Posts Tagged ‘hotel’

Mirpur – new international cricket venue?

,,

An aerial view of Quaid-e-Azam stadium in Mirpur. – File photo

The PCB has chosen the Quaid-e-Azam stadium in Mirpur as a potential venue for international cricket.

Fazal-ur-Rehman, the cricket coordinator for Azad Jammu and Ksahmir (AJK), confirmed that PCB now hold rights to the stadium, as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

With a capacity of 16,000, the stadium has played host to eight first-class matches from 2005 to 2009. It has also hosted many Under-19 international matches against Australia in 2007.

In addition, the region has passed the test regarding security and infrastructure.

“It is a potential venue with a good law and order situation,” Intikhab Alam, the PCB’s director of international cricket, said.

“We have scrutinised various venues around the country and this venue has all the features to be an internationally recognised stadium. There are things that obviously have to be improved and the PCB will ensure all the required facilities for international fixtures.

“The city has quality logistic facilities, including hotels.”

At present, Pakistan has 25 first-class and four major Test venues.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

Gushing water brings devotees, visitors to bin Laden compound

The slain al Qaeda chief, on the contrary, is evolving from fact to myth in Pakistani narrative and his compound in Abbottabad’s Bilal Town, known locally as the Waziristan Haveli, appears to have gained spiritual ascendance.

Gushing water, visitors

“There is some spirituality about this place since water keeps gushing forth without the use of an electric motor,” said Omar Khan, a resident of Abbottabad.

While the source may be a water line fractured during the razing of the compound, it hasn’t stopped some from according it the status of a ‘miracle.’

It’s a miracle that water gushes forth like a spring because those killed at this place were innocent people, Khan says.

While he does not necessarily believe that those killed in the raid were bin Laden, his couriers and son, he says those killed were “some innocent Muslims” nonetheless.

And for all their efforts to prevent the site from becoming a shrine, people throng to the razed compound to offer fateha – prayers for the deceased.

“Why should I not offer fateha for the departed souls of those killed at this place,” said Shahbaz Khan, another resident of a neighboring village of Abbottabad.

He said he was religiously bound to offer prayers for eternal peace of all Muslims.

Young children are also seen fetching water for their homes from the site. The razing of the compound has also offered a breather to local authorities.

While the compound stood, local authorities were under stress because they were asked not to allow anybody even around the boundary wall, said a police inspector.

Now, it’s no longer a no-go area. Guesthouses and hotels in town are filled to the brim with Pakistani and foreign journalists on the eve of bin Laden’s anniversary.

“Yes, we have 100% occupancy today,” said the manager of a local guesthouse.

Haripur avoids limelight

Meanwhile, neighbouring Haripur is attempting to avoid being attached to the slain al Qaeda leader.

“Recent media reports that bin Laden lived in Naseem Town are devoid of truth,” said Qazi Aneesur Rehman, a lawyer and a relative of the owner of a house that some foreign media discovered as bin Laden’s hideout in Haripur.

The reports, based on leaked investigations, suggest that bin Laden’s youngest wife, Amal Ahmed Abdel-Fatah al-Sada, disclosed that before moving to Abbottabad in 2005, the family stayed at a house in Naseem Town, Haripur.

The house was taken on rent by bin Laden’s couriers, Abrar and Ibrahim, she had said.

Rehman denied that the bodies of the two couriers, killed with bin Laden on the May 2 raid, had any resemblance with those who occupied the house in Haripur for 11 months.

The house was rented out to a Pashto-speaking, well-built man in his fifties who introduced himself as Salim Khan, a resident of Charsadda, Rehman said.

The property dealer, who brought him the tenant, said it was a small family comprising two men – Salim and Javed – their wives and Javed’s five-month-old daughter.

The family hardly socialised with the neighbours and rarely stepped out to the markets, he added.

Rehman threatened to sue media organisations, saying the accusation has brought their property notoriety, a string of investigators, and stress.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2012.

Suicide bomber kill six including lawmakers in Somalia

,,

Security forces guard the area after after a bomb exploded inside a car on a road between K4 Juction and Mogadishu airport in Somalia killing two people on May 1, 2012 – AFP Photo

MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber killed at least six people including two lawmakers in an attack in the central Somali town of Dhusamareb, officials said Tuesday.

