Anonymous releases more Stratfor data

WASHINGTON: Online "hacktivist" group Anonymous has released a trove of email addresses and credit card numbers stolen from the website of intelligence analysis firm Stratfor and promised further attacks.

In a statement on Pastebin.com late Thursday, members of Anonymous calling themselves "AntiSec" posted links to what the group said were 75,000 names, addresses, credit card numbers and passwords for Stratfor customers.

The group also posted links to what it said were 860,000 user names, email addresses and passwords for people who have registered on Stratfor's website, which remained offline on Friday nearly a week after coming under attack.

Anonymous said 50,000 of the email addresses ended in .mil and .gov used by the US government.

"We call upon all allied battleships, all armies from darkness, to use and abuse these password lists and credit card information to wreak unholy havok (sic) upon the systems and personal email accounts of these rich and powerful oppressors," Anonymous said.

Anonymous also warned in the statement on Pastebin that it will be "attacking multiple law enforcement targets from coast to coast" on New Year's Eve.

Stratfor, in a statement on its Facebook page, said it "regrets the latest disclosure of information obtained illegally from the company's data systems."

"We want to assure our customers and friends this was not a new cyber attack but was instead a release of information obtained during the previous security breach," it said.

"The latest disclosure included credit card information of paid subscribers and many email addresses of those who receive Stratfor's free services," the company said.

Anonymous earlier this week published what it said was Stratfor's client list, which included members of the US armed services, law enforcement agencies, top security contractors and major technology firms.

Anonymous also posted images claiming to show receipts from donations made by the hackers to various charities using stolen credit card data.

Anonymous has said it was able to obtain the information in part because Stratfor did not encrypt it, which could prove a major source of embarrassment to the global intelligence firm.

Stratfor chief executive George Friedman has said the Austin, Texas-based company will not relaunch its website "until a thorough review and adjustment by outside experts can be completed."

With the website down, Stratfor has been communicating using its Facebook page and sending its political and security analysis products to members by email.

Stratfor has also offered to provide members with one free year of identify theft protection services.

Anonymous has been involved in scores of hacking exploits including retaliatory attacks last year on companies perceived to be enemies of the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Anonymous has said the latest attacks are in retaliation for the prosecution of Bradley Manning, the US Army private accused of leaking more than 700,000 US documents to WikiLeaks in one of the most serious intelligence breaches in US history. (AFP)

World rings in New Year in blaze of fireworks

LONDON: The world rang in the New Year on Sunday with a string of spectacular firework displays watched by millions, a moment to overlook what the global economic crisis might have in store in 2012.

Turning the page on 2011, a year which saw nations battered by the financial downturn, uprisings across the Arab world, devastation in Japan and the end of terror chief Osama bin Laden, revellers looked to the skies as they welcomed in the New Year.

Sydney and Hong Kong set the standard with glittering extravaganzas. The mood was more sombre in Tokyo but Dubai led the way in the Middle East and Europe spared no expense on the pyrotechnics.

London hosts the 2012 Olympics and its firework display kicked off with a recording of the moment the capital learned it would host the Games.

An estimated 250,000 people lining the banks of the River Thames then saw the London Eye observation wheel explode into an 11-minute extravaganza, with firework rings in the Olympic colours launched into the sky.

Fireworks shot out of parliament's famous clock tower with each chime of the Big Ben bell.

Further north, an estimated 80,000 party-goers descended on Scotland's capital Edinburgh to attend its Hogmanay street party, erupting into a mass rendition of "Auld Lang Syne".

But in other European cities the eurozone crisis loomed large despite the pyrotechnics.

In a New Year's address, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano delivered a stark message calling on the nation to make sacrifices to "prevent the financial collapse of Italy".

In Madrid, many wanted to ignore their country's financial woes for the night, gathering in the Puerta del Sol -- the square that became a focal point for the "indignant" protest movement.

In Berlin another spectacular display lit up the night sky with partying at the Brandenburg Gate while in Paris, some 360,000 people flocked to the Champs-Elysees.

In the heart of Vienna the New Year was rung in by the great bell of Saint Stephen's Cathedral, followed by the strains of the Blue Danube Waltz.

In Amsterdam, revellers watched the first "kiss" between two giant inflatable puppets representing a Dutch boy and girl, which "walked" towards each other as the seconds ticked down to 2012.

Across the Atlantic in Rio de Janeiro, two million white-clad party-goers -- Brazilians and foreign tourists -- were expected to ring in the New Year on Copacabana beach, watching a spectacular "green" fireworks extravaganza.

And more than a million revellers were expected to flock to New York's Times Square where pop diva Lady Gaga and tenor Placido Domingo are among the star-studded lineup, and the traditional crystal ball drops at the stroke of midnight.

While remote Pacific islands were the first to welcome in the New Year -- including Samoa for the first time, having wiped Friday off the calendar by jumping west across the international dateline -- Sydney really got the party started.

Its harbour exploded in a blaze of colour and light that drew more than 1.5 million people to crowded foreshores and city landmarks.

Shapes of clouds and hearts floated above Australia's biggest city, while glittering lights cascaded off the Sydney Harbour Bridge and fireworks launched from barges and rooftops exploded overhead.

Two hours later there were celebrations in Tokyo as balloons and fireworks filled the sky, with the Tokyo Tower turning blue.

Japan is still suffering the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered a massive radiation leak from a nuclear power plant.

Evacuees said they had little to celebrate after being relocated far from home and loved ones.

It was then Hong Kong's turn, with the city's harbour lit up by a barrage of fireworks fired from several of its iconic buildings, delighting partygoers crammed on to the waterfront and in pleasure boats.

Russia's far eastern regions entered 2012 eight hours ahead of Moscow.

Thousands gathered in the capital's Red Square for another massive firework display that sent rockets 140 metres (400 feet) into the midnight sky.

But the sale of all alcohol was banned in a bid to prevent the streets getting out of hand.

And the mood was less festive in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg.

As the clock moved through the timezones, celebrations in Dubai centred on the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the world's tallest man-made structure, with a pyrotechnics display even more extravagant than 12 months ago. (AFP)

Motorway closed for traffic due to dense fog

LAHORE: Lahore Motorway has been closed for traffic from Thokar Niaz Baig to Pindi Bhattian interchange due to thick fog, Geo News reported.

Motorway police spokesman said the Motorway has been closed from Thokar Niaz Baig to Pindi Bhattian interchange for traffic because the visibility was down to zero.

The Motorway has also been closed from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad.

Traffic from Islamabad is being brought in the form of convoy to avoid any mishap.

The motorway police have issued special instructions for the drivers. They have asked them to keep headlights of their vehicles on, avoid change of lane and observe control over speed besides using reflectors.

Screen queen, golf kings get royal honors

LONDON: After playing the mother of Queen Elizabeth in "The King's Speech," actress Helena Bonham Carter will take part in a real-life royal performance when she receives an honor from the monarch herself.

The actress is among close to 1,000 people from all walks of life whose achievements are recognized in the annual New Year's Honors List.

Northern Irish golfers Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, who won the U.S. and British opens this year, are also on the list, capping an outstanding year for UK golf.

Most of the people honored with knighthoods or a variety of slightly lesser traditional titles such as Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of the British Empire (CBE, OBE and MBE), are unknown to the public.

Among them is former teenage drug dealer and gang member Chris Preddie, now 24, who renounced crime after his brother was shot dead and now campaigns against knife and gun crime among black youths in London.

Preddie is related to two brothers who murdered a 10-year-old boy in 2000, a crime that shocked Britain. The victim's father told British media he objected to Preddie being honored with an OBE.

TV producer Peter Bazalgette, credited with popularising the "Big Brother" reality show format across the globe, will receive a knighthood - becoming Sir Peter - which may please legions of Big Brother fans but dismay critics who say the show is vulgar.

