Afghanistan excited at Pakistan one-day exposure

SHARJAH: Aghanistan team players are excited and promise to put up a best show in their first-ever one-day international against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday, an official said.

The war-torn country has played 18 one-day internationals since gaining status in 2009 but all their matches were against associate and affiliate teams Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Scotland.

And the prospect of playing Pakistan, World Cup champions of one-day cricket in 1992, left the Afghanistan players ecstatic.

“It’s a great opportunity for Afghanistan players and they can’t wait for Friday,” team manager Shafiqullah Stanikzai told AFP. “It’s a tough challenege for the team but we will show our qualities and fight to the last.”

Of their 18 ODIs to date, Afghanistan have won 11 and lost seven and Stanikzai said despite the big challenge his team will not let their fans down.

“Afghanistan team is an entertainment package and we will try to give the best possible fight to Pakistan who are the form team after beating England 3-0 in Tests and doing well in one-day cricket recently,” said Stanikzai.

The cricket relationship between the two countries goes a long way, as the game was made popular in Afghanistan by refugees who spent years living in Pakistan when Soviet troops invaded their country in 1979.

In the last three years cricket has progressed in the war-ravaged country by leaps and bounds.

Afghanistan finished fifth in the World Cup qualifiers in 2009 to win the right to play one-day cricket and the following year they won the qualifying tournament to earn an opportunity to play in the World Twenty20 held in West Indies.

Stanikzai said Afghanistan are progressing fast.

“With this opportunity we hope to build our team and next month we will feature in the World Tweny20 qualifiers and hope to win that again to play the main tournament,” said Stanikzai of the World Twenty20 event to be held in Sri Lanka in September-October this year.

Afghnaistan team will be led by Nawroz Mangal and has exciting players in Karem Sadiq, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad and fast bowler Hamid Hassan.

Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan said his team will not take Afghanistan lightly.

“Afghanistan’s team is coming up very fast and we will take them very seriously,” said Khan, hoping his team carry on their good work from the 3-0 Test series win over England.

“This one-day against Afghanistan will give us an opportunity to switch to the one-day mode before the series against England,” said Khan of his team’s four-match series starting from February 13.

Pakistan have brought in all-rounders Shahid Afridi and Hammad Azam in the squad for the one-day matches.

Organizers in Sharjah hope a large number of Afghan and Pakistan expats will come to support their teams. AGENCIES

World Cancer Day being marked today

TrendPK.com
KARACHI: World Cancer Day is being observed today (Saturday) across the world to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.

The observance of the cancer day is led by the Union for International Cancer Control, a global consortium of more than 470 cancer-fighting organisations in over 120 countries.

World Cancer Day is observed as an effort towards making the fight against the killer disease a political priority the world over.

The WCD is an initiative of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), a leading international non-governmental organisation dedicated to the prevention and control of cancer worldwide.

Founded in 1933 and based in Geneva, UICC’s growing membership of over 460 organisations across 120 countries, features the world’s major cancer societies, ministries of health, research institutes, treatment centres and patient groups.

Additionally, the organisation is a founding member of the NCD Alliance, a global civil society network that now represents almost 2,000 organisations in 170 countries.

UICC also has responsibility for:
–The World Cancer Declaration – a tool to help bring the growing cancer crisis to the attention of government leaders and health policymakers in order to significantly reduce the global cancer burden by 2020.

–World Cancer Congress – a biannual event at which the international cancer control community gather to meet, discuss, share, learn and connect in order to find solutions to reduce the impact of cancer on communities around the world. Next meeting is scheduled in Montréal, Canada from 27-30 August 2012.

– World Cancer Leaders’ Summit – the most important annual high level policy meeting dedicated exclusively to furthering global cancer control. TrendPK

Declaration imminent as Aussies push lead to 486

ADELAIDE: Australia increased their lead over India to 486 runs at the cost of two wickets on Friday morning, reaching lunch at 154 for five with a declaration imminent on the fourth day of the fourth test.  

Chasing a 4-0 series sweep, Australia had Ricky Ponting on 57 not out and Brad Haddin, who had made one, at the crease looking to build an unassailable tally before sending the tourists in to bat again.  

Resuming on 50 for three after losing their top order in the last hour on Friday, Clarke and Ponting, who both contributed double centuries to Australia’s first innings 604 for seven declared, combined for 71 runs before being separated.  

Australia skipper Clarke had survived a scare on 30 when spinner Ravi Ashwin could have dismissed him caught and bowled before Umesh Yadav brought an end to his highly successful series as a batsman for 37.  

The young quick beat Clarke for pace and there was enough of a noise to convince umpire Kumar Dharmasena that the Australian had got a nick before the ball went through to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.    

Ponting also gave the Indians a chance when he was on 45 with a miscued pull shot off a Yadav bouncer that Rahul Dravid, running at full stretch, could not quite hold despite getting two hands to the ball.  

The 37-year-old Tasmanian reached his 61st test half century soon afterwards with a single to the covers to continue his renaissance in this series after two years of poor form.  

Mike Hussey made 15 in 42 minutes before angrily following his captain back to the dressing room when he was adjudged trapped leg before by paceman Ishant Sharma.  

India, who topped the world rankings last year, were bowled out for 272 in their first innings on Thursday and will need a much stronger performance from their world class batsmen to avoid an eighth successive defeat in overseas tests. AGENCIES

Coffee prepared at 20,000ft in balloon record bid

A team from Lithuania has set a new world record by preparing a cup of coffee in an air balloon flying at more than 20,000 feet (6.3km) high.

