FAISALABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf leader, Imran Khan Friday said President Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Shairf were “tag team partners in corruption” on board a “Samjhota Express” (tacit agreement), Geo News reported.
Talking to a charged crowd in Faisalabad, he said that Pakitan Muslim League-Nawaz was using all kinds of gimmicks to save its face, but this time around none of the tricks would work.
“Mian Nawaz Shairf, your time is up, my time is now, you cannot trade laptops for the hearts of the young, it’s not going to work” was what PTI leader had to say about the PML-N leader.
He said PTI needed no crutches, it had learned how to walk on its own, and now it would outrun its rivals.
Imran Khan added, PTI was not a “family party”, it would not appoint its office bearers but elect them at all levels.
GROS ISLET: Kieron Pollard smashed a blistering century as West Indies defeated Australia by 42 runs in the fourth one-day international on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
The 24-year-old Pollard hit eight sixes and five fours in his 70-ball 102 as the West Indies made 294 for seven off 50 overs, their highest score at the picturesque Beausejour Stadium.
In reply, Australia, who were dismissed for 252, never recovered from losing five wickets in making 112 by the 21st over despite skipper Shane Watson (28), Peter Forrest (24), George Bailey (25) and Mike Hussey (26) all getting decent starts.
A sixth-wicket partnership of 67 between David Hussey and Matthew Wade kept Australia in the game. But when Wade holed out with an ugly slog off Pollard's medium pace from the last ball of the 34th over, after making a solid 16 to provide David Hussey with valuable support, the game was virtually up for Australia.
Hussey was then clean-bowled by Kemar Roach for 57 off 54 balls, an innings which featured seven fours.
His dismissal in the 39th over, with the score on 196 for seven, came just two balls after Brett Lee had been hurt when a wild Roach full toss clattered into his left hand.
But Lee valiantly hit back by making a career-best 59, an exciting cameo which featured five fours and five sixes before he ran out of partners.
Earlier, Pollard brought up his second ODI century in emphatic fashion with a huge six over midwicket in the final over off Lee.
West Indies clobbered 145 runs off the last 12 overs with veteran quick Lee finishing with figures of 2 for 72 -- 23 of those runs coming off his final over.
Openers Johnson Charles (37), playing on his home ground, and the recalled Adrian Barath (41) gave the West Indies a solid foundation with a first-wicket stand of 56 by the 11th over.
Australia won the first match in Kingstown by 64 runs before West Indies won by five wickets in a rain-affected second match on Sunday.
That win ended the West Indies' miserable run of 15 defeats in 16 one-dayers against Australia.
The third ODI on Tuesday ended in a thrilling tie while the final match takes place here on Sunday.
Australia made two changes to their team, bringing in Forrest and fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, who was playing his first game on tour, for all-rounder Daniel Christian and offspinner Nathan Lyon.
West Indies called up Barath in place of Kieran Powell in their sole change. (AFP)
WASHINGTON: The World Bank announced Friday three candidates to succeed outgoing president Robert Zoellick, one nominated by the United States and two others from developing countries.
The candidates were identified as Jim Yong Kim, a US national and president of Dartmouth College; Jose Antonio Ocampo, a Colombian national and professor at Columbia University; and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian national and finance minister of Nigeria.
The Bank's board of executive directors said the "three nominees will be considered for the position."
The announcement came shortly after the closure of the nominating period at 6 pm (2200 GMT).
Under the selection process previously announced, the executive directors will conduct formal interviews of the three candidates in Washington during the following weeks.
The World Bank said it expected to selecting the new president "by consensus" by its 2012 Spring Meetings with the International Monetary Fund that begin on April 20.
Zoellick plans to step down at the end of his term in June. (AFP)
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Day is being celebrated today (Friday) across the country with traditional zeal to commemorate the passage of the Lahore Resolution, later called, the Pakistan Resolution, which eventually led to the creation of Pakistan.
The day dawned with special prayers for progress and prosperity of the country and with 31 gun salutes in the federal capital as well as 21 gun salutes in provincial capitals.
Governmental, political, cultural, social and other organisations have chalked out various programmes to mark the day in a befitting manner.
Pakistan flag will be hoisted on principal public and private buildings throughout the country and all Pakistanis missions abroad.
The people of Pakistan celebrate the 23rd of March, every year, with great zeal and enthusiasm, to commemorate the most outstanding achievement of the Muslims of South Asia who passed the historic ‘Pakistan Resolution’ on this day at Lahore in 1940.