“The explosion hit a hotel in the town and it killed several people, any others were also injured,” said Mohamed Abudlahi Moalim, a senior commander with the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa militia, which controls the area.

Witnesses said a man entered a restaurant, where lawmakers were meeting with the public over lunch to discuss the setting up of a regional administration, before blowing himself up.

“The people killed are two lawmakers and four civilians… among the wounded are two other MPs,” a witness, Mohamud Ibrahim said.

“They were meeting the civilians to discuss the setup of a local administration,” said Hassan Abdulle, a businessman.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the Dhusamareb, a strategic town in the central Galgadud region, which was wrested back from al Qaeda allied Shebab insurgents by pro-government forces last month.

Ahlu Sunna, an Ethiopia-backed force that follows Somalia’s traditional Sufi branch of Islam, pushed the Shebab out of Dhusamareb in fierce battles in March.

Lawmakers are struggling in efforts to achieve a “roadmap” signed by Somalia’s disparate leaders for the formation of a government by August 20 to replace the weak transitional body in Mogadishu.

Under the agreement, the latest among more than a dozen attempts to resolve the bloody civil war, lawmakers must agree on a system of government for Somalia’s fragmented regional — and often rival — administrations.

The deal is opposed by the Shebab, who have vowed to topple the Western-backed government, launching repeated guerrilla attacks.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

More troops called in to defuse insurgency in Lyari

Pakistani police commandos take up positions during a crackdown operation against criminals in Karachi’s town of Lyari. —AP Photo/Fareed Khan

KARACHI: Fighting continued into the night on Tuesday as more police contingents were called in to defuse the mounting insurgency by the criminals at the end of fifth consecutive day of the “Grand Operation” in Lyari, DawnNews reported.

According to police, the authorities have decided to block the entry points into the area to stop weapon supply.

They also have decided to call in expert snipers from the police training centre who will be placed in provisional check posts on rooftops which are under the police’s control.

Despite several claims by police officials, security forces in Lyari have not been able to progress farther than Cheel Chowk, as the ,‘Grand Operation’, continued on fifth day.

Clashes between law-enforcement agencies and heavily armed criminals continued on Tuesday, as miscreants resorted to the use of hand-grenades and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) in addition to using sophisticated automatic weapons against security forces.

Authorities had installed jammers on Monday night to block cellular access in the area. The move was viewed as a failure as the criminals were reported to be using walkie-talkies to communicate with each other.

It was disclosed that the criminals are in possession of more than a hundred sets of walkie-talkies.

In reports on Tuesday, a policeman identified as Tufail was killed during clashes near Cheel Chowk, while two more people were killed when police came under heavy gunfire and rocket attacks while progressing deeper into the areas near Cheel Chowk and Baghdadi colony.

Ten people were injured when a mini rocket propelled grenade landed on the upper story of a hotel in Lea Market. Police shifted the injured to a near-by hospital for treatment.

During the past four days, more than 20 people, as well as six security personnel, have lost their lives in the aggressive operation. Meanwhile, hundreds of Lyari residents continued to flee the fighting as they relocate from the violence-ridden area.

At the entry and exit points of Lyari , people were seen waiting in their cars for their relatives, desperate to flee the fighting in one of the oldest localities in the port city of Karachi.

Approximately 150 families from neighbourhoods affected by the operation –including Agra Taj Colony, Afshani Gali, Shah Abdul Latif Road, Ghas Mandi, Gul Mohammad Lane, Aath Chowk, Cheel Chowk, and other parts of Lyari – were reported to have relocated to safer parts of the city the previous day.

,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

NY judge rejects Strauss-Kahn immunity

,,

Dominique Strauss Kahn -AFP Photo

NEW YORK: Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn must face a civil trial over an alleged sex assault in New York, a judge here ruled Tuesday, rejecting his last ditch attempt to claim diplomatic immunity.

The judge hearing the suit brought by Nafissatou Diallo, ruled Strauss-Kahn had lost immunity because he’d resigned from the International Monetary Fund well before the civil action was lodged.

Bronx Supreme Court Judge Douglas McKeon called Strauss-Kahn’s attempt to escape the civil trial “his own version of a ‘Hail Mary pass’,” — an American football reference to the often desperate, long-distance throw a team will attempt in the final seconds of a losing game.

Diallo alleges the French politician forced her into oral sex when she went to clean his room last year on May 14 at the luxury Sofitel in Manhattan.