Nidas Kiuberis, Grazvydas Vilcinskas and Vytautas Samarinas had to don protective clothing and oxygen masks before reaching the impressive height.

Once there, with a temperature of around -20C, they used a special aero-press coffee maker to push hot water through the filter and produce a quality cup of coffee.

Coffee expert Kiuberis then took off his oxygen mask and quickly tasted it before putting the mask back on. He said the brew was “as tasty as on earth” not better “as tasty” so worth flying to 20,000ft then?

UN releases US$1.5b for Libya

The UN Security Council released $1.5 billion of seized Libyan assets to be used for emergency aid after the United States and South Africa ended a dispute over the money.

The assets were frozen in US banks, but South Africa had blocked the release on the UN Security Council s sanctions committee, saying it would imply recognition of the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC).

With the dispute dragging on for two weeks, the United States had threatened to seek a full UN Security Council vote on Thursday to make the assets available.

The last-minute accord with South Africa meant that the United States did not press for the vote. A new request was immediately made and approved by the Libya sanctions committee, diplomats said.

“The money will be moving within days,” a US diplomat said.

The new request made no mention of the transitional council, only that the money would be directed through the “relevant authorities.”

Neither South Africa nor the African Union has recognised the NTC, and South African diplomats had insisted that sending money to the rebel government implied international recognition.

South Africa s UN ambassador Baso Sangqu said that an African Union summit in Addis Ababa had approved the accord with the United States.

He added, however, that “these concerns are not going to go away until and unless the AU has taken” a decision on recognition.

“We are very pleased with the outcome,” deputy US ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters after the accord was struck.

“It is extremely important that everyone on the council recognises the need to support the Libyan people at this time,” she said, adding that the “relevant authorities are the NTC.”

The United States said on Thursday that the $1.5 billion of Libyan assets it wants released would pay for UN programmes, energy bills, health, education and food, and would not be used for any “military purposes.”

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said $500 million would go toward UN programs in Libya, including $120 million for services provided by UN agencies like the World Health Organisation, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN children s fund, UNICEF, and the World Food Program.

“The rest of that $500 million would be held to pay for future UN-led programming,” Nuland said.

Another $500 million will go towards paying for energy bills owed to foreign entities which provide electricity for desalination plants, hospitals and other public facilities.

“None of this will go for lethal or military purposes,” Nuland insisted.

The third tranche of $500 million will be placed in a so-called Temporary Financial Mechanism (TFM), set up in June by the international community, and will pay for future health, education and food needs.

Swiss freeze over $200M in bribe money: report

The money was reportedly intended to be given in suspected bribes intended for foreign officials since 2008.

The paper cites the federal prosecutors office as saying the funds were deposited in Swiss accounts by multinational companies for the purpose of bribing officials around the world to secure contracts. The report didn t name any individual companies.

An email to the prosecutors office Sunday was not immediately answered.

In the past, Switzerland was a popular place for multinational companies to “park” bribes due to its lax anti-corruption laws.

Since 2000, the country has tightened its legislation to conform with the requirements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

World’s largest stove destroyed by fire

The giant Michigan Stove, a historic landmark, sits in cinders after a fire apparently burned it to its frame on the locked grounds of the State Fair in Detroit.

A fire has destroyed the world s largest stove Saturday, a Michigan landmark standing at the Michigan state fairgrounds. Fire investigators believe lightning sparked the fire Saturday night. The stove was a total loss.

Built by the Michigan Stove Company, it was first displayed at the World s Fair in Chicago in 1893. The oak stove weighed 15 tons and stood 25 feet high. In 1998, the dismantled stove was pulled out of storage and reassembled at the fairgrounds along Woodward, near 8 mile. Before the automotive boom, Detroit was home to five major stove-making companies, and was called the Stove Capital of the World.

Peshawar: IDPs protest against not receiving aid

The internally displaced persons (IDPs) protested against non-availability of aid in front of World Food Programme Centre on Grand Trunk (GT) Road.

The protesters raised slogans against governments and administration of the centre and also blocked the road. The protesters were of the view that the administration of the World Food Programme Centre was involved in corruption and distributes the aid items among undeserved persons.

Fujifilm aims to be largest camera maker by March

Recently best known for inexpensive models, Fujifilm aims to become the world s fourth largest camera maker by next March. It aims tol become No. 3 manufacturer two years later, overtaking first rival Samsung and then Nikon.

Fujifilm is currently in fifth position behind Canon, Sony, Nikon and Samsung in digital still cameras unit sales. The company is confident that its plan to boost sales 25 percent to 14 million units this financial year and will gain the No. 4 spot.

Fujifilm is planning to spread risk by starting some production in Southeast Asia, with a decision to be made on the location by the end of the financial year.

World’s biggest burger record created

A California man Brett Enright smashed the record for the world s biggest burger, creating one that weighed in at 777 pounds, including bun, cheese and condiments.

Brett Enright came up with the idea in December to make the world’s largest burger. He found that the previous record for the biggest burger was at 590 pounds so he teamed up for the record-breaking burger burn at the county fair. It took the team around 15 hours to cook 777 pounds burger.

Bystanders paid 99 cents for a taste, with proceeds going to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

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