FundayForum
Register
Forum Blogs Gallery Files Poetry Books
Portal Facebook YouTube Twitter
👀 You are watching:
Jump to content
👉 Click here to explore Remote Jobs, Work From Home & Global News – USA 🇺🇸 | UK 🇬🇧 | Canada 🇨🇦 | Pakistan 🇵🇰 ×
🚫 Guest Access Notice ×
LIVE UPDATES

Waqas Dar

🔥 Admin/Core Authority
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11,281

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    552

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Waqas Dar

  1. Waqas Dar
    On the flick of a flurry of switches, a studio on a gray industrial estate in East London lights up to reveal hundreds of bright neon artworks.
    Owned by 43-year-old artist Marcus Bracey, the gallery in Walthamstow, called 'God's Own Junkyard', houses the collection of four generations of his family who have made, bought and displayed neon works.
    The pieces are accompanied by kitsch memorabilia that Bracey has collected from film sets and car boot sales across Britain, leaving just enough room for a narrow winding aisle for visitors to navigate their way through the gallery.
    "This is my neon emporium, my museum of light, my Aladdin's cave," Bracey told Reuters from the center of the high-ceilinged studio which runs up an electricity bill of over 700 pounds ($900) a week.
    Some of Bracey's works have appeared in films, including "Mission Impossible" and "Eyes Wide Shut", or decorated department stores, namely London's Selfridges, while others have been bought by celebrities such as Kate Moss.
    Bracey recently sold a large God Save the Queen neon sign in front of a heart-shaped British, Union Jack, flag for 58,000 pounds ($74,700) at auction to a buyer in Dubai.
    A replica is on display at God's Own Junkyard, which Bracey opened with his father Chris in 2008 after running out of space at home to store the family's work.
    The earliest pieces in the showroom, often used for film shoots, date back to the 1950s when Marcus's grandfather left his job as a miner in Wales to join a lighting company and eventually make signs for carnivals across Britain.
    "He left the dark and came into the light," Bracey said.
    Bracey's new works, which take around six weeks to make with neon moulded over 800-degree burners, now sit alongside those of his 17-year-old daughter Amber, a graffiti artist and next in line to take over the family business.
    Bracey, however, isn't ready to step away from his neon wonderland just yet.
    "The buzz, the feel, the happiness. To turn it on and see what it looks like," he said of the excitement he gets every time he flicks on those switches.




  2. Waqas Dar
    Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo: AFP/file  LONDON: A senior lawmaker in Britain´s opposition Labour Party has called for a million people to take to the streets to force a second election that he said would remove Prime Minister Theresa May from power, the Daily Mirror reported.
    After days of political turmoil sparked by her botched gamble on a snap election, May´s Conservative Party is in talks with a small Northern Irish Protestant party on securing the support of its 10 members in the 650-seat parliament to pass legislation.
    John McDonnell, who would be finance minister if Labour won power, urged protesters to "get out on the streets" in support of Labour´s opposition to spending cuts and to build pressure for another election, the newspaper said.
    "We need people doing everything they can to ensure the election comes as early as possible," McDonnell was quoted as saying the newspaper.
    The newspaper said some left-wing groups plan a mass protest on July 1 to put pressure on May.
    Speaking to union activists, McDonnell said the Trades Union Congress (TUC) should mobilise to get people out onto the streets.
    "Just think if the TUC put out that call - that we want a million on the streets of London in two weeks´ time," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.
    After winning far more seats than was predicted, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he wanted to topple May.


  3. Waqas Dar
    Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson on Thursday won a lengthy defamation case against an Australian publisher that portrayed her as a serial liar. Photo: AFP/file  SYDNEY: Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson on Thursday won a lengthy defamation case against an Australian publisher that portrayed her as a serial liar, which she said cost her lucrative movie roles.
    The 37-year-old "Pitch Perfect" star sued Bauer Media over eight articles in Woman´s Day, Australian Women´s Weekly and OK Magazine in 2015, which her defence said "tore down an Australian star to sell magazines".
    The stories claimed the Sydney-born actor lied about her name, age and background in order to advance her career in the United States.
    Giving evidence during the three-week trial, often in tears, Wilson claimed she was sacked from DreamWorks animated feature films "Trolls" and "Kung Fu Panda 3" following the articles.
    Bauer denied they damaged her reputation and argued they were true.
    But the Victorian Supreme Court ruled she was defamed in all eight of the pieces, with the judge to decide on the penalty at a later date.
    "Bauer Media took me down with a series of grubby and completely false articles," said Wilson outside the court.
    "Far too often I feel the tabloid magazines and the journalists that work for them don´t abide by professional ethics.
    "Far too often I can only describe their conduct as disgusting and disgraceful and I´m very glad that the jury has agreed with me. And with the unanimous and overwhelming verdict they have sent a very clear message."
    Wilson, who will now jet to New York to shoot a film with fellow Australian Liam Hemsworth, said she was grateful the drama was now over.
    "It´s a win for everyone who gets maliciously taken down when there´s no reason why that should happen," she said. 


  4. Waqas Dar
    TOKYO: A German executive working at Volkswagen´s Tokyo office has been arrested on drug charges, the automaker said Thursday.
    Thomas Siebert, 53, was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of using an unspecified drug, the company said, with media reports suggesting it was cocaine.
    "We deeply regret the fact that an employee of our company has been taken into police custody for a personal matter," Volkswagen Group Japan KK said in a statement.
    "We will fully cooperate during the investigation and take the necessary steps, as soon as the facts have been clarified," it added.
    The company did not provide further details, but said the sales executive has been working for its Japanese division since 2010.
    Authorities started investigating Siebert after customs officers found what was believed to be an illegal drug mailed to his Tokyo address, media reports said.
    His urine tested positive for drugs and Siebert has admitted to using cocaine, local media added.
    Police declined to confirm the arrest.
    Japan has strict drug laws and simple possession can result in jail time.
    Two years ago, an American Toyota executive was arrested on charges she had a controlled drug -- the painkiller oxycodone -- mailed to her Tokyo residence. She was released after several weeks in custody.


  5. Waqas Dar
    A federal judge ordered an environmental review of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline on Wednesday. Photo: inhabitat.com WASHINGTON: A federal judge ordered an environmental review of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline on Wednesday in a dramatic twist that opens the possibility that the project could be halted.