PALACE POMP

Novelist Penelope Lively, a past winner of the prestigious Booker Prize for her 1987 novel Moon Tiger, is also on the list. She becomes a "Dame," the female equivalent of a knighthood.

A rung down from a Dame with her CBE award, Bonham Carter received one of her two Oscar nominations for portraying Queen Elizabeth's mother in Oscar-winning film The King's Speech.

She will experience true royal pomp when she receives her award at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace next year, but she is no stranger to nobility, coming from an aristocratic family. Her great-grandfather, the Earl of Oxford and Asquith, served as prime minister under Elizabeth's grandfather, King George V.

Also honored at a high point in a long career is golfer Clarke, who won the last British Open at the age of 42, on his 20th attempt. He will receive an OBE, one step down from CBE.

It was a particularly emotional win for Clarke, who has gone through hard times since losing his wife to cancer in 2006. He was the oldest winner of the Open since 1967 and the first home champion in 12 years.

McIlroy will have an MBE to show for his efforts during a rollercoaster year that saw him throw away victory at the U.S. Masters in April only to bounce back by clinching his first major at the U.S. Open in June.

At 22, McIlroy was the youngest winner of the championship since 1923.

Queen Elizabeth, whose sporting interests lie more in the world of horse-racing than of golf, does not draw up the Honors' List herself. Government officials seek out worthy recipients, who can also be nominated by members of the public. (Reuters)

Petrol price hiked; diesel kept unchanged

ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Saturday hiked the price petrol and HOBC but withdrew rise in diesel rate on the directive of President Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News reported.

According to the notification issued by OGRA, the price of petrol was raised by Rs1.65 per litre to Rs89.95 while HOBC was made expensive by Rs5.13 a litre to Rs111.91.

The price of diesel has been kept unchanged at Rs98.82 a litre. Similarly the rate of kersone oil and light diesel was also kept untouched at Rs89.24 and Rs86.78 per litre.

Earlier, OGRA had decided to raise the price of diesel by Rs1 per litre but it withdrew the same on the directive of President Asif Ali Zardari.

New Year welcomed with fireworks, aerial firing

KARACHI: Like other parts of the world, New Year 2012, was welcomed across the country with fireworks display and aerial firing, Geo News reported.

Youth gathered at sea view Clifton, Karachi and displayed firework and resorted to aerial firing to welcome the New Year.

Karachi Port Trust (KPT) organized fireworks display at sea view. Large number of Karachiites witnessed the event.

Revelers flooded into the streets of Karachi on motorcycles and other vehicles to celebrate the new year.

Police conducted snap checking and heavy contingent of Rangers was also present to avoid any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, three people were reportedly killed and 40 others injured in the aerial firing resorted to celebrate the new year in different parts of the metropolis.

New year was also welcomed with firework and aerial firing in Lahore, Hyderabad, Peshawar and other parts of the country.

In Peshawar, youth performed dance on the beat of drum to celebrate beginning of the new year.

Clarke and McIlroy star in sporting New Year Honours

LONDON: Northern Irish golf Major winners Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy were among several sportsmen named in Britain's New Years Honours List here on Saturday.

Clarke, 43, was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), five months after winning the British Open while reigning US Open champion McIlroy, 22, received the Member of the Order British (MBE), the first rung on Britain's honours ladder.

McIlroy won the US Open at the Congressional course in June with a record low score of a 16-under-par 268 and his achievement in winning his first major was all the more creditable after his final round collapse while leading in the preceding US Masters.

Former Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis, 88 next month, was knighted, and so can call himself 'Sir Doug' - ridding himself perhaps for ever of the Villa fans nickname 'Deadly Doug' for his habit of sacking managers - for his charity work in the Midlands.

There were knighthoods too for London 2012 Olympic organisers Charles Allen and John Armitt.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke, whose time in charge has coincided with England's rise to the top of the world Test rankings, was made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), one rank below a knighthood.

Meanwhile former Test umpire Dickie Bird who, unusually for a match official became a popular figure with fans all round the world, was advanced to an OBE, having already received the MBE.

Another Yorkshire sports star to be honoured was Sarah Stevenson, who this year won a taekwondo world championship in spite of having to cope with the death of both her parents through illness.

In rugby union, Scotland's record points and cap holder Chris Paterson, who recently announced his Test retirement, was made an MBE as was Wales flanker Martyn Williams, capped 99 times by his country.

Former dual code union and league international Bev Risman was made an OBE and current England league captain Jamie Peacock an MBE.

Nigel Mansell, a former Formula One world champion, was made CBE while the work of Adrian Newey, the engineer behind the current world champion Red Bull team, was recognised with an OBE.

Horse racing, the favourite sport of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, took its place in the latest honours list with an MBE for former trainer Peter Walwyn, who saddled Grundy to win the 1975 Epsom Derby. (AFP)

Geo Pakistan

BLA claims killing 9 in Quetta blast

QUETTA: A powerful carbomb blast Friday killed nine and injured 21 people includig children in Quetta, Geo News reported.

The banned militant outfit, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), has taken the credit for the deadly blast.

The blast ripped through the residential neighborhood setting many houses on fire.

Reportedly the house of former federal minister Naseer Mengal's son Shafiq Mengal on Arbab Karam Khan Road near Raisani Chowk was the target.

Emergency was declared in the area in the wake of the blast, the bang of which was heard miles away. Such was the intensity of the explosion that most of the windowpanes in the nearby housing blocks and market place fell apart.

A senior police official, while talking to Geo News feared a sharp rise in the death toll.

Police suspect a 'Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device' (VBIE) planted in a car parked nearby was the cause of the blast.

Bomb disposal squad says around 50 kilogrammes of explosive was used in the blast.

Ambulances are doing rounds between the hospitals and the blast site.

Firefighters also reached site of tragedy and were busy fighting flames.

Two of the injured are in critical condition, rescue sources told Geo News.

A shootout between unknown gunmen and police was also reported after the blast. Eyewitnesses say some armed men who were already there opened fire at police and media who arrived on the scene. Unruly gunmen also manhandled a private TV channel's cameramen and broke his camera down. Moreover, a news agency photographer also received bullet wounds.

The area has been cordoned off and investigation is underway.

Geo Amazing And Intresting

Hello Heidi to bye bye bunga bunga in 2011 weird news

LONDON: Bunga Bunga, Zenga Zenga, a tweeting cobra and other wacky news capped a year that saw the capture of America's most wanted man and the overthrow of dictators.

2011 was filled with animal antics that began with the introduction of Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum, as the latest feral German celebrity to capture hearts around the world.

The star of Leipzig Zoo made an appearance on U.S. television in February predicting Oscar winners, had her own merchandise, a song written about her and gained more than 330,000 fans on Facebook before dying in September to join Paul the oracle octopus and Knut the polar bear in the hereafter.

"The cross-eyed opossum Heidi has closed her eyes forever," the zoo wrote on its website.

But Heidi wasn't the only news story about the animal world which saw New Zealanders rescue, set free and then lose track of "Happy Feet," the wrong-way Emperor penguin. A fox also escaped from a Belarus hunter by shooting his would-be killer with his own rifle and a flying bear killed two people in Canada.

And who could forget Mia, the cobra who escaped from New York's Bronx zoo? She became a Twitter sensation when an anonymous Twitter user began posting tweets from @bronxzooscobra, which followed the snake's progress visiting New York landmarks and a popular cafe for morning coffee.

"Getting my morning coffee at the Mudtruck. Don't even talk to me until I've had my morning coffee. Seriously, don't. I'm venomous," one Twitter message read.

Twitter gained followers and broke news, including the musings of Osama bin Laden's unwitting neighbor who tweeted about the "unusual" noises in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad during the raid to capture America's most wanted man in May.

"Uh oh, now I'm the guy who live blogged the Osama raid without knowing it," IT consultant Sohaib Athar said on Twitter a few hours after reporting a loud bang rattling his windows.

