Farhan loses out in Hong Kong Squash Open

‘Govt, army should cut expenses, help flood victims’

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the government and the military should cut down on their expenses and use that money for the assistance of the flood victims, DawnNews reported.

He further said that the flood affected people should be provided with financial assistance before they return to their villages and towns.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Nawaz said that it would not be right to play politics over the current flood crisis. He also criticised the government and said the government was slow to provide relief to the people.

"Even though we are the opposition...given the situation, we ourselves contacted the government but the Prime Minister did not accept our recommendations...political parties should work together in this time of great crisis," Nawaz said.MORE.....

Jolie donates 100,000 dollars to aid Pakistan

PARIS: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, in Europe to promote her spy thriller “Salt”, has handed 100,000 dollars (78,000 euros) to help refugees from Pakistan's floods, UN sources told AFP.

A crowd of 1,000 fans engulfed the 34-year-old actress, who is also a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, when she stepped out of a limousine in Paris on Tuesday evening clad in a short shiny number with plunging neckline for the French premiere of the movie.

A UNHCR source attending the gala screening said she had donated the sum to help relieve Pakistan, where aid has been short and slow in coming.

In the film Jolie plays captivating CIA officer Evelyn Salt, who is accused of being a Russian spy and must prove her innocence while on the run. -AFP.MORE.....

Pakistan stumble to tense win chasing 148

LONDON: Pakistan beat England by four wickets in the third test at the Oval on Saturday but not before some nervous moments as they lost three quick wickets in their pursuit of a modest winning target of 148.

The Pakistanis were earlier cruising at 124 for three after ending England’s second innings for 222 in the first over of the day.

But in a spell that revived English hopes, Azhar Ali ran himself out for five, Mohammad Yousuf was yorked by James Anderson for 33 and Kamran Akmal was dismissed lbw for a duck without playing a shot.

With rain in the air and a capacity crowd cheering England on, Pakistan eventually survived the assault to win with more than a day to spare.

After appearing down and out after heavy losses in the first two tests, Pakistan now have a chance to square the four-match series at Lord’s next week after drawing 1-1 with Australia earlier in the season.

Graeme Swann, who took four wickets in Pakistan’s first innings, was again the mainstay of the attack when he was asked to bowl from the Vauxhall end after five overs of the new ball.

He bowled unchanged to take three for 50 from 18.4 overs

Sensibly in view of an adverse weather forecast, Pakistan decided to attack from the start after Stuart Broad was dismissed for six in the opening over of the day.

Imran Farhat set the tone by slashing James Anderson’s second ball over the slips for four on his way to his highest score of the series. He struck six boundaries before he was lbw to Swann for 33.

BAMBOOZLED BATSMEN

Captain Salman Butt, also short of runs this series, took over from Farhat with 48 in 64 balls, before he became Swann’s second victim, 12 minutes before lunch.

Butt took three fours from a Broad over and two from Steven Finn, forcing Andrew Strauss to rotate his fast men from the Pavilion end.

Yousuf, playing his first test since he was banned indefinitely after leading Pakistan on a spectacularly unsuccessful tour of Australia this year, was again an assured and elegant presence.

Yousuf, who scored 56 in the first innings, showed his class with a square drive for four off Broad and an elegant late cut to the boundary off Swann.

The most unpredictable and possibly the most talented team in the world have been condemned to play all their internationals abroad since the deadly militant attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March last year.

Six players were banned or fined after the Australia tour and to compound their misery Pakistan’s fielding was abject in the first two tests against England.

The fielding was much improved at the Oval with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who has been dropped twice this year, taking eight catches.

But the victory was set up on Friday by Pakistan’s two new talented international bowlers.

Left-armer Mohammad Amir, who finished on Saturday with his best test figures of five for 52, made the ball reverse swing at high pace from around the wicket.

At the other end Saeed Ajmal bamboozled the England batsmen, who was unable to distinguish his doosra, Urdu for “the other one” which leaves the right-hander, from his off-spinner.MORE.....