Criminal charges were filed, but then dropped when Manhattan prosecutors decided that Diallo would not make a credible witness. She subsequently filed the civil suit seeking unspecified damages over what she says was a brutal and “sadistic” assault by one of the world’s most powerful men.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers argued in court last month that his position as head of the IMF protected him from further legal action.

He had never claimed immunity at the time of his arrest and he resigned voluntarily from his post — losing his privileges — even before criminal charges were filed. But lawyers said this was a conscious choice so that Strauss-Kahn could clear his name through legal channels.

In his ruling, however, McKeon ripped Strauss-Kahn’s bid to now reclaim immunity when he faced civil action.

“Mr Strauss-Khan cannot eschew immunity in an effort to clear his name only to embrace it now in an effort to deny Ms Diallo the opportunity to clear hers,” McKeon wrote.

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn said they were “disappointed.””He is determined to fight the claims brought against him, and we are confident that he will prevail,” the statement by William Taylor and Amit Mehta said.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Diallo, said “we are extremely pleased…. We have said all along that Strauss-Kahn’s desperate plea for immunity was a tactic designed to delay these proceedings and we now look forward to holding him accountable for the brutal sexual assault that he committed.”

Strauss-Kahn says there was a consensual sexual encounter with Diallo in his hotel suite and denies any assault.

Regardless of what happened, the scandal destroyed Strauss-Kahn’s career, both as head of the IMF and as a would-be candidate for the French presidency.

Opinion polls at the time of his disgrace had pointed to Strauss-Kahn being able to beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is now struggling to avoid defeat against Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande in a runoff vote Sunday.

The incident in New York irreversibly tainted Strauss-Kahn. His increasingly sordid public image took another hit when separate, prostitution-related criminal charges were filed in France.

Last weekend, Strauss-Kahn, or DSK as he’s popularly known in France, struck back, claiming that his downfall had been orchestrated.

Strauss-Kahn said that although he did not believe the incident was a setup, the subsequent escalation of the event into a criminal investigation was “shaped by those with a political agenda.”

Perhaps I was politically naive, but I simply did not believe that they would go that far — I didn’t think they could find anything that could stop me,” he told The Guardian newspaper.

The Guardian said it was clear that “they” refers to people working for Sarkozy and his center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party.

Sarkozy responded by saying Strauss-Kahn should “explain himself to the law and spare the French his remarks.”

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

Three more gunned down in Karachi, protest erupts

At least three more people were shot dead by unknown assailants in Karachi locality as subsequent violence left three others injured in different areas, officials said on Monday.
Police said unidentified armed men fired shots at people sitting in Pankha Hotel in Sher shah area.
Three of them died on the spot while three others were critically injured and rushed to hospitals, police and rescue …

..
..

.. .. .. .. ..

Cop killed, SHO injured in encounter

KARACHI – A policeman was killed while three others including SHO Malir City injure during encounter in Salar Goth within the limits of Malir City police station.
The incident took place in Malir Salar Goth near Akbar Hotel where police party of Shah Latif and Malir City police station conducted raid on information of the presence of Lyari gangster in the area.
When the police party entered …

..
..

.. .. .. .. ..

Government exhorted to enhance spending on health

KARACHI – The Pakistan Medical Association in collaboration with the Women’s Action Forum, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Reproductive Health Network, Aurat Foundation, People’s Health Movement and Shirkat Gah organised a dialogue on “Health of People: Political Parties & Sindh Elections 2013” at a local hotel on Saturday.
The main purpose …

..
..

.. .. .. .. ..

Secret Service issues new guidelines after scandal

WASHINGTON  – Embarrassed over a Colombia scandal, the US Secret Service has released new conduct guidelines that forbid agents from visiting “non-reputable establishments” or bringing foreigners to their hotel rooms.
The “enhanced standards of conduct,” which are effective immediately, also forbid agents in the presidential protection force from consuming alcohol …

..
..

.. .. .. .. ..

James Cameron eyes co-production projects in China

Canadian film director James Cameron gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at a hotel room in Beijing, April 22, 2012. Cameron said on Sunday that he was looking at co-production of films in China, but would have to weigh issues like censorship and other restrictions before making any decisions. – Reuters Photo

BEIJING – “Avatar” and “Titanic” film director James Cameron said on Sunday that he was looking at co-production of films in China, but would have to weigh issues like censorship and other restrictions before making any decisions.

