ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday clarified that US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel held positive talks with Pakistan leadership during his visit to Pakistan and did not convey any threat to stop assistance. Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry told media during weekly briefing in Islamabad today that news reports regarding threats by the US defence secretary to halt aid for Pakistan are baseless.
No room for Jamshed, Amin as Pakistan name ODI squad
Pakistan left out opener Nasir Jamshed and middle-order batsman Umar Amin from their 15-man squad for the five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka starting in Sharjah from Wednesday. Jamshed and Amin were part of the squad which beat South Africa 2-1 away last month — Pakistan’s first-ever win against the Proteas. The 24-year-old Jamshed scored two and 24 in the two matches he played of the series while Umar Amin made 25 in his only appearance. They beat Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 on Wednesday and will complete the two-match series on Friday before starting the one-day leg. The second one-day will be in Dubai on December 20, the third in Sharjah on the 22nd while the fourth and fifth one-days will be played in Abu Dhabi on the 25th and 27th, respectively.
Heydar Aliyev: The Architect of Modern Azerbaijan
Muhammad Asif Noor
The history knows the names of the prominent figures that stood with their nations during the days of need and led them to the prosperous future. Heydar Aliyev was one of such leaders who made a modern Azerbaijan, a country of civilization, high culture and most harmonious mixture of ancient history with strong traditions and the boldest modernism, and thus engraved his name to the history. The great journey of development that has made Azerbaijan stood amongst the greatest nations of the world is correlated to the life and efforts of Heydar Aliyev. This name is steadily connected with the socio-political, economic and cultural uplift of the people of the country as well.
Defence ministry may seek SC verdict review
ISLAMABAD, Dec 10: The Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that it might seek a review of the Supreme Court verdict in the case of 35 missing persons. “We are waiting for the detailed judgment of the honourable court so as to be able to analyse it after which we may go for a review petition which is our legal right,” a defence ministry official said after the verdict held that the military authorities had unlawfully taken away detainees from an internment centre.
US hopes India will persuade Karzai on troops
WASHINGTON: The United States expressed hope Tuesday that India would persuade Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a deal allowing US troops to stay, as lawmakers voiced outrage at the delay. Testifying before a Senate committee, a senior US official voiced confidence that Afghanistan would eventually complete an agreement for some 12,000 US troops to stay after 2014, despite Karzai’s insistence that he will leave the decision to his successor. “His upcoming visit to India could, I think, be quite influential, because he highly respects and has good relations with the Indian government,” said James Dobbins, the US special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
India’s top court to rule on legality of gay sex
NEW DELHI: India’s top court is due to rule Wednesday on decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, in a decision which could change the fate of the country’s largely-closeted homosexual community. The landmark verdict is slated to be handed down four years after the Delhi High Court ruled that an existing statute banning homosexual acts was discriminatory and a “violation of fundamental rights” according to the constitution. The statute in question is a British colonial-era law outlawing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. Conviction carried a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence.
Police clash with protesters in Ukrainian capital
KIEV: Security forces clashed with protesters as they began tearing down opposition barricades and tents set up in the center of the Ukrainian capital early Wednesday, in an escalation of the weeks-long standoff threatening the leadership of President Viktor Yanukovych. Several thousand police in riot gear used their shields to push back protesters and successfully removed some of their tents and barricades. But thousands of protesters, their ranks swelling through the night, put up fierce resistance for hours, shoving back at the police lines to keep them away from the center of the protest camp on Independence Square in downtown Kiev.
Frozen chills Hunger Games’ lead at US box office
Disney animation Frozen has toppled Hunger Games: Catching Fire off the top of the US box office chart in its second week of release. According to early estimates, Frozen took $31.6m (£19.3m) over the weekend, with the Hunger Games sequel slipping to second place with $27m (£16.5m). The only new wide release was Out of the Furnace, which took $5.3m (£3.2m) to earn third place. The steel-town drama stars Christian Bale and Casey Affleck. Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World and Vince Vaughn’s Delivery Man rounded out the top five.
Wii Fit games ‘help control diabetes’
Playing “active” computer games can help people with type-2 diabetes better control their blood sugar, a medical trial has indicated. Researchers recruited 220 diabetic patients for their study and asked half to use Nintendo’s Wii Fit Plus for half an hour a day over three months.The gamers not only lost weight but also achieved lower glucose levels.When the other group later switched to play the Wii they had similar benefits, BMC Endocrine Disorders reports.
Central African Republic violence: US to fly in peacekeepers
The US is to help fly African Union peacekeeping troops into the Central African Republic (CAR), officials say. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered US forces “to begin transporting forces from Burundi to the Central African Republic,” his spokesman said in a statement. It follows a request from France, which has deployed 1,600 soldiers to the CAR. President Obama has called for calm and the arrest of those behind the violence. ‘Catastrophe’ French soldiers started to remove weapons from fighters on Monday.
