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Waqas Dar

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Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal hit 70 in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final against India at Edgbaston on June 15, 2017 - AFP  LONDON: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has left English county Essex after just one match for personal reasons, the club revealed on Tuesday.
    The 28-year-old -- Bangladesh's highest international run scorer with more than 10,000 to his name in all forms of the game -- signed only last week for an eight game stint in the T20 Blast county competition.
    Tamim appeared in Sunday's seven-wicket loss to Kent but on Tuesday Essex released a statement saying his stay was over.
    "Essex County Cricket Club can confirm that overseas player Tamim Iqbal has left the club with immediate effect due to personal reasons," the statement read.
    "We wish him all the best, and it would be appreciated if Tamim's privacy is respected during this time."
    Tamim starred with the bat for Bangladesh in the recent Champions Trophy scoring a splendid century against England, falling five short of another century against Australia and hitting 70 in the semi-final against India.


  2. Waqas Dar
    After 4.5 years as the most viewed YouTube video, the quirky "Gangnam Style" pop hit is dethroned by "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth - AFP Photo   NEW YORK: "Gangnam Style," the quirky South Korean video that spawned a global dance craze and went so viral it nearly broke YouTube, has finally been dethroned as the most watched video.
    After four and a half years as YouTube's most seen video, "Gangnam Style" slipped late Monday to number two, replaced by "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.
    "Gangnam Style," a satirical take on the nouveau riche residents of the Seoul district by the same name, surprised even its singer, Psy, with its sudden global ascent in 2012.
    Psy, who until "Gangnam Style" was little known outside of South Korea, found an avid fan base with the video's equestrian-style dance moves set to its infectious pop beat.
    The video became the first to reach one billion views on YouTube and caused the site's engineers to scramble to make changes when it topped 2.1 billion views, previously thought to be the maximum possible.
    As of early Tuesday US time, "Gangnam Style" had 2.895 billion views on YouTube, a notch under "See You Again," which was featured in the 2015 action movie "Furious 7."
    "See You Again" intersperses scenes from the film with Wiz Khalifa rapping and Charlie Puth singing as they overlook a sandy coast. The song was a tribute to Paul Walker, an actor in "The Fast and Furious" film franchise who died in a car wreck.
    Psy's triumph was all the more striking due to the overwhelming dominance of English-language music on global charts.
    In a new example, "Despacito" -- a Spanish-language reggaeton song by Puerto Rican star Luis Fonsi and rapper Daddy Yankee -- has reigned for nine weeks at the top of the US Billboard singles chart.
    The "Despacito" video is already the fifth most-watched on YouTube at 2.486 billion views even though it was released just this year.
    Once historic when Psy crossed the threshold, a total of 68 clips have passed the one billion view mark on YouTube, all but three of them music videos.


  3. Waqas Dar
    Farooq Sattar and Mustafa Kamal shake hands at an event - File photo KARACHI: Pakistan Sar Zameen Party Chairman Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday extended an olive branch to the Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan.
    The PSP chief was addressing a saying that the MQM brand has now ended and it?s time for the factions to work together.
    Kamal criticised Sindh government, calling it the worst government in Pakistan.
    He also called for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign before defending his position regarding the findings of Panama case Joint Investigation Team.
    Kamal said the prime minister and his team had the right to defend themselves. But for the sake of the system and the public he should do so after stepping down from his position, the PSP chief added.

    ?Therefore, we humbly request the prime minister to show some grace and resign,? Kamal added.
    It seems that the now defunct MQM?s factions are inching closer in order to save the vote bank from dividing.
    Earlier, MQM Haqiqi Chief Afaq Ahmad had announced support for MQM-P candidate Kamran Tessori in the PS-114 by-elections, however, the seat was won by Pakistan Peoples Party?s Saeed Ghani.


  4. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday urged patience over final report submitted by the Panama case joint investigation team (JIT) in the Supreme Court, lamenting that a narrative is being shaped against the prime minister since the submission of the report.

    Speaking at a presser here, Ishaq Dar said the Panamagate JIT report has several flaws, comprises of unsigned documents and even copies. He urged opposition parties to demonstrate patience for they also did so at the time of "Dharna-I and Dharna-II".
    The minister noted that no offshore company has the name of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as its owner, lamenting that efforts are being made to shape a narrative (against the PM) since the submission of the report in the Supreme Court.
    Dar urged the system should be allowed to function, adding "There have been courts functioning outside the courts".


  5. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said, in an apparent reference to the Panama Papers probe, that attempts have always been made to discredit civilian government.