Hollywood has begun paying serious attention to China, despite the problems of government controls and piracy, reflecting the fast-growing Chinese middle class spending more money in theatres and less on pirated movies.

The next “Iron Man” film, for example, will be co-produced in China under a joint agreement between Walt Disney Co, Marvel Studios and DMG Entertainment.

Disney also said it would work with China’s Ministry of Culture and Tencent Holdings to promote the animation industry in China, while Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc in February said it would build a studio in Shanghai as part of a joint venture with some of China’s biggest media companies.

“We’re all looking very seriously at the possibility of a co-production. The question is, what’s required of us? In terms of configuring the market for the Chinese marketplace, and what economic benefit do we get in return?” Cameron, in Beijing on a five-day visit, told Reuters in an interview.

“If it works – and I want to definitely stress if – it seems to me it could be very advantageous to the Chinese film community, because for us to do a film like ‘Avatar’ which is an entirely studio shoot, we wouldn’t be here for the scenery,” he added, sitting in a Beijing hotel room.

“We’d be bringing in infrastructure to do virtual production, to do 3-D photography and so on, which I would think would be a positive technology exchange into this film-making community.”

CENSORSHIP

Cameron said he would have to consider issues such as censorship, in a country which still has strict rules on what can and what cannot be shown on screen.

“It all needs to be dealt with upfront. Here’s the script, this is what we’re doing, and if there’s a problem with that then I have to decide creatively if I’m going to accommodate, or if I’m going to pass,” he added.

“I’m here to explore the idea of a co-production, find out what restrictions need to be met, find out what content guidelines need to be met, and find out the economic incentives are, and I will weigh them all out.”

“Avatar”, Cameron’s blockbuster flick about an alien race, was the highest-grossing movie in China in 2010, raking in 540 million yuan ($85.6 million) in only 15 days. Though they form a small percentage of movies screened, Hollywood movies drew 44 percent of the 10 billion yuan in sales receipts that year.

A deal hammered out during Vice President Xi Jinping’s February visit to the United States paved the way for the import of 14 premium format films, such as IMAX or 3-D, which will be exempt from China’s annual quota of 20 foreign films per year.

“I think that any restrictions that are not strictly market driven are unnecessary. I think the Chinese people will vote with their wallets about what it is they want to see,” added the 57-year-old Canadian-born director.

Cameron has emerged as one of Hollywood’s hottest entrepreneurs by cashing in on the 3-D technology he created for “Avatar”, which ranks as the highest-grossing film with a worldwide box office take of $2.8 billion.

But when asked when cinema-goers may be able to experience 3-D without some wearing some kind of glasses, Cameron said it was possible that would never happen.

“In a movie theatre, it’s anywhere from 10 years to never, because you’re talking about hundreds of separate viewing angles. There really is no technology right now that can deal with that, that I’ve seen,” he said.

“However, how big a problem is it really? People have no problem wearing sunglasses all day long … Why is wearing glasses a big deal? It’s not. What people are really objecting to is the low light levels. Your movie looks nice and bright until you put the glasses on and it’s dark.”

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

Chelsea top four bid stalls in Arsenal draw

,,

Chelsea can take heart from a resolute defensive display that they must repeat next week of they are to protect their slender 1-0 first leg lead and progress into the Champions League final. -Photo by AFP

LONDON: Chelsea failed in their efforts to break into the top four before they head out to face Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final after Roberto Di Matteo’s side played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium here Saturday.

A solitary point for Arsene Wenger’s side, meanwhile, meant the Gunners missed out on the opportunity to tighten their grip on third place.

Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie – who denied before the game he had met with Barcelona officials to discuss a possible transfer – was unable to break the deadlock with two late opportunities.

Chelsea, though, can take heart from a resolute defensive display that they must repeat next week of they are to protect their slender 1-0 first leg lead and progress into the Champions League final.

And the draw means they have lost just once in 14 games since Di Matteo took temporary charge of the side.

The team sheet confirmed where Chelsea’s priorities lay with Di Matteo making eight changes to the line-up that stunned Barcelona midweek.

After two challenging games – the Blues beat Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley just three days before they faced Barca – it was inevitable Di Matteo would seek to freshen up his side.

But with keeper Petr Cech and centre back pairing Gary Cahill and John Terry the only players to retain their places, it was clear the manager’s thoughts were already on the trip to Spain.

