Pakistan Information & News

Athens

ATHENS: The Greek ministry of public works and environment was slightly damaged early Thursday after two separate blasts at its Athens headquarters and an annexe, police said.

Two gas canisters exploded around 3:40 am (0140 GMT) in front of the ministry’s main building near the city centre. Around half an hour later, two others went off at a nearby annexe.

Five minutes after the first explosion, a hitherto unknown group calling itself the Revolutionary Organisation claimed responsibility in an anonymous call to a local radio station.

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 PPP Members National Assembly have advised the Co-Chairman of party Senator Asif Ali Zardari to become the next President of Pakistan.

Some also asked senator to concentrate on party matters instead of involving Presidential candidature issue on the resignation of Prevez Musharraf Asif Zardari arranged a welcome party in honour of partys Members National Assembly here addressing the party Asif Zardari said that central executive committee would decide presidential issue and the consensus of the coalition partners would be sought on the issue and resignation of Musharraf is the success of democracy and the other standing issues would be resolved soon following the due political process with the support of coalition partners he added. On the occasion, Party’s MNAs assured Zardari of their fully extended support if he resolves to be a candidate for Presidency. President of Supreme Court Bar Association Chaudhry Atizaz Ahsan also met with Zardari.

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 USA President Bush plans to reach out to senior Pakistan officials soon in the wake of Pervez Musharraf’s resignation as president the White House said Tuesday.

 I you know would expect that the president will have high-level contact with the Pakistani authorities you know in the near future white House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said while Bush was on his Texas ranch and Johndroe declined to comment directly on reports that Musharraf might seek asylum in the United States saying he was unaware of any contacts on that score between the former Pakistani leader and USA officials as far as President Musharraf’s location where he will eventually live that’s a matter for him and the Pakistanis to deal with said Johndroe.

Musharraf’s decision to quit came after Pakistans governing coalition said it was ready to press ahead with impeachment as early as Tuesday on charges that reportedly included violating the constitution.

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 Pakistan Cricket Board PCB chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf resigned on Monday just one month before his country hosts the Champions Trophy his decision to step down, announced by the PCB, came an hour after the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistan president directly appoints the PCB chairman.

Musharraf appointed Ashraf in 2006 after Pakistan forfeited the fourth test against England at the Oval. England were declared winners after Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq refused to lead his team back on to the pitch when they were docked five runs for ball-tampering. Last month the International Cricket Council amended the result to a draw. I have sent my resignation to the president’s secretariat and told them I can’t continue performing my duties after the president resigned I didn’t think it would be ethically right to continue former chairman PCB told a foreign news agency. Ashraf said his resignation would not have any effect on the Champions Trophy one-day tournament which would be held on schedule from Sept 12. The tournament will go on because the board is an institution and it will continue working. I will continue performing my duties till the resignation is accepted he added. 

 Dr Nasim Ashraf told the Geo News on telephone that he would present the details of his resignation on Wednesday at a news conference. PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi, while talking with Geo News said that Dr Nasim Ashraf would continue to work at his position until a new chairman is appointed.

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 President Pervez Musharraf said Monday that he was not ready to resign instead he would face the impeachment process from the ruling alliance and this he said while holding meeting with Governor Sindh Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan in Islamabad.

I would analyze and retaliate the allegations leveled against me in a charge sheet before setting the future course of action he added and on the occasion the governor said that MQM would continue to support President in this context and would openly oppose the impeachment move.

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 An impressive flag hoisting ceremony was held at the Pakistan Embassy to mark the 61^st Independence Day of Pakistan here on Thursday and Ambassador to America Hussain Haqani performed the flag hoisting ceremony with playing of national anthem. He on the occasion also readout messages of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and the students of Pakistan Embassy College Washington on the occasion presented national songs and received applause from a large number of Pakistani living in America who specially came to participate in the celebrations.

 Ambassador Haqani speaking on the occasion said that in many departments China and Pakistan are working closely & said that only we both the countries exhibit the close bonds between our two countries and use the term of all weather friendship.

