apartment complex who witnessed part of the incident told television station KFMB-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Diego, he saw several people who had been shot before the gunman was killed by police.
    Media reported the shooting broke out at the La Jolla Crossroads Apartments in the University City section of San Diego.
    The KFMB eyewitness, who identified himself only as a Crossroads resident named John, said he saw the suspect "sitting, drinking a beer in one hand with a gun out in the other" in the pool area of the apartment complex.
    He said he and his wife, a nurse, saw "three people laying on the ground shot", and that he also saw one wounded victim trying to crawl to another to give assistance.
    He said two police officers who arrived on the scene confronted the gunman, who exchanged gunfire with police before he was shot. The eyewitness also said some of the victims were taken away in cars to the hospital before fire department personnel or paramedics made it to the scene.


  25. Waqas Dar
    U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday stepped up outreach to allies in Asia to secure their cooperation to pressure North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs.
    Trump spoke to the prime ministers of Thailand and Singapore in separate phone calls about the North Korean threat and invited both of them to Washington, U.S. officials said.
    "They discussed ways to maintain diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea," one U.S. official said of the calls, speaking on condition of anonymity.
    Trump's calls to the two Asian leaders came two days after North Korea test-launched another missile that Washington and Seoul said was unsuccessful but which drew widespread international condemnation.
    Trump talked on Saturday night with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who was also invited to the White House. Duterte has been criticised by human rights groups for an anti-drug campaign in which more than 8,000 people have died.
    A week ago, Trump spoke with the leaders of China and Japan on the North Korea issue.
    "We need cooperation at some level with as many partners in the area as we can get to make sure that we have our ducks in a row," White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told ABC's "This Week" earlier on Sunday.
    "So if something does happen in North Korea, that we have everyone in line backing up a plan of action that may need to be put together with our partners in the area,” he said. "We have got to be on the same page."
    Priebus said the conversations were prompted by the "potential for nuclear and massive destruction in Asia" and eventually in the United States.
    The U.S. president, who warned in an interview with Reuters that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible, did not elaborate on any U.S. response to the test. "You'll soon find out," he said on Saturday.
    Trump has stressed he would not broadcast military options to preserve an element of surprise. His secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said on Friday all options remained on the table.
    Pyongyang's missile test came as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group arrived in waters near the Korean peninsula, where it began exercises with the South Korean navy on Saturday about 12 hours after the failed launch, a South Korean navy official said.
    Priebus said Trump was in regular contact with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and that the president had become "very close" to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
    Trump, for whom China was a virtual punching bag during the 2016 presidential campaign over trade, told CBS that any trade disputes with the Asian economic giant took a back seat to securing its cooperation on North Korea.
    China, North Korea's only major ally and its largest trading partner, has expressed increasing concern about Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions. But it has warned against escalation.
    "Trade is very important. But massive warfare with millions, potentially millions of people being killed? That, as we would say, trumps trade," Trump said in the "Face the Nation" interview.
    Similarly, concerns over human rights in the Philippines, where critics cite extrajudicial killings in Duterte's war on drugs, take a back seat to possible confrontation in Asia.
    "There is nothing right now facing this country and facing the region that is a bigger threat than what is happening in North Korea," Priebus said in the ABC interview.
    Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general, heads a military-dominated government that took power in a 2014 coup. His government had strained relations with Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.
    H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, was asked if Washington must respond to the latest test, especially after Vice President Mike Pence told allies during a trip to Asia this month that the "era of strategic patience is over."
    "Well, yes, we do have to do something," McMaster said on "Fox News Sunday." He said that may mean ratcheting up U.N. sanctions and also being prepared for military operations.
    It was unclear whether the consultations meant Washington was preparing imminent action against Pyongyang.
    The United States may just be lining up the largest coalition possible in the region to present a united front against North Korea, said professor Jens David Ohlin, an international law expert at Cornell Law School.
    "It's the only option on the ground - to do this multilaterally rather than try to solve it on our own," he said.
    Adam M. Smith, a Treasury Department sanctions expert in former President Barack Obama's administration, said the lesson from trying to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions was that the more multilateral the pressure, the more effective it was.
    He said it was notable that Trump was talking to the money centres in Asia - Singapore and Japan - and reaching out to some countries in the region, including the Philippines, that have been unwilling to go beyond what was required by U.N. sanctions.
    "It makes a lot of sense, I think, to try to expand the net, and not just rely on Beijing," Smith said. "I think this is sort of a good start on multi lateralization."
    Senator John McCain, a leading Republican on foreign policy, said he did not believe Trump was considering a pre-emptive strike on North Korea. That would put U.S. ally South Korea in immediate danger, he said on CNN's "State of the Union."
    "But to say you absolutely rule out that option, of course, would be foolish. But it has to be the ultimate last option," McCain said.
     


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