It was no surprise then that the visitors took time to settle although Arsenal were similarly unconvincing.

The first meeting between these sides this season last October produced eight goals as Arsenal pulled off a remarkable 5-3 victory at Stamford Bridge.

By those standards, however, this was a surprisingly tame encounter with both keepers surviving the first half largely untested.

Robin Van Persie was inevitably Arsenal’s biggest threat and the Dutch striker struck the post from Theo Walcott’s free kick although the effort may well have been ruled out for offside had Van Persie found the target.

Van Persie’s future had once again been the subject of debate before kick-off following Arsene Wenger’s insistence a decision on the forward’s next contract would be resolved before he joins up with Holland for the Euro 2012 finals.

The Arsenal captain has one year left on his current deal and has so far resisted the club’s efforts to open negotiations about extending his stay.

He did, however, use his column in the matchday programme to explain his midweek visit to the Barcelona team hotel was to meet friend and Holland team-mate Ibrahim Afellay, and not to meet officials from the Spanish club.

Three minutes before the interval Van Persie demonstrated his qualities as a provider of chances when his floated free kick should have brought a goal for Laurent Koscielny.

The Arsenal centre-back was allowed to drift clear of his marker and should have done better than loop a header against the bar.

Then sixty seconds later Van Persie got the chance to test Cech with a left foot angled shot but found the Chelsea keeper alert despite a long period of inactivity.

Chelsea had been restricted to a handful of opportunities on the break but had been unable to produce the final ball to create a notable first half chance.

And they fared little better during the second period when Arsenal again dominated possession without finding a way past Cech.

The two best opportunities came late on, and both fell to Van Persie.

With seven minutes remaining Alex Song’s long ball released the striker behind the Chelsea back four but Van Persie was unable to direct his right foot shot on target.

Then two minutes later the forward turned Cahill but was again denied when Cech moved quickly off his line to smother the shot.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

Homs calm as UN team visits: Syrian activists

Members of a UN monitors team, tasked with monitoring the UN-backed ceasefire in Syria, arrive at a hotel in Damascus. — AFP file photo

BEIRUT: Fighting and government shelling stopped in Syria’s central city of Homs Saturday and troops hid tanks in advance of a visit by UN cease-fire observers who toured the area, activists said.

An advance team of seven UN monitors has been in the country for about a week to assess compliance with an internationally brokered cease fire that went into effect on April 12.

The team has visited several restive areas including the southern province of Daraa and some of the suburbs of the capital Damascus. But their visit to Homs is particularly important as the city, Syria’s third largest, along with its hinterland are among the regions hardest hit by the violence that has left more than 9,000 people dead over the past 13 months, according to the UN.

A municipal official in Homs said the team met with the governor in the city, then went out on a tour. They official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

The United Nations hopes to have 30 observers in the country next week to monitor the tenuous cease-fire between regime troops and the opposition, and the Security Council reached a tentative agreement Friday night on plans for the deployment of up to a total of 300. France’s UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said the text, negotiated over many hours, would be sent to capitals overnight for consideration and the council would meet Saturday for a vote.

The UN advance team did not did not venture out Friday, the day when anti-government protests are usually held after the noon prayers, in a blow to the protesters’ hopes. The team’s head, Col. Ahmed Himiche, said they did not go out ”because we don’t want to be used as a tool for escalating the situation”.

Activists say Syrian troops fired tear gas and bullets that day at thousands of protesters who spilled out of mosques after noon prayers, while the state media reported that bombs and shootings killed 17 soldiers.

In contrast, much of Syria was quiet Saturday, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Homs was peaceful for the first time in more than a week.

”Until now I have not received any report of violence, including the city of Homs that was witnessing daily shelling,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory. ”It is quiet until this moment, unlike the past days.”

Salim Qabani, an activist based in the Homs province, said troops hid armored vehicles. He said tanks were pulled off the streets and into a police base. ”We heard that the observers are coming to Homs today,” he said.

Qabani added that regime forces hid nine tanks in trenches in nearby Qusair. Rebels hold parts of the town, which is near the border with Lebanon and has witnessed daily shelling over the past week.

The Observatory said troops were detaining people in the southern town of Sahm al-Golan where a large roadside bomb killed 10 soldiers Friday.

