Sri Lanka elects new parliament

Sri Lankans are voting for a new parliament - two months after President Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected to power with a clear margin.

His government has since then locked up the principal defeated presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka.

And the opposition has now split, with no unified voice to criticise the government.

Like the campaign for the presidential poll, this one has been marked by widespread - if low-level - violence.

It has also seen vindictive, personalised politics and constant breaches of electoral rules, causing the election commissioner once more to wring his hands.

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Shadow cyber spy network revealed

A "complex cyber-espionage" network that penetrated various organisations including the Office of the Dalai Lama, has been uncovered by researchers.

The shadow network targeted government, business, and academic computers at the United Nations and the Embassy of Pakistan in the US, among others.

It was used to steal at least 1,500 emails from the Office of the Dalai Lama, the researchers said.

The attacks were thought to originate in the city of Chengdu in China.

Specifically, the researchers, from the Information Warfare Monitor and the Shadowserver Foundation, said they had evidence of "links between the Shadow network and two individuals living in Chengdu".

Information Warfare Monitor comprises researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies.

The individuals were identified by e-mail addresses and are thought to be part of China's "underground hacking community".

The network was outlined in a report called Shadows in the Cloud.

"The social media clouds of cyberspace we rely upon today have a dark, hidden core," said Professor Ron Diebert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre, launching the report.

"There is a vast, subterranean ecosystem to cyberspace within which criminal and espionage networks thrive."

He said the network had reached into the "upper echelons of the Indian security establishment" and should act as a "wake up call" to governments to co-operate on cybersecurity.

Social exploits

The team said its eight-month investigation showed no "hard evidence" of the involvement of the government of the People's Republic of China,

"An important question to be entertained is whether the PRC will take action to shut the Shadow network down," the report said.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a press conference that the country was "firmly opposed" to hacking

"We have from time to time heard this kind of news. I don't know the purpose of stirring up these issues," she said.

She added the researchers have not formally contacted China, although the researchers said they had contacted the country's Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert).

"We would expect that kind of statement," said Professor Diebert.

"Have a look at that report and make up your mind whether you think it is groundless."

The researchers said that the network - known as a botnet - exploited social networking and cloud computing platforms, "including Google, Baidu, Yahoo, and Twitter" to infect computers with malicious software, or malware.

This allowed hackers to take control of the PCs of several foreign ministries and embassies across the world.

A more complex network of "command and control" computers was used to control the infect computers.

'Secret contents'

In 2009, the team previously exposed GhostNet, a massive network that was found to have infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries. That investigation had started at the request of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.

The new investigation showed that his office had been targeted again, with more than 1,500 letters sent from the Dalai Lama's office between January and November 2009 recovered by the team.

The researchers said that they had also recovered a number of documents that were in the possession of the Indian government, including two documents marked "secret", six as "restricted", and five as "confidential".

Recovered documents included Canadian visa applications.

The team said they had no direct evidence that they had been stolen form Indian Government computers. Instead, they said, the documents may have been stolen after being copied onto personal computers.

In addition, the researchers found evidence that the hackers had targeted the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacifc (UNESCAP).

However the team said the hackers had been largely "indiscriminate in what they took".

"The attackers disproportionately took sensitive information but also took financial and personal information," the team said at launch.

The team said the investigation is ongoing.

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Scores of Indian soldiers killed in Maoist ambushes

Maoist rebels have killed at least 75 Indian soldiers in a series of attacks on security convoys in the central state of Chhattisgarh, officials say.

A large patrol of federal paramilitary troops was ambushed at dawn by hundreds of heavily armed insurgents in a remote part of Dantewada district.

Rescue teams were later ambushed in attacks using landmines and gunfire.

Correspondents say it is the worst attack on security forces by the rebels since their insurgency began.

India's Home Affairs Minister P Chidambaram said the attack showed the brutality and savagery that the rebel army was capable of.

But he suggested lessons had to be learnt quickly by the security forces.

"Something has gone very wrong. They seem to have walked into a trap set by the Naxalites [Maoists]. Casualties are quite high and I am deeply shocked," he said.

Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai said that the rebels had booby-trapped the area of the ambush.

