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| Alleged Cricket Fraud Leaves Pakistan Shocked, Outraged |
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Posted by: KingStubby - 08-30-2010 11:11 AM
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It was perhaps the last thing that Pakistan needed. After weeks of enduring the misery wrought by unprecedented floods, the country has been hit by allegations that its national cricket heroes deliberately performed poorly during its ongoing tour of Britain in exchange for money. In a country where passion for the sport arguably outstrips religious fervor, already depressed cricket fans have reacted with a mixture of shock and outrage, as fears build that global sympathy for its flood victims may now be hurt by yet another sour tale of corruption and intrigue.
![[Image: pakistanLINE_468x348.jpg]](http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/03_02/pakistanLINE_468x348.jpg)
Pakistan's Cricket Team.
Pakistanis rose on Sunday to find television coverage of the floods displaced by hidden-camera footage captured by a British tabloid. The slightly grainy images, filmed by an undercover reporter for the News of the World, purportedly revealed a supremely confident and embarrassingly indiscreet man boasting of his ability to manipulate the five-day test match between Pakistan and England, which concluded on Sunday, in exchange for large sums of money. (See pictures of Pakistan's floods.)
In the video, which was taped before the test match, the man, named as Mazhar Majeed, allegedly in exchange for $230,000, offered eerily accurate predictions - three occasions when Pakistan's bowlers would bowl "no-balls." (A no-ball is a pitch that is delivered from outside the regulation pitching zone; it doesn't count and the batting side is awarded a run. There is no exact baseball equivalent, but it's similar to a pitcher, in the act of throwing the ball, stepping outside the pitching mound.) Of the options available to benefit betting syndicates, Majeed said that no-balls are the "easiest" and the "clearest" to fix. Not only did Majeed's apparently come true on Thursday and Friday, the bowlers seem to have stepped outside the zone by remarkable distances. "Oh, it's a big no-ball," the television commentator observed after the first instance.
That run of illicit wealth appeared to come to an end on Saturday after the newspaper furnished its evidence to the police. (It made its exclusive public on Saturday night.) Later on Sunday, Scotland Yard said that it had arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers after receiving information from the News of the World. The man has now been released on bail. Three Pakistani players have had their phones confiscated by the police.
"Our heads have been bowed by shame," Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters on Aug. 29. "I am going to ask the Ministry of Sports to order a full inquiry." President Asif Ali Zardari also said that he had taken notice of the news reports and had solicited a full report. Few of his countrymen, however, share his patience. Many devout cricket fans have made up their minds, with some going as far as to urge the team to think twice before returning home.
Read more here.
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| Iraq goes on highest alert for terror attacks |
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Posted by: KingStubby - 08-28-2010 11:00 AM
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BAGHDAD – Iraq's prime minister put his nation on its highest level of alert for terror attacks, warning of plots to sow fear and chaos as the U.S. combat mission in the country formally ends on Tuesday.
![[Image: capt.06f50df32fec491f8e63480b5147777b-06...capt.06f50df32fec491f8e63480b5147777b-06f50df32fec491f8e63480b5147777b-0.jpg?x=213&y=139&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=268&q=85&sig=vfvAIC92PKcZu0]](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100828/capt.06f50df32fec491f8e63480b5147777b-06f50df32fec491f8e63480b5147777b-0.jpg?x=213&y=139&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=268&q=85&sig=vfvAIC92PKcZu0DLFEhXhA--)
An Iraqi man raises his hands as an Iraqi police officer
conducts a body search at a check point in central Baghdad
The Iraqi security forces who will be left in charge have been hammered by bomb attacks, prompting fears of a new insurgent offensive and criticism of the government's preparedness for the American troop drawdown.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Friday that Iraqi intelligence indicated an al-Qaida front group and members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party are collaborating to launch attacks "to create fear and chaos and kill more innocents."
"We direct the Iraqi forces, police and army and other security forces, to take the highest alert and precautionary measures to foil this criminal planning," al-Maliki said in a statement to state-run television.
A senior Iraqi intelligence official said security forces believe suicide bombers have entered the country with plans to strike unspecified targets in Baghdad by month's end. The official did not know how many bombers or where they would attack, and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
President Barack Obama, meanwhile, used his weekly radio address to reaffirm his campaign promise to end the war in Iraq and refocus on Afghanistan as home to the top threats against America.
"The bottom line is this: the war is ending," Obama said from the Massachusetts island retreat of Martha's Vineyard, where he was on vacation. "Like any sovereign, independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course."