The state news agency meanwhile reported that ”armed terrorists” blew up an oil pipeline that carries crude oil from one of the fields of the oil-rich eastern province of Deir el-Zour. SANA did not give further details but there have been similar attacks on pipelines in the past months.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

Force India miss final practice; Hamilton fastest at Bahrain GP

Mercedes Formula One driver Nico Rosberg of Germany drives during the first practice session of the Bahrain F1. -Photo by Reuters

MANAMA: Force India team pulled out of a Bahrain Grand Prix practice session on Friday after a night of clashes between security forces and protesters in Shia villages that left several people wounded.

“For logistical reasons the team will run a rescheduled programme for the rest of the weekend, which will result in the team missing second practice to ensure the most competitive performance in FP3, qualifying and the race,” the team said.

Earlier, deputy team principal Bob Fearnley told a magazine that they were considering curtailing practice in order to return to their hotel before dark. But they would not miss qualification on Saturday afternoon or the race itself on Sunday.

World championship leader Lewis Hamilton topped the times for McLaren in Friday morning’s opening free practice session, while Force India’s young driver Paul Di Resta, a fellow Briton, was third fastest

Silverstone-based Force India was rattled on Wednesday evening when four of its mechanics, in a car returning to their hotel from the circuit, were caught up in violent incidents involving protesters and the police.

A petrol bomb exploded close to their vehicle and they had to evade tear gas.

The incident prompted one team member, not involved in the incident, and a contractor hired by the team to return home despite official assurances that Bahrain was safe. Nobody was injured.

Fresh violence broke out overnight in Shia villages located far from the race’s Sakhir circuit where practice sessions started at 0700 GMT, and rumbled on until early Friday, witnesses said.

“Eighteen people were wounded” when security forces fired buckshot and tear gas to disperse protesters, said the president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, Mohammed Maskati.

“The people want to topple the regime,” dozens of protesters shouted as they carried pictures of jailed hunger striker Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. “Down Hamad,” they cried, referring to Bahrain’s king, according to witnesses.

Met by tear gas, sound bombs and buckshot, the protesters hurled petrol bombs at security forces, witnesses said. Maskati said he was a participant in a march in Bani Jamra village where tear gas was fired at activists.

The protests were “a message to those taking part in the F1 race to bring their attention to human rights violations in Bahrain,” Maskati told AFP, adding that “95 people have been arrested since April 14” in the run up to the event.

The protesters burned tyres, briefly blocking several main roads leading to the Sakhir circuit, witnesses said.

They said police cars were deployed in force on roads between the airport and the circuit on Friday. A small armoured police vehicle was seen on the roadside at the entrance to a neighbourhood in Manama.

Amid unease among GP participants, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg said, “We shouldn’t have been put in this position,” while teammate British driver Paul Di Resta admitted it was an “uncomfortable situation.”

But speaking to reporters at the Sakhir circuit, the chairman of the Formula One Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Pedro de la Rosa, said Thursday that safety was “not a concern.”

He had full faith in the decision by the International Motoring Federation to go ahead with the event despite mounting tensions in the kingdom.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

IG Sindh calls for improving intelligence gathering

,,

The IG Police Mushtaq Shah presided over a meeting in which a plan of action to combat crime was discussed. —File Photo

KARACHI: Inspector General Police Mushtaq Shah has directed that intelligence gathering at zonal and district level be improved to arrest those involved in criminal activities.

Presiding over a meeting at CPO in Karachi on Thursday, he asked senior police officers to plan action against proclaimed offenders and absconders.

Additional IG Karachi Akhtar Hussain Gorchani, Additional IG Special Branch, DIGs Headquarters, CID, CIA, AIG Operations Aamir Farooqui and other senior police officers attended the meeting, which reviewed the overall law and order situation.

The meeting also discussed the recent wave of terrorism and the incidents of firing at hotels.

The IG Police said that SSP Crimes will supervise investigation into murder cases on a case-by-case basis. He further stated that all SHOs will ensure every possible cooperation in this regard.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

American film to take center stage at Cannes

,,

A file picture taken on May 11th, 2005 shows a general view of the Festival palace prior to the opening ceremony. The 65th edition of the festival will held from May 16 to 27, 2012. -AFP Photo

PARIS: American movies are taking center stage at the Cannes Film Festival, with a fistful of US films and stars including Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain in the 2012 line up announced Thursday.