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 Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain differ on most of the issues and the divide continues when it comes to the world of pop culture Entertainment weekly asked both candidates where they stood on important issues like favorite TV show best super hero and favorite onscreen Commander In Chief and when it comes to masked heroes of justice Obama prefers the web slinging Spiderman while McCain is partial to the cave-dwelling Batman EW reported as for their iPods they both have a varied musical palate and my staff teases me about how eclectic my tastes are.

I have got Frank Sinatra, I have got Sheryl Crow I have got John Coltrane I have got Bob Dylan. There’s Javanese flute music African dance music a lot of R&B Obama told the mag. McCain on the other hand, admits to having a little disco on his MP3 player. Yes I have to give a straight-talk answer he said when asked if he listened to disco super group ABBA. I am also a Roy Orbison fan and a Linda Ronstadt fan. But I like Usher, too. When it comes time to sit on the couch and catch up on their DVRs, the candidates differ yet again. Obama prefers shows he grew up watching like MASH and The Dick Van Dyke Show. While McCain prefers edgier TV like Curb Your Enthusiasm Dexter & the wire when it comes time to sit on the couch and catch up on their DVR the candidates differ yet again. Obama prefers shows he grew up watching like MASH & the Dick Van Dyke Show. While McCain prefers edgier TV like Curb Your Enthusiasm Dexter and The Wire and one area where the candidates shared some common ground was the first movie they saw in the theater with both senators seeing heartfelt animals films. One of the first was Born Free. I think I may have teared up at the end when they release the lioness Elsa. I couldn’t have been more than four or (5) Obama said it was tears and critters for McCain too whose first movie was Bambi. when his mother was killed. Oh yeah I cried McCain admitted & possibly the most important question asked of the candidates was about the job they are both running for. So who was their favorite fictional President. Jeff Bridges in The Contender Obama told the mag.

He was charming and essentially an honorable person but there was a rogue about him again McCain skewed more modern preferring Dennis Haysbert in 24 and he is fabulous. He is a guy who makes tough decisions he takes charge he is ready to sacrifice his interest on behalf of the interest of the country he told EW. My least favorite is the one on 24 that got stabbed by his x-wife.

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 Beijing Olympics is on a huge scale and organisers intend to start as they mean to go on judging by their plans for Friday’s opening ceremony a 3 hour spectacular but the longer the performance the greater the chance of something can go and wrong and having invested so much time and effort in bringing the Games to China officials will be desperate to ensure their grandiose plans go off without a hitch. Some 15,000 performers are set to take part with 29,000 fireworks due to be released into the night sky and the ceremony is also due to see Chinese pop star Liu Huan together with British singer Sarah Brightman, sing a specially commissioned theme song in the closing artistic section.

Yet for many genuine sports fans around the world the opening ceremony of the Games are something of a puzzle delaying the serious business of competition for little obvious benefit. However ever since athletes first walked in behind their flags which were expected to be dipped before Britain’s King Edward VII at the 1908 Games in London the opening ceremony has increasingly become an opportunity for the host nation to say something about its culture and that is all the more true in an era of mass television with China a country which once prided itself on being closed to prying eyes now keen to show itself off to a global audience of hundreds of millions.