SC orders probe into Sialkot lynching of two brothers

ISLAMABAD: Horrified by a brutal incident of vigilante justice, the Supreme Court on Friday came down hard on law-enforcement personnel and their superior officers who stood by and watched as two young brothers were tortured and then hanged by a mob in Sialkot.


It ordered Anti-Corruption Director General Justice (retd) Kazim Malik to investigate the matter. No-one would dare to take law into his own hands if police had the courage and command to eradicate such brutal and inhuman practices from the society, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry observed while heading a bench which had taken a suo motu action on the matter.

On Aug 15, dozens of people publicly beat to death two young brothers, Hafiz Mughees, 15, and Hafiz Muneeb, 19, in the presence of Sialkot District Police Officer Waqar Chauhan and eight other police officers who watched the brutal act as silent spectators. The bodies were later hanged upside down on the chowk.

Litigants and counsel were shocked and the atmosphere became tense when the gruesome video footage aired by a private TV channel was shown in the courtroom. And it was too much to bear for the grief-stricken grandfather and father of the deceased who started wailing after watching it.

When DPO Chauhan informed the court that the SHO concerned had been arrested, but culprits were yet to be detained, the chief justice said he (Mr Chauhan) deserved to be suspended and sent to jail straightaway. The negligence shown by police could not be ignored, the CJ observed.

“What message have you given to the world about Pakistan,” he asked the DPO and said: “Nowhere in a civilised society such an incident takes place in the presence of police.”

He said the country was already facing disasters and crisis with people dying of hunger, but police were indulging in extra-judicial killings.

The chief justice deplored the apathy of top police officers and senior federal government officials who were aware of the incident.

“Not only it was the duty of police to stop those who were beating the two brothers, but the people in the mob should also have shown moral courage by preventing the beating,” the chief justice said.

Secretary establishment Ismail Qureshi, who had been urgently summoned, informed the court that there was no dearth of good and honest officers who could probe the matter independently.

The court ordered him to ask the Punjab government to take strict disciplinary action against Superintendent Police (investigations) Mohammad Afzal and DPO Chauhan.

The Inspector General of Punjab was directed to take strict action against the police officers who were present at the crime scene but did nothing to stop it. The case will be taken up again on Sept 1.

Our Sialkot Correspondent adds: District Police Officer Sialkot Waqar Ahmad Chauhan and SP investigation were made officer on special duty on Friday by the Inspector-General of Police, Punjab.

The police, meanwhile, registered a case against 14 policemen, including the suspended SHO, in the wake of the murder of two brothers on Aug 15. MORE DETAILS.....

Flooding submerges more towns in Sindh

SUKKUR: About 150,000 people were forced to move to higher ground as floodwaters from a freshly swollen Indus River submerged dozens more towns and villages in the south, a government spokesman said Saturday.

Officials expect the floodwaters will recede nationwide in the next few days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea. Survivors may find little left when they return home, however: The waters have washed away houses, roads, bridges and crops vital to livelihoods.

Already, 600,000 people are in relief camps set up in Sindh province during the flooding over the past month.

As the latest surge approached, ''we evacuated more than 150,000 people from interior parts of Sindh in the past 24 hours,'' said Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for the provincial government.

The floods submerged new areas in Thatta district.

At a relief camp in the Sukkur area, some victims said it was difficult to get food dropped off by relief trucks.

''I am a widow, and my children are too young to get food because of the chaos and rush,'' said Parveen Roshan. ''How can weak women win a fight with men to get food?''

Nearby, a doctor treated a boy whose back was injured after someone pushed him during a scramble for food at a truck.

The floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory. At least six million people have been made homeless and 20 million affected overall. The economic cost is expected to run into billions of dollars.

The United Nations has appealed for $460 million in emergency assistance, and the US has promised $150 million.

The floods began in late July in the northwest of the country after exceptionally heavy monsoon rains, expanding rivers that have since swamped the provinces of Punjab and Sindh.MORE DETAILS.....