    The federal minister was addressing a press conference here, where he said that Pakistan needs stability in order to progress.
    He said that there has always been a resistance to democracy as from Hussain Soharwardi to Nawaz Sharif rulers faced hurdles in continuing tenure for five years.
    He said that the country was under the hold of Marshal Law for 35 years.
    ?11 months are remaining, people now should be allowed to make a decision,? said Iqbal, adding ?if we are bad then the public will discard us like Zardari.?
    ?At first there was an Article 58 2B now there is an attempt to create a judicial Article 58 2B,? said Ahsan Iqbal.
    The federal minister further said that the PML-N government tightened the noose around the terrorists, adding that Pakistan is reaching new heights.
    ?Pakistan?s development became a crime for us,? said Iqbal.
    The PML-N leaders are to hold a press conference today to discuss the country?s political situation in wake of the final Joint Investigation Team?s report submitted to the Supreme Court.
    The Opposition leaders in their statements today demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
    The JIT, in its final probe report into the Sharif family?s assets, held that the prime minister and his three children ? Maryam, Hussain and Hasan ? have accumulated wealth beyond their own known sources of income.


  6. Waqas Dar
    Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - Reuters File Photo  The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters on Tuesday that it had "confirmed information" that Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.
    Russia's Defence Ministry said in June that it might have killed Baghdadi when one of its air strikes hit a gathering of Daesh commanders on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa, but Washington said it could not corroborate the death and Western and Iraqi officials have been skeptical.
    Reuters could not independently verify Baghdadi's death.
    "(We have) confirmed information from leaders, including one of the first rank, in Daesh in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor," the director of the British-based war monitoring group Rami Abdulrahman told Reuters.
    Baghdadi's death had been announced many times before but the Observatory has a track record of credible reporting on Syria's civil war.
    Abdulrahman said Observatory sources in Syria's eastern town of Deir al-Zor had been told by Islamic State sources that Baghdadi had died "but they did not specify when".
    Iraqi and Kurdish officials did not confirm his death. The US Department of Defence said it had no immediate information corroborate Baghdadi's death.
    Daesh-affiliated websites and social media feeds have not carried any news regarding the leader's possible death.
    The death of Baghdadi, who declared a caliphate from a mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014, would be one of the biggest blows yet to the jihadist group, which is trying to defend shrinking territory in Syria and Iraq.


  7. Waqas Dar
    PTI chief talking to media in Islamabad Pakistan Tehreek ?e-Insaf (PTI) chairman on Tuesday once again demanded the resignation of the prime minister and other top government functionaries, a day after the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) presented its final report in the Supreme Court.
    Talking to media here, Imran said that not just Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar were also involved in money laundering and demanded all three of them resign.
    ?Dar was the frontman for Nawaz Sharif, he laundered stolen money for him. He has admitted this too,? the PTI chief said.
    Commenting on the JIT report, he said it has been confirmed that the Qatari letter was a fraud, and that Maryam Nawaz, the premier?s daughter, was the beneficiary owner of offshore companies.
    The PTI chief criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for claiming the the JIT was biased and did not work properly under a conspiracy. 
    "For them, only institutions which help them obstruct justice are working properly,? said Imran.


  8. Waqas Dar
    Security forces recovered a huge cache of weapons and ammunition near Kohat Tunnel and arrested two terrorists in an operation carried out as part of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
    Taking action on an intelligence report, security forces found a large quantity of weapons and ammunition in a secret compartment at the bottom of a truck, said ISPR.
    Large quantity of weapons, ammo found by security forces The ammunition, which includes more than thousand types of pistols, 212 shotguns and SMGs, 105 automatic weapons and 7,000 rounds, was being moved from Darra Adam Khel to WANA by the terrorists.
    In early March, the Frontier Corps Balochistan recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition during a search operation at Chot Camp area in Quetta, the ISPR had said.

    Recovered ammunition included 4900 small machine gun rounds, 453 x 12.7 mm gun rounds, 140 AGL rounds and 24 hand grenades.