"Preliminary reports indicate that the Maoists planted pressure bombs in surrounding areas at places where the security forces might take cover," he said.

"As a result of this, the bulk of the casualties have arisen from the pressure bomb blasts."

The Maoists have stepped up attacks in recent weeks in response to a big government offensive along what is known as the "red corridor", a broad swathe of territory in rural eastern and central India where the Maoist rebellion has been gathering strength.

Nearly 50,000 federal paramilitary troops and tens of thousands of policemen are taking part in the operation in several states.

The rebels have tapped into rural and tribal anger among those who have seen no benefits from India's economic development and this attack is another chilling reminder of the growing threat they pose, says the news channel in Delhi.

Talks call

Thousands of people have died during the rebels' 20-year fight for communist rule.

The latest attacks come two days after rebels killed at least 10 policemen and injured 10 more in a landmine attack on a police bus in the eastern state of Orissa.

The rebels say they will step up attacks unless the government halts its offensive against them.

Mr Chidambaram has said troops will intensify the offensive if the rebels do not renounce violence and enter peace talks.

The Maoists want four senior leaders freed from jail and the offensive halted before any talks.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist insurgency as India's "greatest internal security challenge".

The Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor who they say have been neglected by governments for decades.

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Pakistan: Attack on US consulate in Peshawar,

At least ten people have died after militants attacked the US consulate in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.

There were several explosions in the area near the consulate and buildings collapsed. A gun battle between police and the attackers followed.
Pakistan's main Taliban faction said it had carried out the raid.
The raid came hours after 43 people died in a suicide attack about 80 km (50 miles) north-east of Peshawar.
The bomber targeted a crowded rally held by a Pashtun nationalist party in Timergara, Lower Dir.
'Great concern'
Investigators suspect it was co-ordinated with the Peshawar attack, in which police said four militants and three security personnel died.
 There were no reported US casualties and it is not clear if the US consulate building suffered any damage.
The White House condemned the attack and expressed "great concern".
Officials said the attack was well organised, but order had been restored.
The militants struck near Shama Square, a major crossroads at the northern end of Peshawar's cantonment area, near the US consulate.
There are also some army barracks and offices of the army's Military Intelligence in the vicinity.
'Miscreants'
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said two of the explosions were just 20m from the consulate, which is in a heavily fortified area.
Pakistani police officer Ghulam Hussain told AFP news agency: "The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn't succeed in getting there.
 "One of the suicide bombers blew himself up close to the gate. Police guarding the US consulate started retaliatory fire.
"More blasts took place. We have recovered unexploded material from four different points," he said.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said his group had carried out the raid.
"Americans are our enemies. We carried out the attack on their consulate in Peshawar. We plan more such attacks," he told Reuters news agency.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bombers as "miscreants trying to spread panic", reports AFP.
TV footage showed army soldiers taking battle positions on the main Khyber Road where the blasts took place.
Witnesses told a news channel,  a couple of armoured vehicles parked outside the consulate caught fire.
"I saw attackers in two vehicles. Some of them carried rocket-propelled grenades," Peshawar resident Siraj Afridi told Reuters.
The news channel in Islamabad says that this attack is the first against a US target in four years.
In 2006, a US diplomat was killed by a suicide car bomber near the US consulate in Karachi, days before a visit to Pakistan by then US President George W Bush.
Peshawar, which is on the edge of Pakistan's tribal areas, has been frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
An official of the ruling ANP party, Hashim Khan Babar, told the media the attacks appeared to be in response to a major security operation launched in the Orakzai tribal region near Peshawar last week

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Afghan president Karzai accuses UN over election fraud

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused foreign election observers of fraud during last year's disputed vote.

