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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    ABBOTTABAD: At least four people were killed and several wounded in a traffic accident in Abbottabad early Saturday, according to police and rescue sources.
    The incident took place near Havelian, when six vehicles, including a trailer and a van, collided with each other, police said.
    As a consequence, four people were reported killed in the wake of crash, rescue sources said. Scores of others were also said to be wounded in the mishap.
    The bodies and injured were shifted to a nearby hospital.
    The reason behind the crash has yet to be ascertained.


  2. Waqas Dar
    International scientists have uncovered prehistoric human DNA from caves without bones, an advance that could shed new light on human history and evolution.
    The study published in the journal Science is based on 85 samples from sediments dating to the Pleistocene, a period that extended from 550,000 years ago until 14,000 year before the modern era.
    The samples came from eight caves in Belgium, Croatia, France, Russia and Spain.
    These archeological sites are already well known to have been occupied by long-lost cousins of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as by a variety of animals that are now extinct.
    "This work represents an enormous scientific breakthrough," said Antonio Rosas, scientist at Spain's Natural Science Museum in Madrid.
    "We can now tell which species of hominid occupied a cave and on which particular stratigraphic level, even when no bone or skeletal remains are present."
    To uncover human traces, scientists relied on analyzing fragments of mitochondrial DNA.
    "The technique could increase the sample size of the Neanderthal and Denisovan mitochondrial genomes, which until now were limited by the number of preserved remains," explained Spanish National Research Council scientist Carles Lalueza-Fox.
    "And it will probably be possible to even recover substantial parts of nuclear genomes."


  3. Waqas Dar
    Even as doctors are increasingly relying on home blood pressure monitoring to manage patients with hypertension, many of the devices are too inaccurate to be useful, according to a small study.
    About 70 percent of the time, home monitors weren’t accurate within 5 mmHg, which is considered clinically important, researchers say. And 30 percent of the time the devices were 10 mmHg off the mark.
    Hypertension, or high blood pressure, "is the number one cause of death and disability in the world," said lead study author Jennifer Ringrose of the University of Alberta in Canada.
    “Guidelines are recommending that clinicians rely more on automatic and home blood pressure readings to diagnose and monitor high blood pressure,” she told Reuters Health by email. “We need to make sure these home blood pressure readings are accurate.”
    Ringrose and colleagues gauged the accuracy of home blood pressure monitors used by 85 patients and tested for differences between upper-arm versus wrist devices, brand names, hard versus soft cuffs and devices that were validated according to industry technical standards and those that were not.
    Two observers tested each patient simultaneously, taking a total of nine blood pressure measurements and alternating between the device used at home and a standardized cuff used in a doctor’s office.
    Blood pressure is measured with two numbers: systolic pressure when the heart pumps blood and diastolic pressure when the heart rests between beats. Blood pressure below 120 mmHg systolic/80 mmHg diastolic is considered healthy. Pressure above 140/90 mmHg is considered high.
    The researchers found that home monitors were more often wrong for systolic pressure. For 54 percent of patients, that measurement differed by 5 mmHg from the professional device. For 20 percent, it was wrong by 10 mmHg, and for 7 percent it was off by 15 mmHg or more. With diastolic pressure, the same was true of 31 percent, 12 percent and 1 percent of patients.
    Arm size and gender were the main predictors of a systolic blood pressure difference, with men typically having a larger discrepancy, the researchers found. Also, older age, larger arm circumference, hard cuff design, and older device models were linked with diastolic blood pressure discrepancy.
    Age and stiffness of blood vessels, for example, can make a significant difference if blood pressure monitors aren’t calibrated for the patient using it, the study authors write in the American Journal of Hypertension.
    “There can be substantial error, even in devices that have been tested in a validation study,” said senior study author Raj Padwal of the Mazankowski Heart Institute in Alberta.
    “A major issue is that it is hard to study why inaccuracies occur because the algorithm that these devices use to determine blood pressure is proprietary and kept secret by each company,” Padwal said by email.
    The research team suggests creating a third-party way for both doctors and patients to check home devices, if needed.
    “First, patients should purchase a validated monitor and use the proper sized cuff,” Padwal said. “Second, we - device makers and academic researchers - have to come up with more accurate devices.”
    They also suggest making diagnostic and treatment decisions based on the average of multiple measurements. Canadian guidelines, for example, recommend 28 measurements during one week for home devices, and changes in medication should be based on more than a few measurements.
    “The market for this equipment is rising dramatically into the billions in the next couple of years as patients age, and more doctors are using them to diagnose and manage hypertension,” said Marcel Ruzicka of the University of Ottawa who co-wrote a commentary accompanying the study.
    “As health care providers, we’re becoming more dependent on the numbers that patients are bringing to us, and in a busy office where you can’t get a true resting blood pressure, those may be the only numbers you have,” he told Reuters Health.
    Both patients and doctors should discuss home blood pressure monitor accuracy during appointments, Ruzicka said, including how devices should be checked and how often.
    “It’s important to be aware that this inaccuracy is out there,” Ruzicka said. “Next, we should ensure that accuracy checks are widely available and not cost prohibitive for device owners.”