  9. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Arshad Khan -- the famous blue-eyed chaiwala, who dominated the social media horizon last year -- is an Afghan national and not native to Pakistan.
    National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) records have confirmed that Khan is a resident of Afghanistan and does not possess valid documents to cover his stay in Pakistan.
    This latest update is sure to rain on the parade of several Pakistanis, who were quick to rave about Arshad Khan after a picture of him went viral on the internet.
    After he was discovered ? courtesy of photographer Jiah Ali?s photograph of him during a photo-walk - scores of modeling and film offers piled up for the Chaiwala.
    He also starred in Muskan Jay?s song Beparwai, although the song led to some distress for Khan back home.
    The debate for the young man?s claim to fame remained rife in the past, where people?s favourite past time was to discuss how the tea-maker?s life changed for the better.
    ?Before I was living a poor life, I was working as a labourer. I faced poverty. I spent my whole life in poverty. Now with the grace of Allah, I am honoured and have an opportunity to move forward,? Arshad had said earlier. 


  10. Waqas Dar
    Allama Iqbal International Airport - File Photo  BEIJING: A Chinese construction company has won a contract worth an estimated $382 million to reconstruct the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.

    According to China?s state-owned Peoples Daily, the contract was awarded to China Construction Third Engineering Bureau and after the reconstruction, the airport will become the largest in the country.
    This is the third project by the company in the Pakistan. Several major projects in Pakistan, including the Karachi-Lahore Motorway's section Sukkur and Multan, Arfa Software Technology Park in Lahore and The Centaurus Hotel in Islamabad are all projects of the Third Engineering Bureau. 


  11. Waqas Dar
    Chief of Malaysian Army General Dato? Sri Zulkiple Bin Haji Kassim pictured with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters on Tuesday. Photo: ISPR   RAWALPINDI: Chief of Malaysian Army General Dato? Sri Zulkiple Bin Haji Kassim called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters on Tuesday, the Inter Services Public Relations department said.
    The two chiefs exchanged views on issues of mutual interest including defence, training and security cooperation between both the countries and overall regional security situation.
    The foreign delegation was given a detailed briefing on operational and training activities of the Pakistan Army according to the ISPR press release.
    General Dato? Sri Zulkiple Bin Haji Kassim acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan?s efforts for the elimination of terrorism.
    On arrival at GHQ, the Chief of Malaysian Army laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shuhada. A contingent of the Pakistan Army presented the guard of honour to the visiting dignitary.


  12. Waqas Dar
    Officials bringing in the JIT's final probe report to the Supreme Court on Monday. Photo: Geo News Leading legal experts are of the opinion that it has become nearly impossible for the prime minister to save himself from being disqualified after the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report.
    Barrister Farogh Naseem claimed the premier?s disqualification is writing on the wall. ?It is better if he resigns as he cannot escape disqualification,? he said.
    Advocate Faisal Chaudhry said the Supreme Court cannot do anything but disqualify the prime minister following the JIT?s report.
    ?It was the prime minister?s mistake to not appeal the minority judgment of two Supreme Court justices in the Panama Papers case,? opined Advocate Rashed A Rizvi.
    JIT recommends filing of reference against PM Nawaz, daughter and sons with NAB
    JIT cites Nab Ordinance Sectio 9(a)(v) in its report
    The JIT, in its final probe report into the Sharif family?s assets submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday, held that the prime minister and his three children ? Maryam, Hussain and Hasan ? have accumulated wealth beyond their own known sources of income.
    The next hearing of the case is on July 17.


  13. Waqas Dar
    RAWALPINDI: Awami Muslim League (AML) president Sheikh Rasheed on Tuesday announced he would request the Supreme Court to summon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for cross-examination in the Panama probe.
    Addressing a press conference, Rasheed renewed calls for PM?s resignation in the aftermath of the damning Panama case report by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and stressed that the PM had lost all grounds to rule.
    ?For the sake of this country, I ask Nawaz Sharif to step down. He has lost all moral, political and legal authority to rule. [This situation] has resulted in a political funeral for him and his family,? the AML leader remarked.
    Rasheed called on the Prime Minister to surrender to the law or risk facing imprisonment.
    ?If Nawaz Sharif does not bow down to the law, he should get ready to go to prison. His entire family has been dragged through the mud due to his stubbornness to stick to power. He has even destroyed his daughter?s political future,? Rasheed said.
    ?Nawaz Sharif?s agenda is to wage war against the judiciary and military. He and his family are trying hard to find an unconstitutional way out of this saga,? he continued.

    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/477613c442ca9f313fb50fa618aa3931.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9Ny8xMS8yMDE3IDEwOjIwOjI4IEFNJmhhc2hfdmFsdWU9dHVCOFZTQytNZXRqVGl0bGMxZTVDZz09JnZhbGlkbWludXRlcz02MCZpZD0x style=center]
    Rasheed also brought up mention of Sheikh Saeed, calling him ?the frontman of Sharif family in Switzerland? as he discussed alleged tampering of official records by the SECP chairman.