Video-sharing website YouTube delighted millions with hit videos showing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev parking a car and then trying to hold it back from ploughing into a crowd. It also showed the U.S. Presidential Cadillac marooned on a Dublin ramp and a music video entitled "Zenga Zenga," which lampooned embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Gaddafi, who is flanked by gyrating female dancers in the video, was later captured and killed -- one of four dictators overthrown in an Arab Spring which also swept through Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.

BUNGA BUNGA

Other less authoritarian leaders also fell in 2011.

In seven tumultuous days in November Italy went, as one cartoonist put it, "from Bunga Bunga to Banca Banca." The first refers to the name that former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi bestowed on the wild parties he allegedly held at his villas.

The second, Italian for bank, refers to the financial world that will dominate much of new Prime Minister Mario Monti's term as he tries to reign in Italy's profligate spending and tackle a major debt crisis threatening the entire euro zone.

The flamboyant Berlusconi, who is accused of sleeping with a teenage prostitute and hosting parties where girls dressed up in sexy nun or nurse outfits, said he had no regrets.

"I have a high regard for myself and I have nothing to reprimand myself for when I look at myself in the mirror," he said. "Perhaps at times I've exaggerated with irony, but never with brutal offences like those directed towards me."

Berlusconi once described U.S. President Barack Obama as "suntanned," suggested that he seduced Finnish President Tarja Halonen and held up two fingers behind a Spanish minister's head in an EU summit photograph.

British royalty enjoyed a surge of global popularity, with the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton in April, which sparked celebrations across Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a horse-racing victory on the day for the aptly named Royal Wedding at odds of 4/1.

Irish leprechauns, tea-sipping Britons, Australian ABBA impersonators and the oldest yoga teacher on the planet were just some of the people who set records on Guinness World Records Day in November.

In Ireland, 262 people in Dublin set the record for the largest gathering of people dressed as leprechauns.

"We believe that a record for leprechauns belongs to its native soil and we're really pleased to bring it back to Ireland," Derek Mooney from Ireland's RTE Radio One said.

NO JOBS, HOPE OR CASH

Charlie Sheen wasn't the only celebrity to top odd stories with his "winning" ways.

Three Polish police commandos were sacked from an elite anti-terrorist unit for serving as bodyguards for Paris Hilton and singer Lady Gaga threatened to sue a London ice cream shop for its "Baby Gaga" ice cream made from breast milk.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was jilted in June by prospective wife number three and French actor Gerard Depardieu apologized to fellow passengers for urinating during takeoff on an Air France flight.

The presenters of British motoring TV show "Top Gear" described Mexicans as "lazy, feckless, flatulent, overweight" and didn't fear complaints from Mexico's UK envoy. Ambassador Eduardo Medina Mora described the comments as "vulgar," "inexcusable" and "xenophobic" in a letter to the BBC.

Apple's iPhone edged past pop stars and celebrities as the top searched term on the Web in 2011, despite the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

"10 years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now we have no Jobs, no Hope and no Cash," according to a joke lamenting the dire straits of the current U.S. economy.

The world of comedy also lost one of its favorite figures with the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in December.

Although he was a brutal dictator reviled by human rights groups for jailing or starving hundreds of thousands of North Koreans and abhorred for his proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Kim was comedy gold to satirists.

The late leader with his elevator shoes and bouffant hairstyle was immortalized in the 2004 U.S. film "Team America: World Police" in which a foul-mouthed Kim drops U.N. nuclear inspector Hans Blix into a shark aquarium and sings a heartfelt ballad about the burden of leadership in politically incorrect accented English: "I'm so Ronery" (I'm so Lonely).

The last laugh fell to The Economist magazine, which put a waving Kim on its cover in 2000 under the headline "Greetings, earthlings" as the world's most reclusive nation began cautiously opening up to South Korea.

Eleven years later, the British magazine's Asia blog noted Kim's death with another photo of Kim waving under the caption "Farewell, earthlings." (Reuters)

Geo Pakistan

JPMC to remain closed in protest against killing of Dr. Saleem

KARACHI: Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) will remain closed in protest against killing of in-charge of hospital’s pathology department Doctor Saleem Kharal, Geo News reported.

Doctor Saleem Kharal was gunned down at Punjab Chowrangi in the metropolis late Friday night.

Spokesman for the JMPC announced that all the departments of the hospital except emergency would be shut in protest against the killing of Dr. Saleem.

Geo Entertainment

"A Separation" builds Iranian Oscar hopes

LOS ANGELES: Hollywood has often criticized Tehran for stifling movie-making, but the acclaimed film "A Separation" is breathing life into Iran's hopes for a rare Oscar success.

Released in the United States on Friday after a year of award wins, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's morally complex look at two contemporary Tehran families could earn Iran's first foreign language Oscar nomination since 1998.

"A Separation" began 2011 as the first Iranian movie ever to win the prestigious Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in February. It went on to win best foreign language film awards from the U.S. National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle, and a Golden Globe nomination.

Farhadi told Reuters that recognition in the West had been gratifying and that he hoped the Oscar buzz will inspire filmmakers in other parts of the world.

"Under difficult conditions you can make films," he said. "If filmmakers from my country can make it to the Oscars, this can be an important message for other filmmakers."

If "A Separation" makes it to the foreign language Oscar short-list of five on January 26, it will be the first Iranian film to be nominated since "Children of Heaven" in 1998.

The film scored a rare 100 percent positive score on U.S. aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes this week, putting it among the best movies -- in any language -- of 2011.

Just three months ago, Hollywood organizations representing writers, directors, actors and the group that awards the Oscars, issued a sharply-worded statement lending their support to jailed Iranian filmmakers.

Those included the house arrest of director Jafar Panahi and the imprisonment of actress Marzieh Vafamehr.

Farhadi has managed to mostly avoid clashing with Iran's conservative censors with his specialty of character-driven dramas -- the type of movies that put family politics over state politics.

"On the one hand, when you've been born and raised there, you know inside yourself, without having to consciously think, you can go after this subject, can't go after the other," Farhadi told Reuters.

ESCAPING CENSORSHIP GAZE

He said filmmakers in Iran address prohibited subjects the way they always have -- in the form of subtext.

Despite his protests to the contrary, some critics say that is exactly what Farhadi does with "A Separation," a domestic drama about a couple, Nader (Peyman Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami), going through a divorce.

Living with his father, an Alzheimer's patient, Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to look after the old man. In an altercation, Nader accuses Razieh of neglect and physically expels her from his home. She later suffers a miscarriage and, before a court, holds Nader responsible.

Many critics see the movie as a comment on class differences. Some see it as a critique of Iran's byzantine justice system. And others see it as a clash between modernity and tradition.

Farhadi prides himself on presenting audiences with questions instead of answers. In doing so, he said, "A Separation" offers few targets for censors to aim at.

"I don't think that this form of character development actually has an effect on the gaze of the censorship," Farhadi said.

But by gaining recognition on an international level, circumstances could easily change. Last year, while accepting an award for his previous film "About Elly," Farhadi expressed empathy for fellow filmmaker Panahi. That led to a two-week halt in production on "A Separation."

The reproach failed to chasten Farhadi. A few months later in Berlin he openly wished exiled actress, Golshifteh Farahani ("About Elly") could return to her homeland.

"I feel it's my duty to speak out," he said. "We're all part of a community."

Farhadi could be more vociferous on behalf of his colleagues but that would require self-exile. It's an option he has little interest in pursuing.

"For Iranian filmmakers, the conditions that exist notwithstanding, it's better to make their films in Iran," he said. "Because we know that culture, it's best to, as long as possible, work there."

While Farhadi believes the limitations he has grown used to can inspire greater creativity, eventually they have the opposite effect.