    US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington said the US Army Corps of Engineers did not fully consider the effects of a possible oil spill on the fishing and hunting rights of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
    The decision is a partial victory for the tribe, which led high-profile protests against the $3.8-billion, 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) oil pipeline.
    Although the Corps of Engineers "substantially complied" with federal environmental laws, "it did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline´s effects are likely to be highly controversial," Boasberg wrote in a 91-page decision.
    "To remedy those violations, the Corps will have to reconsider those sections of its environmental analysis upon remand by the court," he said.
    The pipeline began pumping crude oil delivery from North Dakota to Illinois in May.
    Although Boasberg did not suspend deliveries, overseen by pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners, his order indicated that that could be considered at a later date.
    The pipeline route under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe in North Dakota was the subject of months of protests, as Native Americans and their supporters argued it ran the risk of potentially polluting the water.
    Under former president Barack Obama, the Corps had called for further review and halted construction. But President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing officials to reconsider soon after taking office in January.
    The Army Corps of Engineers cleared the way in February for the project to be finished, after which the tribe sued the Corps over its approval.
    Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault hailed the latest decision.
    "We applaud the courts for protecting our laws and regulations from undue political influence, and will ask the Court to shut down pipeline operations immediately," he said in a statement.
    "The previous administration painstakingly considered the impacts of this pipeline and President Trump hastily dismissed these careful environmental considerations in favor of political and personal interests."
    Judge Boasberg ordered both sides to appear before him next Wednesday to decide next legal steps.


  6. Waqas Dar
    The EU has abolished mobile phone roaming charges. Photo: AFP PARIS: The European Union rang in the end of cross-border roaming charges for mobile phone users in the 28-nation bloc on Thursday, hailing it as "one of (its) greatest and most tangible successes".
    The move, more than a decade in the making, comes in time for the summer holidays when millions of Europeans will be on the move, and is a public relations success at a time when the EU is under pressure from Brexit and other problems.
    The EU "is about bringing people together and making their lives easier. The end of roaming charges is a true European success story," said European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
    "From now on, citizens who travel within the EU will be able to call, text and connect on their mobile devices at the same price as they pay at home. Eliminating roaming charges is one of the greatest and most tangible successes of the EU."
    It remains to be seen whether Britons will continue to enjoy same-cost mobile calls and data downloads in Europe after Britain´s departure from the EU, negotiations for which are due to start next week.
    But the existence of roaming charges -- an important source of revenue for telecoms companies -- was long seen as a "market failure" by Brussels.
    "Each time a European citizen crossed an EU border, be it for holidays, work, studies or just for a day, they had to worry about using their mobile phones and a high phone bill from the roaming charges when they came home," Juncker said.
    "Roaming charges will now be a thing of the past."
    Juncker noted the abolition of the practice had "been a long time coming, with many actors involved".
    Nevertheless, "by working closely together, the European Union has delivered a concrete, positive result for European citizens".
    Brussels estimates the end of roaming fees will cost European telecom operators 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
    But the share of revenues from roaming charges already significantly declined in recent years as charges for calls and text messages dropped 90 percent since 2007 and data charges declined 96 percent since 2012 under EU regulations.
    Data traffic, meanwhile, has grown 100-fold, according to the EU.


  7. Waqas Dar
    Slack Technologies Inc, a corporate messaging and collaboration software startup, has received inquiries about a potential takeover from technology companies including Amazon.com Inc, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
    A deal could value the company at least $9 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people with knowledge of the matter.
    Slack is a platform where employees can send messages, collaborate, organize and share files. The technology also integrates with a wide variety of business software - such as Salesforce.com Inc and Microsoft Corp's Skype - so employees can do all their work within Slack.
    San Francisco-based Slack has raised more than $500 million from venture capitalists and was valued at $3.8 billion at its last private financing round a year ago.
    Both, Amazon and Slack were not immediately available to comment outside of regular US business hours.


  8. Waqas Dar
    [embed_video1 url=http://stream.jeem.tv/vod/c731cebc8f5b471edd6285bce3a46c81.mp4/playlist.m3u8?wmsAuthSign=c2VydmVyX3RpbWU9Ni8xNS8yMDE3IDk6MTk6NTEgQU0maGFzaF92YWx1ZT1yejMyeEZScnBSdWtJOG9SYnhYaWhRPT0mdmFsaWRtaW51dGVzPTYwJmlkPTE= style=center]
    ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nafees Zakaria explained on Thursday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received a warm welcome during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia.

    He was speaking during the weekly media briefing of the Foreign Office.
    The prime minister discussed the ongoing Gulf crisis with the Saudi King and assured the government of protecting the Harmain Sharifain, said Zakaria.
    On the issue of the Chinese couple that was reportedly kidnapped and then killed in Quetta, he remarked that interior ministry has already issued a statement in this regard. ?It is clear that the Chinese couple had nothing to do with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor,? he added.
    ?Pakistan is concerned about the Chinese couple,? he said, adding, that law enforcing agencies are currently investigating the matter to get more detail.
    Civil war has been going on in Afghanistan since the last 40 years, he said.
    Zakaria also said that the Indian violation of Line of Control ceasefire agreement affects regional peace.
    FO spokesperson says Jadhav continues to provide crucial intelligence
    Khawar Qureshi, the lawyer representing Pakistan in the case at ICJ, remarked that ICJ will neither release the spy nor acquit Jadhav
    ?Indian troops are continuing with atrocities in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.?

    The Indian troops did not even show any respect for the month of Ramazan, he remarked.
    Kashmiris who celebrated Pakistan?s victory in Champions League?s semi-final were baton charged, according to the spokesperson. Moreover, the Indian troops also looted shopkeepers for celebrating Pakistan?s win.
    Pakistan has raised the issue of human rights violation in Kashmir in United Nations, he remarked.
    Zakaria also said that the Sikh pilgrims who wanted to come to Pakistan for Jor Mela were stopped in Attari. ?Only a few Sikh pilgrims were allowed to cross the border,? he claimed.
    India?s behaviour towards the visa-holding pilgrims is saddening, he added. 
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also congratulated the Pakistan cricket team for making their way to the final of Champions Trophy 2017.
    We hope that Pakistan cricket team is also able to win the final, said the FO spokesperson. 


  9. Waqas Dar
    It's hard to be friends with somebody in Hollywood for so long, but not when it comes to Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner. 


    Despite all the jealousy and catfights in the fashion world, these two supermodels never fail to amuse their fans with their irreplaceable friendship which not only makes people jealous but also gives us some major BFF goals.






    Let's check out some of their amazing pictures together.
