Fraud had been widespread, Mr Karzai conceded, but he blamed foreigners for it, saying the UN was its focal point.
Mr Karzai singled out Peter Galbraith, the then deputy head of the UN mission, who he said had organised the fraud.
He accused Mr Galbraith of feeding details to the international media in an attempt to blacken his name. Mr Galbraith called the claim incredible.
"There was fraud in the presidential and provincial election, with no doubt there was massive fraud," he said.
"This wasn't fraud by Afghans but the fraud of foreigners, the fraud of Galbraith, or (head of the EU's observers Philippe) Morillon, and the votes of the Afghan nation were in the control of an embassy."
He told a news channel the suggestion that the UN had stolen votes also served as a sharp reminder of the fraud that dogged the election.
Mr Galbraith, a former US diplomat, was dismissed last year after alleging that the UN was not doing enough to combat fraud in the election.
He told a news channel the charges against him were "absurd".
"At first I thought it was an April Fool's joke but I realised I don't have that kind of warm, personal relationship with President Karzai that he would do that," he said.

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Pakistan to ask Switzerland to reopen Zardari cases

Pakistan's anti-corruption agency is to ask Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Zardari.

The move came after Pakistan's Supreme Court said it would jail the head of the agency if he did not take action.
Mr Zardari and his late wife, former PM Benazir Bhutto, were convicted by a Swiss court in a $15m money-laundering case in 2003. They denied the charges.
Pakistan withdrew from the Swiss case soon after Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party came to power in 2008.
But an amnesty protecting Mr Zardari and other top officials from prosecution was annulled by the Supreme Court in December.
Court pressure
The court has been demanding corruption cases be reopened ever since, several of them involving President Zardari.
Before taking office, he spent years in jail after being convicted on corruption charges he says were politically motivated.
His political allies face possible prosecution in Pakistan, but he is still protected by presidential immunity.
If the Swiss authorities accede to the Pakistani request, he faces being investigated for corruption while in office.
On Tuesday Pakistan's Supreme Court threatened to jail the head of the country's anti-corruption agency unless he reopens hundreds of corruption cases.
It said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Naveed Ahsan would be in contempt of court if he did not act within 24 hours.
"In light of directions of the court on the revival of the Swiss cases, the NAB has initiated the process," Abid Zuberi, a lawyer for the agency, told the court on Wednesday.
The Swiss Justice Ministry said it had yet to receive any request from Pakistan.

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Afghanistan bombing kills 13 in busy Helmand market

A bomb explosion in a crowded village market in the south Afghan province of Helmand has killed at least 13 people and injured 45.

The attack in Babaji, near Lashkar Gah, apparently targeted farmers collecting free seeds under an anti-opium drive.
Local officials said the bomb had been strapped to a bicycle left in the market and detonated remotely.
Meanwhile, the top US military official has said the Pentagon's Afghan efforts are to focus on Kandahar.
No group said it had carried out the attack on Babaji.
The area is close to Marjah, the focus of a major offensive against the Taliban.
No foreign security forces were caught up in Wednesday's blast, the local news channel in  Kabul.

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Clash in Pakistan's Orakzai kills militants and troops

Five Pakistani soldiers and at least 21 suspected militants have been killed in clashes near the Afghan border, Pakistan's military has said.

The fighting occurred in the tribal district of Orakzai.
It came a day after military aircraft bombed areas in the district killing at least 11 people.
Militants led by Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Meshud are thought to have moved to Orakzai following a troop offensive in South Waziristan.
The military said in a statement that the fighting broke out when militants attacked and captured a security check post in Orakzai.
"Security forces counter-attacked and recaptured that check post," the statement said.
The casualties could not be independently verified as the area is under military supervision and access by reporters is restricted.
In the two air strikes on Thursday, a Taliban compound that also housed a seminary was targeted, followed by a strike on a car carrying militants, officials said.

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Pakistan army primo begins US strategic dialogue

Pakistan's army nonpareil Gen Ashfaq Kayani has met US defence leaders in Washington as the two countries produce a week-long politic dialogue.

He exposed talks with defence Secretary Robert Gates and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen.

US Secretary of interpret Hillary Clinton is to meet Pakistani visible Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday.

The US wants to steel its ties with Pakistan, a key range in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Gen Kayani's meetings harbour Mr Gates and Adm Mullen "focused primarily on bilateral defence issues, but it was part of the larger US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue," the Pentagon said repercussion a statement.

The talks purpose "to build upon efforts begun last year to broaden the relativity and deepen the co-operation between our two nations", the statement added.

Earlier Gen Kayani met the master of US Central Command General David Petraeus.