Seventy-one years ago, on March 23, 1940, at Muslim League’s 27th session, under Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s dynamic leadership, Mr A.K. Fazl-ul-Haq moved a resolution and demanded a separate sovereign state for the Muslims in the North West and Eastern Zones of the sub-continent, where they were in majority.
The resolution was seconded by Ch. Khaliq-uz-Zaman and supported by several prominent leaders and members of the Muslim League party to transcribe the hopes and wishes of millions of Muslims into reality.
The ‘Pakistan Resolution’ paved the way for the creation of Pakistan in 1947 as a single state and provided the principles of a constitutional plan for partition of India. Muslims of India instead of seeking alliance with Hindus identified themselves with a ‘Two-Nation Theory’ which emphasized on the fact that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations and both nations are quite different from each other.
The ‘Pakistan Resolution’ is believed to be the epitome of goal-orientation of untiring and unfailing struggle of Indian Muslims because it actualised the dreams of our founding fathers for an independent state for the Muslims of the sub-continent. It was the resolution, which made the Muslims of India discern their own identity and spelled out destination for them to a separate Muslim-state.
March 23rd is the most propitious occasion for introspection, for a reappraisal of national objectives, for revisiting the past, for recollecting the Quaid’s inspirational words, and for delineating the train of events that led to the creation of Pakistan.
The commemoration of the Day is an expression of the whole nation’s resolute determination to preserve her independence. So, let us make an effort to achieve the objective laid down by the Quaid in his broadcast to the nation in which he said that,
“Now is the time, chance, and opportunity for every Muslim to make his or her fullest and best contribution and make the greatest sacrifice and work ceaselessly in the service of our nation and the world.”
DHAKA: Pakistan recorded a dramatic two-run victory over Bangladesh in a sensational final to win the Asia Cup one-day tournament for second time here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Thursday.
Earlier, they had become the Asia Cup champions in 2000.
It was looking that Bangladesh, playing the final for the first time in Asia Cup history, would win the title. They played extremely well – first restricting Pakistan to 236-9 in 50 overs with their accurate bowling and alert fielding and then batted with determination to reach very close to the winning target but lost the match just three runs short.
Chasing 237, the hosts needing nine runs in the last over, finished at 234-8 in 50 overs.
Their main scorers were allrounder Shakib Al Hasan (68) and opener Tamim Iqbal (60).
Tamim with Nazimuddin (16) provided a sound start making 68 for the first wicket and later Shakib and Nasir Hossain (28) added valuable 89 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.
For Pakistan, paceman Aizaz Cheema grabbed three wickets while fast bowler Umar Gul and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal each finished with two wickets.
Earlier, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and invited Pakistan to bat first, who set a moderate target of 237 runs for the hosts.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed top scored with an unbeaten 46, followed by Mohammad Hafeez (40), Shahid Afridi (32), Umar Akmal (30) and Hammad Azam (30) as no other batsmen could not enter into double figures.
SEOUL: Apple Inc's new iPhone will have a sharper and bigger 4.6-inch "retina" display and is set to be launched around the second quarter, a South Korean media reported on Thursday.
Sales of the iPhone, first introduced in 2007 with the touch screen template now adopted by its rivals, account for around half Apple's total sales.
Apple has decided on the bigger 4.6-inch display for its next iPhone and started placing orders to its suppliers, the Maeil Business Newspaper said, quoting an unnamed industry source.
Its major display suppliers LG Display and Samsung Electronics Co declined to comment.
Samsung, which is also the biggest challenger to Apple in smartphones, uses 4.6-inch OLED display for its flagship Galaxy S II smartphone, introduced in April last year.
The high-definition "retina" display--containing several times as many pixels within the same area-- is used in the latest iPad released earlier this month.
The latest iPhone 4S was introduced in October last year. (Reuters)
BEIRUT: At least 62 people, more than half of them civilians, were killed in violence across Syrian on Thursday, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 35 civilians were killed in military operations in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, as well as in Idlib province in the northwest and in Daraa in the south.
Fierce clashes also killed 18 soldiers and nine army deserters across the country, the Britain-based Observatory said.
According to the Observatory the highest toll was in the Idlib province, where 17 civilians were killed by government forces, including 10 in an attack on a busload of civilians trying to flee across the border to Turkey.
Twelve civilians were killed by government troops in Homs province, five in Hama and one in Daraa, cradle of the uprising against the Syrian regime, the Observatory said.
The latest deaths come despite a call by the UN Security Council for a ceasefire in Syria.
Monitors say more than 9,100 people have been killed in a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that started with peaceful protests before turning into an increasingly armed revolt, faced with a brutal crackdown costing dozens of lives each day. (AFP)
