Sri Lanka 107-5 in second innings

 COLOMBO: Sri Lanka, needing 363 to win, were 107-5 in their second innings at lunch on the final day of the second and last Test against New Zealand at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Thursday.
All-rounder Angelo Mathews was unbeaten on 27 at the break with Prasanna Jayawardene 23 not out.
Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 following their 10-wicket win in the opening Test in Galle.

QUETTA: The Balochistan chapter of Pakistan Medical Association is continuing strike even after the recovery of Dr Saeed Khan on Wednesday, Geo News reported Thursday. President PMA Balochistan Dr Sultan Tareen told Geo News that the doctors will continue with the strike until the government restores November 19 position. The demands include dismissal of cases against the doctors, withdrawing the suspension orders and the ones that restrain them from entering the premises of government hospitals On the other hand, Young Doctors Association Balochistan has also announced to support the stance of PMA Balochistan and decided to continue the boycott in the government hospitals. Patients are facing severe difficulties due to the closure of out patient departments.

KARACHI: Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has chalked out a formula for new CNG prices and sent it to the ministry of petroleum for approval, Geo News reported.
OGRA spokesman said the new price formula has been prepared as per the directions of Supreme Court.
According to the formula, OGRA has suggested Rs70.20 per kg for region I and Rs63.66 per kg for region II.
The present prices of CNG in region I and II stands at Rs61.64 and Rs54.16 per kg respectively.

PMA Balochistan continues strike

 QUETTA: The Balochistan chapter of Pakistan Medical Association is continuing strike even after the recovery of Dr Saeed Khan on Wednesday, Geo News reported Thursday.
President PMA Balochistan Dr Sultan Tareen told Geo News that the doctors will continue with the strike until the government restores November 19 position.
The demands include dismissal of cases against the doctors, withdrawing the suspension orders and the ones that restrain them from entering the premises of government hospitals
On the other hand, Young Doctors Association Balochistan has also announced to support the stance of PMA Balochistan and decided to continue the boycott in the government hospitals.
Patients are facing severe difficulties due to the closure of out patient departments.

Samsung launches new Internet-connected camera

 SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Thursday launched a new Internet-connected camera in South Korea, as the electronics giant intensifies efforts to expand its dominance in the mobile phone market to other sectors.
The "Galaxy" camera, named after the Korean firm's signature smartphone and tablet PC series, enables users to upload photos and videos directly to the Internet without having to hook it up to a computer.
The camera, launched earlier this year in countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere in Asia, is not Samsung's first Internet-connected camera.
But the latest device -- powered by Google's Android software like many key Samsung gadgets including Galaxy S smartphones or Galaxy Tab tablets -- operates more like a smartphone, the company said.
It allows users to download apps aimed at polishing photos or videos, automatically share images stored in the camera with certain mobile devices located nearby, or to have the images automatically stored in a cloud-computing server.
Users have to subscribe to wireless plans to use the gadget, featuring a 4.8-inch LCD touchscreen, a 21x optical lens and priced at about 750,000 won ($691) on the domestic market.
"The Galaxy Camera will open a new chapter of communications -- visual communications," JK Shin, chief of Samsung's mobile unit, said in a statement.
Samsung -- the world's top maker of smartphones and memory chips -- has recently been trying to strengthen its relatively small presence in the global digital camera industry dominated by Japanese giants like Nikon and Canon.

Eight killed in Iraq bombing

 KARBALA: Bombs in south of Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded 20 others, security and medical officials said.
A car bomb exploded under a bridge in Karbala, killing five people and wounding 13, while in the city of Hilla two roadside bombs killed three and wounding seven, they said.

Secretary Education gets additional charge of HEC Executive Director

ISLAMABAD: Establishment Division has handed over additional charge of Executive Director of High Education Commission to Secretary Education Qamar Zaman Chaudhary, Geo News reported.
A notification in this regard has also been issued.
Meanwhile, HEC Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi told ‘Geo News’ that Establishment Division does not have powers to appoint or sack any officer of HEC, the commission is independent in appointment and transfer.
He said he would continue to work till orders of the commission.