    Calls echo for PM's resignation in light of JIT report
    PTI, PPP hold joint and separate meetings to discuss post-Panama strategy
    Calling the Panama case ?historic?, the AML leader said the judges and Grade 18 and 19 officers proved that justice still prevails.
    ?In the future no politician would dare to loot the country, because they would know that even Grade 18 and 19 officers can send them to prison. I had talked about victory of law and political funeral of the Sharif family. Now I stand vindicated,? he added.
    Rasheed claimed that PML-N has only 40 to 41 assembly members left. He further said there are 62 PML-N members who were friends of Musharraf, including eight ministers, and invited them back.

    The JIT, in its final probe report into the Sharif family?s assets, held that the prime minister and his three children ? Maryam, Hussain and Hasan ? have accumulated wealth beyond their own known sources of income.
    The next hearing of the case is on July 17. 
    Even though the government has rejected the report, and vowed to challenge it ?point by point? in the Supreme Court next week, both PTI and PPP have called on the prime minister to step down from his post.



  14. Waqas Dar
    Hanif Abbasi, Daniyal Aziz, Talal Chaudhry ISLAMABAD: The association of the Panama case Joint Investigation Team members with different political parties has come to the fore, alleged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi on Tuesday.
    ?How would [otherwise] Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed come to know what statements Shehbaz Sharif and others recorded before the JIT,? Abbasi questioned while he and other leaders of the ruling party spoke to the media, opposing the investigation team?s findings. ?Our reservations regarding the JIT have proven right.?
    He added the cases with documents from the JIT report had nothing but assumptions.
    Another leader of PML-N, Daniyal Aziz, also spoke to the media, saying the JIT investigation was not completed within the stipulated time period, something which the team has admitted to.
    While speaking about volume 10 of the report ? which the JIT head does not want to be made public for the sake of further investigation ? Aziz believed what they thought of the volume has come to be true.
    However, he added, they would examine the entire report before the Supreme Court.
    Also speaking to the media, PML-N?s Talal Chaudhry said the 256-page report of JIT has 256 errors. 


  15. Waqas Dar
    A cow walks past a closed slaughterhouse in Allahabad, India March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash NEW DELHI: India's Supreme Court suspended on Tuesday a government ban on the trade of cattle for slaughter, a boost for the multi-billion dollar beef and leather industries mostly run by members of the Muslim minority.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government in May decreed that markets could only trade cattle for agricultural purposes, such as plowing and dairy production, on the grounds of stopping cruelty to animals.
    The slaughter of cows, considered holy in Hinduism, was already banned in most parts of India, but Hindu hardliners and cow vigilante groups have been increasingly asserting themselves since Modi's government came to power in 2014.
    Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people, said the May government decree against the beef and leather industry employing millions of workers was aimed at marginalizing them.
    The Supreme Court, in issuing its decision, stressed the hardship that the ban on the trade of cattle for slaughter had imposed.
    "The livelihood of people should not be affected by this," Supreme Court Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar said in his ruling.
    India's meat and leather industries are worth more than $16 billion in annual sales.
    After the decision, the government told the court it would modify and reissue its May order, Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha said.
    The issue has become highly emotive with a wave of attacks on Muslims suspected of either storing meat or transporting cattle for slaughter. An estimated 28 people have been killed in cow-related violence since 2010.
    India's Modi condemns killings in name of cow worship
    India has been suffering a wave of vigilante murders, with at least 10 Muslims killed by mobs since April
    Late last month, after months of silence on the violence, Modi condemned lynchings.
    Media has reported at least two cases of attacks on Muslims since Modi spoke out.
    Abdul Faheem Qureshi, the head of the Muslim All India Jamiatul Quresh Action Committee that supports meat sellers, welcomed the court decision.
    "We have to now restore the confidence of cattle traders that they can resume their business. It' a victory for us," said Faheem Qureshi, who had lodged a petition with the Supreme Court against the government ban.


  16. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday grilled the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief;s counsel over his client's source of income for purchasing his Bani Gala estate.
    A three-member bench led by the chief justice heard the case filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi against PTI Chairman Imran Khan. 
    Abbasi's petition accuses the PTI leader of not declaring his assets to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and seeks to unseat him based on alleged violations of the Income Tax Ordinance 1979 and Peoples Act 1974.
    During Tuesday's hearing, the CJP remarked that the money trail of one of Khan's accounts is vague.
    In response to PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari's statement that the PTI chief was able to purchase property through his income from playing cricket, the bench inquired about details of the former cricketer's savings and documentation of bank accounts.
    Bukhari said he would provide the details to the court. 