  4. Waqas Dar
    A pair of filmmakers at the prestigious TED Conference used virtual reality to allow people to experience the ravages of deforestation -- from the perspective of a tree.
    A presentation Thursday simply titled "Tree" combined sound, sight, smell and touch to let people feel first-hand what is lost when lush forest burns down.
    "It was very real: At one point I was going to take the headset off and ask about the fire," TED attendee Elle Luna said after trying "Tree."
    "Your thinking mind sort of stops and you just feel it all."
    The experience gets underway when participants step onto a platform surrounded by tall, potted plants.
    Each person buries a seed symbolically in soil before donning virtual reality head gear and an interactive vest that squeezes or vibrates on cues.
    From there, they virtually become the seed.
    Looking down, roots are seen sprouting and the participants are tranported by the smell of rich earth as they rise to the surface and break into sunlight on a forest floor.
    They grow to be tall trees, with birds, monkeys and other creatures perching or climbing on arms transformed into long branches under a glorious sky.
    Fans simulate wind. Heaters provide the illusion of the sun's warmth. The platform and interactive vest tremble as you grow or sway.
    Then comes the sound and shake of engines and chainsaws. The smell of smoke, provided by a member of the 'Tree' team lighting a match in the real world, draws attention to a fire devouring the forest.
    In the final moments, one becomes a virtual ash floating away. A seed appears to float in the thick smoke in a parting hint of hope that life will start anew.
    "It is the story of life and death of being," said one of the creators, Milica Zec.
    "Everything is amazing until humans come to the forest, then we replace that with forest and everything is taken away from you."
    Not wanting people to end "Tree" on too grim a note, they are given a real seed to plant along with information about how to connect with the Rainforest Alliance for ways to help fight deforestation.
    Virtual reality lets film makers take audiences from being merely viewers to striking strong and memorable emotional chords by immersing them in stories, according to 'Tree' co-creator Winslow Porter.
    "We are able to dissolve the screen; now you are the subject," Porter said.
    "People leave and tell their friends they were a tree."


  5. Waqas Dar
    Creating the latest album of his virtual band Gorillaz, Damon Albarn had what he considered a dark, sci-fi vision -- Donald Trump as president of the United States. Then it came true.
    "I wanted to make a kind of science fiction record. But more a social fiction, sort of anticipation," said the Britpop icon best known as the frontman of Blur.
    "There were several options and I chose the worst case scenario," he told AFP over a meal on a visit to Paris. "I wanted to make a social fiction record, but reality hit."
    Gorillaz has been an outlet for Albarn's more experimental side, breaking free from guitar pop to explore trippy, futuristic sounds. Created in 2001, Gorillaz is a virtual band with four fictional members -- 2D, Murdoc, Russel and Noodle.
    The real-life, but behind-the-scenes, members are Albarn and the comic book artist Jamie Hewlett, who has matched the music with an elaborate visual representation that includes cartoon videos.
    Preparing "Humanz," the group's fifth album which came out on Friday, Albarn started in 2015 by imagining the United States ruled by Trump, then considered a reality television celebrity with little chance of landing the world's most powerful job.
    "I did not believe Trump would be president, but I wanted to imagine what would happen," Albarn said.
    Joyful and painful

    Albarn reached out for American voices to create the album, including Mavis Staples, the classic R&B singer and civil rights activist, as well as hip-hop pioneers De La Soul, the rapper Pusha T and the innovative R&B artist Kelela.
    With an underlying chaos that evokes the film scores of Ennio Morricone, of whom Albarn is an admirer, "Humanz" also has songs co-written by artists ranging from electronic legend Jean-Michel Jarre to fellow Britpop star Noel Gallagher.
    "I kinda wanted it to be something urgent, and joyful and painful at the same time," Albarn said of the album, which transformed into an exploration of the reaction to Trump's shock victory.
    "Hallelujah Money," a trip-hop-infused single with the powerful voice of Mercury Prize-winning singer Benjamin Clementine, attacks the power of money without naming the president directly, although the video showed an elevator in a representation of his Trump Tower home.
    The song gives way to an antidote in the album's final track, "We Got the Power," a call to love and unity.
    "It's a simple answer, I know, but it is probably the truth, especially now," Albarn said of the closing song.
    "You know I can't resent the people who made this choice," he said, referring both to supporters of Trump and, in his own country, the narrow majority that voted to pull Britain from the European Union.
    You're gonna be dead

    Albarn is passionate when discussing Brexit, saying, "You can't imagine how depressing it is for us."
    "It's hard to express how angry I am," he said.
    "People who voted Brexit, as with American people who voted for Trump, are people who don't travel," he said. "They're blind! Genuinely blind! They genuinely think that closing borders and becoming nationalistic is a really good idea."
    "I don't want the next generations to grow up having less access to the world," he said. "We're a little island. A little island must be open."
    "The people who voted for this are the old. What are you doing? Voting for your grandchildren's future? You're gonna be dead in 10 years! Dead!"
    His anger subsided as he gazed down at a plate that had just been put in front of him. On it were two soft-boiled eggs surrounded by slices of smoked salmon on a bed of arugula.
    "I have never seen eggs presented like that in my life. Have you?" he said with a laugh.
    "It's quite artistic -- science fiction," he said. "I should have stated a story with that."


  6. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: Governor Sindh Muhammad Zubair has said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London is not registered as a political party in Pakistan and so it should now contest election in the United Kingdom.
    The statement by the Sindh governor was made during a ceremony at the British High Commission here on the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.
    On the occasion, British Hugh Commissioner Thomas Drew and his deputy, Belinda Lewis, said that the UK wishes to coordinate with Pakistan regarding China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor.
    They said that Pakistan and UK have longstanding ties, which are significant enough.
    On August 22 last year, the chief of MQM - then united - incited participants of a hunger strike camp outside the Karachi Press Club to chant anti-Pakistan slogans and surround media houses. The violence in the city had left a man dead and around eight others wounded.
    The series of developments on the day caused an uproar across the country, followed by a crackdown on the party.
    The events of the day led the party to splitting into two factions — the MQM-Pakistan and MQM-London, with the former severing ties and distancing itself from any statement coming from the London-based leadership.
    The MQM-Pakistan has since been functioning under the leadership of Farooq Sattar.
    The ceremony at the British High Commission also had representatives from Pakistan Peoples Party, MQM-Pakistan and Pak Sarzameen Party in presence.