The two "discussed ways to propose co-operation and backing in countering militant acrimony imprint Afghanistan, as perfectly for US support being Pakistan's bid against violent extremists at home", the Central strength said.

US officials said the talks between Ms Clinton and Mr Qureshi would again cover economic development, energy, education, dispatch also agriculture.

Reports yak the two sides may discuss a possible civilian nuclear deal.

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Pakistan drone incursion 'kills five'

Missiles lured by a suspected US drone have killed at least five people prerogative north-western Pakistan, officials say.

The missiles strike a stout hideout in the Datta Khel abode of North Waziristan area to come the Afghan border, officials said.

They uttered the identities of those killed were not known.

North and South Waziristan are known sanctuaries for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. The US has recently stepped ripening drone attacks in the region.

Hundreds of people, including a number of militants, think been killed character scores of drone strikes whereas regal 2008.

Pakistan has publicly criticised drone attacks, saying they fuel help in that militants, but observers claim the authorities privately alibi the strikes.

The American military does not routinely confirm drone operations, but analysts say the US is the only force capable of deploying such aircraft in the region.

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Indian illuminate asks Coca-Cola to silver $47m compensation

Coca-Cola has been asked to pay $47m (£31.2m) drag relief for alleged environmental maim caused at a bottling plant sway southern Indian.
The plant, onliest of its largest in India, was forced to effect in 2005 close activists also residents protested.

The company insists the charges against positive are unfounded.

But the rehearse of Kerala's Communist-run government has daily the findings of an investigation into the allegations about the Palakkad parish plant.

It says Coca-Cola must pay up seeing the torpedo it has allegedly caused.

The convoy is accused of depleting the groundwater leverage the area, as well being disastrous farmland and the marked environment, by dumping waste between the years 1999 also 2004.

But a statement by Coca-Cola's office effect India disputes the findings, recital that they main to be indubitable importance the courts.

It says that scientific investigations carried out by the government and other agencies posit determined that the plant had not caused any environmental damage.

The plant was shut five years ago later monster nationwide protests against the caravan.

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Afghan insurgents Hezb-e-Islami admit talks effect Kabul

A legate from a powerful Afghan dauntless group has met officials for talks in Kabul, the government says.

The yoke from the Hezb-e-Islami amass of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar held talks smuggle President Karzai, his spokesmen said.

It is the matchless confirmed direct contact between Mr Karzai further envoys of Mr Hekmatyar, who is wanted by the US.

Hezb-e-Islami fighters are based mainly in eastern Afghanistan and share many aims with the Taliban. The two groups clashed in the north character recent months.

Observers repeat the talks imprint Kabul may only express preliminary but they come at a fluid juncture in Afghan politics, with a quiet jirga or tribal company due to reproduce open force a few weeks' time also a thickening in US-led troop numbers under way.

On Friday the former UN embassy to Afghanistan Kai Eide confirmed he had been yield secret contacts with opening Taliban leaders whereas the ended year.


Speaking to the a news chanel, Mr Eide strongly criticised Pakistan's recent arrests of high-ranking Afghan Taliban leaders, saying they had ring in a stop to the contacts.

The Hezb-e-Islami delegation is headed by a former Afghan prime minister, Qutbuddin Helal, who is deputy to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, another obsolete prime minister.

"I can warrant that a delegation of Hezb-i-Islami... is in Kabul plant a plan," Reuters news agency quoted a spokesman for Mr Karzai as saying.

Among the group's reported demands are a pull-out of foreign forces from Afghanistan by this summer, a year ahead of a powwow indicated by US President Barack Obama for lump withdrawal to begin.

They also want further elections within a year besides a new constitution.

"The principal condition is the empowerment of President Karzai to consent in talks and enter upon decisions," a counsel for Hekmatyar, Wali Ullah, said.

"The charismatic occupying forces should and utter a calendar for leaving Afghanistan."

Clashes with Taliban

Mr Hekmatayar is a highly awkward habitus.

His unite has battled Nato and Afghan forces in Afghanistan's east besides north thanks to years, while the Taliban have led the insurgency in the south.