    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/50815cf7cd8327ce3b53ae8df2a1801d.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9Ny8xMS8yMDE3IDk6MTA6NDAgQU0maGFzaF92YWx1ZT02NElMUGN2OFJ5QzVlb0dEZWVYTDV3PT0mdmFsaWRtaW51dGVzPTYwJmlkPTE= style=center]
    This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is received. 



  17. Waqas Dar
    Former India captain Ravi Shastri  NEW DELHI: Former skipper Ravi Shastri has emerged as the front-runner to be the new coach of India, but a final decision remains on hold until captain Virat Kohli has been consulted.
    Shastri, 55, was among five high-profile candidates interviewed on Monday for the post left vacant by ex-Test captain Anil Kumble, who resigned amid difficulties over his relationship with Kohli which he described as "untenable".
    An advisory committee of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman has been tasked with selecting the new coach to head the world´s number-one ranked Test team.
    The cricketing greats considered presentations from Shastri, Virender Sehwag, Australia´s Tom Moody, Englishman Richard Pybus and former India manager Lalchand Rajput.
    But after a gruelling round of interviews the committee decided there was "no hurry" to name the coach, and felt Kohli should be consulted before the final decision was made.
    Speculation has been rife that Shastri, who served as India´s team director between 2014 and 2016, is on friendly terms with Kohli and will therefore get the nod.
    India to name head coach after discussion with Kohli
    Former captain Kumble stepped down as coach last month after falling out with skipper Kohli
    "All members of the Indian cricket team are in favour of cricketer-turned-commentator Shastri taking over the role," reported The Times of India on Tuesday.
    "All 15 members of the team are unanimous on this. It´s not even 14-1," the daily reported, citing an unnamed member of the Indian cricket team.
    Ganguly told reporters that Kohli would be briefed on the developments once the team returned from their limited-overs tour of the West Indies.
    "Sri Lanka tour is in a week´s time, the board headed by (secretary) Amitabh Choudhary and (chief executive) Rahul Johri will probably continue with the same set for the time being," said Ganguly.
    "We want to speak to Virat Kohli once he is back from America, all three of us along with the respective people concerned.
    "We will explain to him that the coaches want to function in a certain way and make sure that everybody is on the same page before we make the announcement."
    Kohli made no recommendation for who should fill the coaching role, Ganguly added, which would run until the World Cup in 2019.
    Shastri, who has represented India in 80 Tests and 150 one-day internationals between 1981 and 1992, originally applied when a one-year contract to coach India was made available in 2016.
    A decision by India´s cricket board to allow Shastri to interview via Skype while on holiday at the time angered Ganguly, who complained publicly about the selection process. Shastri was then pipped to the post by Kumble.


  18. Waqas Dar
    Actor Ranbir Kapoor says he is more educated than his father, uncle and grandfather, according to India Times.
    While talking about his schooldays, the actor said his family hisory is not that good. ?My grandfather failed in the sixth grade, my father in eighth and uncle in ninth.?
    He added he was the most educated member in his family. However, Ranbir said, he was not a great performer in academics.
    ?My mother used to come to my school when the results were declared and I would always apoligise, promising to get good marks next time,? he is quoted by the Indian media as saying. ?My mother would threaten to tell dad if she saw a red line in my report card and I would get cry as I was scared of him.?
    He also said that had Twitter existed back then his father would have posted about his results on the social media. 