  7. Waqas Dar
    Andy Murray gained revenge on Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas and nine-time champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open on Friday.
    Ramos-Vinolas beat the world number one on Murray's return from an elbow injury in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters last week.
    He threatened to repeat that upset when he served for the match in the third set, but Murray battled back to edge out the world number 19 by 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after three hours on court.
    "It was obviously a very tough match," said Murray, who got his wish for match practice ahead of next month's French Open after taking a late wildcard to enter the draw in the Catalan capital.
    "It was kind of the opposite of the match we had last week where probably today he deserved to win. He created a lot more chances, he served for the match and couldn't quite get it.
    "Last week I had 4-0 (in the third set), I felt like I had all of the chances. Sometimes on clay matches happen this way, so very happy to get through because it was very tough."
    Ramos-Vinolas is in the form of his life having risen to a career-high ranking after reaching the final in Monte Carlo.
    He dominated the opening stages, taking five straight games after Murray started with a comfortable hold.
    Murray edged the second with the only break in the 10th game.
    Breaks were exchanged early in the decider, whilst Ramos-Vinolas also had to take an injury timeout after twisting his ankle.
    Ramos-Vinolas had the chance to serve it out when he broke again for 5-4, but nerves seemed to get the better of him as three errors handed Murray the break back.
    Murray raced out to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak and saw it out as Ramos-Vinolas's efforts over the past two weeks finally began to take their toll.
    The Wimbledon champion faces Dominic Thiem in Saturday's semis after the Austrian ended Japanese lucky loser Yuichi Sugita's unlikely run to the quarters 6-1, 6-2.
    Nadal also enjoyed a comfortable afternoon as his quest for a 10th Barcelona title continued unhindered with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 win over Korean qualifier Hyeon Chung.
    The 14-time Grand Slam champion had to battle back from a break down in the first set to take it on a tiebreak before romping through the second.
    "I gave him a bit too much respect," said Nadal.
    "At the start he was dominating, but I think once I broke back to 3-3 the match was more in my hands."
    Nadal will be a strong favourite to reach the final when he takes on Horacio Zeballos in the last four after the Argentine beat Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-1.


  8. Waqas Dar
    Pope Francis pleaded for peace in a visit to Egypt on Friday as he attended a service in solidarity with the embattled Coptic minority at a church bombed by Daesh.
    The pontiff walked to the Saint Peter and Saint Paul church in Cairo in a procession led by standard-bearing clergy, after meeting Coptic Pope Tawadros II at his headquarters.
    Security forces in the capital were on high alert under a state of emergency following a series of church bombings claimed by IS.
    On April 9, the militants bombed two churches in the Arab world's most populous country, killing 45 people in the deadliest attack on Copts in recent memory.
    Last December, the Saint Peter and Saint Paul church was itself targeted by a suicide bomber in an attack that killed 29 people.
    Francis had earlier met President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of the Al-Azhar institution, one of Muslim world's leading authorities, to push for dialogue between the two faiths.
    In a speech to a Muslim-Christian conference, the 80-year-old pontiff denounced violence and populism.
    "Peace alone... is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would profane his name," Francis said.
    He criticised what he called "demagogic forms of populism... on the rise", saying they were unhelpful to peace.
    Francis shuttled from one engagement to another in a closed car under heavy guard on the first day of his tightly scheduled 27-hour trip.
    Innocent blood

    Police and soldiers stood guard outside the Vatican residence in Cairo and armoured cars were stationed outside the Coptic Orthodox Saint Mark's Cathedral, where Tawadros II's headquarters are located.
    Francis met the Coptic pope at his offices where the two exchanged gifts.
    "Our church and nation has been through a painful experience in the past few months when the sinful hand of terrorism reached out to murder praying innocents," Tawadros said in a speech at the meeting.
    "Their innocent blood unites us," Francis said in turn.
    They signed an ecumenical agreement to no longer require Catholics to be rebaptised if they choose to become Orthodox, as often happens in Egypt.
    He and Tawadros then walked in procession to the Saint Peter and Saint Paul church, where they sat near the altar as a choir sang hymns to clashing cymbals.
    Hours before the church visit, Francis became the first Roman Catholic pope to visit the head of Al-Azhar in his Cairo headquarters, sealing a recent improvement in relations between Catholicism and Islam.
    In another speech with Sisi in the audience, Francis expressed support for Egypt's military campaign against IS which bombed the churches and has also killed hundreds of police and troops.
    But he also insisted on "unconditional respect for inalienable human rights such as equality among all citizens, religious freedom and freedom of expression".
    Sisi has faced heavy criticism from rights groups for abuses since he led the military ouster of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
    Pilgrim of peace

    Before disembarking from his aircraft in Cairo, Francis had told reporters his visit was a "journey of unity and fraternity. Less than two days but very intense."
    His meeting with Tayeb, he said, would "be an example and a model for peace precisely because it will be a meeting of dialogue".
    "Please pray for my journey tomorrow as a pilgrim of peace to Egypt," Francis tweeted on the eve of his departure.
    Before his visit, some roads had been festooned with posters showing Francis against the backdrop of the Pyramids, with a message that read: "Pope of peace in the Egypt of peace."
    John Paul II was the last pope to have visited Egypt in 2000, with his arrival also coming weeks after anti-Christian violence that killed about 20 Copts in January that year.
    Vatican dialogue with the Muslim world, a priority for this pope, was set back significantly when Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI made a speech in 2006 in which he was seen as linking Islam to violence.
    The now-retired German pontiff's 2011 comments condemning an attack on a Coptic church prompted Al-Azhar to denounce Benedict for meddling in Egypt's affairs.
    On Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a mass for the country's small Catholic community, estimated to number around 272,000 spread across various rites.
    Egypt's Copts, who make up about 10 percent of the country's population of 92 million, are the Middle East's largest Christian minority and one of the oldest.
    But they have suffered attacks throughout the years and many complain that they feel like second-class citizens.


