PAF gets force-multiplier capability

The first Air-to-Air Refueler aircraft of Pakistan Air Force out of total four has arrived on an operational Air Base of the country, a spokesman of PAF here Saturday said. In a press statement the spokesman said, the delivery of remaining three Refueler aircraft is planned to complete by mid-2010.

By virtue of its capability to refuel Air Defence aircraft in air, PAF’s overall potential in terms of its effectiveness to defend the airspace of Pakistan would be significantly enhanced, he added.
After attaining the facility, Pakistan Air Force has formally joined the rank of those developed air forces which have already the air refilling system.
An expert of the aviation industry welcomed this induction in PAF saying this is a force-multiplier ability as the strength of the existing number of fighter jets would atleast be doubled, straightaway.

SOURCE: Associated Press Of Pakistan

Pakistan team named for Australia tour, Younis left out

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cricket selectors on Monday left out Younis Khan from a 16-man squad and retained middle-order batsman Mohammad Yousuf as captain for three Test matches and five One-day Internationals against Australia.

Former captain Younis opted to rest after scoring only 22 runs as Pakistan lost the one-day series against New Zealand 2-1 in the United Arab Emirates last month.

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt had urged Younis to end his hiatus from the national team and play against Australia, but the former captain did not compete in the first class tournament to regain his batting form.

“Younis wanted to rest but he didn't play in the domestic cricket since the one-day series against New Zealand,'' chief selector Iqbal Qasim told reporters. “He didn't give his
availability to us and therefore we did not select him.''

Pakistan team will fly to Australia directly from New Zealand after playing three Test matches against the Kiwis with the first Test beginning at Melbourne on December 26.

Shahid Afridi, who will lead Pakistan in the only T20 international against Australia, will be Yousuf's deputy in the five-match one-day series. However, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was named vice-captain for the three-Test series.

Iqbal Qasim said the team for ODI series against Australia will be named after the second Test ends at Sydney on Jan. 7.

Test squad: Salman Butt, Khurram Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (vice-captain/wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir, Abdul Rauf, Umar Akmal.

Source Geo.tv

Oil higher in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices lingered near $74 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after a strengthening US dollar extended a four-day sell-off in crude to two-month lows.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 23 cents to $74.16 at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.54 to settle at $73.93 on Monday.

The dollar, boosted by a better than expected US jobs report last week, helped push oil prices out of a two-month range of between $75 and $82.

Investors have been buying crude as a hedge against inflation as the dollar has slid this year amid massive government stimulus spending and low interest rates. When the dollar rises, traders tend to sell their positions in oil.

"The movement of the dollar has continued to be a leading driver of oil pricing," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "But when the price falls to the mid-$70s, many market participants see that as a buying opportunity."

In Asian trade, the dollar pared some of its recent gains. The euro rose to $1.4834 from $1.4820 in New York late Monday while the dollar fell to 88.90 yen from 89.49.

In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil was steady at $1.96 while gasoline rose 0.54 cent to $1.96. Natural gas jumped 4.6 cents to $5.02 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude for January delivery rose 37 cents to $76.80 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Three arrested with suspected Uranium in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Navi Mumbai crime branch has arrested three people from Panvel for being in possession of a chemical looking substance that is suspected to be uranium.The material has been seized and sent to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for further analysis. The trio was arrested on Monday evening and as much as 5 kilograms of the material was seized from them.
Source : http://geo.tv

Several injured in twin Lahore blasts

LAHORE: Twin blasts in Lahore have injured several people, some of them seriously, at Moon market in Iqbal Town Lahore, Geo News reported Monday.

Nothing is known so far about the nature of the blasts.

According to Geo News sources, the two blasts occurred within 30 seconds of each other. Fire erupted in the shops after the blasts.

According to Geo News sources, the two blasts occurred within 30 seconds of each other. Fire erupted in the market immediately after the blasts, engulfing a number of shops.

Moon market is a commercial center of Iqbal Town, Lahore, where shoppers are normally present in large numbers. A suicide attack had also been launched at a police station in this area on 13 August last year in which 8 people lost their lives.

Evidence of Indian involvement at dialogue table: Malik

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Monday that evidence of Indian involvement in Pakistan has been handed over to the foreign ministry in Islamabad.

Speaking to the media after meeting with clerics at the CM House here, Malik said the evidence of Indian involvement in Pakistan will be shared with New Delhi during composite dialogue between the two countries.

The minister said arms and ammunitions smuggled into the country from Afghanistan were being used in terrorist activities in Pakistan. He said he was in talks with US and Afghan authorities in this connection and a mechanism is being put in place to stop the arms smuggling.

He stressed the need of ending cross border infiltration between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Malik said the army defends the country’s borders while the Ulema are the guardians of country’s ideology.

“On the instruction of President and Prime Minister, I have come to Karachi to seek guidance of Ulema against the militancy,” Rehman said.

To a question, he said that David Headley was born in Pakistan but was raised and studied in the United States. He should be tried according to the American law, said Rehman, adding if there was any evidence suggesting his links in Pakistan then it should be shared with us.

SOURCE: http://geo.tv

Osama escaped Pakistan: British newspaper

LONDON: A British newspaper citied Taliban warlords has claimed that Osama Bin Laden has fled Pakistan into Afghanistan.

The al-Qaeda chief escaped as Pakistan stepped up its military campaign on its lawless border area.

Qari Hussain - wanted for training suicide bombers - said he had met Bin Laden in Quetta near the Afghan border.

He said: "He recently left for Afghanistan. The military operation left him with no choice."

The claim was supported by Taliban warlord Shamim Mehsud, holed up in Pakistan.

The news came as US Defence Secretary Robert Gates confessed they had received no decent intelligence on Bin Laden's location for "years".

He added: "If we did, we'd go and get him."

SOUCE: http://geo.tv

Blast rocks cafe in Perm, Russia. 100 dead 90 injured

An explosion has occurred in a cafe in the Urals city of Perm, a local police source told RIA Novosti by phone on Saturday.
The blast occurred late on Friday. Casualties were reported.
"The blast occurred at 23:15 Moscow time [20:15 GMT]... According to preliminary reports, some were killed or injured, their number is being established," the source said.
He added that no fire followed the blast.
Firefighters, rescuers and doctors are working at the scene.

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