  19. Waqas Dar
    Sana Mir and her teammates celebrate a good moment on the field/ICC Pakistan, after five consecutive losses, seek their first win of the Women?s World Cup 2017 against West Indies at Leicester on Tuesday.
    Windies kicked off the tournament with a 47-run win over Sri Lanka but have struggled to keep their momentum, whereas Pakistan, without any win so far, are out of this World Cup.
    Pakistan, however, had defeated the Windies in a warm-up game at Leicester by chasing down 247.
    Skipper Sana Mir is hopeful her team will come together to deliver today.
    ?We have played really good cricket in bits and pieces. It?s important we bring it into one match, and hopefully we can do it [today]. I really believe in this team. Sometimes in tournaments like these when you slip off or your form goes bad you take a couple of matches to come back. The batters are looking good in the nets today, hopefully they can deliver tomorrow,? she said in an ICC media release.
    ?It is a new day. Their (Windies) and our team have changed since that (warm-up) game. We are playing on a new wicket [today], and weather in England plays different role. We can?t take things for granted. We have to be smart about it and use the conditions to our advantage.?
    Diana Baig, who has also represented Pakistan at football, has impressed with her opening spell/ICC  West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor looks determined to win as well.
    ?We know how important these games are. We definitely want to win and go home on a high. Pakistan have not won a game, so it is not going to be easy for us. Pakistan are going to come with their spinners. We saw that a bit of that (against Sri Lanka). We should counter their bowlers well,? she said.
    ?Pakistan has always been a fighting team. All the teams think that West Indies is the team you want to beat, so Pakistan is no different.?
    Squads
    Pakistan: Sana Mir (capt), Ayesha Zafar, Nahida Khan, Marina Iqbal, Iram Javed, Javeria Khan, Syeda Nain Fatima Abidi, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Kainat Imtiaz, Asmavia Iqbal, Diana Baig, Waheeda Akhtar, Nashra Sandhu, Ghulam Fatima, Sadia Yousuf

    West Indies: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Merissa Aguilleira (wk), Reniece Boyce, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters, Felicia Walters, Subrina Munroe, Kycia Knight.




  20. Waqas Dar
    Mark Karpeles, chief executive of defunct bitcoin exchange Mt Gox, rides in a car as he arrives at Tokyo District Court for a trial on charges of embezzlement in Tokyo, Japan, July 11, 2017. Photo: Reuters   The 32-year-old chief executive of defunct Mt. Gox pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges relating to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoins and cash from what was once the world's biggest bitcoin exchange.
    French national Mark Karpeles filed the plea in response to charges of embezzlement and data manipulation at the Tokyo District Court, according to a pool report for foreign journalists.
    Mt. Gox once handled 80 percent of the world's bitcoin trades but filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after losing some 850,000 Bitcoins - then worth around half a billion U.S. dollars - and $28 million in cash from its Japanese bank accounts.
    In its bankruptcy filing, Tokyo-based Mt. Gox blamed hackers for the lost bitcoins, pointing to a software security flaw.
    Mt. Gox subsequently said it had found 200,000 of the missing bitcoins.
    Prosecutors said Karpeles transferred around 340 million yen ($3 million) from an account containing customer funds to an external account during September to December 2013, and increased the balance of the account via "improper operation" of Mt. Gox's trading system, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday, citing Karpeles' indictment.
    Karpeles' defence told a pre-trial consultation that the remittance was within the scope of the firm's revenue and not the embezzlement of customer funds, the Nikkei reported. They added the increased balance was part of the administrative process of exchanging cash and bitcoins and therefore not illegal, the Nikkei said.
    Karpeles told the court he was an information technology engineer.
    "I swear to God that I am innocent," he said in Japanese to the three-judge panel hearing his case, according to the pool report.
    Licensed exchanges 
    The collapse of Mt. Gox represented a major setback for bitcoin and badly damaged the image of virtual currencies, particularly among risk-averse Japanese investors and corporations.
    But the bankruptcy also prompted Japan's government to decide how to treat bitcoin and preceded a push by local regulators to license virtual currency exchanges.
    Japan this year became the first country to regulate exchanges at the national level, part of a government effort to exploit financial technology as a means of stimulating the economy.
    Interest in bitcoin among Japan's legions of individual investors - encouraged by Tokyo's recognition of the virtual currency as legal tender - has spiked in recent months.
    Still, institutional investors remain wary, say those running virtual currency exchanges in Tokyo. Japanese firms are also unenthusiastic: Only 4 percent of large and mid-sized firms plan to use bitcoin, showed a Reuters poll last month.
    The value of bitcoin is highly volatile. It hit a record high of $2,980 last month.
    Like other virtual currencies, such as Ethereum and Ripple, Bitcoin has no central authority and relies instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new units to the system - a technology known as blockchain.
    Bitcoin can be traded on exchanges in the same manner as stocks and bonds. It has also become a mode of payment for some retailers, and a way to transfer funds without the need for a third party.


  21. Waqas Dar
    Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq Hijazi. Photo: File  ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) accepted on Tuesday the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafar Hijazi?s request for pre-arrest bail.
    The IHC registrar raised objections on the petition and advised Hijazi?s counsel to approach the ?relevant forum for the matter.? However, the hearing was later fixed for the court of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani with the registrar's objections.
    Hijazi had filed for a pre-arrest bail as per Section 498 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan. The SECP chief?s counsel, Sheikh Ansar, cited medical grounds as the basis for the request.
    As per the plea, the jail environment was not conducive to Hijazi?s health, as he was on medication after a kidney transplant.
    Hijazi?s request further stated that he wanted to be part of the investigation to ?prove all allegations levelled against him wrong.? 