  10. Waqas Dar
    CHITTAGONG: Emergency workers in Bangladesh on Thursday stepped up the search for victims of the country´s worst ever landslides, with mounting claims that the disaster was made worse by unchecked development.
    Rescuers found two more bodies, including that of a woman, apparently washed away, taking the death toll from floods and landslides across southeast Bangladesh to 154.
    "We think she was washed away by strong currents during Tuesday´s landslides," local fire chief Didarul Alam told AFP.
    "We have stepped up our rescue work in the five worst affected spots. But it´s a huge struggle to dig through four feet (1.2 metres) of mud. Also, villagers were not sure where the bodies were buried."
    Emergency workers also found the body of a soldier missing since Tuesday, army spokesman Rashidul Hasan told AFP.
    The landslides were the deadliest in the country´s history, eclipsing the previous highest death toll of 127 a decade ago.
    Bijoy Giri Chakma, an elected tribal leader in the hardest-hit district of Rangamati, told AFP the landslides were the worst he had ever seen, and blamed unplanned construction and the large-scale cutting of trees for the scale of the disaster.
    "Trees have been felled indiscriminately, which loosens the soil. A lot of these hills are now completely barren," said Chakma.
    His views chimed with those of local rights activists.
    "The disaster is man-made. But there is a tendency to blame nature for this," said Sheepa Hafiza, head of the rights group Ain o Salish Kendra, at a news briefing on Wednesday.
    Authorities say hundreds of homes were buried by mud and rubble sent cascading down hillsides after monsoon rains dumped 343 millimetres (13.5 inches) of water on the south-east of the country in just 24 hours.
    Disaster Management Department chief Reaz Ahmed said teams had begun to assess the full extent of the damage left by two days of incessant rains in the Chittagong hills, which cover one-tenth of the country´s landmass.
    Authorities have opened 18 shelters in the worst-hit hill districts, where 4,500 people have been evacuated.
    The monsoon rains came two weeks after Cyclone Mora smashed into Bangladesh´s south-east, killing at least eight people and damaging tens of thousands of homes.
    South Asia is frequently hit by flooding and landslides in the summer with the arrival of the annual monsoon rains.
    More than 200 people were killed in Sri Lanka last month when the monsoon triggered landslides and the worst flooding the island has seen in well over a decade.


  11. Waqas Dar
    SYDNEY: Australia´s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken a comical swipe at Donald Trump, mimicking the US president´s mannerisms and even making reference to the Russia scandal.
    In a leaked audio recording that comes just months after a tetchy phone call between the two leaders rattled ties soon after Trump took power, Turnbull is heard making fun of the US president´s idiosyncratic speaking style.
    "The Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls," Turnbull said in a closed event for journalists in Canberra on Wednesday.
    "We are winning so much. We are winning like we have never won before.
    "We are. We are. Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They´re the ones we are not winning in," he said to laughs from the audience at the Mid-Winter Ball, where politicians and Canberra journalists let their hair down.
    "We are winning in the real polls. You know, the online polls. They are so easy to win."
    Typically, the event is off-the-record, meaning journalists would not report on what was said, but a recording was leaked to the political editor at commercial broadcaster Channel Nine, who did not attend the soiree and decided to report it.
    Last month, Turnbull met the US president in New York to mend bridges, after the bad-tempered call early in Trump´s his White House tenure.
    Trump reportedly exploded and cut short the call when he was told about a Barack Obama-era deal to move refugees from Australia to America.
    The Australian leader appeared to make light of that icy conversation in the leaked recording.
    "It was beautiful. It was the most beautiful putting-me-at-ease ever," he said.
    In another leaked clip, Turnbull poked fun at the ongoing controversy surrounding the Trump administration´s ties to Russia.
    "I have this Russian guy. Believe me, it is true. It is true," Turnbull said.


  12. Waqas Dar
    The death toll in a fire disaster that destroyed a 24-storey block of flats in London was expected to rise on Thursday, with many people still missing and firefighters facing hazardous conditions as they searched the charred carcass.
    Smoke was still wafting out of the shell of the Grenfell Tower on Thursday morning, 30 hours after fire engulfed the building in the early hours of Wednesday and turned it into a huge flaming torch in a matter of minutes.
    Authorities have confirmed 12 deaths, but have said that figure would rise. Firefighters rescued 65 people from the building.
    Survivors who have lost everything spent the night at emergency shelters, as charities and local support groups were flooded with donations of clothes and bedding from shocked Londoners.
    The fire brigade said the inferno was unprecedented in its scale and speed.
    The tower, a social housing block built in 1974 in North Kensington, an area of west London, contained 120 flats and was thought to have been home to about 600 people.
    Harrowing accounts emerged of people trapped inside as the blaze destroyed everything around them, shouting for help and trying to escape through windows using makeshift ropes made from bedsheets.
    By Thursday morning, there was no sign of life in or around the blackened hulk. Security cordons were in place around the base of the tower, where the ground was littered with charred debris.
    Outside the cordons, impromptu tributes had appeared, with photos of missing people, messages of condolences, flowers and candles.
    Emergency services said it was too early to say what had caused the disaster. Some residents said no alarm had sounded. Others said they had warned repeatedly about fire safety in the block.
    The building had recently undergone an 8.7 million pound ($11.08 million) exterior refurbishment, which included new external cladding and windows.


  13. Waqas Dar
    BIRMINGHAM: Bangladesh face off against title defenders India in the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy at Edgbaston on Thursday.
    The winner of the game would play Pakistan in the tournament finale on Sunday. Pakistan thrashed hosts England by eight wickets on Wednesday to reach their first ever final of the Champions Trophy and their first ICC final in eight years.
    This is Bangladesh?s first ever semi-final appearance in an ICC tournament.
    India captain Virat Kohli, speaking in a pre-match press conference, warned that his team would not take Bangladesh for granted.
    Kohli wary of 'dangerous' Bangladesh
    India not taking Bangladesh for granted
    "As we've seen, a lot of teams have surprised the opposition and we're certainly not taking anything for granted."
    The star batsman added: "Going into a big game like this, we´re going to treat it as how we treated the last game. Our mindset does not differ."
    Bangladesh sealed their place in the last four with an impressive five-wicket victory over New Zealand in Cardiff.
    They were looking at an embarrassing defeat when they slumped to 33 for four but Shakib Al Hasan (114) and Mahmudullah (102 not out) turned the match around with a brilliant new Bangladesh record stand of 224.
    Squads






  14. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: It is a historic day today, said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday after the prime minister appeared for questioning before the Panama case Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

    Talking to the media, Chaudhry clarified that the premier has been summoned by the JIT and did not do so on his own accord.
    Thus, he should be considered a suspect, he claimed.
    ?How did the prime minister?s kids become billionaires in their teens?? asked Chaudhry, adding that the premier also needs to explain how he set up the Nescol and Nielsen companies in 1993.
    The PTI leader said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is shrieking in pain today.
    ?The investigation is being taken to its logical conclusion,? he commented further.
    Chaudhry also lamented that the Supreme Court?s special implementation bench had to adjourn its proceedings today owing to the JIT members? summoning of the prime minister. In his opinion, the premier?s questioning should have been rescheduled to allow the apex court to hold its hearing today. 