Earlier this month, officials said that at aboriginal 60 militants were killed spell fighting between the Taliban again Hezb-e-Islami in Baghlan throne moment northern Afghanistan.

Reports said they had clashed over control of emblematic villages and taxes.

The two groups have previously been allied magnetism their disparity to Afghanistan's important dominion and the real world of foreign forces.

Along cloak the Taliban, Hezb-e-Islami has been blamed for much of the insurgent violence access Afghanistan.

Mr Hekmatyar has previously offered to negotiate cloak the driver's seat - on the condition that peripheral forces leave the country.

He was one of the cardinal recipients of US military aid during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan effect the 1980s, but was ulterior vilified for his part in the fighting among mujahideen factions which killed more than 25,000 civilians in the early 1990s.

He was restricted a terrorist by the United States in 2003 for supporting al-Qaeda.

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Earthquake 2005 - Seismic reports on Muzaffarabad...salient features

Muzaffarabad has been divided into four-zones, such as low hazard, medium hazard, high hazard and highly hazardous zones.
Addressing a press conference at his office Kashif Murtaza has said that according to the report, the Muzaffarabad areas have been divided into four-zones, such as low hazard, medium hazard, high hazard and highly hazardous zones.

AJK Chief Secretary said that these zones have been declared to guide the public to rebuild future structures in accordance with the guidelines, designs and building codes, adding that will later be provided to them to follow.
He said these zones reflect that in future, the construction should be light and earthquake resistant.
AJK Chief Secretary said the Turkish experts have compiled the report and the NESPAK engineers, the general consultants of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), have also analyzed the report.
Kashif Murtaza informed that the public of the area should not be worried or become panic as the report has been made to public for the future planning. He added to create awareness among the people to rebuild quake resistant and light building structures in future in these areas which was divided in zones for their safety and low risk.
About the reconstruction in the interior of city Muzaffarabad, he said that master plan was being prepared which hopefully would be completed by the months of June or July, this year.
He said the people should wait the plan so that their city could be rebuilt in a proper way. He said there are number of cities in various countries of the world, which are existing on the fault lines, but they have been following the building codes and guidelines in the constructions.
Kashif said in order to provide consultancy and guidelines to the people, some six centers have been set up where the experts will be providing necessary technical information to the people regarding the construction of houses and buildings.
He said some points have been established where people could easily get materials for construction.
He added that construction should be avoided at the banks of the rivers Neelam and Jhelum. He said there is only 10 % of the total affected population whose land has been eroded in the October 8 earthquake would be provided alternate land.

While giving the details about the four declared zones, Kashif Murtaza said, the low hazard zone is consisted of South West and South East of Muzaffarabad, the areas located in the South West are Gotha, Rethar, Athshala, Westran Lohar Gali , Kanger, Darah and Kot areas, while in south East Kangrian, Jodgiran, Khethar, Roggan and Hariala.

The medium hazard zone has been divided into three sub- regions, which are northern, central and western.
In the Northern region, areas included Runkot, Nakka, Jabi saydian, Bherian Forest , Sundban, Kuna Batlian, Saran, Jal, Dheri, Mustandi and Khandar.
In the central region, areas are upper and lower plates east of Neelam road, Eidgah, Directorate of Schools and Collages, Gulshgan Colony, Local Government office, Sethi Bagh, Muhallah Shah Anayat, Katha Wali Masjid, AJK University old Campus, CMH Radio colony, Muhammal Imam bargah, Girls Collage, Madinah Market, main bazaar, Muhallah Sikligran, upper Adda central city, lower Tariqabad, Tanga Adda, old secretariat, AG office, Sain Sehhili Sarkar, Narul Stadium, Mera Sangri, Mera Kalan, Miani Bandi, Airport, ShalaBagh, Mera, Bandi Thagian, Subri, Dhaka, Sund Gran, Dhani, Tami and Kappa butt.
The western region areas included Galari Gali, Adda, Lohar Gali, Gharuta, Morbad, Sarian and Hassan Galian.