Nevertheless, he criticizes fellow Iranians who emphasize state censorship in order to promote their movies abroad, saying they are as morally culpable as the government officials who censor them. (Reuters)

Geo Sports

Dilshan acclaims Sri Lanka's historic triumph

DURBAN: Sri Lanka captain Tillekeratne Dilshan acclaimed "one of the great wins" after his side completed an historic 208-run victory over South Africa on the fourth day of the second Test at Kingsmead on Thursday.

There were wild scenes of celebration on the pitch when Rangana Herath bowled Marchant de Lange in fading light with only nine balls remaining in the day. The team reserves and management ran on to the field to join their triumphant teammates.

Dilshan promised the celebrations would continue when the team got back to their hotel. "I said before the game that if we can play our brand of cricket we can beat any team. We beat one of the best teams in the world. It's a fantastic feeling and great for the Sri Lankan fans. I'm really proud of my team."

It was Sri Lanka's first win in South Africa on four Test tours and their first win of a previously bleak 2011. It was also the team's first win under Dilshan's captaincy and levelled the three-match series.

Dilshan said the win was one of Sri Lanka's best wins outside of their own country.

Asked whether it compared with a famous win over England at the Oval in 1998, he said: "Definitely. It is one of the great wins of Sri Lankan cricket."

The captain said the players would celebrate on Thursday night - "maybe all night" - before heading to Cape Town for the decisive third Test starting on Tuesday.

Set to make 450 to win, South Africa were bowled out for 241. Left-arm spinner Herath took five for 79 and had match figures of nine for 128. He was named man of the match.

South African captain Graeme Smith admitted: "We were outplayed from the start." He said the team's poor batting in the first innings, which was followed by another top order failure in the second innings, was the biggest reason for their defeat.

Smith said the Sri Lankans had adapted better to the Kingsmead pitch.

"It was a little bit slower. Reverse swing and spin played a role and they handled the surface better than us throughout the game."

Sri Lanka seemed set for an early victory when South Africa lost five wickets between lunch and tea to be reeling at 133 for six shortly before the interval. The collapse included a second duck in the match for Jacques Kallis - his first 'pair' in 149 Tests.

But AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn denied the tourists for more than two hours as they put together a seventh wicket partnership of 99 which threatened to take the match into a fifth day.

De Villiers atoned for a reckless shot which cost him his wicket in the first innings with a solid 69, while Steyn again showed up some of his top order teammates, following up his first innings 29 not out with a fighting 43.

Sri Lanka were forced to take the second new ball but with the light fading rapidly the fast bowlers sent down only three overs before Dilshan returned to spin.

Herath trapped De Villiers leg before wicket and the last three wickets fell rapidly.

Morne Morkel hit five runs before he was also lbw after missing a wild slog against Dilshan off the last ball of an over and Steyn fell to Herath off the next delivery, to be followed two balls later by De Lange.

Smith said his team had not been over-confident after winning the first Test in Centurion by an innings and 81 runs. "The way we prepared was excellent. Our training sessions were competitive and the guys really prepared well. We just didn't get it together at all during the game."

The South African captain said he was confident that his team could bounce back to clinch the series at Newlands, a ground where they had a good record.

"We've been here before. Cape Town is a ground that we've played well at. All of us are hurting and we've got to bounce back. The only way to do that is by playing better cricket and winning." (AFP)

Geo World

US mulls handing top Taliban prisoner to Afghan authorities

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a long-shot bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan, Reuters has learned.

The potential hand-over of Mohammed Fazl, a 'high-risk detainee' held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison since early 2002, has set off alarms on Capitol Hill and among some U.S. intelligence officials.

As a senior commander of the Taliban army, Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan's minority Shi'ite Muslims between 1998 and 2001.

According to U.S. military documents made public by WikiLeaks, he was also on the scene of a November 2001 prison riot that killed CIA operative Johnny Micheal Spann, the first American who died in combat in the Afghan war. There is no evidence, however, that Fazl played any direct role in Spann's death.

Senior U.S. officials have said their 10-month-long effort to set up substantive negotiations between the weak government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban has reached a make-or-break moment. Reuters reported earlier this month that they are proposing an exchange of "confidence-building measures," including the transfer of five detainees from Guantanamo and the establishment of a Taliban office outside of Afghanistan.

Now Reuters has learned from U.S. government sources the identity of one of the five detainees in question.

The detainees, the officials emphasized, would not be set free, but remain in some sort of further custody. It is unclear precisely what conditions they would be held under.

In response to inquiries by Reuters, a senior administration official said that the release of Fazl and four other Taliban members had been requested by the Afghan government and Taliban representatives as far back as 2005.

The debate surrounding the White House's consideration of high-profile prisoners such as Fazl illustrates the delicate course it must tread both at home and abroad as it seeks to move the nascent peace process ahead.

One U.S. intelligence official said there had been intense bipartisan opposition in Congress to the proposed transfer.

"I can tell you that the hair on the back of my neck went up when they walked in with this a month ago, and there's been very, very strong letters fired off to the administration," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The senior administration official confirmed that the White House has received letters from lawmakers on the issue. "We will not characterize classified Congressional correspondence, but what is clear is the President's order to us to continue to discuss these important matters with Congress," the official said.

Even supporters of a controversial deal with the Taliban - a fundamentalist group that refers to Americans as infidels and which is still killing U.S., NATO and Afghan soldiers on the battlefield - say the odds of striking an accord are slim.

Critics of Obama's peace initiative remain deeply skeptical of the Taliban's willingness to negotiate, given that the West's intent to pull out most troops after 2014 could give insurgents a chance to reclaim lost territory or push the weak Kabul government toward collapse.

The politically charged nature of the initiative was on display this month when the Karzai government angrily recalled its ambassador from Doha and complained Kabul was being cut out of U.S.-led efforts to establish a Taliban office in Qatar.

U.S. officials appear to have smoothed things over with Karzai since then. Karzai's High Peace Council is signaling it would accept a liaison office for the Taliban office in Qatar - but also warning foreign powers that they cannot keep the Afghan government on the margins.

The detainee transfer may be even more politically explosive for the White House. In discussing the proposal, U.S. officials have stressed the move would be a 'national decision' made in consultation with the U.S. Congress.

Obama is expected to soon sign into law a defense authorization bill whose provisions would broaden the military's power over terrorist detainees and require the Pentagon to certify in most cases that certain security conditions will be met before Guantanamo prisoners can be sent home.

The mere idea of such a transfer is already raising hackles on Capitol Hill, where one key senator last week cautioned the administration against negotiating with "terrorists."

Senator Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said such detainees would "likely continue to pose a threat to the United States" even once they were transferred.

POTENTIAL MAELSTROM

In February, the Afghan High Peace Council named a half-dozen it wanted released as a goodwill gesture. The list included Fazl; senior Taliban military commander Noorullah Noori; former deputy intelligence minister Abdul Haq Wasiq; and Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former interior minister.

All but Khairkhwa were sent to Guantanamo on January 11, 2002, according to the military documents, meaning they were among the first prisoners sent there.

Bruce Riedel, a former CIA and White House official, said Fazl was alleged to have been involved in 'very ugly' violence against Shi'ites, including members of the Hazara ethnic minority, beginning in the late 1990s, and the deaths of Iranian diplomats and journalists at the Iranian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.

Michael Semple, a former UN official with more than two decades of experience in Afghanistan, said Fazl commanded thousands of Taliban soldiers at a time when its army carried out massacres of Shi'ites. "If you're head of an army that carries out a massacre, even if you're not actually there, you are implicated by virtue of command and control responsibility," he said.

He added: "However it does not serve the interests of justice selectively to hold Taliban to account, while so many other figures accused of past crimes are happily reintegrated in Kabul."

Some U.S. military documents - select documents have been released, others were leaked - indicate that Fazl denied being a senior Taliban official and says he only commanded 50 or 60 men. But the overall picture of his role is unclear from the documents which have become public.

Richard Kammen is an Indiana lawyer who has nominally represented Fazl; the detainee did not want an attorney.