  9. Waqas Dar
    US growth slid to its lowest level in three years in the first quarter, a disappointing start to Donald Trump's presidency as it reaches the 100 day mark.
    GDP increased 0.7 percent in the first three months of the year as consumer spending and government expenditures tumbled to their lowest levels in years, the Commerce Department reported Friday, presenting preliminary data.
    Though only slightly below the 0.8 percent increase in the same quarter of last year, the result was down sharply from the 2.1 percent expansion seen in the fourth quarter of 2016.
    It was well below analysts' expectations of 1.1 percent GDP growth. The last time first quarter expansion was more disappointing was a 1.2 percent drop in 2014.
    Trump, who marks 100 days in office Saturday, rose to power on a message of nationalist economic revival. He has also taken credit for increased consumer and business confidence, growing employment and record gains for stocks in recent months.
    But "just because people feel happy doesn't mean they will act on those feelings, and they clearly didn't during the first quarter," economist Joel Naroff said in a commentary on the report.
    Record lows

    The White House has been promising a return to three percent economic growth, which it says will generate the revenue needed to pay for multi-trillion-dollar tax cuts unveiled this week.
    But economists question the likelihood that the economy can -- or should -- grow that fast, especially without fueling high inflation.
    But the GDP report was replete with record lows.
    Consumer spending fell to its lowest level in nearly eight years, adding only 0.3 percent, with spending on services at their lowest in four years, and durable goods orders their lowest since 2011, as auto sales fell 0.45 percent.
    Defense spending contracted by four percent, its lowest pace in nearly three years, helping drive down overall government expenditures by 1.7 percent, the lowest quarterly result in almost four years.
    Spending on non-durable goods also contracted 2.5 percent, the lowest reading since 2011.
    Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the low growth meant the United States should adopt the Trump administration's proposals to slash taxes and regulation.
    "We need the president's tax plan, regulatory relief, trade renegotiations and the unleashing of American energy sector to overcome the dismal economy inherited by the Trump administration," Ross said in a statement.
    But it remained unclear how many recent economic events could be credited to -- or blamed on -- the president.
    Economists note that first quarters in recent years have trended below average.
    Growth has averaged one percent in first quarters over the last seven years, well below average growth in other quarters, according to Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics.
    In addition, preliminary estimates of GDP are subject to revisions of an average of 0.6 percentage points.
    Analysts also cautioned that the most recent numbers may have suffered some distortion, with a rebound likely in the next quarter.
    Unseasonably warm weather in the first two months of the year drove down spending on utilities, and delayed tax refunds also put less cash in consumers' pockets, all of which weighed on consumption.
    Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said if these distortions were excluded, growth would probably have been closer to two percent. He said he expects three percent growth in the second quarter "as the statistical and weather issues unwind."
    Business investments were a bright spot, increasing 4.3 percent for the quarter. But that was a significant slowdown from the brisk 9.4 percent in the prior quarter.
    A recovery in oil prices helped sustain growth in this category, with mining, exploration, shafts and wells skyrocketing by 449 percent, an all-time record, up from 23.7 percent in the prior quarter.
    "The health of business investment bolsters our confidence that the first quarter is a temporary slowing," Barclays economists said in a research note.
    "The rise in equipment investment indicates that firms are expanding capacity in anticipation of rising demand."
    Employment costs mount

    With the Federal Reserve holding a two-day monetary policy meeting next week, the weak growth figures were sure to figure into expectations for the pace of interest rate moves this year.


  10. Waqas Dar
    KARACHI: A 'mentally ill' software engineer gunned down a man in Karachi before being killed by police late Friday, officials said.
    Saqib Jamal, 30, reportedly fired four shots on a man, Wasim, who had come to his house in FB Area. The suspect later took his own family into hostage.
    Police, when informed, reached the site of incident, but they too were fired upon by the suspect, resulting in injuries to a cop.
    The suspect was eventually killed in retaliation by police.
    SP Gulberg Bashir Brohi said the suspect was a software engineer, but the way he confronted the police team, it showed he was trained in using firearms.
    The suspect's family said Wasim - the ­man shot dead earlier - was a former employee at their factory and they often helped him financially. However today, Wasim came armed with a knife and demanded money, they added.
    Residents in the neighbourhood said Wasim alias Babu Chacha was a decent man. Saqib allegedly got raged after having found Wasim armed with a knife.
    Police believe that Saqib had been suffering with 'mental health issues' because of unemployment.
    Both the bodies were shifted to hospital for further formalities.


  11. Waqas Dar
    Brazilian protesters torched buses, clashed with police in several cities and marched on President Michel Temer's Sao Paulo residence on Friday amid the nation's first general strike in more than two decades.
    Unions called the strike to voice anger over Temer's efforts to push austerity measures through congress, bills that would weaken labour laws and trim a generous pension system.
    The blackened hulls of at least eight burned commuter buses littered central Rio de Janeiro as police launched rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at masked protesters.
    Despite the protests, Temer and members of his centre-right government denounced the strike as a failure. They said that the unions' targeting of public transport meant that people who wanted to go to work were unable to.
    Unions said the strike was a success and pointed to adherence by millions of workers in key sectors like automakers, petroleum, schools and even banking. Strikes hit all 26 states and the Federal District.
    "It is important for us to send a message to the government that the country is watching what they are doing, taking away workers' rights," said Marco Clemente, head of the 4,000-member radio and TV workers union in Brasilia, leading a picket line outside the headquarters of state broadcaster EBC.
    Temer, who was in Brasilia, denounced the violence used by some protesters. He said in an emailed statement that "small groups" had blocked the population from using public transport and said that "work toward the modernization of national legislation will continue."
    Brazil's last general strike took place in 1996, in protests over privatisations and labour reforms under former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
    Despite Friday's action, many analysts said the strike would have little immediate impact on the president's austerity push, and that the bills are still expected to pass given Temer's continued support among lawmakers.
    BRAZILIANS ANGRY AT REFORMS
    Temer's reforms have deeply angered many Brazilians and he is weighed down by a 10 percent approval rating for his government.
    He took over last year when former leader Dilma Rousseff, whom Temer served as vice president, was impeached for breaking budgetary rules. Her supporters denounced the act as a 'coup' orchestrated by Temer and his allies in a bid to derail a sweeping corruption investigation.
    "This is not a government that was elected with these proposals," said Bernard Costa, a 27-year-old medical student protesting in Sao Paulo. "These reforms are showing people that this government has is neither legitimate nor representative."
    "Shameless government" read one placard waved by one of a group of protesters who gathered outside Temer's family home in Sao Paulo. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
    Nearly one-third of Temer's ministers and several congressional leaders are under investigation in Brazil's largest political graft scheme yet uncovered. It revolves around kickbacks from construction companies in return for winning lucrative projects at state-run oil company Petrobras.
    Temer has proposed a minimum age for retirement, which would compel many employees to work longer to receive a pension and reduce payouts in a country were many workers retire with full benefits in their 50s.
    The lower house of Congress approved a bill this week to weaken labour laws by relaxing restrictions on outsourcing and temporary contracts, further inflaming union resistance.
    The government argues that economic reforms are needed to pull Brazil out of its worst recession on record, cut a huge budget deficit, reduce record unemployment and modernize the economy.
    The strike had a large impact on auto production in Sao Paulo, which concentrates the bulk of the industry in Brazil.
    General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG all halted production, according to company officials, unions and market analysts. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, the No. 1 car seller Brazil, said it was operating normally.
    Union officials said most workers at state-run oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, joined the strike, but the company said the stoppage had no significant impact on output. Iron ore miner Vale SA said the strike did not affect its operations.
    The 24-hour strike started after midnight on Friday, ahead of a long weekend with Labour Day on Monday.
    The benchmark Bovespa stock index was up nearly 1 percent while the nation's currency, the real, was little changed as investors assessed the impact of the strike.