Given all that it is no surprise that film director Zhang Yimou best known in the West for his Oscar-nominated movie House of Flying Daggers has been entrusted with overseeing the ceremony. Zhang explained this week that the event would showcase the ancient and long history of the Chinese nation. He added the performance will reflect the cultural aspects of Chinese society and showcase what modern China and its people are all about but even before Friday’s show starts carefully-laid plans were upset when a film crew from South Korea’s private station SBS sneaked in and filmed a rehearsal and then broadcast parts of it on Tuesday before posting it on the Internet. However one thing has remained secret and that is the identity of the person who will light the Olympic flame after China President Hu Jintao declares the Games open. Basketball star Yao Ming who carried the Olympic torch through Beijing’s Tianamen Square on Wednesday, had been tipped for the honour but tradition dictates that a person can only carry the torch once in the run-up to a Games.  Officials remained tight-lipped saying only the flame-lighter had been selected for their sporting achievement and social influence. Darfur Lost Boy to carry US flag at ceremony. BEIJING: Lopez Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who was a victim of violence in Darfur was named Thursday as the United States flag bearer for the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics. US captains in every Olympic sport met at the Olympic Village and voted to award the honor for Friday’s ceremony to Lomong a sensitive choice given criticism of Chinese foreign policy over the conflict in Darfur and this is the most exciting day ever in my life Lomong said. It is a great honor for me that my teammates chose to vote for me. The opening ceremony is the best day and the best moment of Olympic life. I am here as an ambassador of my country and I will do everything I can to represent my country well. Lomong, 23 was kidnapped from his family by the Janjaweed militia and taken hostage. He and other youths escaped and spent three days on the run before crossing the border into Kenya and being taken to a refugee camp. He spent years there just fighting to survive and famously paid five Kenyan shillings to watch a black and white television telecast of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He said seeing US track star Michael Johnson win gold sparked his dream of becoming an Olympian. Lomong was adopted by a US foster family, changed his citizenship to American and will race in the 1,500 meters at Beijing and China has close ties with Sudan as one of the main buyers of the African nation’s oil and a key investor in its economy, and rights groups have accused Beijing of not doing enough to try and resolve the conflict in Darfur and the United Nations has said that 300,000 people have died in Darfur and that more than 2.2 million have been displaced since 2003. The Sudanese government puts the number of fatalities at 10,000.

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 Pakistani Milk sellers becoming richer and richer because the milk sellers has increased the per litre price of milk by Rs.4.

President Dairy Farmers Association Haji Akhter announced the increment in price of wholesale milk in an emergency meeting of milk sellers here and the wholesale price of milk has been increased from Rs. 38 per litre to Rs. 42 per litre after which the milk sellers have increased the price from Rs.40 to Rs. 44 per litre and the milk sellers said that they had repeatedly requested the provincial and city governments to review the prices but they didn’t took any measure in this connection.

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 USA white House hopeful Barack Obama believes Israel will launch a military strike on Iran if nuclear sanctions fail according to a US news agency and the comment was reportedly made in a meeting late Tuesday between Senator Obama and Democratic members of the House of Representatives.Following the presidential contender’s return from an overseas tour that included Israel. Nobody said this to me directly but I get the feeling from my talks that if the sanctions don’t work, Israel is going to strike Iran an attendee at the meeting quoted Obama as saying according to the news agency. Meanwhile Obama’s national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi declined to comment on the substance of the report and but she stressed: “Senator Obama has always said that Iran must end its illicit nuclear program.

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Philippine police say at least 11people were killed when two buses collided on a highway southeast of Manila at least 29 people have been injured. Police investigator Allan Potong said Tuesday’s pre-dawn collision happened when a bus strayed into the lane of the second vehicle slamming into it head-on and killing eight people on the spot. Potong said one passenger died on arrival in a hospital, where two others died later and he says the driver of the first bus may have been sleepy while driving the stretch of the highway.

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Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will arrive in Karachi today and he will be received on his arrival at the Karachi airport and will be taken through a rally to the residence of the Sindh High Courts deposed chief justice Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed according to the Karachi Bar Association leaders, deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will arrive in Karachi at 11-30 am. He will be warmly welcomed by lawyers and civil society representatives at the Karachi air port after arriving in Karachi the deposed chief justice will be taken in a rally through Sharae Faisal to the residence of justice Sabihuddin Ahmed for taking tea. Later in the night, a dinner will be arranged in his honour at 8-00 pm at the Lawyers Club in Clifton after which he will spend a night at a local hotel. Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry will address the lawyers at the Sindh High Court at 11 O’clock in the morning of July 30 and the same day he will return to Islamabad.

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