"Based upon the public information with which I'm familiar, it would appear his role in things back in 2001 has been significantly exaggerated by the government," Kammen said.

According to the documents, Fazl and Noori surrendered to Abdul Rashid Dostum, now Afghanistan's army chief of staff but at the time a powerful warlord battling against the Taliban, in northern Afghanistan in November 2001.

While the men were being held at the historic Qala-i-Jani fortress in Mazar-i-Sharif, Taliban prisoners revolted against their captors from the Northern Alliance, the anti-Taliban coalition.

"Dostum brought (Fazl and Noori) to the bunker to ask the prisoners to surrender; detainee and (Noori) refused," the detainee assessment from a 2008 document read.

Spann, a one-time Marine captain who was sent to Afghanistan as a CIA operative in the fall of 2001, was trying to locate al Qaeda operatives at the Mazar fortress among a large group of Taliban soldiers who had surrendered, according to the CIA and media reports at the time. When the Taliban prisoners began to riot - many of them were apparently armed - Spann was surrounded and killed. After a bloody, multi-day battle his body was later found booby-trapped.

Even a loose association between Fazl and Spann's death - despite the fact there is nothing to suggest he was directly involved - is likely to increase the temperature of the debate in Washington.

What could be problematic for some Afghans is Fazl's identification with the killing of civilians in central and northern Afghanistan.

"The composition and timing of any release has got to pay attention to Northern Alliance concerns," Semple said.

Buy-in from supporters of that alliance - and from those wary of a resurgent Taliban - will be key in making a peace deal stick, if one can be had.

Despite the congressional concerns that released Taliban will return to the battlefield, Semple said it was unlikely even prisoners like Fazl - who truly was a significant military figure for the Taliban - would alter that equation.

"These people are not going to make a real contribution to the Taliban war effort even if they are able to go over to Quetta and rejoin the fight. It's not risky in battlefield terms; it's only risky in U.S. political terms." (Reuters)

Geo Business

OGRA okays gas tariff hike from Jan 1

ISLAMABAD: Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has greensignalled hike in gas tariff from January 1, 2012, Geo News reported.

Earlier the Ministry of Petroleum had submitted the proposal to increase gas prices from the start of the next year.

Under the proposal gas prices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Potohar region will increase by 38.63% while in Sindh and Punjab the increase will be 27.79%.

According to the summary, gas prices for residential and commercial users will increase by 13.98% while for industries the increase will be 16.95%.

For WAPDA and KESC, the increase will be 13.98%, for private power plants it will be 34.57%. The increase for the cement industry is 13.98% while for new fertilizer plants 1.081 percent has been proposed.

The gas development tax has not been included for residential and commercial users.

Geo Health

NEW YORK: Obese older adults may be more likely than their thinner peers to suffer a potentially disabling fall -- though the most severely overweight may be somewhat protected from injury, according to a U.S. study. Falls are often seen as a problem for thin, frail older adults, since their bones are especially prone to fractures, but obesity carries its own risks, said researchers whose findings appeared in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. "People who are obese may have a harder time with balance," said Christine Himes, of Syracuse University in New York, who worked on the study. And when obese older adults lose their footing, they may be less able to react quickly and stop a fall, she added. Looking at 10,755 people aged 65 and up, Himes and colleague Sandra Reynolds found that obese older adults were anywhere from 12 percent to 50 percent more likely to suffer a fall over two years than their normal-weight peers. Those odds rose with the level of obesity. The 50 percent higher risk was seen among people with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher -- about 45 kg (100 lb) overweight for a man, or 36 kg (80 lb) overweight for a woman. Body mass index is a measure of weight against height. The study participants were surveyed every two years. Between 1998 and 2006, the group reported a total of 9,621 falls, resulting in more than 3,100 injuries serious enough to need medical attention. Of people who suffered a fall, 23 percent were obese, compared with just under 20 percent among older adults who did not fall during the study period. The researchers factored in health conditions linked to both obesity and the risk of falling, such as arthritis, pain in the legs, diabetes and stroke. But obesity itself was still linked to a higher fall risk. But when it came to the risk of being injured by a fall, the most severely obese older adults, with a BMI of 40 or higher, were one-third less likely to be injured than normal-weight people who fell. People with milder obesity had no such protective effect. In fact, those moderately obese people were at greater risk of reporting longer-term disabilities after falls, versus normal weight men and women. Those with a BMI of 30 to 34.9 were 17 percent more likely than normal weight people to report a disability after a fall. And those with a BMI between 35 and 39.9 were 39 percent more likely to report a disability. Himes said the patterns make sense. Obese people, in general, may be more vulnerable to falls than thinner folk, and when they do fall, the most obese people may get some protection from injury by their extra padding and denser bones. But when obese people are injured, they may be less likely to recover. "It's just harder for obese people to recover from injury. They're going to be in poorer physical shape to begin with," Himes said. It's estimated that more than one-third of U.S. residents age 65 and up suffer a fall each year, and a similar proportion of older adults are obese -- a trend, Himes noted, that is likely to get worse. "This is just another reason that obesity needs to be considered an important public health problem," she said. (Reuters)

Geo Pakistan

Fog disrupts traffic on Motorway

LAHORE: Lahore Motorway has been closed for traffic from Thokar Niaz Baig to Kalasha Kako due to thick fog, Geo News reported.

According to Motorway police spokesman, the Motorway has been closed from Thokar Niaz Baig to Kalasha Kako interchange for traffic because the visibility was down to zero.

Earlier, Motorway was closed for traffic from Thokar Niaz Baig to Babo Sabo, Faizpur interchange due to thick fog.

The motorway authorities have issued special instructions for the drivers. They have asked them to keep headlights of their vehicles on, avoid change of lane and observe control over speed besides using reflectors.

Geo World

US mulls transfer of Taliban prisoner in perilous peace bid

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a long-shot bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan.

The potential hand-over of Mohammed Fazl, a 'high-risk detainee' held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison since early 2002, has set off alarms on Capitol Hill and among some US intelligence officials.

As a senior commander of the Taliban army, Fazl is alleged to be responsible for the killing of thousands of Afghanistan's minority between 1998 and 2001.

Senior US officials have said their 10-month-long effort to set up substantive negotiations between the weak government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban has reached a make-or-break moment.

The detainees, the officials emphasized, would not be set free, but remain in some sort of further custody. It is unclear precisely what conditions they would be held under. (Reuters)

Geo Amazing And Intresting

Tablets, e-readers closing book on ink-and-paper era

SAN FRANCISCO: Tablet computers and electronic readers promise to close the book on the ink-and-paper era as they transform the way people browse magazines, check news or lose themselves in novels.

Online retail giant Amazon has made electronic readers mainstream with Kindle devices, and Apple ignited insatiable demand for tablets ideal for devouring online content ranging from films to magazines and books.

In 2011, digital books earned about $3.2 billion in revenue, an amount that the combined momentum of e-readers and tablets is expected to triple to $9.7 billion by the year 2016, according to a Juniper Research report.

Readers are showing increased loyalty to digital books, according to the US Book Industry Study Group (BISG).

Nearly half of print book buyers who also got digital works said they would skip getting an ink-and-paper release by a favorite author if an electronic version could be had within three months, a BISG survey showed.

"The e-book market is developing very fast, with consumer attitudes and behaviors changing over the course of months, rather than years," said BISG deputy executive director Angela Bole.

Concerns about e-book reading are diminishing, with people mainly wishing for lower device prices, according to the survey.

Owning e-readers tended to ramp up the amount of money people spent on titles in what BISG described as a promising sign for publishers.

Geo World

Russia battles fire on nuclear submarine

MOSCOW: Russia used helicopters and tugboats to battle a fire that engulfed a nuclear submarine docked at a shipyard on Thursday, but emergency officials said radiation levels were normal.

Television pictures showed a giant plume of smoke above the yard in the Murmansk region of northern Russia and said helicopters were trying to douse flames which witnesses said rose 10 meters (30 feet) above the stricken vessel.