Attacks against Shiites kill 31 in Iraq

 HILLA: Bombs targeting Shiite Muslims in areas south of Baghdad on Thursday killed 31 people and wounded 98, security and medical officials said.
The attacks marked the second wave of bombings against Shiites this week after three car bombs exploded near their places of worship in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding 50.
In Thursday's attacks, two roadside bombs targeting a group of Shiite pilgrims in the city of Hilla killed 26 people and wounded 85, police and medical sources said.
The dead included two women, three children, two medics and a civil defence member, they said.
Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area of the blasts and set up checkpoints in the city to search cars, an AFP correspondent said, adding that shops near the site were shuttered after the attack.
In the shrine city of Karbala, a car bomb exploded under a bridge, killing five people and wounding 13, a police spokesman and a medical official said.
The spokesman said that security forces closed off all roads leading to the old city, where Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam, is buried, and were searching for a second car bomb.
Members of Iraq's Shiite majority are often targeted by Sunni insurgents in bomb attacks.
Millions of pilgrims flock to Karbala each year for Ashura commemorations marking Hussein's death in battle in 680 AD, which peaked on November 25 this year.
While pilgrims have often been targeted by bombings during Ashura that killed dozens, the commemorations were largely free of violence this year, though two attacks against pilgrims killed three people and wounded 35.
Pilgrims also walk from across Iraq to Karbala during the 40-day mourning period that follows Ashura.
Violence in Iraq has decreased dramatically from its peak in 2006 and 2007, when brutal sectarian violence swept the country, but attacks remain common.

Roadside bomb kills 10 in Afghanistan: officials

 KANDAHAR: A roadside bomb killed 10 civilians, including women and children, and wounded eight when it ripped through a van in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, officials said.
The families were on their way to visit a relative who had recently returned from Makka when their vehicle was hit in Dih Rawud district in rural Uruzgan province, district governor Nematullah Khaliqi told AFP.

2 killed in another car attack in Karachi

KARACHI: Two persons including a woman were killed when unknown gunmen sprayed bullets on a car in Sachal area Thursday, Geo News reported.
According to initial reports, a woman and a man died when unidentified attackers open fire on their car in Sachal area. Further details are awaited.
It is important to mention that in an earlier incident of the same kind, four persons were killed on the spot when unknown gunmen opened fire on a taxi in Quaidabad area today.
Sources told that the victims belonged to the MQM-Haqiqi.

Taliban commander Mullah Nazir injured in suicide blast

 WANA: Taliban commander Mullah Nazir was injured while four of his aides killed in a suicide blast targeting his vehicle in South Waziristan, Geo News reported.
The attacker was riding a motorcycle when he collided with the vehicle Mullah Nazir was traveling in. Several nearby shops were also damaged in the attack.
Commander of his own faction of the Taliban in South Waziristan, Mullah Nazir controls operations in Wana.
He was also part of the Aman Committee and assisted the committee in its proceedings against the Uzbek militants.

Massive pileup on Texas highway, two dead, 100 injured

BEAUMONT, Texas: A high-speed pileup of up to 150 vehicles on a fog-bound Texas interstate highway killed at least two people on Thursday and injured up to 100, a sheriff's spokesman said.

The chain reaction of collisions shut down Interstate 10 about 15 miles west of Beaumont for several hours, said Deputy Rod Carroll of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

"We have 18-wheelers on top of cars, we have cars on top of cars. It's just catastrophic," he said, adding that rescuers were still looking for victims.

Two bodies were found underneath a tractor-trailer, he said. After all vehicles were searched, authorities determined as many as 100 people were injured, up to 12 of them seriously or critically hurt, Carroll said.

"People were not driving for the conditions at hand," he said.

He said the initial accidents took place separately about a mile apart on the east- and westbound sides of the interstate.

The highway had been crowded with motorists traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday. Many of the vehicles were moving close to the posted speed of 70 mph despite dense fog that limited visibility, Carroll said.

The westbound lanes of the interstate have been reopened, he said.

Afghan suicide bomber kills two, wounds 40: police

GHAZNI: A suicide car bomber killed two people and wounded 40 others, including women and children, outside a security training centre in Wardak province west of Kabul, police said.
Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was to avenge the execution on Wednesday of four Taliban members on death row in Kabul.
"It was a car bomb by our mujahed on a military training centre," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told.
"It was a revenge attack by our mujahid in response to the execution of four mujahedeen by the Kabul administration."
Police said the explosion took place near a police centre in Maidan Shar, the capital of Wardak province. The premises is used to train Afghan soldiers and police.
"As a result two civilians were killed and 40 others were injured," police spokesman Abdul Wali told.
The four executed Taliban members were among a total of 14 prisoners hanged over two days this week in rare mass executions.
The Taliban, who are leading an insurgency against the Western-backed government, had warned there would be "heavy repercussions" for government officials if any of their militants were executed.
President Hamid Karzai approved the executions of the men who were sentenced to death "on charges of terror, conducting attacks, explosions and organising suicide attacks", a government spokesman said in a statement.
The mass executions were condemned by the United Nations, the European Union and human rights groups.