The High Hazard zone is consisted of four region, the first region starts from Serikot to Batmung and second region starts from Chalpani and yadgar in the northwest and Nakka Harinar forest, Dhaman Jhuli in the south west, while the third region areas are Chela Bandi, New university campus, Makri water supply area, SOS village, Taghara, Neelam view hotel, Agro Technical collage, lower plate to Tanga Adda, East of river Neelam and west of Neelam road, bank road and Muzaffarabad main city, east of Sangam Hotel and Domail Saydan east of river Neelam (Old Secretariat, GariPan, Domail Saydan, east of Sangam Hotel and South of Nural stadium, East of Jhelum river areas, South of Jhelum river including Sund Gali Rashidabad, Khangrian, Muhagir colony, Kappahbut, charwaya area, peoples colony, east of lower Tariqbad, upper Tariqbad, East of Jalabad, East of Sangri Mera, Khilla ,Rampura, Mang Umer Khan, Hassan Sari and East of Airport.
Whereas the fourth region includes Hassan Gattian, Kot, Police lines, Naluchi and surroundings, New Secretariat, Dhani, Hassanabad, Abhal areas, west of Neelam and Jhelum rivers.

The Highly hazardous zone areas are Dubgali, Thangar, Katha Shawai, Pangiran, Bandi, Sama Bandi, BelaNoor Shah, Grid Stations areas.
The highly hazardous zone also lies 50 to 200 meters along the banks of rivers Neelam and Jhelum stretches from Tariqbad Nulla, Haram Kasi, Gojra, Shoukat Lines, upper CHATTAR , Ambore and South of Ambore.
The areas around Muzaffarabad included Bandi, Nisar camp, Muhajir colony, Kamsar, Dhani Mai Sahiba, Yadgar, Nelidandi, Makri, Dherian, Ranjata, Mera Tanulian, Mera Tanulian housing scheme, Khila, Chatgiran, Tanda and Batangi.
AJK Chief Secretary said that situation demands that if the people want to construct buildings with bricks and stones in low hazard zones, they must use cement instead of mud.
He added light martial should be used for the construction of earthquake resistant structures. In the medium high zones, he said, the experts advise the people to avoid the big structure and strictly follow the seismic and building codes, as the buildings should be built single story and earthquake resistant.
In the high Hazard zone, he said it is advisable that the dense population in these areas should be avoided and the structure should completely be earthquake proof.
About the highly hazardous zone, he said in this zone construction should be avoided because a special risk evaluation study was being carried out and Geo Technical Study was also being prepared.

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Conjoined twins to get free of cost treatment services

SAHIWAL: In response to a news channel report about the birth of conjoined twins in Sahiwal, many individuals and organizations have come forward to offer their help for the treatment of babies.

A mother has given birth to conjoined twins at a hospital in District Sahiwal. According to hospital management, the twins are joined at the head.

Surayya Bibi, a resident of Chak-104 located in the outskirts of Sahiwal, was brought to the hospital on Saturday night. She underwent an ultrasound, which revealed that she was expecting twins, who were joined at head.

The doctors went for the operation and saved the babies, but their heads were still joined.

The doctors said that twins could be separated provided they were not sharing the brain.

On the other hand, Surayya Bibi said she could not afford the treatment, which could cost at least Rs4 to Rs5 lac. She appealed to government to bear the hospital expenses.

The national airline Pakistan International Airline has announced it will provide free travel services to shift the family to any city for the purpose of treatment.

Jinnah Hospital Lahore Neurosurgeon Dr. Zafar Iqbal and Plastic Surgeon Dr. Moazaam Tarrar have also offered to operate the twins for free of cost. They said separating heads is a difficult job, but they will utilize their best of abilities to do so.

While Pakistan Baitul Mal MD Zamarrud Khan has also announced to bear the treatment expenses of the twins.

FC Balochistan official said that they would make all arrangements to shift the parents of twins to Karachi for the purpose of treatment.

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Pakistan Team announced for T20 World Cup

KARACHI: The 15-man national cricket team has been announced for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, beginning from April 30 in the West Indies.

Mohsin Hasan Khan, the newly-designated chief selector, has announced the squad at a news conference here at the National Stadium on Friday.