Russia said all weapons had been removed from the 167-metre (550 feet) Yekaterinburg, which launched a ballistic missile from the Barents Sea as recently as July, and that the nuclear reactor had been shut down.

"Radiation levels are normal," a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry said. "No one was injured."

A source at the shipyard told RIA news agency that a decision had been taken to submerge the hull of the submarine, leaving only the tower above water level, to put out the flames.

The blaze at the Roslyakovo dock, one of the main dockyards of Russia's northern fleet 1,500 km (900 miles) north of Moscow, is believed to have started when wooden scaffolding caught fire during repairs to the submarine, which some Russian news agencies said had been hoisted into a dry dock.

The 18,200-tonne Yekaterinburg can carry 16 ballistic missiles, each with four warheads.

Russia's worst post-Soviet submarine disaster occurred in August 2000 when the Kursk nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea killing all 118 crewmen aboard. (Reuters)

Geo Business

Forex reserves rise to $16.77bn

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves jumped to $16.77 billion in the week ending Dec. 23, compared with $16.66 billion the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $12.81 billion, compared with $12.76 billion the previous week, while those held by commercial banks rose to $3.96 billion, compared with $3.90 billion the previous week.

Foreign exchange reserves hit a record $18.31 billion in the week ending July 30, but have since eased due to debt repayments.

Reserves were boosted in June by inflows of $411 million, including a $191.9 million loan from the World Bank, and a $196.8 million loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Higher export proceeds and a record inflow of remittances have also helped support Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves.

According to official data, remittances rose 18.33 percent to $5.24 billion in the first five months of the fiscal year (July-June), compared with $4.43 billion in the same period a year earlier.

However, they fell slightly to $923 million in November, compared with $926.89 million received in November last year.

Islamabad must start repaying an $8 billion International Monetary Fund loan in early 2012 and without additional sources of revenue, that will put further pressure on Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves. (Reuters)

Geo World

Record ivory seizures in 2011

LONDON: The past 12 months have seen a record number of large ivory seizures across the world, a leading wildlife watchdog said Thursday, saying it had been a "horrible year for elephants".

TRAFFIC, which runs the ETIS database of illegal ivory trades, said there had been at least 13 large-scale seizures in 2011, totalling at least 23 tonnes of ivory -- representing about 2,500 elephants.

This compares to just six large seizures in 2010, weighing a total of just under 10 tonnes, and confirms a sharp rise in the trade evident since 2007.

"In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data for ETIS, this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures -- 2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants," said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC's elephant expert.

The watchdog warned that once the details of hundreds of smaller ivory seizures were collated, "2011 could well prove to be the worst year ever for elephants" since the ETIS database was set up in 1989.

Most illegal shipments of African elephant ivory end up in either China, where it is ground up and used in traditional medicine, or in Thailand, the watchdog said, with Malaysia the most frequent transit country.

Milliken said the increasing quantities of ivory being traded, many of them from either Kenyan or Tanzanian ports, reflected a rising demand in Asia as well as the increased sophistication of the criminal gangs who sell it.

They constantly change their routes to Asia to avoid detection, including switching from air to sea freight, and once the ivory products arrive, their documentation is amended to conceal the fact that they came from Africa.

"As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning," Milliken said.

International trade in elephant ivory was banned in 1990, and ETIS (the Elephant Trade Information System) holds the details of more than 17,000 reported ivory and other elephant product seizures across the world since then. (AFP)

Geo Sports

Sri Lanka record historic 208-run win against Proteas

DURBAN: Sri Lanka leveled the three-match series defeating South Africa by a huge margin of 208 runs on penultimate day of the second Test match here at Kings Mead on Thursday.

Chasing an improbable target of 450 runs, South Africa were bowled out for 241 before the final session ended on fourth day.

Slow left-arm bowler Rangana Herath captured five wickets for 79 runs and finished with match figures of nine for 128.

The main scorers for South Africa were AB de Villiers (69), Hashim Amla (51) and Dale Steyn (43).

Summarised scores:
Sri Lanka 338 (Thilan Samaraweera 102, Dinesh Chandimal 58; Marchant de Lange 7-81) and 279 (Kumar Sangakkara 108, Dinesh Chandimal 54; Dale Steyn 5-73)
South Africa 168 (Hashim Amla 54; Chanaka Welegedara 5-52, Rangana Herath 4-49) and 241(Hashim Amla 51, AB de Villiers 69; Rangana Herath 5-79).

CIA police arrest alleged target killer from Karachi

KARACHI: Police claimed to have arrested two accused including an alleged target killer and unearthed a torture cell, Geo News reported.

CIA Jamshed Quarter conducted a raid in Chanesar Goth, Mehmoodabad and arrested an accused identified as Jamal Khaskheli. Police also recovered a pistol from his possession.

Police sources said the accused Jamal is involved in target killing and murder of ten people. Police also unearthed a torture cell on his pointation.

Meanwhile, six people including a Rangers personnel have been killed during last 24 hours in Karachi.

Geo Entertainment

'Silence of the Lambs', 'Bambi', among US film treasures

NEW YORK: The U.S. National Film Registry has named 25 films to be preserved as cultural treasures ranging from the 1942 Walt Disney classic, "Bambi," to the 1991 psychological thriller "The Silence of the Lambs."

The film list also includes the Academy Award-winning "Forrest Gump" starring Tom Hanks and the post-war noir film "The Big Heat," set in a fictional US town that examined domestic life in the 1950s. It includes Hollywood features, documentaries and animation, spanning the period 1912 to 1994.

The latest films were selected from 2,228 films nominated by the public, bringing the total number of films in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress to 575.

"These films are selected because of their enduring significance to American culture," said Librarian of Congress James Billington in a statement.

Independent filmmaking pioneer director and writer John Cassavetes' "Faces," (1968) that criticized middle class America was selected along with "I, an Actress" (1977) by low-budget filmmaker George Kuchar whose outlandish sensibilities inspired other directors such as John Waters.

Early films included "The Cry of the Children," and "A Cure for Pokeritis," -- both from 1912 -- as well as Charlie Chaplin's first feature, the silent classic, "The Kid" (1921).

"Stand and Deliver" (1988), directed by Cuban-born Ramon Menendez, highlighted the 1980s wave of films by Latino filmmakers, and "Hester Street" (1975), shot in black and white and partly in Yiddish, showed Eastern European Jewish life in the United States that was initially shunned by Hollywood.

Other films included Billy Wilder's drama about alcoholism, "The Lost Weekend" (1945), John Ford's 1924 western "The Iron Horse," and "Norma Rae" (1979) which starred Sally Field as an unlikely single mother activist trying to improve work conditions.

Composer George Gershwin "Porgy and Bess" (1959) marked the rise of the civil rights movement as some black actors turned down roles and "The Negro Soldier" (1944) showcased the heroism of black soldiers and became mandatory viewing for all soldiers.

Animations included a one-minute film by Pixar Animation Studios' co-founder Ed Catmull, "A Computer Animated Hand" (1972) that is one of the earliest examples of 3D computer animation. Documentaries included "Growing up Female" that gave a portrait of the US women's liberation movement in the early 1970s. (Reuters)

Geo Pakistan

Pakistan rejects US report on Nato attack

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected the US report pertaining to Nato’s attack on Pakistani check post on November 26 that killed 24 soldiers.

The report has been rejected on the basis that with Brigadier General Stephen Clark as head, the investigation can never bring out unbiased findings.

According to sources, Pakistan has dismissed the report on Nato attack as the head of investigating team Brigadier General Stephen Clark has been linked to the strategic team involved in the attack.

That is why, he is believed to be an inappropriate choice to carry out investigation as a neutral party.

A report by military investigators was delivered to COAS General Ashfaq Kayani on Sunday by a US officer based in Islamabad, who explained the findings to the general, Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told reporters.

