NATO air strike hits major oilfield in Libya

TRIPOLI: Libya said on Wednesday a British air strike had hit its major Sarir oilfield and damaged a pipeline connecting the deposit to a Mediterranean port.

Mother of all cricket matches few hours away

MOHALI: The news from Mohali is that it’s been raining here for hours and that Shoaib Akhtar is ‘highly unlikely’ to feature in what is being described as the ‘mother of all matches’.

As security personnel were making a final check at the PCA Stadium ahead of Pakistan’s World Cup semifinal clash against India, a dust storm lashed Mohali and adjoining areas. It was followed by rain and thunderstorm.

Rain is good news for Pakistan. If it does rain enough to wash out the day’s play today, then there is a reserve day — Thursday — when the match can be played. If rain also washes out play on the reserve day, then the rain rule states that, “If following a tie, weather conditions prevent the one over eliminator from being completed, or if the match is a no result, then the team that finished in the higher position in the Group stage shall proceed to the final.”

In that case Pakistan, since they topped Pool A, will progress to Saturday’s final. However, the unseasonal downpour is unlikely to affect today’s match with the meteorological department forecasting a partly cloudy sky to prevail in this region with a little chance of light rain by Wednesday evening.

Tuesday night’s rain could add juice to the Mohali pitch that was earlier expected to be batting friendly. It is expected that it could assist pacers more with all the moisture in it at least for the first hour or so.

Meanwhile, just before the sudden showers, Pakistan had their pre-match meeting over dinner at The Taj in Chandigarh. Though a decision over the possible inclusion of Shoaib Akhtar was delayed till this morning, a well-placed source told The News that it was highly unlikely that the maverick pacer will be included in the playing eleven.

That means Pakistan are likely to take the field against India with an unchanged team. India, too, seem set to retain the same team that helped them conquer Australia in the quarterfinals though team sources have said the management has mulled the possibility of bringing in left-arm pacer Asish Nehra and even allrounder Yusuf Pathan.

Pakistan were in an upbeat mood on Tuesday even though Shahid Afridi, their captain, declared India as the favourites Pakistan have already punched above their weight to march into the World Cup semifinals with an enviable ease and are now looking for a win against the Indians.

At this World Cup, Pakistan have overcome two of the pre-tournament favourties — Sri Lanka and Australia — and they are now looking to scalp the Indians. It’s a gigantic task, but Shahid Afridi is confident his troops can achieve it.

“It’s our dream to win the World Cup and tomorrow we hope to take a big step towards by beating India,” Afridi told The News on Tuesday. Afridi heaped praise on his players, saying that they were itching to take the field for the high-pressure match. “A few of the players are playing really mature cricket especially youngsters like Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq. They have been waiting for this game,” he said.

Afridi and his men will have to tackle a strong Indian batting line-up that is spearheaded by the great Sachin Tendulkar. All eyes will be on the little master, who will be looking for his 100th international hundred. The master blaster has featured in all four of India’s World Cup wins against Pakistan, scoring 54 not out, 31, 45 and 98.
Off the field, India is in a complete frenzy.

In Mohali and the adjoining cities of Chandigarh and Panckhula, it seems everybody is obsessed with the idea of getting hold of a match ticket. The Tricity has become the nerve centre of India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani will be flying in to hold talks on the sidelines of the semifinal. Business tycoons and Bollywood starts are bringing their private jets here. All roads, it seems, lead to Mohali.

Michael Clarke Named As Australian Captain For Bangladesh Series

Cricket Australia has announced former vice captain of Australian team Michael Clarke as new captain of Australian team. Ponting has already endorsed him as new Australian captain but now on Wednesday he is officially announced as ne captain.

Subhash Ghai to open Whistling Woods International in Haryana

Whistling Woods International (WWI) is all set to branch out and set up its campus at Jhajjar in Haryana. This will be the institute’s second facility in India, after its campus at Filmcity in Mumbai.

During his recent visit to Mumbai, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana along with his delegation of high-level government officials visited the institute and interacted with Mr. Subhash Ghai and the team at WWI. Mr. Hooda was impressed with the filmmaking techniques, the course structure and the state-of-the-art facilities offered at WWI and described the institute as an excellent place for students to learn from the best. He said that Mr. Ghai was marching ahead of time as he felt strongly that the real competition for resources would be in the field of education and skill development; and that the areas and states blessed with quality education would be the real leaders in the time to come. He was delighted that a campus with this vision would be available to the students of Haryana and adjoining states.

Speaking on the occasion and complimenting Mr. Hooda for his visionary approach in the field of education and other areas, Mr. Subhash Ghai, Founder and Chairman, Whistling Woods International said, “Haryana has made tremendous progress under the leadership of Mr. Hooda and the whole of India is appreciating it. Haryana is a state with huge potential, with young budding talent. This institute will give an opportunity to these young aspiring film-makers to chase their dreams.”

The institute is being set up in a 20-acre sprawling campus at Jhajjar in Haryana and will provide world-class film, television, animation and media education. The integrated model will also include space for shooting floors, studios and various commercial complexes. With a planned investment on the project of over Rs.100 crore, the institute campus will be ready within three years. This institute will cater to the whole of North India, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jammu & Kashmir besides Haryana.