  15. Waqas Dar
    MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government will present its budget for the fiscal year 2017-2018 today (Thursday) in the legislative assembly with a development outlay of more than Rs22 billion, almost double compared to the current fiscal year.
    The legislative assembly will meet with Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir in the chair at a temporary hall in Member's Hostel as the assembly building is proposed to be reconstructed and an amount has been allocated in the federal public sector development program (PSDP) of the coming fiscal year budget.
    Minister for Finance, Planning and Development DrNajeeb Naqi will present the budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 and review expenditures for the current fiscal year.
    The total volume of the budget is expected Rs94.14 billion with more than Rs12 billion deficit that would be met with the assistance of federal government while current expenditures are expected to be more than Rs71 billion.
    In allocations for the development sector, priority has been given to construction and communication sector for which almost half of development budget amounting Rs9.4 billion has been allocated.
    The total income of the government during the next fiscal year has been estimated as Rs82 billion from which Rs20.8 billion has been estimated for its own resources, taxes share from Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council is expected to be Rs14.3 billion, an amount of Rs1.3 billion has been estimated in the head of Mangla water use charges, while share from federal divisible pool has been estimated at Rs26 billion.


  16. Waqas Dar
    After the horrendous attack which struck Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester, Grande had the most positive response to the victims as the singer helped organise One Love Manchester in aid of victims.
    Ariana Grande is to become the first honorary citizen of Manchester for helping to raise millions of pounds for victims of the Manchester Arena attack.
    According to the council leaders, the US pop star exemplified the ?resilient and compassionate? way the city had responded to the terror atrocity that claimed 22 lives and injured 220 others last month.
    The privilege came as town hall officials announced plans for an event to recognise the ?great many selfless acts and demonstrations of community spirit? in the aftermath of the attack on 22 May
    The leader of Manchester city council said, ?We?ve all had cause to be incredibly proud of Manchester and the resilient and compassionate way in which the city, and all those associated with it, have responded to the terrible events of 22 May, with love and courage rather than hatred and fear.
    ?Ariana Grande exemplified this response. I think many people would already consider her an honorary Mancunian and we would be delighted, if the council approves the proposal, to make it official.? He added.
    Honorary citizenship is the highest honour a city can give apart from the rarely awarded freedom of the city, which has only been awarded four times since 2000



  17. Waqas Dar
    A man walks past an ambulance and armed security forces at the scene of an attack outside an hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia June 14, 2017. Photo: REUTERS MOGADISHU: A suicide car bombing and assault by Shabaab militants on two neighbouring restaurants in Somalia´s capital Mogadishu ended Thursday morning with 18 dead, a government spokesman said.
    "The operation is over now and the gunmen were killed by the security forces," said Mohamed Ahmed Arab, spokesman for Somalia´s security ministry.
    "They have attacked business places and killed innocent civilians: 18 civilians were killed, including a Syrian national, and more than 10 others were wounded," he said.
    The attack began at around 8pm (17.00GMT) on Wednesday evening with a suicide car bombing at the Post Treats restaurant and club, after which gunmen stormed inside the nearby Pizza House restaurant.
    Both venues are popular with affluent, young and diaspora Somalis and were busy as customers broke the Ramadan fast.
    The gunmen spent the night roaming the restaurant killing those they found trapped before they were eventually killed by the security forces.


  18. Waqas Dar
    Nokia launched the world's fastest network chips on Wednesday, breaking into the Juniper and Cisco dominated core router market and giving its existing network business a boost.
    The new traffic routers can handle the greater demands of virtual reality programming, cloud-based internet services, and next-generation mobile communications, the Finnish company said.
    Nokia's new products, which grew out of its 15.6 billion-euro ($17.5 billion) 2016 acquisition of Alcatel and its IP network gear business, should help it win business from companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon.
    For these "web-scale" customers speed is everything and unlike Nokia's traditional telecoms customers they are still increasing spending on network gear.
    The routers are compatible with older products and will also serve Nokia's existing customers who want speed but must still contend with the legacy gear needed to run existing services.
    "Nokia will have the highest-performance system capacity in the market, and a lot of those web-scalers, they just want speed," Ray Mota, principal analyst at ACG Research, told Reuters.
    The former Alcatel IP networks business is already the world's No. 2 player in edge routers behind Cisco, having displaced Juniper Networks, which is now No. 3.
    The Nokia business also competes with Huawei in router markets outside the United States, where the privately-held Chinese firm is barred for national security reasons.
    Nokia executives expect to take market share from all the big competitors, including Cisco and Juniper as well as Huawei.
    "Whether its web-scale or vertical markets (such as banks, transportation, energy and public sector), where we have been less exposed in routers, clearly we will gain share," Nokia Chief Executive Rajeev Suri told Reuters in an interview.
    "This gives us momentum in core routing."
    Simon Leopold, a financial analyst with Raymond James, said Juniper, which depends for around a quarter of sales from web-scale customers such as Facebook could be hardest hit. "There is at least headline risk to Juniper, once Nokia ships," he said.
    Shares of Juniper Networks fell 2.4 percent to $28.60, while Cisco fell 1 percent to $31.38. Nokia's U.S.-listed shares dipped a little under 1 percent.
    PETABITS
    Nokia said it is introducing its latest FP4 silicon chipset capable of processing data at 2.4 terabits per second. The new chipsets are set to ship in the fourth quarter, with routers running FP4 chips ready in the first quarter of next year.
    These will be built into routers to operate both ultra-high-speed "core" networks at the heart of the biggest internet services and also "edge" networks that link data centres to front-line customer services on mobile or fixed-line networks.
    Telecom operators' capital spending is rising by just 2-3 percent a year which means Nokia is turning to web-scale players whose spending on new network gear is growing by double-digits.
    FP4 chips, which are manufactured for Nokia by Taiwan's TSMC are designed using circuits as narrow as 16 nanometres apart, skipping 22- and 28-nanometer-sized circuits compared to the prior FP3 processor built at 40-nanometer scale, Nokia said.
    Nokia is introducing the 7950 petabit-class router aimed at the core routing market to help it win business from customers such as Apple and Facebook. A petabit can transmit 5,000 two-hour-long high-definition videos every second.For edge network customers, Nokia is introducing its 7750 router, offering the highest traffic capacity on the market.
    Mota said the Nokia 7750 can deliver speeds of up to 4.8 terabits per slot, compared with Juniper's 3 terabit edge router speeds, which had been the industry's fastest. A terabit can transfer a high-definition Netflix TV episode in one second.
    Beyond sheer speed, there is enough processing power headroom in its new chipset to offer built-in security features to fend off distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
    BT managing director and chief network architect Neil McRae said the British telecoms operator, an early customer of Nokia's new products, is already running thousands of 7750 edge routers and hundreds of 7950 systems in its core network.
    "If you look at London, one of the busiest parts of our network, we need this platform today," McRae said.