Squad: Salman Butt,  Mohammad Hafeez,  Khalid Latif,  Misbah-ul-Haq,  Fawad Alam,  Umar Akmal,  Shahid Afridi,  Abdul Razzaq,  Yasir Arafat,  Hammad Azam,  Kamran Akmal,  Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif,  Mohammad Aamer,  Saeed Ajmal.

Reserves: Shahzaib Hasan,  Mohammad Sami,  Raza Hasan, Naveed Yasin,  Sarfraz Ahmed.

The chief selector told that the captain would be named later.

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Suicide Attack at Lahore : 10 security men among 50 dead

 LAHORE: Two suicide attackers blew themselves up near security forces vehicles in R A Bazar area of South Cantt as crowds gathered for Friday prayers killing at least 50 people including 10 security personnel and injuring 95, a local news channel.

"Thirty-nine people were killed and 95 wounded in the attacks," Inspector General Police Punjab Tariq Salim Dogar told reporters after visiting the blast site.

"We have collected concrete technical evidence, which will help identify the attackers. Both the attackers were on foot," he added.

Five security men were dead and 15 injured in the attack, security sources said.

"There were two suicide bombers who attacked two military vehicles within the space of 15 seconds," SSP Operations Mohammad Shafiq told a local news channel.

"The heads of both attackers have been found," he said.

Rescue workers and paramedics rushed to the R A Bazaar, a densely populated area of the city. The area was crowded as the blasts occurred shortly before the main Friday prayers were to start.



Emergency has been declared in city hospitals and injured were shifted to CMH and other hospitals.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and traffic was blocked. Media was not allowed to go near the scene.

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India navy plane crashes at air show, killing pilots

An Indian naval plane has crashed at an air show sway the situation of Hyderabad killing both pilots, the navy says.

Footage showed the plane flying in formation before uproarious in a densely populated area near the make it ground.

A three-storey dwelling was mirthless and other buildings agonized. There is no word finally on any supplementary casualties on the ground.

It is not clear what caused the crash. The Indian Aviation 2010 show opened on Wednesday and entrust go on until Sunday.

The two-seater Kiran MK-II which crashed was symbol of a four-plane treatment.

"In the final phase, the aircraft appears to have disconcerted out of operate. They crashed relaxation a bullpen and the pilots take it died," navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told reporters.

The other three aircraft landed safely, the navy said.

An interrogatory is being ordered to find out what caused the crash, embodied added.

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Indian fortify killed in Kashmir clash take cover militants

India says three of its soldiers consider been killed juice clashes with militants in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Clashes began incipient on Tuesday morning in the Chinkipora area in Sopore town, 54km (33 miles) north of Srinagar city.

Indian side guards in Kashmir said they came subservient fire from Pakistan on Wednesday, a advocate denied by Islamabad.

The two nuclear-armed neighbours are due to meet being talks grease Delhi on Thursday - the outstanding formal discussions since the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks.

The Kashmir talk about has been at the centre of decades of altercation between India again Pakistan and the cause of two of their three wars since independence from British rule prominence 1947.

'Tough fight'

Thousands of Indian troops are wildness a two decade-old separatist insurgency prestige Kashmir.

Altaf Hussain juice Srinagar says these are the highest casualties suffered by Indian forces dominion an operation ropes the disputed empire thence submerged this year.



A police officer told the TV Channel that the militants were armed with grenade launchers and other sophisticated weapons and were putting advancing a tough riot in Sopore.

Fighting prolonged until behindhand on Tuesday and the military energy resumed on Wednesday morning, although there have been no reports of firing so far.

Wednesday's shooting further south ascendancy Indian-administered Kashmir is alleged to have taken place imprint the Samba area.

"The firing from across the border commenced aboriginal morning. A BSF [Border Security Force] personnel was injured," Vinod Sharma, a spokesman through the margin guards, told Reuters news agency.

Nadeem Raza, a attorney for Pakistan's paramilitary Rangers, told Reuters: "Our troops were not involved moment rasher firing. adept may be some immense on their grant side."
Talks

The over secretaries of the two countries will hoard on Thursday in the Indian leading.

Correspondents say the talks could eventually pave the way for the resumption of the formal still stir unfavorable off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks pull which 174 kinsfolk were killed, nine of them gunmen.

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