    An FIR was registered against Hijazi on the directives of the Supreme Court on Monday for tampering with official records.

    Acting upon the apex court?s orders, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed the case with the Special Investigation Unit.
    SECP chief guilty of tampering records: FIA
    Zafar Hijazi has been found guilty of pressuring junior officers to tamper records in favour of Sharif family
    The FIA had identified Hijazi as the culprit behind changing official records of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills, owned by the Sharif family, to help their case.
    The criminal case was registered against Hijazi under sections 466 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
    Section 466 lists a seven-year imprisonment and fine for those who forge a legal document, while section 471 punishes in the same manner for using as genuine a forged document.


  22. Waqas Dar
    A man holding an umbrella walks in front of an electronic stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo April 7, 2015. Photo: Reuters   Asian shares extended early gains on Tuesday and the dollar notched a four-month high against the yen, as investors awaited testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for clues on when the central bank would tighten US monetary policy.
    MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, with sentiment underpinned by technology-led gains on Wall Street.
    Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 0.5 percent, buoyed by a weaker yen, while Australian shares pared some of its earlier losses.
    "Except for worries about North Korea, the situation in Asia is calm at the moment, and this is giving some relief to investors," said Kyoya Okazawa, head of global markets, Japan and Korea, at BNP Paribas.
    "The dollar has risen above the 114 level, and this is lifting Japanese shares," he said.
    China stocks were mixed as blue-chips firmed while small-caps extended falls on expectations of more equity supply. The CSI300 index rose 0.5 percent, but the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.2 percent.
    The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, added 0.2 percent to 96.163 ahead of Yellen's semi-annual monetary policy testimony before Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
    San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams said Tuesday in Sydney that it was a reasonable view to expect one more rate hike this year, and his own view was to start adjusting the central bank's balance sheet in the next few months.
    "Normalisation of monetary policy in the coming months is almost priced in, and the Fed will start shrinking its balance sheet in September, and this does not necessarily mean a delay of rate hikes," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
    "This is supporting the dollar as a positive factor, and limiting its downside at the moment," he said. "I think Yellen will confirm that rate hikes are coming, and that balance sheet shrinkage will come."
    Against its Japanese counterpart, the dollar added 0.3 percent to 114.43, its highest level since mid-March.
    The euro inched 0.1 percent lower on the day to $1.1387.
    The Canadian dollar was down slightly against its US counterpart as investors awaited a Bank of Canada interest rate decision on Wednesday.
    Forecasters are divided on whether the central bank will raise rates but data from the overnight index swaps market shows that money markets are almost fully priced for an increase, while an 80 percent chance of a second hike has been implied by December.
    Crude oil prices extended their overnight gains, even as increased drilling activity in the United States and uncertainty over Libyan and Nigerian production cuts clouded the future supply outlook.
    US crude futures rose 0.4 percent to $44.58 a barrel after adding 0.4 percent on Monday, while Brent crude was 0.4 percent higher at $$47.08.
    Spot gold edged 0.2 percent lower to $1,212.00 an ounce, moving back toward near four-month lows touched in the previous session.


  23. Waqas Dar
    Amnesty International said on Tuesday it had identified a pattern of attacks by Iraqi forces and the US-led military coalition backing them in the battle for Mosul that violated international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes.
    The rights group said in a report that the Daesh militant group had flagrantly violated that same law by deliberately putting civilians in harm's way to shield their fighters and impede the advance of Iraqi and coalition forces.
    Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory in Mosul on Monday, three years after Daesh seized the city and made it the stronghold of a "caliphate" they said would take over the world.
    Much of Mosul has been destroyed in grinding street-to-street fighting, thousands of civilians have been killed and nearly a million people fled their homes, according to the United Nations.
    Amnesty said Iraqi forces and the coalition carried out a series of unlawful attacks in west Mosul since January, relying heavily on Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions (IRAMs), explosive weapons with crude targeting capabilities that wreaked havoc in densely populated areas.
    "Even in attacks that seem to have struck their intended military target, the use of unsuitable weapons or failure to take other necessary precautions resulted in needless loss of civilian lives and in some cases appears to have constituted disproportionate attacks," the report said.
    Neither the Iraqi defence ministry nor coalition officials were immediately available to comment on the Amnesty report.
    Amnesty also slammed Daesh for a host of crimes that have been documented previously.
    The militants rounded up residents in contested villages and neighbourhoods and forced them to move into conflict zones in west Mosul for use as human shields, it said. As clashes neared, they trapped the civilians inside houses without access to food or medical care, it said.
    The militants also fought and hid among the population.
    Daesh summarily killed hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women and children who attempted to flee and hanged their bodies in public areas, according to the report.
    Amnesty acknowledged the challenges of protecting civilians given the militants' tactics, but still blamed Iraqi authorities and the coalition for failing to take feasible precautions to protect civilians from air strikes. It said leaflet drops warning of attacks had been virtually useless because Daesh heavily restricted civilian movement.
    Neither the government nor the coalition keep track of civilian deaths. Amnesty said the toll just in west Mosul from attacks launched by pro-government forces was very likely higher than the 3,706 estimated by monitoring group Airwars.
    "The true death toll of the west Mosul battle may never be known," it said