  19. Waqas Dar
    Congressman Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the US House of Representatives. Photo: File Congressman Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the US House of Representatives, was in critical condition on Wednesday night after he and three others were shot as they practised for a charity baseball game.
    The gunman, who had posted angry messages against President Donald Trump and other Republicans on social media, opened fire on a group of Republican lawmakers and colleagues at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington. He was wounded in a gunfight with Capitol Hill police at the scene and later died.
    Scalise was shot in the left hip, suffering broken bones, injuries to internal organs and severe bleeding.
    He underwent surgery but would need further operations, the MedStar Washington Hospital Center said.
    "Rep. Steve Scalise, one of the truly great people, is in very tough shape - but he is a real fighter. Pray for Steve!" Trump said on Twitter after visiting the hospital on Wednesday night.
    The gunman, identified by police as 66-year-old James Hodgkinson from the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois, fired repeatedly at the men playing on the baseball field on Wednesday morning.
    Congressmen at the ballpark described hearing loud noises like the sound of firecrackers and 15 to 20 people lying on the ground and realising they had only baseball bats to defend themselves against bullets.
    "When he started shooting, he was shooting to kill people. And thank God he wasn't a very good shot," said Representative Joe Barton, the Republican team's manager.
    Also wounded were a congressional aide and one former aide who now works as a lobbyist, officials said. One Capitol Hill police officer suffered a gunshot wound and another officer twisted an ankle and was released from a hospital, police said.
    "It was not only chaotic but it was a combat situation," Alexandria Police Chief Mike Brown told reporters.
    'It's got to stop'
    While police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was too early to determine whether it was a deliberate political attack, the shooting intensified concerns about the sharp divide and bitter rhetoric in US politics.
    FBI special agent Tim Slater declined to comment on whether the gunman had a vendetta against Republicans.
    "We continue to actively investigate the shooter's motives, acquaintances and whereabouts that led to today's incidents," Slater told reporters. No one else was in custody, he said.
    The gunman was believed to have been in the Alexandria area since March, Slater said. Investigators believe that the suspect had been living out of his vehicle.
    Wednesday's shooting revived the debate about gun rights in America. Virginia's Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, urged gun control measures.
    Scalise has been a strong opponent of gun control measures.
    Hodgkinson had raged against Trump on social media and was a member of anti-Republican groups on Facebook including, "The Road to Hell Is Paved With Republicans," "Terminate The Republican Party," and "Donald Trump is not my President," a search of his Facebook profile showed.
    As businessman Trump rose to become the Republican nominee in the 2016 presidential election, his brash style and outspoken views on immigration and other policies led to mass protests, including on the weekend of his inauguration in January.
    The charity ballgame between a Republican team and a Democratic team will go ahead as scheduled on Thursday at Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team.
    Representative Tim Ryan, who early on Wednesday was practising for the ballgame with fellow Democrats, told reporters that Washington politicians needed to cool their rhetoric.
    "We've got to get back to ... where things aren't so personal and we're so judgmental of each other. It's got to stop. A member of the US Congress got shot because they didn't like (his) political views," Ryan said.
    Call for unity
    Trump, who announced the gunman's death, called for unity. "We are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good," he said.
    In a show of bipartisanship, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said on the floor of the House: "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." The House's top Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, echoed Ryan's message.
    The shooting happened shortly after 7AM. There were 20 House members and two senators present, and the shooting lasted about 10 minutes, said Barton.
    Two lawmakers who were at the scene, Representatives Ron DeSantis and Jeff Duncan, indicated there might have been a political motive in the attack.
    Duncan said that as he left the field, the man who would later open fire approached him in the parking lot. "He asked me who was practising this morning, Republicans or Democrats, and I said: 'That's the Republicans practising,'" Duncan told reporters. DeSantis gave a similar account.
    Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who sought the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, said he had been told that Hodgkinson had served as a volunteer with his campaign.
    "Let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms," Sanders said.
    Ryan, the House speaker, is reviewing rules on how rank-and-file lawmakers can increase their personal security, according to several lawmakers.
    "Members get threats on a regular basis and have trouble determining which are real," House Democratic whip Steny Hoyer told reporters.
    'Heroism' of police 
    The shooting took place at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in the Del Ray neighbourhood of Alexandria, across the Potomac River from Washington.
    Representative Mo Brooks told CNN that during batting practice, he heard a "bam" and then a quick succession of shots and saw the gunman shooting through the holes in a chain link fence.
    When Scalise was shot, he went down on the infield between the first and second base, then dragged himself into the grassy outfield as the incident unfolded, leaving a trail of blood, Brooks said.
    Two Capitol police officers who were there to provide security for the lawmakers engaged the gunman with pistols, Brooks said.
    "But for the Capitol police and the heroism they showed, it could very well have been a large-scale massacre. All we would have had would have been baseball bats versus a rifle. Those aren't good odds," Brooks said.
    Wednesday's attack was the first shooting of a member of Congress since January 2011, when Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt at a gathering of constituents in Tucson, Arizona. Six people were killed. Giffords resigned from Congress and became an activist for gun restrictions.


  20. Waqas Dar
    If you're a colour freak along with social media maniac then congratulations, this news is for you.


    Facebook has recently an update and it's actually a very colourful one.

    Facebook has been quietly adding patterns, textures, illustration, and more to the status cards. 


    Users around the world have been noticing a number of new background options in different colors which are quite amusing.

    According to sources, the company has reportedly experienced a decline in users posting statuses and that's why colored cards are an attempt to turn the ship around.

    The expanded backgrounds for comments seem to include a range of images like hearts and flowers, textured images like silk, and patterns like polka dots and confetti.

    Use them but just enough to feel good and not to annoy others.