Among some of the most anticipated titles of the year is an adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s Beat classic ”On the Road.” It’s one of 20 films battling for the May 16-27 festival’s coveted top prize, the Palme d’Or.

Announcing the slate at Paris’ Intercontinental Hotel, Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said, ”American cinema is back in force.”

A total of 54 features representing 26 countries, from the US to Syria, Iran and Brazil, were chosen from a record-breaking 1,779 films submitted to organizers of the French Riviera festival. There’s a possibility for a few late additions in the coming weeks.

”The Artist” star Berenice Bejo will host the opening and closing ceremonies, with Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti chairing the festival’s judging panel.

Walter Salles’ ”On the Road,” tells the story of the years Kerouac spent traveling the United States in the 1940s with his friend Neal Cassady and several other figures who would go on to fame in their own right.

Staring Sam Riley and ”Twilight”’s Kristen Stewart, it also features a performance from Kirsten Dunst, who won Cannes’ best actress award last year for her role in ”Melancholia.”

Other US-slanted highlights include Andrew Dominik’s ”Killing Them Softly” starring Brad Pitt as a mob enforcer, and ”The Paperboy,” a drama with Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman by Lee Daniels, director of ”Precious.”

”Lawless,” by John Hillcoat, director of ”The Road,” stars Chastain and Tom Hardy in a tale of Depression-era bootleggers.

For Canadian director David Cronenberg, whose film ”Cosmopolis” is among those in competition, the festival will be something of a family affair. His son Brandon’s debut feature, ”Antiviral” is in the festival’s secondary competition, Un Certain Regard.

Screenings are expected to be packed to see if Cronenberg junior has the cinematic prowess of his veteran father, who came to fame with visceral films such as ”Videodrome” and ”Naked Lunch.”

”Cosmopolis,” based on the Don DeLillo novel, features Stewart’s ”Twilight” co-star Robert Pattison.

For the young at heart, the 3-D animation ”Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” will also premiere at the festival, marking Cannes’ continuing friendship with Hollywood’s DreamWorks studios. The film features the vocal talents of Ben Stiller and Sacha Baron Cohen of ”Borat” fame.

It is not the only 3-D offering included in the festival. For those with more nocturnal proclivities, Cannes will get out its garlic and wooden stakes for a midnight screening of Dario Argento’s highly awaited ”Dracula” in 3-D.

Several Cannes winners are back this year, including Austria’s Michael Haneke, with ”Amour,” Britain’s Ken Loach, with ”The Angels’ Share,” and Romania’s Cristian Mungiu, with ”Beyond the Hills.”

Joining them will be living legend Alain Resnais, who, at nearly 90, will present the aptly titled ”Vous N’Avez Encore Rien Vu” or ”You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet.” It’s an adaptation of Jean Anouilh’s ”Eurydice” starring Cannes veteran Mathieu Amalric.

The festival will also feature a homage to Brazilian cinema, with screenings of films by directors such as Carlos Diegues and octogenarian legend Nelson Pereira dos Santos.

The out-of-competition lineup includes an offering from American cinema veteran Philip Kaufman called ”Hemingway & Gellhorn.”

Starring Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen, the film tells the story of one of American’s most famous literary couples: writer Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, his war correspondent wife of five years. Gellhorn, who reported from the Spanish Civil War, was Hemingway’s inspiration for his novel on the same theme, ”For Whom the Bell Tolls.”

The festival is to close on a bittersweet note with a tribute to French film director Claude Miller, who died two weeks ago.

Organizers are screening ”Therese D.,” a film he completed shortly before his death. Based on a period novel by Francois Mauriac, the film stars Audrey Tautou as a 1920s woman trapped in a failing marriage in Paris. The movie will play on May 27 after the festival’s awards ceremony.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

‘Kabul attack rehearsed for two months’

Gunfire and smoke is seen coming out of a building occupied by militants during a battle with Afghan-led forces, in Kabul.—AP

KABUL: The insurgents who mounted weekend attacks in central Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan carefully rehearsed for months, even building small military-style models and pre-positioning weapons, a Taliban spokesman said on Monday.

Zabihullah Mujahid provided Reuters with a rare insight into how the group plans strategic high-profile attacks designed to deal a psychological blow to US-led Nato forces and their allies in the Afghan security forces.

In the latest, a 30-member suicide squad was dispatched to launch simultaneous assaults on parliament, Nato bases and Western embassies after two months of painstaking discussions on tactics.