  24. Waqas Dar
    MUMBAI: The Cricket Advisory Committee of the Indian board (BCCI) interviewed five candidates for the head coach´s post on Monday but said it will name Anil Kumble´s successor only after consulting captain Virat Kohli, who is in the United States.
    Former captain Kumble stepped down as coach last month after falling out with skipper Kohli despite enjoying a successful run during his year in charge.
    Last year the BCCI formed the CAC, comprising former players Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, who chose Kumble for the job.
    The CAC interviewed Indians Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag and Lalchand Rajput, Australian Tom Moody and Englishman Richard Pybus to fill the vacant position, the BCCI said in a statement.
    India toured West Indies for a limited-overs series without a head coach and could continue with the set-up for their visit to Sri Lanka, starting on July 26."We feel there is no hurry at the moment," former India captain Ganguly told reporters.
    "Sri Lanka tour is in a week´s time, the board headed by (secretary) Amitabh Choudhary and (Chief Executive) Rahul Johri will probably continue with the same set for the time being."
    Kumble steps down as Indian coach after humiliating defeat against Pakistan
    According to Indian media, Kumble ?who is also a part of ICC?s cricket committee? has reportedly sent his resignation to BCCI CEO
    Kumble´s original contract expired with the India´s Champions Trophy campaign, but the former leg-spinner was tipped to get an extension after leading the country to 12 victories in 17 tests with just one loss.
    Kumble, India´s most successful bowler, also guided the team to one-day international series wins over New Zealand and England with losses coming only in a Twenty20 series against the West Indies and in the Champions Trophy final, where they lost to Pakistan.
    "We want to speak to Virat Kohli once he is back from America, all three of us along with the respective people concerned," Ganguly said, adding that Kohli has made no recommendation.
    "We will explain to him that the coaches want to function in a certain way and make sure that everybody is on the same page before we make the announcement, because once we make the announcement it has to be till the (2019) World Cup."
    Former test all-rounder Shastri was appointed team director after head coach Duncan Fletcher´s term came to an end following India´s semi-final defeat at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
    Moody has previously coached the Sri Lankan national team and in the Indian Premier League while Pybus had roles with the Pakistan, Bangladesh and West Indies teams.


  25. Waqas Dar
    PM's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz. Photo: File  ABIDJAN: Pakistan will continue to work towards peace, progress and prosperity of the Muslim Ummah, stated Prime Minister?s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Monday.
    Addressing the 44th session of the OIC foreign ministers at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Aziz reiterated that Pakistan would continue to morally, diplomatically and politically aid all those being subjected to atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
    Condemning the continued and deliberate violation of the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LOC), Aziz added that he specifically deplored the use of pellet guns by Indian forces which deliberately damaged the eyes of the Kashmiri youth.
    Aziz stated that peace and stability would not be attainable in South Asia if the Kashmir issue remained unresolved.
    He added that it was the responsibility of the international community to address longstanding unresolved political issues, like Palestine and Kashmir, which threatened peace and development.
    The Pakistani envoy also expressed gratitude to the OIC Contact Group for it support to the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir.
    The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir met on the sidelines of the session with OIC Secretary General Yousaf A Al-Othaimeen in the chair.
    The group had reinstated its unequivocal support to the people of occupied Kashmir in their just struggle towards self-determination which was enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions and condemned Indian brutality in the region.
    Ministers and senior officials of Azerbaijan, Niger, Saudi Arabia and Turkey also attended the meeting.
    The contact group was formed in 1994 to coordinate OIC policy on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are its members.


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