  21. Waqas Dar
    BEIJING: China is investigating claims of academic fraud involving mostly Chinese cancer researchers after more than 100 articles were withdrawn from a foreign medical journal.
    German publisher Springer announced in April the retraction of 107 articles from Tumor Biology after finding evidence the "peer review process was compromised".
    The papers had been produced by Chinese medical institutions and universities and published between 2012 and 2016.
    It is standard practice for scholars to submit their research to peers for scrutiny before publishing to ensure the integrity of their work, but fraud is a growing problem.
    China´s Ministry of Science and Technology said it had "zero tolerance" for such behaviour and pledged to investigate "each and every paper retracted".
    Researchers involved in the mass retraction have had their projects and funding suspended, it added.
    "The incident has had a very bad influence, seriously tarnishing the international reputation of China´s scientific circle and hurting the self-esteem of Chinese scientists," the ministry said Wednesday.
    "But it also shows we need to strengthen punishment for academic fraud and to improve the academic atmosphere."
    The blog Retraction Watch said it had been told by Springer that "the reviews were submitted under the names of real researchers with faked emails. Some of the authors may have used a third-party editing service, which may have supplied the reviews."
    Tumor Biology is now published by SAGE Publications in the United States.
    It is not the first time Chinese medical experts have been caught faking peer reviews -- in 2015 London-based BioMed Central pulled 43 articles, which the Global Times said were mostly by Chinese researchers.
    In 2016 Springer retracted 64 articles from 10 journals, many written by Chinese contributors, the newspaper added.
    The latest incident highlighted the pressure on Chinese doctors in public hospitals to "publish a certain number of papers in national or international journals just to secure promotion or salary rises", Xinhua news agency said.


  22. Waqas Dar
    Nanjiani moved to the United States from Pakistan to study at Grinnell, a liberal arts college in Iowa in 1997  NEW YORK: Growing up in Pakistan's chaotic megacity of Karachi, Kumail Nanjiani never imagined he would one day star in a Hollywood rom-com, let alone be a leading man in Donald Trump's America.
    "The Big Sick," opening in selected cinemas on June 23, brings to the big screen the real-life story of how the 39-year-old comedian met and fell in love with his American wife, Emily Gordon.
    It narrates their courtship, Nanjiani's strict parents trying to set him up with an arranged marriage and Emily falling gravely ill, forcing him to take charge and build a relationship with her parents.
    Nanjiani and Gordon co-wrote the script and filmed the movie long before Trump's election, but the president's attempts to ban visa-holders from certain Muslim countries has given the film renewed potency.
    Its challenge of stereotypes in US popular culture, portraying Muslims as regular people rather than terror suspects or fighters, has taken on even greater significance than initially intended.
    "Obviously it would be great if our movie came out and people didn't see it as a political statement because it really isn't. It is just a love story and a comedy," Nanjiani was quoted as saying by Variety at the Los Angeles premiere.
    The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, ironically on the day of Trump's inauguration, and Amazon acquired the distribution rights for a reported $12 million, allegedly one of the biggest deals in Sundance history.
    Nanjiani, who plays a tweaked version of himself, stars opposite Zoe Kazan as Emily, and Ray Romano and Holly Hunter as her parents.
    "The Big Sick," opens in selected cinemas on June 23 The son of strict Pakistani parents, Nanjiani moved to the United States to study at Grinnell, a liberal arts college in Iowa in 1997.
    He got into comedy at university, and after graduation moved to Chicago, where he worked in computer science by day and performed stand-up gigs at night.
    He likes to say that he was inspired to get into comedy by British actor Hugh Grant's best-man speech in 1994 film "Four Weddings and a Funeral."
    'Great for morale'
    But if Grant personifies a certain type of stuttering Englishman, Nanjiani has joined a stable of US comedians treading ground more commonly associated with public intellectuals than gags for laughs.
    At a stand-up performance in New York to promote the movie, he joked about the difficulty of getting US citizenship, getting racist abuse on Twitter and being able to vote in last year´s election -- "It really made a huge difference!"
    "People are like 'go back to India!'. I've never been to India," he deadpanned, claiming he fantasised about being able to rescue a racist from danger to "see the awkward look on their face."
    The venue, just off Times Square, was nearly full. Pre-release publicity has sent Nanjiani's profile soaring from his previously most prominent role as Dinesh, an information technology geek on HBO series Silicon Valley.
    When he returned to Grinnell to deliver the commencement address last month, he spoke of being heckled with racist abuse at gigs and rejected at auditions for not being "American" or "good looking" enough.
    Nanjiani takes his politics to Twitter, urging his 1.4 million followers to defend Obamacare, condemning the White House for rolling back federal protections for transgender students and slamming the attempted travel ban.

    Neither is he only US comedian of a Muslim South Asian background with a soaring profile. Hasan Minhaj, a first-generation Indian-American has a stand-up special tackling immigration on Netflix and hosted the 2017 White House Correspondent´s Dinner that Trump chose to snub.
    Aziz Ansari, the most famous of the three, similarly tackles casual racism, immigration and cross-cultural relationships in his own Netflix project "Master of None," a series about a 30-something actor in New York.
    But however polarised the United States may feel, America may be the only place where Nanjiani could have achieved such comedic success.




  23. Waqas Dar
    Curious to know who is going to co-host IIFA 2017 with Karan Johar?
    Let us give you some hints.
    He is the naughty Guatam of Cocktail, he is the silly Jai of Love Aaj Kal, he is the angry man of Omkara.

    Yes! He is Chotay Nawab Saif Ali Khan.
    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan is going to join the inimitable Karan Johar to host the 18th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in New York next month and according to him, they have surprises in store.
    Saif Ali Khan in a statement said, ?I am happy to be back to the IIFA stage this year as I join my close friend Karan Johar to host the IIFA Awards in New York. The excitement for IIFA has been steadily growing worldwide. This year it?s going to be super fun and glamorous in every way as Karan and I are going to have lots of surprises in store for our fans internationally.?
    Varun Dhawan will make a debut at IIFA Awards with a performance and he will also co-host a segment of the star-studded awards night.
    The IIFA gala will feature performances by Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shahid Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon.
    This is the second time that the IIFA extravaganza is taking place in the US. It was earlier held in Tampa Bay in 2014



