Monday, August 22, 2016

Samia Shahid murder case: Father, first husband sent to jail on 14-day remand

JHELUM: Court on Monday sent prime suspect Chaudhry Shakeel, Samia Shahid?s first husband, and father Mohammad Shahid to jail for 14 days on judicial remand.

Police told the court earlier today that their work of evidence collection had been completed and sought to have Chaudhry Shakeel and Mohammad Shahid sent on judicial remand.

The court instructed police to present an interim challan for both the suspects in the next hearing.

The case hearing was adjourned to September 5.

Earlier this month, Samia Shahid?s first husband had confessed to strangulating her to death, police sources had confirmed.

?I strangled Samia to death using a dupatta,? Chaudhry Shakeel had said in a statement recorded with the police, according to sources.

Samia, originally from Bradford, had gone to visit her father in a village called ?Poteh? near Dina on July 14. Her family, who are also British nationals, were in Pakistan following a bereavement within the family.

She was found dead on July 20 in mysterious circumstances.

Samia Shahid?s family insisted she died of a heart attack. Later they changed their statement to claim that she had committed suicide.

Samia Shahid?s husband Syed Mukhtar Kazam however maintained that she was the victim of so-called ?honour killing? because she had rebelled against wishes of the family, divorced her first husband Shakeel and married him in Bradford in 2014.

England?s Wood will trouble Pakistan, warns Collingwood

BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan´s batsmen can expect Mark Wood to cause a "lot of problems with the white ball" when they face the England fast bowler during the upcoming one-day international series.

The warning has come from Paul Collingwood, Wood´s captain at north-east county Durham.

Wood, 26, has been troubled by persistent ankle injuries and hasn´t played for England since a Test match against Pakistan in Dubai last October.

However, he has been included in England´s squad for a five-match ODI series against Pakistan starting in Southampton on Wednesday.

Wood showed just how good a bowler he can be with a brilliant spell of four for 25 in his maximum four overs during Durham´s seven-run Twenty20 Blast semi-final win over Yorkshire at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Wood took two wickets for no runs in three balls to dismiss current England batsmen Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance before accounting for Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan.

He bowled Bairstow (three) with a near yorker-length delivery and dismissed Ballance for a duck when the left-hander´s glance was brilliantly caught at leg gully by diving former England all-rounder Collingwood.

Meanwhile Wood, who topped speeds of 90mph and moved the ball in the air and off the seam, made life so difficult for Joe Root, one of the world´s best batsmen, that the England star said: "He made me look as if I was batting with my hands and feet on backwards."

Wood was unable to repeat his heroics in the final, taking one for 25 as Durham -- who managed a modest total of 153 for eight -- suffered a four-wicket defeat by Northamptonshire.

But former England all-rounder Collingwood was in no doubt of Wood´s Twenty20 quality.

 

'Pure pace'

"He´s ideal for this form of the game because he knows he´s only got four overs to bowl and he´s going to try to bowl every single one at full tilt," Collingwood told reporters after the final.

"He´s not worried about second or third spells. He´s a genuine wicket-taker and in the current game of T20 cricket, where guys give themselves a base and want to hit out, it certainly gives you another thing to think about when you can get hit on the head at real pace.

"That´s why he takes his wickets. He got good quality international batsmen out today (Saturday) with pure pace. He´s a great man to have in a T20 side."

And Collingwood was confident Ashes-winner Wood´s fitness would hold up in the longer 50 overs per side ODI format, where bowlers are permitted a maximum of 10 overs each.

"Certainly in white ball (limited overs), he´s ready because, as I said he doesn´t have to come back for second and third spells," Collingwood added.

"He bowled 20-odd overs against Middlesex last week in a four-day (first-class, County Championship) game and obviously his body is still getting used to those sort of spells, but he is going to cause a lot of problems with the white ball, that´s for sure."

Saturday´s final saw Wood strike with his first ball to dismiss Adam Rossington, but he could no nothing as man-of-the-match Josh Cobb (80) and Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely (43) took care to see him off in a key partnership of 120.

"He´s quick," said Wakely. "He bowled some quick balls out there -- he´s going to get back in that England team before long.

"We said ´it doesn´t matter if (his overs) goes for two or three (runs), just get through it and we can capitalise on the other bowlers."