  12. Waqas Dar
    Jose Mourinho's depleted Manchester United side face Swansea at Old Trafford on Sunday with the manager praising the spirit shown by his exhausted squad.
    Louis van Gaal, Mourinho's predecessor as United manager, is not remembered with any fondness by the majority of the club's supporters.
    But Mourinho believes the Dutchman succeeded in pulling together a squad of strong characters, although their resilience is now being tested as United maintain their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League and success in the Europa League.
    "The group was a nice group, honestly," said Mourinho, who served as a novice coach under then Barcelona manager Van Gaal at the Spanish giants in the late 1990s.
    "Good people, good boys, committed people.
    "I think Mr Van Gaal left a good group of boys with very good relations between them and I got that in my hands."
    The Portuguese added: "I think they missed happiness, they missed trust, they missed belief. They missed this extra bit that brings resilience, brings you fight. They have it.
    "So next July 9, when we meet again for next season, it's a stronger group. So the new players when they arrive will find a group more ready to go for big things," the former Chelsea manager explained.
    "But the reality is that we are fighting to win the Europa League and we are fighting to try to finish fourth, so let's go."
    The arduous season, which has also seen United reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and win the League Cup, has taken its toll on the team physically.
    Central defenders Phil Jones and Chris Smalling remain out injured for the Swansea game, with Marcos Rojo having suffered a season-ending knee ligament injury.
    That led Mourinho to joke he might name himself in the starting side, along with youngster Axel Tuanzebe whose entire first-team experience amounts to 22 minutes as a substitute against Wigan in the FA Cup.
    United may have Juan Mata, sidelined since the middle of March, available for Swansea but France international Paul Pogba remains out with a leg muscle injury and is being saved for Thursday's Europa League semi-final with Celta Vigo.
    Mourinho will also be without Belgium international Marouane Fellaini, who starts a three-match suspension, after his red card for head-butting Sergio Aguero in the midweek goalless derby draw away to Manchester City.
    - 'Play every few days' -
    Amazingly, given their schedule, the Etihad stalemate extended United's unbeaten league run to 24 games -- equalling their best such sequence in a single top-flight season.
    For all the fatigue within the squad, United defender Matteo Darmian has insisted he and his team-mates will not use tiredness as an excuse for any poor results between now and the end of the campaign.
    "Yes, we haven't got too much time for recovery and to prepare for the game but, from now until the end of the season, we play every few days, so we have to be ready," he said. "It's our objective to finish in the top four.
    "We have to win and put pressure on Manchester City and Liverpool," he added.
    Swansea will kick off in the relegation places and, with Burnley and Hull playing 24 hours earlier, could be as many as five points from safety by the time they take the field.
    Paul Clement, the Swansea coach, sympathised with Mourinho's injury problems but stressed the Welsh club would be the underdogs at Old Trafford.
    "United have been playing Thursday and Sunday for many weeks now and they have an injury list which I'm sure the manager is not happy with," he said.
    "But we know it will not be easy. You always hope when you play a big team at their stadium that they have a slightly off-day and you have a chance."
    Clement hopes that midfielder Jack Cork (ankle) and defender Martin Olsson (hamstring) recover from their respective injury problems in time for Sunday's match.
    But Wayne Routledge has been ruled out after the winger had a hernia operation this week.


  13. Waqas Dar
    North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile Saturday in apparent defiance of a US push for tougher international sanctions to curb the Asian country's nuclear threat.
    "North Korea fired an unidentified missile from a site in the vicinity of Bukchang in Pyeongannam-do (South Pyeongan Province) early this morning," the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, adding that the missile "is estimated to have failed."
    A US defense official confirmed North Korea had fired a missile.
    The launch comes with tensions high on the Korean peninsula, with US President Donald Trump warning of the risk of a "major conflict."
    It came just hours after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed the UN Security Council for the first time, called for a global campaign of pressure on Pyongyang -- with China playing a major role -- to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
    "Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences," he warned.
    He repeated Washington's threat that US military options were "on the table."
    Tillerson said China had "unique" leverage over its communist ally and neighbor.
    But Beijing pushed back, arguing that it was unrealistic to expect one country to solve the conflict.
    "The use of force does not solve differences and will only lead to bigger disasters," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the council.
    His country, he said, should not be "a focal point of the problem on the peninsula" and stressed that "the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side."
    Risk of nuclear attack 'real'

