Mirza spurns PPP-MQM reconciliation

KARACHI: Sindh’s former Senior Minister Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza Friday said reconciliation by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was unacceptable to him.

His supporters in large number gave him warm reception as he arrived at Ghagar Gate from Interior Sindh. Addressing on the occasion, PPP’s firebrand leader stressed he came out to rid people of thieves, dacoits and extortionists.

Disfavoring PPP-MQM reconciliation, Mirza urged people to strengthen hands of President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto.

When asked to react to the statement given by Mirza against him, Federal Interior Minister Rehman A. Malik declined to comment.

Talking to media at Women Jail, Karachi, Malik said, “I am not meddling with any of Sindh affairs.”

Every action in Karachi is undertaken after Sindh’s Chief Minister and Governor are taken into confidence, the federal minister added. TrendPK

Details: Kim Kardashian’s wedding dinner

TrendPK.com: Kim Kardashian’s wedding was elaborate all the way through and that includes the reception dinner by Wolfgang Puck.

Wolfgang reportedly went all out for the meal to celebrate Kim and Kris Humphries new status as husband and wife, states E! News. The meal reportedly started with buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomato salad with basil and “tomato chips.”

Guests then got to choose between hand-formed agnolotti with sweet corn mascarpone and summer truffles or roast chicken with Yukon Gold potato puree, caramelized brussels sprouts and summer truffles.

For dessert, there was the wedding cake, but it is rumored guests ate from a different cake which kept the six-foot design intact.

Fazl gets a narrow escape in Swabi bombing

At least seven people were killed and several others were injured in a bomb explosion near the reception rally of Maulana Fazlur Rahman in Anbar area of Swabi on Wednesday.

According to News Trends, the bomb exploded moments after the convoy of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Ameer, Fazlur Rahman, passed through the area.

The law enforcement agencies have cordoned off area after the incident and the rescue workers started the rescue operations. The injured were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.

7 killed in Swabi bombing, Fazl gets a narrow escape

At least seven people were killed and several others were injured in a bomb explosion near the reception rally of Maulana Fazlur Rahman in Anbar area of Swabi on Wednesday.

According to News Trends, the bomb exploded moments after the convoy of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Ameer, Fazlur Rahman, passed through the area.

The law enforcement agencies have cordoned off area after the incident and the rescue workers started the rescue operations. The injured were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital.

CGames: Clock ticks down on Delhi

NEW DELHI: The clock ticked down on the Delhi Commonwealth Games on Tuesday with signs that conditions in the much-criticised athletes’ village were finally improving as hundreds of competitors arrive.

Australia, one of the countries that had slammed the village last week, said organisers were working hard to improve the state of facilities just five days before the start of the event.

“It’s pretty good,” Lynsey Armitage, a member of the Australian lawn bowls team, told reporters. “I’ve been here for the last two days. The dining hall is fantastic.”

South Africa too said the first contingent from its 150-strong squad would move into the village on Tuesday after the facilities had been passed as fit by the team leader.

“The athletes are very happy with the reception they’ve got so far,” spokesman Mark Keohane told AFP, referring to the first batch of

Pakistan to have more access to US markets: Dr Mirza

i>By Raja Zahid A Khanzada/i>

HOUSTON: The adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said that US was getting out of Afghanistan and no program can succeed sans taking Pakistan onboard. But it would be prudent if right demand gets made on the right time, Geo news reported.

He was speaking at the reception gathering hosted by the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce (PCC).

He said that Pakistan has spent $35 billion on the war on terrorism whereas US has given only $12 billion. In addition to that, Pakistan had to spend Rs.650 billion, meant for the growth of social sector, on provision of basic amenities to affectees residing in war-torn areas. Out of that amount, Rs.350 billion were also earmarked for the rehabilitation of the affected Afghan refugees.

He said that like Americans, this war has proved to be much dearer than what was anticipated. This war has almost ruined Pakistan’s economy.

As a result, the textile industry, previously constituted 60 per cent share of the total Pakistani exports, has now reduced to 53 per cent, he maintained.

The reason for this decline, he said, was the bad law and order situation besides US policies.

“Nevertheless, the incumbent Pakistan government has urged US administration to provide assistance in trade and for making US market more accessible to Pakistani products”, he observed disclosing, “In this regard, the bill that has been introduced in the Congress, falls short of our expectations and we have reservations over it.”

Under the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) package, only the areas lying at the border stretched between Afghanistan and Pakistan would benefit, he said further.

Also, Dr. Baig shed light on the approach of incumbent Pakistan government to ROZs.

Suicide bomber in gov”t HQ in west Iraq kills two

FALLUJA: A female suicide bomber blew herself up on Sunday in the governor”s compound of Iraq”s western Anbar province, killing two people and wounding seven, as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visited Baghdad, police said.

A police source said the blast occurred in the reception area of the heavily fortified compound in Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of the capital. Many of the wounded were in critical condition, he said.

The sprawling desert province was the heartland of a fierce insurgency after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and was in the grip of al Qaeda. Its main cities, Ramadi and Falluja, witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

But local Sunni tribal chiefs turned on al Qaeda in 2006 and 2007, helping U.S. forces bring relative peace to the region.

Sectarian tensions have flared since a national election in March, which has yet to result in a new government.

A Sunni-backed alliance won a slim victory in the vote but a union of the main factions is expected to take the lead in the tussle to form a coalition government.

Insurgent groups have tried to exploit the political vacuum since the election through violence.

Al Qaeda”s Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility for brazen suicide assaults on the Iraqi central bank and the Trade Bank of Iraq last month, and police in Anbar and elsewhere have come under constant attack.

On Friday, gunmen with silenced weapons shot dead one of Anbar”s most senior Sunni clerics, Imam Abdul Aleem al-Saadi, after he answered a knock on his door.

Sunday”s bomb blast in the Anbar governorate office occurred as Biden visited U.S. troops in Baghdad for the 4th of July holiday and also planned to meet Iraqi leaders.

Shoania’s valima arrangements finalized

LAHORE: All arrangements of the valima reception of Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza have been finalized here on Tuesday.

Rose flowers have been used in abundance in decoration of the valima hall while the hotel management have brightly illuminated the place.

Police and the hotel management checked the hall to ensure the fool-proof security arrangements at the five-star hotel.

The valima reception will begin at 7-00 pm and continue to 10 pm during which the guests will be served with one dish.

One more petition against Shoania in LHC

LAHORE: One more petition was cricketer Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza has been filed here in the Lahore High Court on Monday.

While one petition accused Malik of violating various government rules, another is in connection with the alleged sale of invitation cards to the reception.

Hasan Sheraz, who filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, alleged that Shoaib violated the government”s ban on serving more than one dish at marriage functions, which was a rule that was introduced as part of the austerity drive.

He also said that Malik needs to be punished for letting his reception function go beyond 10 pm, which was in violation of a government”s order which enforces a 10 pm-curfew on such functions.

Both the petitions will come up for hearing on Tuesday, Apr 26, which is the same day Shoaib Malik will be holding yet another reception at Lahore.

Shoania wedding reception ends

SIALKOT: Shoaib and Sania wedding reception ended with some mismanagement here today.

A large number of guests attended the gathering held at Hockey club of Pakistan. Shoiab”s brother-in-law Nasir Malik could not attend the ceremony.

Stage was beautifully decorated with sixteen different types of flowers at a cost of Rs 2 million by a Lahore based firm.

Shoaibs”s friend and fans beard the whopping expenditure of Rs 5 million spent at the reception.

Security was heightened inside and outside the club.

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