South Africa 217 for 2 at stumps in second Test

 ADELAIDE: South Africa were 217 for two in reply to Australia's first innings 550 at the close of the second day of the second Test at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
Skipper Graeme Smith was unbeaten on 111 with Jacques Rudolph not out on 25.

West Indies 369-3 at lunch in second Test

 KHULNA: Marlon Samuels hit his highest Test score and Darren Bravo notched a hundred to lead the West Indies to 369-3 on the third day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh on Friday.
Samuels was still batting on 191 but Bravo fell in the last over before lunch for 127 as the tourists trailed Bangladesh's first innings total of 387 by just 18 runs.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the other unbeaten batsman on nought.
The tourists are now set for a big lead on a lifeless Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium pitch as they look to win the two-match series after taking a 1-0 lead with their 77-run triumph in the first Test in Dhaka.
Bravo was adjudged leg-before off spinner Sohag Gazi as he tried to cut the ball, which hit the pad first and then the bat. Bravo hit ten boundaries during his 288-ball innings.
He added 326 runs for the third wicket with Samuels to set the tone for a big West Indian total.
Bangladeshi bowlers were found wanting on the slow track and their problems were compounded by edges falling short and a dropped catch in the slips by Naeem Islam off paceman Abul Hasan when Samuels was on 117.
Samuels, 31, took full advantage of the lapse and bettered his previous highest Test score of 123, which he made against New Zealand at Kingston earlier this year.
The Jamaican has so far hit 25 fours and three sixes during his 312-ball commanding stay at the crease.
Bravo matched his partner shot for shot, hitting two boundaries in one Rubel Hossain over to near his fourth Test hundred, which he completed with a double and a single.

Judges appointment case: President decides to file reference

 ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to file reference in Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges appointment case, Attorney General Irfan Qadir told the apex court, Geo News reported.
AG Irfan Qadir submitted written statement in the court on judges appointment case here Friday.
The Supreme Court four-member bench, headed by Justice Khilji Arif Hussain was hearing the case of appointment of two IHC judges.
The AG informed the court that owing to president’s engagement in D-8 summit he could not be contacted, adding instead, Law Minister Farooq H Naek was contacted in this regard.
Justice Asif Saeed Khosa asked whether it has been decided to file reference or it is being deliberated.
On this, attorney general said the president has decided to file reference, adding law minister informed him that the head of the state would file under article 186 of the constitution.
Later, the court adjourned hearing for two weeks and said if the president could not file reference in this time period the court would resume hearing again.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court had observed that after 18th and 19th amendments, the president had no powers to turn down any recommendation for the appointment of superior court judges made by Judicial Commission on Judges’ Appointment and the Parliamentary Committee on Judges’ Appointment.

The Judicial Commission had recommended confirmation of services of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and six-month extension in the service of Justice Noor-ul-Haq N Qureshi and had sent it to the parliamentary committee for judges’ appointment for approval.

The Parliamentary Committee on Judges Appointment had approved the recommendations and the prime minister forwarded the same to the president for notification. But President Zardari did not give approval to nominations, questioning the composition of the JC that it was not valid because the ‘most senior’ judge of the IHC Justice Riaz Ahmad was not invited to attend the JC meeting on October 22.

HOLIDAY

 Tomorrow is holyday in pakistan

Shahbaz Sharif accuses govt of plundering, corruption

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif met with Khawaja Noor Mohammad Sahoo (Sajada Nasheen Sheikh Fazil Sharif Burewala) in Lahore where the latter along with his fellows announced to join Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Geo News reported Thursday.
At the occasion, Shahbaz Sharif said that PML-N will be successful in the upcoming elections under the leadership of Mian Nawaz Sharif.
He accused the government of plundering, corruption and said that it has pushed the country into darkness.
Shahbaz also predicted the current government’s downfall in the near future