    Russia joined China in saying a military response would be disastrous and appealing for a return to talks and de-escalation.
    Military action was "completely unacceptable," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the council. A miscalculation could have "frightening consequences," he warned.
    But Tillerson argued that diplomacy had to be backed with credible muscle.
    "Diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary," he said.
    "The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real, and it is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the US mainland."
    Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un are locked in an ever-tighter spiral of threat, counter-threat, and escalating military preparedness.
    The US is deploying a naval strike group led by an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula, and a missile-defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) will be operational "within days," according to officials.
    North Korea meanwhile said it has conducted its biggest ever artillery drill and threatened to "bury at sea" the US aircraft carrier. Speculation has mounted it could soon carry out a sixth nuclear test.
    China wants talks

    The meeting of the top UN body on Friday laid bare major differences among key powers over the way to address the North Korea crisis.
    Over the past 11 years, the Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on Pyongyang -- two adopted last year -- to significantly ramp up pressure and deny Kim's regime the hard currency revenue needed for his military programs.
    But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council the measures have had little impact because they have been poorly implemented.
    Tillerson called on all countries to downgrade or sever diplomatic relations with North Korea and impose targeted sanctions on entities and individuals supporting its missile and nuclear program.
    The United States is ready to impose sanctions on third countries where companies or individuals are found to have helped North Korea's military programs, he said.
    China instead wants Pyongyang to freeze its military programs in exchange for a halt to US-South Korean annual drills.
    "Now is the time to seriously consider talks," said Wang.
    But Tillerson was blunt in saying it was up to North Korea to take the first concrete steps.
    "We will not negotiate our way back to the negotiating table," he said. "We will not reward their bad behavior with talks."
    The United States, Russia and China took part in six-party talks on North Korea's denuclearization from 2003 to 2009, along with Japan, South Korea and Pyongyang.


  14. Waqas Dar
    BAGHDAD: A car bomb attack on a traffic police compound in central Baghdad Friday killed at least three people and wounded seven, security and medical sources said.
    The blast took place in Karrada, a neighbourhood that has been repeatedly targeted in recent years.
    "At least three people were killed and seven wounded," a hospital official told AFP.
    The toll was confirmed by a police official who said several policemen were among the victims.
    One of the deadliest bombings to hit Karrada occurred in July 2016, when a suicide truck bomb explosion set teeming shopping arcades ablaze and killed more than 320 people.
    Nearly all suicide attacks are claimed by the Daesh, which is defending its last major Iraqi bastion of Mosul against a massive operation launched by security forces last October.
    It was not immediately clear however whether Friday´s attack, which occurred shortly before 11:00 pm (2000 GMT), was a suicide blast.


  15. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb, on Friday said PTI chief Imran Khan was becoming popular for continuously telling lies and making provocative statements.
    Commenting on the PTI’s rally in Islamabad, Marriyum said, “Imran Khan, I congratulate you for addressing once again the empty chairs in pitch-dark night illuminated with flood lights to conceal empty seats.”
    She said that Imran Khan had been restricted or detained at the international airports for he was considered ‘security risk’ for other countries.
    The minister urged Imran Khan to reveal the name of person who, according to his claim, offered Rs10 billion for keeping mum on the Panama issue.
    She said that PTI chief did not get tired of telling lies before the court for the last four months, adding, that today once again he was repeating the same lies before public.
    “But now people do not come to listen to your lies and cries,” she remarked, adding, “For God’s sake stop telling lies in the name of Quran.” The minister said that empty chairs were waiting for the “important announcement” from Imran Khan. Imran had been telling lies and crying since 2013, she observed.
    Marriyum said that constructing metro and bridges was not Imran’s fate because “God does not help those who tell lies.”
    She urged TV channels to show aerial view of Imran’s rally so that he could come out from illusion.
    “Imran Khan Sahib, why don’t you have any appealing words in your speech today? You are looking sick. Don’t worry, shocks come in the life,” the PML-N lawmaker remarked.
    She asked Imran Khan to tell people in the rally about his fraud in foreign funding, the decision of California court, closing of Accountability Bureau of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and his nameless assets.
    “I feel ashamed to say shameless, but there is no substitute of this for you,” she maintained.
     


  16. Waqas Dar
    Maria Sharapova, who is rebuilding her career after a 15-month doping ban, on Friday welcomed plans to nearly double the number of annual drug tests and ramp up funding as part of a fresh drive to root out tennis cheats.
    The former world number one also said she was happy to be tested more.
    The new measures come into effect on May 1 and players will be scrutinised via a biological passport programme, while more samples will be placed into long-term storage, allowing reanalysis, officials said.
    The significant increase in testing up to an annual total of 8,000 samples (from 4,899 in 2016) is being backed by a 50 percent budget hike to around $4.5 million (4.1 million euros) in 2017.
    Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner who is making her comeback in Stuttgart after a 15-month doping ban, backed the new measures announced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
    "I definitely welcome that -- I am not against it," said the 30-year-old, who tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
    "We only have to give an hour slot to drug testing every single day of the year, but that is part of the job and if they test us more, that’s great."
    The ITF says the move is aimed at weeding out more doping violators.
    "Protecting the integrity of tennis is an ongoing priority of the governing bodies of tennis to ensure that tennis is and remains a clean sport," said ITF president David Haggerty.
    "These enhancements will make a positive contribution to achieving that priority."


  17. Waqas Dar
    LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party Central Punjab president and former Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Friday that had his party wanted the government would have been ousted in 2015, but then the government would have complained about not completing its tenure.
    Addressing a PPP rally, Kaira reminded the prime minister that they had given him four years and are now asking what happened of the promises made in the 2013 elections.
    Criticising Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the PPP leader said that he the CM had claimed loadshedding will end in a year but industries are being shut and foreign trade has decreased.
    “Loadshedding in Lahore has ended because of our rallies,” he claimed.