Misbah, Farhat excluded from first T20 encounter

Staff Report

ABU DHABI: Pakistan will not include opener Imran Farhat, middle-order batsman Mishbah ul Haq, pacers Wahab Riaz and Tanvir Ahmed in the first Twenty20 clash against South Africa being played in Abu Dhabi today.

According to sources, skipper Shahid Afridi, Shahzeb Hasan, Muhammad Hafiz, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar and Zulqarnain Haider will enter the field in the series opener. SAMAA

Hakim Muhammad Said’s 12th death anniversary today

Staff Report

KARACHI: Today marks the 12th death anniversary of Hakim Mohammed Said. He was a renowned scholar, and philanthropist of Pakistan and a former Governor of Sindh. He established Hamdard Foundation in 1948. Hakim Mohammed Said wrote or compiled about 200 books. Hakim Mohammed Said was murdered on October 17, 1998.

Hakim Mohammed Said was a man of vision and was endowed with many virtues. He was a multifaceted personality, a physician, author of books, and editor of journals, bibliophile, an organizer, an idealist, an innovator, educationist and above all a patriot of the highest order.

He sacrificed his life in the service of the nation. In a life span of 78 years he made enormous contributions in the field of health, science, education and culture, which has left an imprint on the course of history for generations to follow.

He was

Radwanska tops Hantuchova to reach Carlsbad finals

CARLSBAD, California: No.

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Radwanska tops Hantuchova to reach Carlsbad finals

Robbie Williams weds American fiancee

LONDON: British pop star Robbie Williams has defied pre-wedding predictions by marrying his American fiancee Ayda Field in his own house, a British newspaper reported.

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Robbie Williams weds American fiancee

Afghan-related files of Pak agencies leaked

WASHINGTON: The US government has condemned the leak of more than 90,000 military documents on the war in Afghanistan, including details of Afghan civilian deaths, covert operations against the Taliban.

Pakistan”s ambassador to the United States on Sunday denounced the leak of secret files on the Afghan war and insisted his nation was fully committed to fighting insurgents.

Ambassador Hussain Haqqani called the release of the file by web whistleblower site Wikileaks “irresponsible,” saying it consisted of “unprocessed” reports from the field.

“The documents circulated by Wikileaks do not reflect the current on ground realities,” Haqqani said in a statement.

“The United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan are strategic partners and are jointly endeavoring to defeat Al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies militarily and politically,” he said.

James Jones, the US national security adviser, said the US “strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk and threaten our national security”.

“These irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people.”

The unverified documents allegedly consists largely of classified reports and assessments from junior officers in the field that analysts use to advise policymakers.

It is unclear who the source of the leaked documents is, and Jones did not address the veracity of the information contained in the leaks.

He did point out that the documents “reportedly cover a period of time from January 2004 to December 2009″, the bulk of which time George Bush, the former US president, was in office.

Jones also noted that Barack Obama, who took over from Bush, announced on December 1, 2009 “a new strategy with a substantial increase in resources for Afghanistan, and increased focus on al- Qaeda and Taliban safe-havens in Pakistan”.

“This shift in strategy addressed challenges in Afghanistan that were the subject of an exhaustive policy review last fall,” Jones said.

The documents were released by the online whistle-blower Wikileaks website, which gave US newspaper The New York Times, Britain”s Guardian newspaper and the German weekly Der Spiegel access earlier.

Eric Schmitt, one of the New York Times reporters who worked on the story, told said that the documents gave an unvarnished view of the war – a “very fine grain, down on the ground level detail that hasn”t been revealed before … whether it”s in firefights or drone activities, secret operations performed by commandos of the CIA”.

They painted “a much grimmer picture and portrayal than either the Bush or Obama administrations have allowed so far,” he said.

According to the reports, the US deploys special forces to work from a capture or kill list, missions that were stepped up under the Obama administration and that have led to some civilian deaths.

Also, the US has tried to cover up the fact that the Taliban have heat seeking surface to air missiles.

And the documents say the CIA expanded paramilitary operations in Afghanistan and ran the Afghan spy agency from 2001-2008.

The documents also describe US fears that ally Pakistan”s intelligence service was aiding the Taliban.

According to the Times, the documents suggest Pakistan “allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban in secret strategy sessions to organise networks of militant groups that fight against American soldiers in Afghanistan, and even hatch plots to assassinate Afghan leaders”.

That prompted Pakistan”s ambassador to the US to denounce the leak and insist his nation was fully committed to fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Hussain Haqqani called the release of the files “irresponsible” and said it consisted of “unprocessed” reports from the field.

He added the democratically elected government in Pakistan led by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, is committed to fight and alienate the terrorists and Pakistan armed forces and intelligence agencies are effectively pursuing the same policy.

Rajar elected unopposed at NA-235

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan announced Thursday that Haji Khuda Bux Rajar has been elected unopposed at the constituency of the National Assembly.

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Rajar elected unopposed at NA-235

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