The full report from the joint US-Nato investigative team was not released publicly until Monday to allow time for the Pakistani leadership to read the findings first, Kirby said.

"We wanted General Kayani to be able to see the entire thing," he said. The approach represented "an appropriate professional courtesy" to Kayani, he added.

A summary of the report was released Thursday and the officer who led the investigation, Brigadier General Stephen Clark, briefed reporters by phone the same day.

Geo World

Myanmar explosion kills 15, dozens injured

YANGON: At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured in a large unexplained explosion and fire in Myanmar's commercial hub and former capital Yangon early on Thursday, officials and witnesses said.

Residents in several areas of the city were woken by the blast around 2am local time (1930GMT), which appeared to have occurred at a medical warehouse in the eastern township of Mingalar Taung Nyunt, sparking a large blaze, witnesses said.

A security official at the scene said 10 men, including three firefighters, and five women had died while at least 65 people were injured, including some 30 firemen.

"We are still trying to make the list. We are also trying to find out the cause of the explosion and the fire," he told.

Fire rescue services were still working to put out the flames, but "were able to control the fire", the official said. (AFP)

Geo Sports

Australia 179/8 at close, lead India by 230

MELBOURNE: Australia were 179-8, an overall lead of 230, in their second innings at the close on the third day of the first test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Mike Hussey was unbeaten on 79 with James Pattinson on three.

Scores: Australia 179-8 (R. Ponting 60, M. Hussey 79 not out; U. Yadav 4-49) and 333 (R. Ponting 62, E. Cowan 68; U. Yadav 3-106, Z Khan 4-77) v India 282 (V. Sehwag 67, R. Dravid 68, S. Tendulkar 73; B. Hilfenhaus 5-75, P. Siddle 3-63).

Geo Amazing And Intresting

Stressed Chinese fight back with pillows

SHANGHAI:A whirlwind of pillows bearing the names of bosses and teachers filled the air as hundreds of Chinese gathered to blow off stress in Shanghai, staging a massive pillow battle.

The annual event marked its fifth year with such a surge in interest from stressed young office workers and students that organizers held two nights of pillow fighting before Christmas Day and plan another for Dec 30.

"Nowadays there are many white collar workers and students that are facing huge pressures at work and at school, so we hope to give them an outlet to release their stress before the end of the year," said Eleven Wang, the founder and mastermind behind the epic pillow fights.

"Sometimes we have pressure on us by our bosses, teachers and exams, so today we can go crazy. Everyone will get to write onto the pillows the names of their bosses, teachers and exam subjects, and enjoy and vent to the maximum," he added.

"After releasing the stress, we can once again face our daily life with joy."

Pillows were handed out at the door as participants entered, then emotion stoked by a rock concert, with many on the floor of the huge event space rocking and waving their pillows in time to the music.

Then came the fighting.

Pillows filled the air, with many combatants opting for throwing rather than using them to whack opponents. A few hapless participants shielded their heads with as many pillows as they could hold, but most ventured eagerly in to the fray.

"I really enjoyed the fight, but my friend was useless. He joined in for two ticks and could not go on, he was afraid of getting beaten by other people," said 24-year-old Chen Yi.

"I thought it was pretty meaningful. I've just been working so much (at the office) and never get to break out in a sweat, so it felt really good."

Others gamely said they enjoyed the experience even though they ended up as attackees rather than attackers.

"I don't know who pushed me, but all of a sudden I was in the pile of pillows, where I became the target of many people, and was beaten by all sorts of people," said university student Zhu Shishan. "Very meaningful." (Reuters)

Geo Entertainment

Veena regrets FHM photo shoot

MUMBAI: Pakistani starlet Veena Malik, who made a splash in the Indian showbiz industry last year with her stint in reality TV ‘Bigg Boss 4,’ regrets the latest controversy that stirred her nation.

The actress has confessed that she has made a mistake by posing for FHM magazine but has categorically denied going nude.

However, according to her, the magazine cheated on her by tampering with her images.

Talking to a daily, Veena said, “Yes, of course, both the images were morphed. My upper portion was covered with tattoos. I think if I could rewind this time, I would like to delete. I feel cheated.”

“But we all make mistakes, I have made a mistake, learned from it and want to move on,” she added.

Reportedly, Veena’s father had disowned her following the news that shamed him utterly and also called in for severe action against her.

“It has been tragic and traumatic, really sad. It has been very difficult,” the tainted actress said.

Geo Amazing And Intresting

Doctors look to treat sick children in virtual worlds

MONTREAL: Doctors in a domed laboratory in Canada are designing a virtual world where they hope to one day treat traumatized children with colorful avatars using toy-like medical gadgets.

Sensory stimulation could be used to make a burn victim feel she is encased in a block of ice. Three-dimensional images of a child's bedroom at home could make him forget he is in a hospital.

"You could take a child suffering from burns and put him in a polar environment, crossing the threshold of reality, to dull his pain," said Patrick Dube, who is leading a team of medics from Montreal'sSainte-Justine hospital and software engineers at the Society for Arts and Technology.

"We know that cognitive illusions have an effect on the perception of pain," he said.

At the Satosphere, an 18-meter-wide (60-foot) dome originally designed to provide spectators with a 360-degree view of art projections, the team has set up a hospital room, or "living lab", to try out new treatment ideas.

The dome, touted by Satosphere president Monique Savoie as a "cinema for the 21st century," is a scion of the Circle-Vision theatre unveiled at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition's Bell Pavilion in Montreal.

"We can, through multiple projectors, create immersive environments that integrate not only walls, but also the furniture in a room," Dube said.

Another tool being tested by the doctors would allow them to give medical gadgets the appearance of fantastical, non-threatening toys.

Children would in theory be able to familiarize themselves with "scary" medical instruments, like syringes, easing common fears over medical tests and treatments.

In the hands of a little girl, a syringe is transformed into a storybook rocket. "I'm no longer scared of injections," said Maxime, 11, the daughter of one of the researchers.

The researchers are also looking into avatars that could one day allow doctors and nurses to communicate with children traumatized by sickness or a crippling accident, who may not be comfortable opening up to an adult.

Such high-tech puppetry might be used to build a child's confidence or help re-socialize them. The person controlling the avatar from another room could ask a child to mimic its movements as part of physical rehabilitation.

The ultimate aim is to apply the technology to help the children "overcome their fears and discover things about themselves," said Patricia Garel, head of Sainte-Justine's psychiatry department.

"There's enormous potential in our discipline, but we're still at a very early exploratory stage."

Virtual communication and video games are known to sometimes have a negative impact on the socialization of children, particularly the most emotionally fragile, who might shut themselves in.

But Garel insists that if the tools are used correctly they could carve a virtual path back to normal life. (AFP)

Geo Pakistan

Saranjam Khan walks out from PML-N meeting

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) held its provincial council meeting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the chairmanship of Mian Nawaz Sharif here today (Wednesday) where one of its members Saranjam Khan walked out from the meeting, Geo News reported.

According to sources, PML-N was holding a meeting to elect the president and general secretary for provincial council which was interrupted by indiscipline. When the council was about to elect its general secretary, the members of the meeting started chanting slogans against each other.

Female candidates for the post, Shazia Aurangzaib and Mehar Sultana of PML-N stepped down and Rehmat Salam Khatak was elected as General Secretary on which Saranjam Khan got annoyed and walked out amidst meeting.

The council unanimously elected Pir Sabir Shah as the President.

Geo Business

No gas for Lahore industry for indefinite period: SNGPL

 LAHORE: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) has announced that it would not be able to supply gas to Lahore industries for an indefinite period, Geo News reported.

SNGLP has sent notices to industries telling them the company was short of gas and could not keep up with the sectors' demand.

SNGPL also said that domestic consumers were its first priority with CNG sector and manufacturers being the second and third respectively.