Read more here.
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| out for a bit |
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Posted by: lspiderl - 08-24-2010 10:54 AM
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I'm in the hospital and pumped full of drugs. I hurt my back, and there's limited internet access at my hospital. I won't be on much.
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| Rescuers expand lifeline to trapped Chile miners |
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Posted by: KingStubby - 08-23-2010 01:58 PM
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COPIAPO, Chile – Engineers reinforced a lifeline Monday to 33 miners entombed deep inside a Chilean gold and copper mine, preparing to keep them supplied with food, water, medicine and communications during the four months it may take to carve a tunnel wide enough to pull them out.
![[Image: capt.a757338dd60748228cb7bfccfaf6f170-a7...capt.a757338dd60748228cb7bfccfaf6f170-a757338dd60748228cb7bfccfaf6f170-0.jpg?x=213&y=142&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=273&q=85&sig=e1ErRgsgmtNqnO]](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100823/capt.a757338dd60748228cb7bfccfaf6f170-a757338dd60748228cb7bfccfaf6f170-0.jpg?x=213&y=142&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=273&q=85&sig=e1ErRgsgmtNqnOCU0XqeyA--)
Chile's President and Mining Minister, along with the
miners' families celebrate the miner's survival so far.
A team of doctors and psychiatric experts also arrived Monday at the remote mine, implementing a plan to maintain the miners' sanity as well.
"We need to urgently establish what psychological situation they are in. They need to understand what we know up here at the surface, that it will take many weeks for them to reach the light," Health Minister Jaime Manalich explained.
Engineers worked through the night to reinforce the six-inch (15 cm) -wide bore-hole that broke through to the miners' refuge on Sunday, more than 2,257 feet (688 meters) below the surface. Using a long hose, they coated the walls with a metallic gel to decrease the risk of more rock falls in the unstable mine and make it easier to pass material in capsules nicknamed "palomas," or doves.
The first capsules — which take about an hour to descend from the surface — will include water and food in the form of a high-energy glucose gel to miners who have almost certainly lost significant weight since they were trapped with limited food supplies on Aug. 5.
Also being sent down are questionnaires to determine each miners' condition, along with medicines and small microphones to enable them to speak with their families during their long wait. Rescue leader Andre Sougarret said the communications equipment could begin working within hours, and that officials were organizing the families into small groups to make their talks as orderly as possible.
Read more here.
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| Floods expose civilian-military divide in Pakistan |
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Posted by: KingStubby - 08-20-2010 12:46 PM
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ISLAMABAD – Massive flooding in Pakistan appears to be draining support for the already-weak civilian government while boosting the powerful military, a blow to U.S. and domestic hopes for a strong Pakistani democracy capable of undercutting the allure of al-Qaida and the Taliban.
![[Image: capt.b42224d069e84f18a173e176ea500040-9b...capt.b42224d069e84f18a173e176ea500040-9bfd996d38704cab8d5e91c9e88329d1-0.jpg?x=213&y=101&xc=2&yc=1&wc=407&hc=193&q=85&sig=M3jVKx5mK4hB4u]](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100819/capt.b42224d069e84f18a173e176ea500040-9bfd996d38704cab8d5e91c9e88329d1-0.jpg?x=213&y=101&xc=2&yc=1&wc=407&hc=193&q=85&sig=M3jVKx5mK4hB4uKaJsZwAw--)
A Pakistani family stands on their farm compound
surrounded by flood waters as seen by a Navy helicopter.
Even before the deadly deluge that began nearly a month ago, the civilian administration faced growing discontent as power shortages, security problems and economic mismanagement plagued the country. A military coup is seen as unlikely, but flooding is so large-scale that some fear serious political instability in the nuclear-armed nation.
About 20 million people have been affected by the floods across an area bigger than England. Flood victims are far more likely to have seen a Pakistani soldier dropping off relief or picking them up than a member of the civilian government. One state minister's car was pelted with stones after a visit some saw as long overdue, media reports said.
"The overwhelming majority of Pakistanis have always reposed confidence in the army as compared to elected governments," said Mehdi Hasan, a Pakistani political analyst. "People feel the army can do better as it is well trained, it has time and the courage to handle any crisis. It gives an edge to the army over civil administration."
The army ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 63-year history, thanks to coups that followed periods of political unrest or economic mismanagement by civilian leaders. The government today has been in place less than three years, after nearly a decade of army rule by then-Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Read more here.
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