  24. Waqas Dar
    ISLAMABAD: Shahzeb Khanzada in his programme on Geo News Wednesday summed up the possible questions Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could be asked during his appearance before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and his possible replies to these questions.
    Today (Thursday) is a historic day when an elected prime minister is going to appear before the country?s institutions to give reply to the allegations and questions raised on him. But what will be or can be the possible questions and their answers.
    Shahzeb Khanzada said we lay before you the position the government has taken recently outside and inside the Supreme Court. When the Panama case landed at the SC, the issue of conflicting statements in speeches of the prime minister was raised.
    The JIT can ask the prime minister about these conflicting statements and say that you have not mentioned the letter from the Qatari prince in your speeches. The team can tell the prime minister that you say different things about how the flats in London were purchased and why did you not mention Qatar in your speeches?
    An important point in this regard is that in the three to two-member decision of the five-member bench, the SC has already rejected disqualification of the prime minister on the basis of these conflicting statements and then the JIT was formed to investigate the matter further.
    Will the prime minister endorses the PML-N position that there are no contradictions in his speeches and that he mentioned some points at a certain venue and did not mention some points at another venue. The JIT will ask the prime minister how did he sell Gulf Steel Mills, Dubai, and then make an investment in Qatar. It will also ask the PM about the transfer of money from Qatar to Jeddah and from Jeddah to London.
    The PM can obviously, as has been the stance of his party in recent days, take benefit of the law, telling the JIT that he will not reveal what he is not required to under the law. The PM can also say that all these affairs are about his father and assets were transferred to his children from his father, hence he has nothing to do with it.
    He can say that he has announced his disassociation from his business since he joined politics; hence, he is not liable to answer these questions. He can also say that he is not bound to make explanations about his accounts older than five years.
    The prime minister can also repeat the argument his son Hussain Nawaz? lawyers placed before the court about the sale of Dubai mills, investment in Qatar, dispatch of the letter of Qatari prince and how all these matters were settled down. The important point is that the PML-N and Sharif family lawyers had mentioned the Qatari letter in their arguments.
    What the PM will say about why did he not mention the Qatari letter in his speeches? Sharif family lawyers have made it clear that permission for mentioning of the letter was not sought from the Qatari family and it was not mentioned in the speeches because of business deals with them. However, when the matter landed in the court, the letter was put on the record with prior permission from the Qatari family.
    The PM will be asked about the accumulation of assets of his children when their ages were very low. The PML-N has taken a position that the PM can also adopt saying that all these assets were transferred to his children from his father and they had made an investment in Qatar after selling mills in Dubai, which continued multiplying later. Hussain Nawaz had told the Panama bench how these assets continued multiplying and then how they were settled in the shape of London flats. He had also told the bench how the Qatari family paid expenses incurred by Hassan Nawaz and how the rent of flats was adjusted in this regard. The PML-N has already taken this position. The prime minister can, however, tell the JIT that he is not bound under the law to answer this question.
    The JIT?s fourth question could be about investments made by Hussain Nawaz and the companies owned by Hassan Nawaz. How this huge investment was made in Saudi Arabia and how Hassan Nawaz made so many assets in the UK. The PM can say that his children adults and he is not bound to put up a reply on their behalf. He can also endorse the reply submitted by his children, not least Hussain Nawaz, mentioning that a bit of investment was transferred from Qatar to Saudi Arabia to set up a mill there, whose profit was transferred to the UK.
    The JIT can ask the PM about the costly gifts he received from Hussain Nawaz. This is a fresh issue as money came to the PM?s accounts from his son. The PM cannot say that he is not bound to answer this question. He can, however, rely on the answer Hussain Nawaz submitted in the court stating that all the transactions were made through official banking channels and all the money has been duly audited and taxed in Saudi Arabia. He had stated that this money was surplus in his company which is proven through audit.
    The PM will be asked about Hudaibia Paper Mills case. The JIT has sought and reviewed all documents about this case already. Questions could be asked of the PM about the investigations launched by the FIA and NAB. The JIT has raised a lot of objections on the PM?s House and Sharif family has raised a lot of objections on the JIT. The SC has given no judgement on this matter so far.
    Khanzada asked Talat Hussain what could be the possible outcome of the PM?s appearance before the JIT today. Talat Hussain replied that he cannot speculate about the outcome but today is a historic day for Nawaz Sharif. He said it is the most important day in the political career of Nawaz Sharif in his opinion. He said as much as he could get from the close circles of the government, the PM will not make any lengthy statement as per advice of his lawyers. He is an elected prime minister, a MNA and his reliance will be on the process of scrutiny of assets in the electoral process. He said conduct of election and his going through all the process of scrutiny can be his strongest defence. A MNA, much less a PM, goes through all the scrutiny of assets during the electoral process, he said. If his papers were accepted for contesting elections, then no more questions could be asked of him. Talat Hussain said he thinks that he will not talk on behalf of his sons, who already have appeared before the JIT. He said there will be an outpour of a lot of heat outside the JIT. Not only the PM and his family, the JIT has included in the annexure the newspaper articles they thought are a cause of stress or part of blackmailing campaign against them, adding that one of his articles is also mentioned in this category. Hussain said it is a different topic if the JIT should do it or not.
    Khanzada said the JIT has also included in the annexure the editorials he quoted in his programme and the tweets somebody uploaded on social media.
    Talat Hussain replied that there are too many sacred cows in Pakistan and another sacred cow is in the making about which you cannot express your opinion. He said there is talk of gag orders on freedom of expression. He said interesting is the fact that the JIT will cross question the PM after his statement that he may give in writing or be in the shape of notes. He said we do not know the length and duration of this cross-questioning. He said it remains to be seen if the PM will carry with him his protocol or not as it is essential to secure the premises where he is going. He said you know security and intelligence detail of the PM and it is not a tradition in Pakistan for a PM to carry his own bag along.
    He said environment of the inquiry room will be of interest to the people as the leaked picture of the PM?s son has created a debate though it is of little value in the eyes of learned judges. He said it needs to be viewed whether the PM will be made to sit like an accused or will he be treated like a PM, which he obviously is. He cannot take leave for three hours and it will be seen if he carries his protocol and detail with him or not, said Talat Hussain.
    Khanzada thanked Talat Hussain. He said it is important, as Talat Hussain said, to see if the PM is made subject to cross questioning or not. He said if the PM says he will not speak on behalf of his children and father, even then he will be cross-questioned or not?
    He said the sight of PM going to JIT with security detail and protocol or without it will be seen today but it is interesting to see what happened in the court in response to the criticism of JIT.
    Shahzeb Khanzada analyses that the situation is very interesting. Levelling allegations is on its peak. Strong statements are appearing. The JIT?s severe charges have also appeared after the allegations of the government. In this scenario, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will appear before the JIT today (Thursday), will answer the JIT?s questions and will appear before the same JIT about which the N-League has raised serious objections, has issued strong statements and the important thing is the JIT too has levelled serious allegations against the Prime Minister House and its subordinate institutions.
    But there is an important question: whether Prime Nawaz Sharif?s statement would also be recorded.
    In this connection, the Supreme Court?s special bench has reserved its judgment on the objections of the PML-N, which could be announced any time. Now would it be announced today before the prime minister?s appearance (before the JIT)?
    During the hearing of Hussain Nawaz? objections yesterday (Wednesday), Khawaja Haris, the counsel for Hussain Nawaz, argued that the JIT has confessed to having leaked the picture. A commission should be formed on the issue, which should determine the responsible.
    Khawaja Haris further said that there should be no video recording during the interview before the JIT. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is to appear today. What is the guarantee that the video of the prime minister?s interview would not be leaked? Who would be responsible if the prime minister?s video recording surfaced on social media? Video could also be tampered with and tomorrow this recording may also be used against us. If video is leaked, its effects would be more than that of the current situation.
    Justice Azmat Saeed asked what damage you suffered due to leakage of the picture.
    Justice Ejaz-ul-Ahsan said video recording would rather protect you than causing damage.
    Besides the lawyer for Hussain Nawaz, the attorney general also opposed the video recording of those appearing in person and informed the court that there is no mention of video recording in the law.
    The court has reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments. Now when this judgment would be announced? Whether Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif?s statement would also be recorded? Reservations are already being expressed what would happen if it is leaked.
    Hussain Nawaz has submitted his reply in connection with the video recording to the Supreme Court, in which it is argued that the allegations levelled against him are based upon lies and ill intentions. The JIT members cannot escape the responsibility of leaking the image. The JIT has no authority to formulate SOPs different to the law. The manner in which the statements were recorded shows the JIT?s ill intentions.
    Hussain Nawaz wrote this in his reply and levelled the charge of ill intention. The JIT didn?t follow the professional ethics during recording the statements. The investigation by JIT into the leaked photo is illegal.
    The Supreme Court will now give its verdict on video recording. But if this judgment is not given before the prime minister?s interview then the chances are that the prime minister?s statement would also be recorded.
    Apart from it, the court gave strict remarks over complaint of the JIT. The bench head Justice Ijaz Afzal remarked that obstructing the working of the JIT is violation of court orders. These hurdles will not at all be tolerated, he remarked and ordered that the completion of investigation within 60 days at any cost. Justice Ijaz Afzal also directed the attorney general to look into the reservations of the JIT and submit his reply by today. The court would continue hearing today also.
    The recent comments of the JIT have invited reaction. The JIT had told the Supreme Court that the SECP, NAB, IB and the law ministry were obstructing its work and tampering with the record. Meanwhile, an accusation was levelled about the Prime Minister?s House that it was pressurising witnesses. The law ministry dismissed the JIT accusation. Its spokesman said the impression of delay in issuing notification of powers to the JIT is wrong. He said the court orders were implemented within two days. The Supreme Court order was forwarded in writing by the attorney general the same day.
    In view of the urgency of the matter, the summary was forwarded to the cabinet on May 17 for approval. The Cabinet Division informed the very next day regarding approval of the cabinet. A copy of the notification was also sent to the JIT chairman who acknowledged receipt of the notification on May 18. Action on every order of the JIT was taken as soon as possible.
    Besides, the FBR also rejected the JIT accusations in its press release and took the stance that the JIT sought record four times on May 8, 25, 29 and June 8 which was provided on time. The record of one person from 1972 was demanded and was furnished on June 12. The JIT was told that the available record was sent. The JIT was given record in parts because it was sought as such.
    Some record was not furnished to the JIT which has its own reasons.
    According to law, the FBR is bound to keep the record for up to six years. For access to the record older than this, the FBR wrote to its field officers to search the record which they did.