England?s Wood will trouble Pakistan, warns Collingwood

BIRMINGHAM: Pakistan´s batsmen can expect Mark Wood to cause a "lot of problems with the white ball" when they face the England fast bowler during the upcoming one-day international series.

The warning has come from Paul Collingwood, Wood´s captain at north-east county Durham.

Wood, 26, has been troubled by persistent ankle injuries and hasn´t played for England since a Test match against Pakistan in Dubai last October.

However, he has been included in England´s squad for a five-match ODI series against Pakistan starting in Southampton on Wednesday.

Wood showed just how good a bowler he can be with a brilliant spell of four for 25 in his maximum four overs during Durham´s seven-run Twenty20 Blast semi-final win over Yorkshire at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Wood took two wickets for no runs in three balls to dismiss current England batsmen Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance before accounting for Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan.

He bowled Bairstow (three) with a near yorker-length delivery and dismissed Ballance for a duck when the left-hander´s glance was brilliantly caught at leg gully by diving former England all-rounder Collingwood.

Meanwhile Wood, who topped speeds of 90mph and moved the ball in the air and off the seam, made life so difficult for Joe Root, one of the world´s best batsmen, that the England star said: "He made me look as if I was batting with my hands and feet on backwards."

Wood was unable to repeat his heroics in the final, taking one for 25 as Durham -- who managed a modest total of 153 for eight -- suffered a four-wicket defeat by Northamptonshire.

But former England all-rounder Collingwood was in no doubt of Wood´s Twenty20 quality.

 

'Pure pace'

"He´s ideal for this form of the game because he knows he´s only got four overs to bowl and he´s going to try to bowl every single one at full tilt," Collingwood told reporters after the final.

"He´s not worried about second or third spells. He´s a genuine wicket-taker and in the current game of T20 cricket, where guys give themselves a base and want to hit out, it certainly gives you another thing to think about when you can get hit on the head at real pace.

"That´s why he takes his wickets. He got good quality international batsmen out today (Saturday) with pure pace. He´s a great man to have in a T20 side."

And Collingwood was confident Ashes-winner Wood´s fitness would hold up in the longer 50 overs per side ODI format, where bowlers are permitted a maximum of 10 overs each.

"Certainly in white ball (limited overs), he´s ready because, as I said he doesn´t have to come back for second and third spells," Collingwood added.

"He bowled 20-odd overs against Middlesex last week in a four-day (first-class, County Championship) game and obviously his body is still getting used to those sort of spells, but he is going to cause a lot of problems with the white ball, that´s for sure."

Saturday´s final saw Wood strike with his first ball to dismiss Adam Rossington, but he could no nothing as man-of-the-match Josh Cobb (80) and Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely (43) took care to see him off in a key partnership of 120.

"He´s quick," said Wakely. "He bowled some quick balls out there -- he´s going to get back in that England team before long.

"We said ´it doesn´t matter if (his overs) goes for two or three (runs), just get through it and we can capitalise on the other bowlers."

Four missing girls from Lahore found in Rawalpindi

RAWALPINDI: Four girls who reportedly went missing from Lahore?s Sabzazar area on Sunday have been found in Rawalpindi.

Police took the four girls into custody at Rawalpindi?s railway station, Geo News reported.

In a statement recorded with the police, the girls said they had left their homes at 6 pm on Sunday. They claimed they had left on their own and were not with anyone else.

The girls? families had blocked Multan road in Lahore the previous day to protest what they had thought was another incidence in the kidnapping spree that has hit Punjab in recent days.

A wave of anxiety has gripped the province following kidnapping of 600 children from Lahore and other parts of Punjab within a short span of time. However, Punjab police has said that most of these children fled from domestic violence.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing a suo moto case on missing children.

More than a dozen children went missing from Badami baagh (garden) in Lahore in the past few months alone. Last week, a child was discovered dead in the same area, who had reportedly been murdered after being tortured.

The police, meanwhile, has maintained that not all of the missing children were kidnapped. Additional Inspector General Police Shahzada Sultan, citing statistics, said that during 2015 kidnapping cases of 1,134 children were registered in Punjab, of whom 1,093 were recovered. This year 681 cases have been registered, whereas 640 children have been recovered already.

Many of the missing children belong to poor families.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

CM Murad demands clean Karachi in next 10 days

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah chaired a meeting to discuss cleanliness situation in Karachi on Monday, where he demanded that the city be cleaned up in the next 8-10 days.