Geo Pakistan

Nation’s sovereignty being destroyed: Nawaz

PESHAWAR: PML-N president Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court’s verdicts were being trampled upon, while the nation’s sovereignty was being destroyed.

Nawaz was speaking to the PML-N general workers council in Peshawar and said the nation was being kept in the dark and the truth was being kept from them.

Speaking on the memogate issue, Nawaz Sharif reiterated that he had gone to the Supreme Court to expose the truth.

Bollywood rediscovered heroes in 2011

MUMBAI: Bollywood struck gold in 2011, revving up lacklustre box offices in India with help from its leading men who wooed audiences back to cinemas after a dismal 2010.

Domestic revenues hit 19.25 billion rupees ($363.2 million) this year, up from 14.5 billion rupees in 2010, and an unprecedented four films crossed the billion rupee milestone. Two of those blockbusters starred actor Salman Khan.

The solid performance contrasted sharply to the previous year when there were hardly any hits.

"Audiences and filmmakers have gone back and discovered stories that are close to our Indian roots," said Sanjeev Lamba, Chief executive of Reliance Entertainment, which produced two of the year's biggest blockbusters -- "Bodyguard" and "Singham".

"Bodyguard", in which Khan plays a personal security guard to a rich man's daughter and ends up falling in love with her, was the most successful Bollywood film, raking in more than 1.5 billion rupees ($28 million) at domestic box offices.

"Singham" told the story of a right-minded police officer who stands up to a corrupt politician and was accompanied by romance, drama and high-octane action.

Both "Bodyguard" and "Singham" were panned by critics but loved by audiences. And both featured strong central characters, harkening back to the 1980s and early '90s in Bollywood when films were centred on the hero and his defeat of a villain in a battle of good versus evil.

"Audiences have always loved the dilemmas of the hero, a little bit of action, some drama and some romance," Lamba said. "We had a lot of that this year."

Other themes were successful, too.

Offbeat films like "The Dirty Picture", based on the life of a soft-core porn star, proved to be sleeper hits and took industry analysts by surprise. Together with the likes of "Singham" and "Bodyguard", these smaller films proved audiences have an appetite for both mass market and niche-oriented work.

"It is not that more people are watching movies, but that the same audience is watching more movies," said Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, a firm that specialises in film market research.

"HARRY POTTER" HOT; "RA.ONE" NOT

But widely-hyped movies like superhero film "Ra.One" were a let-down.

In spite of a publicity blitzkrieg, actor Shah Rukh Khan's film did not live up to expectations with around 1.2 billion rupees ($22 million) in net box office. That was just a bit more than its official budget of a billion rupees. Industry estimates put the film's cost at over 1.5 billion rupees.

Aside from that, for the most part, Bollywood managed to keep its purse strings in check, with production houses learning that budgeting a film right is half the battle.

"Balaji Motion Pictures made 'The Dirty Picture' at a budget of less than 300 million rupees but have chosen themes and subjects which are interesting, and (they) publicised their films so well that audiences have felt compelled to watch them," said industry analyst Vajir Singh.

Big studios like Reliance and UTV also have changed their business models, preferring to co-produce films rather than acquire them after completion. Last year, Reliance suffered losses after two big-ticket acquisitions, Mani Ratnam's "Raavan" and Hrithik Roshan-starrer "Kites" flopped at box offices.

"This year, all our films have been co-productions or our own productions and we have seen the successes," Lamba said.

"We prefer to be creatively involved from the beginning of the project rather than coming in at the end in an acquisition scenario."

Indian audiences also warmed up to Hollywood blockbusters including "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" and "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" -- something that wasn't seen until just a few years ago due mainly to Bollywood's dominance of the box office.

"These days, the box office collections of good Hollywood films can rival those of a Bollywood film," said Sunil Punjabi, chief executive of the Cinemax chain of multiplexes.

"The Adventures of Tintin," which was released along with Ranbir Kapoor's "Rockstar" in November, made more than 70 million rupees its opening weekend. (Reuters)

Benazir Bhutto's 4th death anniversary today

ISLAMABAD: The fourth martyrdom anniversary of the Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto would be observed with great reverence on Tuesday throughout the country.

The day would dawn with special prayers in mosques for the departed soul of the charismatic leader and first women Prime Minister of Muslim world and progress and prosperity of Pakistan.

Quran Khawani would also be held for eternal peace of Shaheed-e-Jamhoriat. Special congregations will be held in small and major towns to pay rich tributes to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto for her meritorious service for the nation.

Several other activities have been planned to pay tribute to Benazir Bhutto on her death anniversary throughout the country.

Senior leaders of Pakistan people's Party (PPP), members National and provincial assemblies and office bearers of the party and the followers of Benazir Bhutto will participate in these events.

Senators, MNAs, MPAs, leaders and workers of PPP from different parts of the country in large number have left for Garhi Khuda Bakhsh including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

All wings of PPP including Labour Wing, Peoples Doctors Forum, Doctors Forum, Lawyers Forum, Women and Youth Wings have also moved to Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in large caravans.

A large number of Peoples Students Federation's activists across the country will also visit Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to express ideological solidarity, sentiments and admirations with their supreme leader.

In Rawalpindi, the local leadership of all PPP wings and a large number of workers will visit the memorial site at Liaquat Bagh to pay homage and offer fateha for their charismatic leader, who was assassinated on December 27, 2007.

The PPP has decided to organize a big public meeting on December 27, at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to pay tribute to the great leader in recognition of her life-long struggle for the cause of democracy and protection of the rights of people.

All necessary arrangements are being made to facilitate the workers and general public on the occasion and to make the public meeting exemplary and historical.

A caravan of Pakistan People's Party Punjab workers left for Larkana on Monday to join ceremonies on 4th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.

The 4th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed will also be observed in Azad Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan with due reverence and honour.

A major rally of PPP leadership led by AJK Prime Minister Ch. Abdul Majeed will reach Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on Tuesday to attend ceremony at her mausoleum.

The leaders and workers of Pakistan Peoples Party have chalked out special programmes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA for this important occasion.

Special programmes have been planned to highlight her matchless services and struggle in the fields of politics, democracy, economic, foreign relations and human rights.

Television Channels would air special programmes and newspapers would publish special supplements in connection with the anniversary of Benazir Bhutto.

Social, educational and literary organizations will also arrange special programmes where speakers would pay rich tribute for her meritorious service for the nation and most particularly for giving the supreme sacrifice of her life for maintaining national unity and solidarity among people and democracy. (APP)

Geo Pakistan

Pakistan president hits out at 'conspiracies'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said Tuesday the best way to pay tribute to slain premier Benazir Bhutto on the fourth anniversary of her death was to foil anti-democracy "conspiracies".

Tensions between the army and government appear to have soared in recent days over a secret memo that allegedly sought US intervention to prevent a feared coup.

"Today we pay tributes to her. The best way to do it is to defend and protect democracy and democratic institutions in the country and foil all conspiracies against it," the beleaguered Zardari said in a statement.

Bhutto, twice-elected prime minister and wife of Zardari, was killed in a gun and suicide attack on December 27, 2007 in the garrison city of Rawalpindi after addressing an election rally.

"Let us on this day re-dedicate ourselves to the democratic mission of Shaheed (martyr) Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto whose life was dedicated to fighting dictatorship and those seeking to defame and dismantle democratic institutions," the president said.

"I therefore urge all the democratic forces and the patriotic Pakistanis to foil all conspiracies against democracy and democratic institutions," he said.

Pakistan is rife with conspiracy theories and Zardari also termed the assassination of Bhutto a conspiracy. "Her assassination was a conspiracy to rid the world of its best weapon to combat international violent extremism. It was a conspiracy to rob Pakistan of
its best hope to establish a fully functional democracy," he said.

Zardari's remarks came despite denials of a military coup from the powerful army chief and simultaneously endorsed by Supreme Court top judge as he examined calls from the army and the opposition to probe the memo scandal last week.