    Apart from this, the JIT levelled most serious accusations on the SECP to which the SECP maintained that the JIT had sought the record of the Chaudhry Sugar Mills and details of correspondence with the British organisations which were provided on May 17, 2017. The JIT was told that more record was being searched. After further investigation, the record of Ramzan Sugar Mills was handed over to the JIT on May 19. On June 2, some missing documents about Brothers Steel Mills, Ittifaq Foundry and HDA Security were found in Lahore which were forthwith provided to the JIT. On June 9 at 7pm, the record of some 45 companies was sought from the SECP which was given to the JIT on June 13 by collecting it during the weekly holiday. The SECP further wrote in its reply that declaring nomination of Ali Azeem Akram mala fide was inaccurate. Similarly, it is not right to accuse the chairman over the WhatsApp call dispute. It is still unknown whether these calls were made by the Supreme Court registrar or someone else. An investigation into the matter can reveal the reality.
    This story was originally published in The News 


  25. Waqas Dar
    US President Donald Trump - AFP File Photo  WASHINGTON: The special counsel overseeing the probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the US election is looking at whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing unnamed officials.

    In a pivotal shift in the investigation that has riveted Americans like no other in decades, senior intelligence officials have agreed to be interviewed by investigators working for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, the Post said.
    It quoted five people briefed on the requests and said those who have agreed to be interviewed are Daniel Coats, the director of national intelligence, Admiral Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, and his recently departed deputy, Richard Ledgett.
    The interviews could come as early as this week, the Post said.
    The newspaper's story was met with a furious reaction from Trump´s personal lawyer and the Republican National Committee.
    The shift toward investigating the US president began days after Trump fired James Comey as FBI director on May 9, the Post said.
    The stated focus has been Russia´s alleged efforts to tilt last November´s presidential election Trump´s way, and whether the winner´s campaign was involved in any way.
    Trump vehemently denies any collusion between himself or any of his associates and Russia.
    Mueller, himself a widely respected former head of the FBI, has now taken up the angle of possible efforts by Trump to obstruct justice in the investigation, the Post said.
    Quoting officials, the newspaper said one event of interest to Mueller is an exchange on March 22, when Coats told associates that Trump had asked him to intervene with Comey to get him to back off the focus on Trump´s former national security advisor Mike Flynn as part of the FBI probe of the Russia affair.
    A few days after the March 22 meeting, Trump spoke separately with Coats and Rogers and asked them to issue public statements to the effect that there was no evidence of coordination between his campaign and Russia. The Post said both men refused the president´s request.
    Trump´s personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz issued a statement saying the FBI was behind the Post story and called the leak "outrageous, inexcusable and illegal." The lawyer did not deny the story, however.
    Mueller briefed Senators Wednesday on his work.
    "I'm going to acknowledge we had a meeting with the special counsel Mueller, but I´m not going to get into the contents," Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters later.
    Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called the accusation in the Post unfounded and said it "changes nothing."
    "There´s still no evidence of obstruction, and current and former leaders in the intelligence community have repeatedly said there´s been no effort to impede the investigation in any way. The continued illegal leaks are the only crime here," McDaniel said in a statement.


  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...