CM Murad once again gave an ultimatum to city authorities to completely clean up Karachi within the stipulated time period and said he will turn his attention to the rest of Sindh next.

He also said he wanted Sea View area in Karachi to be completely cleaned up as well.  

CM Murad has vowed to make Karachi clean again ever since he assumed office. Earlier this month he chaired a meeting for this purpose where he had said that the Sindh government was constantly being criticised for the garbage dumps which ply the streets.

?I will not allow garbage to be dumped on any ground,? he had said.

Pak-Afghan border remains shut on fourth day

CHAMAN: The Pak-Afghan border at Chaman remained closed for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, with the NATO supply and cross-border trade suspended on both sides.

At the request of the Afghan Border Force, a flag meeting was called on Saturday, which remained fruitless.

The border gate was closed by the Pakistani forces four days back in protest against the insult meted out to the Pakistani flag at the border and the Afghan people’s act of throwing stones at the Bab-e-Dosti.

Due to the closure of the border gate, the trade between the two countries remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day. It is feared that fruit loaded on trucks stalled on both sides of the border may start rotting. Long queues of Nato containers and other trucks can be seen at the border.

Traders say they could face loss of crores of rupees if their trade items rotted. Four days ago, the Chaman tribesmen also staged a demonstration and torched an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest his statements about Balochistan. Official sources said the Afghan Border Force filmed the protest.

The border’s closure has also caused problems for people crossing the border from both sides to visit their relatives. Tight security arrangements have been made by the Pakistani forces on the border.

 

--Originally published in The News

Trump campaign signals softened stance on immigration

WASHINGTON: A senior aide to U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump signaled a possible shift in his hardline immigration policies on Sunday, saying his plans to deport 11 million people who are in the country illegally were under review.

Trump has put his vow to toughen the country´s immigration policies at the center of his campaign. He has promised to carry out mass deportations and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, proposals that critics have assailed as inhumane and too costly and unrealistic to achieve.

Trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton in opinion polls for the Nov. 8 election and struggling to broaden his support beyond the white working-class voters who have been his base of support, the New York businessman has reached out in recent days to black and Hispanic voters.

On Sunday, his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, told CNN that Trump was committed to a "fair and humane" approach to those living in the country illegally.

"What he supports is to make sure we enforce the law, we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for well-paying jobs and that we are fair and humane to those who live among us in this country," Conway said on "State of the Union.

"Pressed on whether Trump´s plans would include a "deportation force" that the candidate previously pledged to set up, she replied: "To be determined.

"Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, a close ally of Trump, told CBS´s "Face the Nation" that Trump was still working through his plans for deportations should he win the White House.

"He´s wrestling with how to do that. People that are here unlawfully, came into the country against our laws, are subject to being removed.

That´s just plain fact," the Alabama lawmaker said. "He´s thinking that through.

"Trump has also been rebuked by opponents for his proposal to impose a temporary "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims seeking to enter the country, later rolled back to focus on countries with "a proven history of terrorism.

"Clinton has accused Trump of sowing divisiveness and said she would propose a path to citizenship for some migrants living in the United States illegally.

The former secretary of state has said that militant groups like Islamic State have begun using Trump´s proposed Muslim ban as a recruitment tool.

CAMPAIGN SHAKE-UP

Conway´s comments came after Trump announced last week a major reshuffling of his campaign. Trump promoted Conway, who had been a senior adviser, to the role of campaign manager and hired Stephen Bannon, head of the Breitbart News website, as campaign chief executive.

The Trump campaign said on Friday that campaign chairman Paul Manafort was resigning.

The campaign´s new leadership combines Bannon, a combative conservative, with Conway, a data-driven analyst who has been trying to broaden Trump´s appeal to women and independent voters.

Trump´s support has slumped in national polls in recent weeks and surveys in pivotal states such as Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have shown a widening lead for Clinton.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey released on Friday showed Clinton leading Trump nationally by 8 percentage points, 42 percent to 34 percent.

Trump vowed at a campaign rally in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Saturday to return the Republican Party to the values of President Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and championed the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution during the U.S. Civil War that led to the abolition of slavery in 1865.Earlier on Saturday, Trump met with a group of Hispanic leaders as part of a new National Hispanic Advisory Council to the campaign.