“Our military experts sketched maps of the targets and also created a mock-up of them where fighters carried out practice before carrying out the large-scale operations in four provinces,” Mujahid said in a phone interview.

“The fighters also learned how to enter their targets and hold them.” His account could not be independently verified.

Heavy street fighting between militants and security forces in the centre of the Afghan capital ended on Monday after 18 hours of gunfire, rocket attacks and explosions that bore strong similarities with an operation last year.

In both assaults, insurgents occupied high-rise construction sites to use as firebases after smuggling weapons into central Kabul past police checkpoints.

The battles that broke out at midday on Sunday gripped the city’s central districts into the evening and through the night, with blasts and gunfire lighting up alleys and streets before Afghan special forces soldiers backed by Nato helicopter gunships killed the insurgents.

Mujahid said the insurgents, who were mostly all killed by security forces, had been selected from among the estimated 50,000 fighters battling Nato and Afghan troops and given special training.

“Ordinary fighters can’t obviously carry out these important missions,” he said. “The fighters who were assigned for this mission received special training on how to use heavy machine guns, suicide bomb vests and other tactics.”

Mujahid said heavy machine guns, rocket grenades and ammunition had been put in place well before the assault with inside help from Afghan security forces, but did not elaborate.

A witness to the attack in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter saw insurgents in a dark blue Prado SUV opening fire on a policeman before entering a building that he had been guarding.

“One Taliban opened fire toward a security guard from a window of the vehicle and another went to a security checkpoint and wounded the man inside, occupying his position,” said Ahmad Zeya Azami, 29, a car mechanic, who worked next door.

“Five Taliban ran into the building.” Azami said one insurgent targeted the multi-storey Kabul Star Hotel with a rocket-propelled grenade, while another opened fire on the nearby diplomatic quarter.

“I closed our shop and escaped from the area without any wounds. But now everybody is living in fear and losing hope about the future,” he said.

Ahmad Farhad, 19, another shopkeeper, said the insurgents had appeared calm and very well prepared.

“One went to the police checkpoint and others went into the building in an organised way, like they had seen the area before,” Farhad said. “All were wearing traditional clothes, black or grey, and all looked to be aged about 30.”

Farhad said the men had been armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles, and some had carried bags as they climbed out of a black four-wheel-drive.

Afghan and US officials have blamed the attacks on the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

Mujahid denied any involvement by the insurgent group, one of the most feared in Afghanistan.

“The attacks were very successful for us and were a remarkable achievement, dealing a psychological and political blow to foreigners and the government,” Mujahid said.

“Although the Haqqanis are part of the Taliban, we did not ask for any help, guidance or support. This is a baseless plot from the West, who wants to show that we are separate.”

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com

S. Korea footballer ‘kills himself’ after match

,,

File photo of South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings players celebrate after scoring against Qatar’s Al-Sadd during their AFC Champions League semi-final match in Doha October 26, 2011. Former Suwon Samsung Bluewings player Lee Kyung-Hwan has taken his own life after he was banned for life over a match-fixing scandal. – Reuters Photo.

SEOUL: A South Korean footballer who was banned for life over a match-fixing scandal has taken his own life, police said Monday, the third suicide linked to the controversy that erupted last year.

Lee Kyung-Hwan, 24, was Saturday found critically injured in front of an apartment building in the city of Incheon, west of Seoul, after apparently jumping off the building, a city police official told AFP.

He was pronounced dead on his way to hospital, he said.

The former midfielder played from 2009 to 2011 for Daejeon Citizen and Suwon Samsung Bluewings of the K-League until he received a life ban last year after admitting involvement in widespread match fixing.

Prosecutors in 2011 charged 57 people — 46 current and former players and 11 criminal gang members and bookmakers — for fixing the results of 15 matches in 2010.

The players were charged with fixing games after taking bribes from betting rings.    All of them, including Lee, were banned for life by the country’s football association.    Lee received three years’ probation in court.

Last October, Lee Soo-Cheol, a former coach of the military football club was found dead in an apparent suicide after being sentenced to two years in prison with probation for his involvement in match fixing.

In May, Jeong Jong-Kwan, a 29-year-old midfielder for a third-division professional league team, committed suicide at a hotel in Seoul while being investigated over the scandal.

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

,,
,,

,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

Via DAWN.com