  18. Waqas Dar
    UNITED NATIONS: The United States sounded a global call to action on the North Korean nuclear threat Friday, exhorting Beijing to use its "unique" leverage to rein in Pyongyang and avert "catastrophic consequences."
    Addressing the UN Security Council after Donald Trump warned of the risk of a "major conflict" involving the reclusive regime, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for an unprecedented campaign of pressure to force the North to change course and put a halt to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
    "Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences," Tillerson told the Council. "Business as usual is not an option."
    "The threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real, and it is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the US mainland," he said.
    Tillerson told the Council there was "no reason" to think North Korea would change course under the current multilateral sanctions regime, warning: "The time has come for all of us to put new pressure on North Korea to abandon its dangerous path."
    "I urge this council to act before North Korea does," he said.
    Washington has repeatedly called for tougher UN sanctions but wants China to take the diplomatic lead by using its leverage over Pyongyang -- which Beijing has been reluctant to do for fear of destabilising North Korea.
    In announcing the new campaign, the US top diplomat once more placed the onus squarely on China -- which accounts for 90 percent of North Korea’s trade -- saying it "alone has economic leverage over Pyongyang that is unique" and suggesting sanctions from Beijing would have a strong impact.
    Tillerson called on all countries to downgrade diplomatic relations with North Korea and impose targeted sanctions on entities and individuals supporting Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear program.
    'All options on table'
    North Korea is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five atomic tests, two of them last year.
    The Security Council meeting follows weeks of warnings from the US administration that it will no longer tolerate North Korea’s missile launches and nuclear tests.
    "All options for responding to future provocation must remain on the table," Tillerson warned.
    "Diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action, if necessary," he said.
    Addressing the Council in turn, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi insisted diplomacy was "the only right choice" and pushed its proposal for reviving talks based on a freeze of North Korea’s military programs.
    "The use of force does not solve differences and will only lead to bigger disasters," Wang warned.
    Wang said China’s long-standing proposal for a freeze on Pyongyang’s military programs in exchange for halting US-South Korea military drills was "sensible and reasonable."
    The United States has rejected the Chinese proposal and insists that North Korea first take steps to show that it is ready to abandon its military programs.
    China meanwhile insists it is implementing UN sanctions including two sets of measures imposed last year that put curbs on the coal trade and restrictions on banking.
    Six sets of sanctions
    No resolutions will be adopted at the UN meeting, but it was a chance for the United States and its allies to once more put pressure on China.
    The Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions on North Korea -- two adopted last year -- to significantly ramp up pressure and deny Kim Jong-Un’s regime the hard currency revenue needed for his military programs.
    But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council that the measures have had little impact on Pyongyang because they have been poorly implemented.
    The United States, which holds the council presidency this month, will urge UN member states to take steps to fully implement the sanctions, the toughest currently to hit any country.
    The meeting of the top UN body comes just days after South Korea received the first deliveries of equipment for a new missile defence system from the United States.
    China has fiercely opposed the deployment, warning that it will stoke tensions on the peninsula.


  19. Waqas Dar
    Surprisingly at only 37 years old, a woman from Uganda has given birth to a jaw-dropping 38 children.
    The mother, Mariam Nabatanzi, has delivered all her children at home except her latest who is now four months old, according to reports.
    The newborn had to be delivered by caesarian section at a local hospital.
    The mother has reportedly given birth to an astounding six sets of twins, four sets of triplets and three sets of quadruples.
    Ten of the children are girls and the remaining 28 are boys.The eldest of the brood is 23 years old and the youngest just four months.
    The mother of 38 claims she was married off by age 12 in 1993 to a much older 40-year-old man. “I did not know I was being married off,” she said.
    “People came home and brought things for my father. When the time came for them to leave, I thought I was escorting my aunt but when I got there, she gave me away to the man.”
    In 1994, only a year into her marriage and aged 13 she gave birth to twins.
    Two years later, she gave birth to triplets and a year and seven months after that added a set of quadruplets.
    By her sixth delivery, the mother had 18 children and wanted to stop.
    Nabatanzi was told by a doctor that she had an usually high ovary count.
    Dr Charles Kiggundu, a gynaecologist at Mulago Hospital and President of gynaecologists and obstetricians said, “Her case is genetic predisposition to hyper-ovulate (releasing multiple eggs in one cycle), which significantly increases the chance of having multiples; it is always genetic.”
    Following the most recent birth four months ago, she says; “I asked the doctor to stop me from more births and he said he had ‘cut my uterus from inside’. This was my only Cesarian delivery because I was still weak from the sickness I suffered when I tried to use an IUD.”
    Despite all the challenges she has suffered in her short life the mother of 38 is optimistic about seeing her children through school and making sure they are all educated properly.
    “I am hopeful that my children will go to school because they all have big ambitions of being doctors, teachers and lawyers; I want them to realise these dreams, something I was not able to do.”


  20. Waqas Dar
    DHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board is considering to issue show cause notice to Pakistan Cricket Board for cancelling the tour to Bangladesh.
    Chairman PCB Shaharyar Khan on Wednesday had announced that Pakistan will not tour Bangladesh this year as per schedule.
    The series has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent, Shaharyar had said.
    Pakistan was scheduled to play two Test matches, three One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 International on the tour of  Bangladesh in July and August this year.
    "Pakistan have now toured Bangladesh twice without them reciprocating, and we feel we cannot tour Bangladesh for the third straight time. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the tour, and will explore another window in the next year or so", said the PCB chairman.
    According to Bangladeshi media, BCB President Nazmul Hasan Papon today while talking to media said that the board came to know about the news of the cancellation through the media and is yet to receive any official confirmation from the PCB.
    “We are yet to receive any official statement from them,” said Papon. “Once we get it, we will take necessary legal steps against them. Probably we will issue them a show cause notice for calling the tour off.”
    Bangladesh last toured Pakistan in 2007-08, for a five-ODI series. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and most recently in 2015.


  21. Waqas Dar
    GUJRANWALA: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Gujranwala Garrison on Friday, where was given detailed briefing on operational preparedness of Gujranwala corps, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.
    The army chief was received by Lieutenant General Ikram ul Haque, Corps Commander Gujranwala.
    Gen Bajwa was briefed on the progress on operation Radd-ul-Fasaad as well as the census. He also addressed officers of Gujranwala Garrison, the ISPR statement said.
    The army chief later visited Pasrur Cantt, met with officers, and appreciated the state of readiness and high morale of the troops.
    The statement added that the army chief reaffirmed that our fight against terrorism is ongoing and the country will be rid of “fasaadis” of all kinds with the support of the nation.


  22. Waqas Dar
    Leaping over bombed roofs and jumping through damaged window frames, a group of teenagers run and swing their way through buildings left dilapidated by six years of war in the southern Syrian town of Inkhil.
    The young men practise Parkour across rebel-held Inkhil, saying they find escape in the physical discipline which involves climbing and running over buildings and grounds and takes its name from the French word for route or course "parcours".
    "When I jump from a high place I feel free and I enjoy it," 18-year-old Muhannad al-Kadiri said. "I love competing with my friends to see who can achieve the highest jump."
    The group of about 15 have been practicing Parkour for around two years, often in school courtyards and on quiet days when there is no fighting in the area.
    Inkhil is located near a front line between rebels and pro-government forces in an area that has been subjected to air strikes and shelling during the conflict.
    The Parkour leaps can take their toll and members of the group have suffered broken toes, bruises and even a twisted neck during training.
    The teenagers film and photograph each other and upload the footage on Facebook. They even have an audience.
    "(Parkour) is exciting and relies on physical fitness and skill," spectator Ayman said during one training session. "But it is dangerous especially because they attempt it in damaged areas. I hope they get better and learn new skills."
    Parkour was born in France in the 1980s as Art du Deplacement and has gained popularity over the years. In January, Britain became the first country to officially recognise it as a sport.
    Kadiri and his friends somersault in the air, hold themselves up with just their arms and leap over piles of rubble.
    "Parkour gets us out of the atmosphere of war and makes us forget some of our pain and sorrow," Kadiri said. "It makes me feel mythical."


  23. Waqas Dar
    BERLIN: A German soldier who led a "double life" pretending to be a Syrian refugee has been arrested on suspicion he planned a gun attack with racist motives, prosecutors said Thursday.
    The 28-year-old suspect, who was not identified, was thought to have a "xenophobic background", they said.
    The Die Welt daily reported he may have plotted to pin the blame for an attack on foreigners.
    The case involved a joint police operation across Germany, France and Austria with raids on 16 locations, prosecutors in Frankfurt said in a statement.
    Police arrested the soldier -- a lieutenant usually stationed on a Franco-German military base near Strasbourg -- in the southern German city of Hammelburg on Wednesday.
    The same day they also arrested a second German man, a 24-year-old student and alleged co-conspirator in possession of flares and other objects that breach weapons and explosives laws.
    The lieutenant had been temporarily detained by Austrian police in February at Vienna airport when he tried to retrieve a loaded, unregistered handgun he had hidden in a toilet there a few days earlier.
    This sparked an investigation that threw up an even bigger surprise: the suspect had in December 2015 created a false identity as a Syrian refugee.
    He led "a double life", said a prosecution spokeswoman about what she called an unprecedented and "extraordinary" case.
    'Blame refugees'
    He had registered himself at a refugee shelter in the central German state of Hesse and later even launched a request for political asylum in Bavaria state, said the prosecution statement.
    Te request was accepted, even though the man speaks no Arabic.
    He was allotted a place in the refugee home and has since January 2016 received monthly financial payments under this false identity, the prosecutors said.
    "These findings, and indications of a xenophobic background of the Bundeswehr soldier, suggest that the accused was planning a serious crime endangering state security with the weapon that was earlier deposited at Vienna airport," said the statement.
    Security services in the sweeping cross-border raids targeting contacts of the two men confiscated mobile phones, laptops and written materials, said the statement.
    There was evidence the 24-year-old student shared anti-foreigner views, including text messages between the two suspects, who both hailed from Offenbach near Frankfurt.
    Green party lawmaker Irene Mihalic called for an investigation into whether "in far-right circles, attacks are being planned specifically in order to blame them on refugees".
    The case recalled the bizarre suspected plot behind an April 11 explosives attack against the bus of the Borussia Dortmund football team, which wounded one player and a police officer.
    A German-Russian suspect allegedly staged the attack, with a fake radical claim of responsibility, in a bid to profit from a resulting plunge in the club's stock value.
    Germany has taken in more than one million asylum seekers since 2015, many from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, sparking an anti-foreigner backlash and a spate of racist hate crimes.


  24. Waqas Dar
    SWAT: Advisor to Prime Minister Engineer Amir Muqam on Friday while criticising the performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that Imran Khan’s claim regarding Rs10 billion bribery offer should be investigated in Panama case.
    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government brought economic stability in the country.
    Speaking to a rally in Swat, he said that many positive changes have been witnessed by the people of Pakistan since his party came to power in 2013.
    “The people have proved that they love PML-N and Nawaz Sharif. We will continue to do the great work we have been doing”, he added.
    He said that Imran Khan makes noise wherever he goes, saying that PTI chairman has been criticising the vital state institutions like Parliament, Election Commission Pakistan and others.


  25. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday expressed anger over prolonged power outages across the country, demanding immediate action upon previous directions given to bring relief to masses.
    The PM chaired a session of the Cabinet committee on Energy to review the situation of loadshedding across the country and was unsatisfied with the prevalent situation.
    He gave directions for the constitution of a supervisory committee for electricity and demanded a report within 15 days regarding the resolution of the issue.
    He enquired from Secretary Power and Water Yousaf Naseem Khokhar that why the directions weren’t being followed.
    During the meeting, the Secretary briefed the PM on the progress in this regard.
    He said that 866mw electricity has been put into the system and 400mw will be added till the next month.
    Loadshedding has become a major issue and public including opposition parties have been holding demonstrations across the country over the matter.
    Last week, reacting to the recent protests in many areas of Sindh against the federal government over power outages, Minister of Water and Power Khawaja Asif had said that no relief would be provided to those who steal electricity. 
    He had said: “From the areas where people are protesting we are facing high losses, we are doing load shedding for up to 14 hours. Those consumers who pay bills – we readily provide them electricity”.


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